Riccardo Orsini

Richard Orsini was the count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from before 1260 to his death in 1303/4, and also Count of Gravina in 1284–91. He also served on behalf of the Angevin Kingdom of Naples as captain-general of Corfu in 1286–90 and as the bailli in the Principality of Achaea from 1297 to 1300. He assisted the Despot of Epirus in battle against the Byzantine Empire, and secured the marriage of his son, John I, to the Epirote ruler's daughter, which would lead in 1318 to the Orsini takeover of Epirus. Biography Richard is generally thought to be the son of Matthew Orsini, count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, and a daughter of the John Komnenos Doukas. However, given the long period between the beginning of Matthew's reign in the first years of the 13th century and the attested date of Richard's death, it is possible that another character is to be intercalated between Matthew and Richard, perhaps the "count Theodore" referred to in a document from 1264 (possibly Matthew's son and Richard's father). It is unclear when exactly Richard became count palatine; he is not specifically recorded by name in a document until 1264. However, according to the testimony of the later chronicler Marino Sanudo Torcello, he was still a minor around 1262, when William II of Villehardouin assumed the regency for the county after his return from captivity in the Byzantine Empire. Some authors date his accession as early as 1238, the date of the last document referring to Matthew Orsini, often assumed as the date of his death. If so, Richard was then perhaps the "Count of Cephalonia" referred to in a Venetian attempt to form an alliance of the Frankish rulers of Greece in aid of the beleaguered Latin Empire of Constantinople. Already since Matthew Orsini's time, the county palatine was a vassal of the Principality of Achaea, and through it, after the Treaty of Viterbo, of the Kingdom of Naples. In this capacity he also held the post of captain general of Corfu and Butrint on the Albanian shore in 1286–90. In 1291/92, he participated with 100 knights in a campaign to aid the ruler of Epirus, Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas, against the Byzantine forces who were besieging Ioannina, along with 400–500 cavalry from Achaea under Nicholas III of Saint Omer. In exchange, Nikephoros sent his daughter, Maria, as a hostage to Cephalonia. After the Byzantines were repelled, she was wed to Richard's son and heir, John I Orsini.