principality · Greece and the Aegean

Lordship of Ainos

1384 CE – 1456 CE · capital Ainos

Branch lordship of the Genoese Gattilusi family at the mouth of the Maritsa, controlling trade from Thrace until Mehmed II took it in 1456.

Origins

Ainos (Enez), an old Greek port at the mouth of the Hebrus (Maritsa), came under the control of Niccolo Gattilusio, brother of Francesco I Gattilusio of the Lordship of Lesbos, around 1384. It became a separate branch of the family's possessions in the northern Aegean.

Rule and society

The lords of Ainos profited from salt pans, fisheries and river trade with the Thracian interior, and their realm included Samothrace and at times Imbros. They acted as Byzantine vassals and later as Ottoman tributaries. Palamede Gattilusio ruled for more than forty years (1409-1455), and the family's inscriptions and fortifications survive on Samothrace and at Enez.

Decline and legacy

After the death of Palamede in 1455 a succession dispute among his heirs gave Mehmed II an excuse to intervene. In 1456 the Ottomans took Ainos and the lordship ended.

Connections (2)

More states of Greece and the Aegean →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Lordship of Ainos. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-ainos
MLA
“Lordship of Ainos.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-ainos. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Lordship of Ainos.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-ainos.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Lordship of Ainos’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lordship-of-ainos (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻