211:, to retire to her estate at Ježevo, where she "maintained a privileged and protected enclave of Christian faith" (Nicol). It was in this "exalted and privileged" environment that Theodore was brought up, and it was there that he learned to speak some Turkish and acquired first-hand knowledge of Turkish customs and history. In 1503, he visited the Ottoman capital of Constantinople to aid his brother Alexander, who had been brought to financial ruin by the recently concluded
243:), and saw himself as a defender of all of Christian Europe, not simply in the service of a particular nation. Although he remained an Orthodox Christian, Spandounes turned to the Roman Catholic Church for aid, and served as advisor and confidante to several Popes who would champion his cause, starting with
66:
against the
Ottomans. His chief legacy is his Italian-language history on the origins of the Ottoman state and its history up to that time, whose first version was published in 1509 in Italian and was soon translated into French. Spandounes continued working on it, with the final version appearing in
282:
Spandounes seems to have based his work on oral or documentary material available to him and his family, as well as unspecified "Turkish annals", but it is impossible to say which. There is notably almost no reference to the other post-1453 Greek historians, which as Nicol notes is possibly due to
230:
than religion. Conscious of his imperial
Byzantine heritage, he was still "not unduly bigoted" against the Turks, having lived among them and come to know them. Nevertheless, the main aim of his work was to alert Western Christendom to the Turkish menace and rally it to a crusade to liberate his
215:
and the
Ottomans' confiscation of Venetian goods. Upon his arrival, he found that his brother had died in the meantime. From 1509, he was forced to leave Venice and live in exile in France. It was during this exile that he composed the first draft of his history, which he dedicated to King
283:
the fact that their works were not disseminated in printed form until much later. Likewise there is little to suggest that he knew and made use of the handful of
Italian treatises on the Turks that were written at about the same time, except for the works of
235:, however, his cause was not limited to the Greek-speaking lands: Spandounes used the term "Greece" for the entirety of Europe, juxtaposed to Asia (perhaps echoing the Turkish division of largely Christian
109:
it is possibly indicative of
Matthew's and his family's place of origin. On the other hand, both Spandounes and other members of the family still remaining in the Ottoman-ruled Balkans claimed descent from
134:. Apart from Theodore, the couple had at least two more children: a daughter, who married the Venetian citizen Michael Trevisan, and a son, Alexander, who became a merchant.
137:
Through his mother, Theodore had relatives among the powerful
Christian families of the late Byzantine/early Ottoman era. His mother was the grand-daughter of
62:, acquiring a knowledge of their history and culture. In later life he served successive Popes as a counsellor and repeatedly advocated the dispatch of a new
105:
in Greece. This was a nominal grant meant as a gesture of honour, since the territory in question was under
Ottoman control, but according to historian
220:. This first version was translated into French by Balarin de Raconis in 1519, and was published in a modern edition in 1896 by C. H. A. Schéfer.
556:
508:
183:. The Spandounes family also had influential members in the early Ottoman Balkans, most notably the wealthy merchant Loukas Spandounes in
187:, who on his death in 1481 was buried in a splendid, Italianate (and probably built in and transported all the way from Venice) tomb in
154:
259:(1534–49). In 1538 he produced the third and final version of his work, which he presented (in a French translation), to the French
67:
1538. The work is disorganized and contains errors, but is extremely valuable as a historical source for its wealth of information.
551:
212:
251:, who not only showed no interest in the war against the Turks, but also cut his family's pension, but resumed his position under
576:
546:
566:
199:
Theodore's mother died sometime before 1490, and his father sent
Theodore, then still a child, to live with his great-aunt,
79:, the son of Matthew Spandounes and Eudokia Kantakouzene. His father was a Greek soldier who entered the service of the
571:
517:
496:
98:
138:
90:
541:
536:
114:
itself, while some had settled in Venice as early as the 1370s. Theodore's mother was a descendant of the
203:. Mara was the daughter of Đurađ and Irene, who had been taken as one of the wives of the Ottoman Sultan
247:(1513–21), for whom he prepared the second draft of his work in 1519. He fell out with Leo's successor,
146:
55:
561:
275:
in 1551, reprinted in 1654, and formed the basis for the first modern edition by the Greek scholar
176:
161:
172:
127:
191:. Although Theodore too had dealings with Thessalonica, however, he does not mention Loukas.
142:
512:(in German). Vol. 5. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
165:
8:
276:
264:
180:
168:
150:
513:
492:
260:
232:
158:
123:
80:
337:
200:
188:
31:
486:
248:
94:
111:
59:
47:
23:
506:
Trapp, Erich; Walther, Rainer; Beyer, Hans-Veit; Sturm-Schnabl, Katja (1981).
530:
284:
115:
223:
A devout but not dogmatic
Christian, Spandounes was more attuned to Italian
482:
184:
106:
252:
224:
131:
207:. After Murad's death in 1451, Mara was allowed by her stepson Sultan
217:
208:
119:
102:
85:
43:
272:
256:
240:
227:
204:
236:
63:
231:
homeland. Despite 19th-century attempts to claim
Spandounes for
76:
51:
39:
412:
101:
in 1454. He was also given a grant of land around the town of
436:
268:
244:
488:
Theodore Spandounes: On the Origins of the Ottoman Emperors
400:
141:. George was a cousin of the last two Byzantine emperors,
460:
361:
378:
376:
349:
325:
448:
303:
301:
299:
171:
respectively, another sister became the wife of King
373:
424:
313:
122:aristocratic lines, which had produced a number of
89:mercenary, and for unspecified exploits was made a
296:
388:
175:, while one of George's daughters, Anna, married
528:
54:, Italy. As a youth he stayed with relatives in
509:Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit
75:Theodore Spandounes was most probably born in
346:, 10959. Καντακουζηνός, Γεώργιος Παλαιολόγος.
46:extraction; the son of exiles fleeing the
50:conquest of Byzantium who had settled in
529:
557:Emigrants from the Republic of Venice
481:
466:
454:
442:
430:
418:
406:
394:
382:
367:
355:
331:
319:
307:
287:, whom Spandounes mentions by name.
70:
58:and visited the Ottoman capital at
13:
14:
588:
271:in 1550 and—with many errors—at
267:. This version was published at
194:
139:George Palaiologos Kantakouzenos
552:Italian people of Greek descent
505:
343:
118:, one of the most notable late
577:16th-century Greek politicians
491:. Cambridge University Press.
91:count of the Holy Roman Empire
1:
547:16th-century Greek historians
290:
567:16th-century Greek educators
38:) was an early 16th-century
7:
10:
593:
475:
239:from predominantly Muslim
147:Constantine XI Palaiologos
572:16th-century male writers
421:, pp. vii–viii, xii.
126:as well as rulers of the
27:
445:, pp. viii, xi–xii.
56:Ottoman-ruled Macedonia
409:, pp. xvii–xviii.
173:George VIII of Georgia
128:Despotate of the Morea
35:
143:John VIII Palaiologos
99:Emperor Frederick III
469:, pp. xix–xxii.
370:, pp. xii–xiii.
213:Ottoman–Venetian war
177:Vladislav Hercegović
166:Emperor of Trebizond
149:, while his sisters
542:16th-century deaths
537:15th-century births
358:, pp. xiv–xvi.
334:, pp. vii, ix.
277:Konstantinos Sathas
42:historian of noble
28:Θεόδωρος Σπανδούνης
20:Theodore Spandounes
265:Henry II of France
263:, the future King
181:Duke of Saint Sava
36:Teodoro Spandugino
457:, pp. xviii.
233:Greek nationalism
81:Venetian Republic
71:Family and origin
584:
523:
502:
483:Nicol, Donald M.
470:
464:
458:
452:
446:
440:
434:
428:
422:
416:
410:
404:
398:
392:
386:
385:, pp. ix–x.
380:
371:
365:
359:
353:
347:
341:
335:
329:
323:
317:
311:
305:
189:Hagios Demetrios
29:
592:
591:
587:
586:
585:
583:
582:
581:
562:Venetian Greeks
527:
526:
520:
499:
478:
473:
465:
461:
453:
449:
441:
437:
429:
425:
417:
413:
405:
401:
393:
389:
381:
374:
366:
362:
354:
350:
342:
338:
330:
326:
318:
314:
306:
297:
293:
249:Pope Hadrian VI
197:
162:Đurađ Branković
95:imperial knight
73:
17:
16:Greek historian
12:
11:
5:
590:
580:
579:
574:
569:
564:
559:
554:
549:
544:
539:
525:
524:
518:
503:
497:
485:, ed. (1997).
477:
474:
472:
471:
459:
447:
435:
423:
411:
399:
387:
372:
360:
348:
336:
324:
322:, p. xiv.
312:
294:
292:
289:
255:(1523–34) and
201:Mara Branković
196:
193:
159:Serbian Despot
112:Constantinople
72:
69:
60:Constantinople
15:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
589:
578:
575:
573:
570:
568:
565:
563:
560:
558:
555:
553:
550:
548:
545:
543:
540:
538:
535:
534:
532:
521:
519:3-7001-3003-1
515:
511:
510:
504:
500:
498:0-521-58510-4
494:
490:
489:
484:
480:
479:
468:
463:
456:
451:
444:
439:
433:, p. xi.
432:
427:
420:
415:
408:
403:
396:
391:
384:
379:
377:
369:
364:
357:
352:
345:
340:
333:
328:
321:
316:
310:, p. ix.
309:
304:
302:
300:
295:
288:
286:
285:Marin Barleti
280:
278:
274:
270:
266:
262:
258:
254:
250:
246:
242:
238:
234:
229:
226:
221:
219:
214:
210:
206:
202:
195:Life and work
192:
190:
186:
182:
178:
174:
170:
167:
163:
160:
156:
152:
148:
144:
140:
135:
133:
129:
125:
121:
117:
116:Kantakouzenoi
113:
108:
104:
100:
96:
92:
88:
87:
82:
78:
68:
65:
61:
57:
53:
49:
45:
41:
37:
33:
25:
21:
507:
487:
462:
450:
438:
426:
414:
402:
397:, p. x.
390:
363:
351:
339:
327:
315:
281:
222:
198:
185:Thessalonica
157:married the
136:
107:Donald Nicol
84:
74:
19:
18:
253:Clement VII
225:Renaissance
132:Peloponnese
531:Categories
467:Nicol 1997
455:Nicol 1997
443:Nicol 1997
431:Nicol 1997
419:Nicol 1997
407:Nicol 1997
395:Nicol 1997
383:Nicol 1997
368:Nicol 1997
356:Nicol 1997
332:Nicol 1997
320:Nicol 1997
308:Nicol 1997
291:References
279:in 1890.
218:Louis XII
209:Mehmed II
120:Byzantine
103:Loidoriki
86:stradioti
44:Byzantine
273:Florence
257:Paul III
241:Anatolia
228:humanism
205:Murad II
164:and the
124:emperors
476:Sources
261:Dauphin
237:Rumelia
130:in the
64:Crusade
48:Ottoman
32:Italian
516:
495:
155:Helena
77:Venice
52:Venice
269:Lucca
245:Leo X
169:David
151:Irene
83:as a
40:Greek
24:Greek
514:ISBN
493:ISBN
153:and
145:and
93:and
344:PLP
97:by
533::
375:^
298:^
179:,
34::
30:,
26::
522:.
501:.
22:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.