Lordship of Chios

Lordship of Chios
Χίος
Genoese lordship in Byzantine territory
1304–1329
Flag of Chios
Flag
CapitalChios
Area
 • Coordinates40°38′N 22°57′E / 40.633°N 22.950°E / 40.633; 22.950
Government
 • TypeFeudal lordship
Lord 
• 1304–1307
Benedetto I Zaccaria
• 1314–1329
Martino Zaccaria
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Established
1304
• Reconquest by the Byzantines
1329
• Capture of Chios by the Genoese
1354
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
Today part ofGreece

The Lordship of Chios was a short-lived autonomous lordship run by the Genoese Zaccaria family. Its core was the eastern Aegean island of Chios, and in its height it encompassed a number of other islands off the shore of Asia Minor. Although theoretically a vassal of the Byzantine Empire, the Zaccaria ruled the island as a practically independent domain from its capture in 1304 until the Greek-Byzantines recovered it, with the support of the local Greek population, in 1329. The island would return to Genoese control in 1346 under the Maona of Chios and Phocaea.