rekordy: Godscall Paleologue

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Godscall Paleologue or Paleologus (12 January 1694 – ?) was the last recorded living member of the Paleologus family, and through them possibly the last surviving member of the Palaiologos dynasty, rulers of the Byzantine Empire from 1259 to its fall in 1453. The posthumous daughter of privateer Theodore Paleologus, the only surviving source on Godscall is her baptismal records. Nothing is known of her life. The meaning of her name is unknown. It might be an English equivalent of the Greek name Theocletiane (Θεοκλητιανή), a reference to the child possibly being sickly, a surname derived from one of her mother's ancestors, or might derive from one or both of her parents being Puritans (thoug…

Evidence: 88 • authority: 72

Theodore Paleologus (Italian: Teodoro Paleologo; c. 1660–1693), alternatively Theodorious or Theodorus and sometimes referred to as Theodore III by modern historians to distinguish him from his grandfather and his uncle, both by the same name, was the only known son of Ferdinand Paleologus. Through Ferdinand, Theodore, born in Barbados, may have been the last living male member of the Palaiologos dynasty, rulers of the Byzantine Empire from 1259 to its fall in 1453. Theodore was a sailor and privateer on board the ship Charles II, captained by Charles Gibson. A year after Theodore's death, the ship's first mate Henry Every would take control of it and become a renowned pirate. Theodore live…

Evidence: 86 • authority: 72

The Paleologus family (pl. Paleologi; Italian: Paleologo), also called Palaiologos, Palaeologus and Paleologue, were a noble family from Pesaro in Italy who later established themselves in England in the 17th century. They might have been late-surviving descendants of the Palaiologos dynasty, rulers of the Byzantine Empire from 1259/1261 to its fall in 1453. Members of the family claimed to be descendants of Thomas Palaiologos, a younger brother of the final Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, though modern historians are divided on whether their line of descent is true. With the exception of a single figure in their purported genealogy, a son of Thomas by the name of John who is…

Evidence: 78 • authority: 72

Ferdinand Paleologus (Italian: Ferdinando Paleologo; June 1619 – 2 October 1670) was a 17th-century English-Greek freeholder, sugar or cotton planter and churchwarden and possibly one of the last living members of the Palaiologos dynasty, which had ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1259 to its fall in 1453. Ferdinand was the fourth and youngest son of Theodore Paleologus, a Greek soldier and assassin who moved to England in the late 16th century. Ferdinand supported the royalist side in the English Civil War (1642–1651), but emigrated to Barbados during (or possibly before) the conflict, perhaps fleeing punishment as the royalists were being defeated or perhaps seeking his fortune with relati…

Evidence: 75 • authority: 72

Theodore Paleologus (Italian: Teodoro Paleologo; c. 1560 – 21 January 1636) was a 16th and 17th-century Greek nobleman, soldier and assassin. According to the genealogy presented on Theodore's tombstone, he was a direct male-line descendant of the Palaiologos dynasty, which had ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1259 to its fall in 1453. Though most of the figures in the genealogy can be verified to have been real historical figures, the veracity of his imperial descent is uncertain. Born in Pesaro around 1560, Theodore was forced into exile after being convicted for the attempted murder of a man called Leone Ramusciatti. He lived in exile for many years and went on to become a proficient sold…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Andronikos III Palaiologos (Greek: Ἀνδρόνικος Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνός Παλαιολόγος, romanized: Andrónikos Doúkās Ángelos Komnēnós Palaiológos; 25 March 1297 – 15 June 1341), commonly Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus, was the Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341. He was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia. He was proclaimed co-emperor in his youth, before 1313, and in April 1321 he rebelled against his grandfather, Andronikos II Palaiologos. He was formally crowned co-emperor in February 1325, before ousting his grandfather outright and becoming sole emperor on 24 May 1328. His reign included the last failed attempts to hold back the Ottoman Turks in Bithynia and the d…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, which fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised sovereign authority are included, to the exclusion of junior co-emperors who never attained the status of sole or senior ruler, as well as of the various usurpers or rebels who claimed the imperial title. The following list starts with Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, who rebuilt the city of Byzantium as the imperial capital, Constantinople, and who was regarded by the later emperors as the model ruler. Modern historians distinguish this later phase of the Roma…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Palaiologos dynasty in the period between 1261 and 1453, from the restoration of Byzantine rule to Constantinople by the usurper Michael VIII Palaiologos following its recapture from the Latin Empire, founded after the Fourth Crusade (1204), up to the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire. Together with the preceding Nicaean Empire and the contemporary Frankokratia, this period is known as the late Byzantine Empire. From the start, the regime faced numerous problems. The Turks of Asia Minor had begun conducting raids and expanding into Byzantine territory in Asia Minor by 1263, just two years after the enthronement of the first Palaio…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Andreas Palaiologos (Greek: Ἀνδρέας Παλαιολόγος; 17 January 1453 – June 1502), sometimes anglicized to Andrew Palaeologus, was the eldest son of Thomas Palaiologos, Despot of the Morea. Thomas was a brother of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the final Byzantine emperor. After his father's death in 1465, Andreas was recognized as the titular Despot of the Morea and from 1483 onwards, he also claimed the title "Emperor of Constantinople" (Latin: Imperator Constantinopolitanus). After the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the subsequent Ottoman invasion of the Morea in 1460, Andreas's father fled to Corfu with his family. After Thomas died in 1465, the then twelve-year-old Andreas moved to Rome a…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus (Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος, romanized: Kōnstantīnos Dragásēs Palaiológos; 8 February 1404 – 29 May 1453) was the last reigning Byzantine emperor from 23 January 1449 until his death in battle at the fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453. Constantine's death marked the definitive end of the Eastern Roman Empire, which traced its origin to Constantine the Great's foundation of Constantinople as the Roman Empire's new capital in 330. Constantine was the fourth son of Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos and Serbian noblewoman Helena Dragaš. Little is known of his early life, but from the 1420s onward, he repeatedly demonstrated…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Since its fall, the issue of succession to the Byzantine Empire has been a major point of contention both geopolitically, with different states laying claim to its legacy and inheritance, and among the surviving members of the Byzantine nobility and their descendants. Historically, the most prominent claims have been those of the Ottoman Empire, which conquered Byzantium in 1453 and ruled from its former capital, Constantinople; the Russian Empire, as the most powerful state practising Eastern Orthodox Christianity; and various nobles and figures in Western Europe of increasingly spurious and questionable imperial descent. Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453, with the l…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The House of Palaiologos (pl. Palaiologoi; Ancient Greek: Παλαιολόγος, pl. Παλαιολόγοι; female version Palaiologina; Ancient Greek: Παλαιολογίνα), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek noble family that rose to power and produced the last and longest-ruling dynasty in the history of the Byzantine Empire. Their rule as Byzantine emperors lasted almost two hundred years, from 1259 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The origins of the family are unclear. Their own medieval origin stories ascribed them an ancient and prestigious origin in ancient Roman Italy, descended from some of the Romans that had accompanied Constantine the Great…