County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos

Origins

In 1185 the Norman admiral Margaritus of Brindisi took Cephalonia and Zakynthos from Byzantium for William II of Sicily. By about 1195 the islands were held by Matthew Orsini, of an Apulian family, who founded a hereditary lordship and placed himself in turn under the protection of the Pope, Venice and the Principality of Achaea.

Rule and society

The counts ruled a Greek Orthodox population through Italian and Greek officials, with a Latin bishop alongside the Orthodox clergy. The Orsini intermarried with the rulers of the Despotate of Epirus and later acquired it. In 1357 the county passed to Leonardo I Tocco, and his son Carlo I Tocco extended Tocco power to Ioannina and Arta.

Decline and legacy

Leonardo III Tocco lost his mainland lands to the Ottomans and in 1479 the islands as well, fleeing to Italy. Venice won Zakynthos in 1485 and Cephalonia in 1500, making them part of the Venetian Ionian Islands.