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The House of Zaccaria de Damalà, more commonly known as Damalas today, (pl. Damalas, or Damalades; Italian: Damalà, Greek: Δαμαλάς, pl. Δαμαλάδες) is a formerly ruling family of Genoese origin, established in the 14th century on the Greek island of Chios as the result of the marriage of admiral Benedetto I Zaccaria with a sister of Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos,[2] and which ultimately produced the last ruling dynasty of the Principality of Achaea in Frankish Greece.[3]
Before the family grew roots in the Byzantine Empire through their presence on the island of Chios,[4] they were originally from Genoa as the Zaccaria de Castro. This was further a branch of the older de Castro family from Gavi, and in turn, descended from the viscounts of Carmandino, dating back to 952.
After the family was expelled from Chios in 1329, they concentrated their efforts on the Barony of Damalà in the Principality of Achaea, which they had previously acquired through marriage. They would, in time, rise to become the principality's last titled rulers, marrying in the process with other major houses ruling over Greek territories and in the Balkans, most notably, the Tocco, Asen and Palaiologos families.
The Zaccaria part of their name would be eventually dropped after the Ottoman conquest of Greece, taking instead their name from their former seat in the Barony of Damalà in Achaea, and the family would later adopt a Hellenized spelling of it by the dawn of the XIXth century, hence becoming known as Damalas.
These Damalas descended from the Zaccaria dynasty share their name with other unrelated families of Byzantine origin, bearing the same Damala and Damalas names, and who trace their ancestry as early as 1230 in the Thracesian Theme of the Eastern Roman Empire. Descendants of these families also settled in Chios as well as Kos,[5] and are sometimes confused with the Genoese-descended Zaccaria de Damalà.
- ^ Byzantine World
- ^ Δαμαλάς, Αντώνιος Σ. (1998). Ο οικονομικός βίος της Νήσου Χίου από έτους 992 Μ.Χ. μέχρι του 1566 (Tόμος Δ ed.). Αθηνα, Ελλάδα: Όμιλος Επιχειρήσεων Δαμαλάς. p. 1281. ISBN 960-85185-0-4. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
- ^ Stornaiolo Silva, Ugo Stefano (2024). Achaean Disputes: Eight Centuries of Succession Conflicts for the Title of Prince of Achaea. Covington, LA & Boerne, TX, USA: Libertas Press. ISBN 1600200052.
- ^ Λαϊνάς, Δημήτρης (2001). Ιστορικές χιακές οικογένειες - Ράλληδες, Σκα ραμαγκάδες, Σκυλίτσηδες, Νεγρεπόντηδες, Ζυγομαλάδες, Δαμαλάδες (108 ed.). Χίος: Περιοδικό Χιόνη. p. 18.
- ^ Miklosich, Franz (1860–1890). Acta et Diplomata Monasteriorum et Ecclesiarum Orientis Tomus Primus. Acta et Diplomata Graeca Medii Aevi Sacra et Profana. Vol. 4. Berlin: Vindobonae, C. Gerold. pp. 35, 94.