Back Тока (дынастыя) Byelorussian Tocco Catalan Tocco (Adelsgeschlecht) German Οικογένεια Τόκκο Greek Familia Tocco Spanish Famille Tocco French Tocco (famiglia) Italian Tocco (ród) Polish Токко (династия) Russian Токко Ukrainian
| Tocco | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms of the family | |
| Country | Kingdom of Sicily (Naples) Despotate of Epirus Papal States Holy Roman Empire Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Kingdom of Italy |
| Founded | 11th/12th century (Noble family) 14th century (Greek branch) |
| Founder | Ugolino Tocco (Noble family) Guglielmo Tocco (Greek branch) |
| Final ruler | Leonardo III Tocco |
| Final head | Carlo III di Tocco Cantelmo Stuart |
| Titles | List
|
| Traditions | Roman Catholicism |
| Heirlooms | Foot of St. Anne[1] |
| Dissolution | 1884[n 1] |
| Deposition | 1479 |
The House of Tocco (pl. Tocchi, Ancient Greek: Τόκκος, romanized: Tókkos pl. Τόκκοι, Tokkoi) was an Italian noble family from Benevento that came to prominence in the late 14th and 15th centuries, when they ruled various territories in western Greece as Counts Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos and Despots of Epirus. During their brief period of rule in Greece, they were one of the most ambitious and able Latin dynasties in the region, and were one of the few to leave descendants lasting nearly until modern times, in which they claimed to represent the senior matrilineal heirs of the Palaiologos dynasty.
The earliest known members of the family are recorded in the 12th century, in Benevento, though Tocco family genealogies claimed that they originated much earlier, with forged connections to ancient Gothic kings Theodoric the Great and Totila, as well as to the ancient Epirote king Pyrrhus. Members of the family held various prominent offices during the rule of the Hohenstaufen and Angevin dynasties in the Kingdom of Sicily. As a result of the family's loyalty to the Angevin princes in Greece, such as the titular Latin emperors Philip I of Taranto and Robert of Taranto, Leonardo I Tocco was rewarded c. 1357 with the grant of the County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, islands off the western coast of Greece.
Leonardo I's son and successor, Carlo I Tocco, became Despot of Epirus in 1411, granted by the Eastern Roman Emperor, as the favored successor of the previous despot, Esau de' Buondelmonti. Through a series of military campaigns, Carlo I reunified Epirus, which had been politically fragmented due to invasion by the Serbian Empire and Albanian tribes in the previous century, and subsequent infighting by local Albanian princes. Most of Carlo I's conquests were lost during the reign of his successor, Carlo II Tocco, due to invasions by the Ottoman Empire. The Tocco lost the despotate and their other holdings in Greece in 1479, during the reign of Carlo II's successor Leonardo III Tocco. Leonardo III was one of the last independent Latin rulers in Greece, and the last to hold lands on the Greek mainland.
Leonardo III escaped into exile in the Kingdom of Naples, where he brought the foot of St. Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, and placed it in his private chapel. It was so highly regarded that his residence became known as the Palazzo del Santo Piede.[6] He also unsuccessfully attempted to gain support for a military expedition to recover his lands in Greece.
Over the following centuries, the Tocco once more became part of the Italian nobility, gaining various titles through marriages and purchases. Leonardo III's descendants continued to claim the title of Despot of Epirus and comital until the first half of the 17th century, when both were exchanged for a new grant within the Neapolitan nobility by the King of Spain.
This occurred when Antonio Tocco requested to be granted the title of Prince of Achaea in 1642, in exchange for his patrimonial titles as Despot of Epirus and Count Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos;[7] although the title granted was not the same princely title held by rulers of the Principality of Achaea, but a new grant within the Neapolitan nobility title with the same territorial designation.
Nonetheless, from the 17th century onwards, the title most commonly used by the heads of the family was that of Prince of Montemiletto. The family went extinct with the death of its last member, Carlo III di Tocco Cantelmo Stuart, in 1884, and their Capece Galeota heirs became extinct as well by the first half of the 20th century.[8]
- ^ Hamilton, Bernard; Hamilton, Formerly Professor of Crusading History Bernard (2018). Crusaders, Cathars, and the Holy Places. Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-86078-785-3.
- ^ Miller 1921, p. 513.
- ^ Zečević 2014, p. 142.
- ^ Miller 1908, p. 489.
- ^ Shamà 2013, p. 74.
- ^ Hamilton, Bernard; Hamilton, Formerly Professor of Crusading History Bernard (2018). Crusaders, Cathars, and the Holy Places. Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-86078-785-3.
- ^ 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. p. 73. ISBN 1600200052.
- ^ 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. p. 98. ISBN 1600200052.
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