John I Orsini

John I Orsini
Damaged impression of the seal of John I Orsini
Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
Reign1303/4 – 1317
PredecessorRichard Orsini
SuccessorNicholas Orsini
SpouseMaria Komnene Doukaina
IssueNicholas
John II
Guy
Margaret
ItalianGiovanni Orsini
DynastyOrsini (?)
FatherRichard Orsini
ReligionRoman Catholic

John I Orsini (Italian: Giovanni Orsini) was the count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from 1303 or 1304 to his death in 1317. Married to an Epirote princess, John spent a decade at the Epirote court before succeeding his father, Richard Orsini, as count palatine. As a vassal of the Principality of Achaea, he was involved in its domestic affairs and especially the dynastic dispute between the infante Ferdinand of Majorca and Princess Matilda of Hainaut in 1315–16, and participated in a number of Latin campaigns against Epirus, which he aspired to rule. A year after his death, his son and heir Nicholas Orsini seized Epirus and brought it under the Orsini family's rule.