Martino Zaccaria

Martino Zaccaria
King and Despot of Asia Minor, Lord of Chios, Baron of Veligosti-Damala and Chalandritsa
Grosso minted by Martino Zaccaria
Lord of Chios
Reign1314–1329
PredecessorPaleologo Zaccaria
SuccessorByzantine reconquest
Co-rulerBenedetto II Zaccaria (until c. 1325)
Baron of Damala
Reignafter 1311 – 1334
PredecessorRenaud de la Roche
SuccessorCenturione I Zaccaria
Baron of Chalandritsa
Reignc. 1316–1345
PredecessorAimon of Rans
SuccessorCenturione I Zaccaria
King and Despot of Asia Minor (de jure)
Reign1325–1345
Died17 January 1345
Smyrna
SpouseJacqueline de la Roche
IssueBartolommeo Zaccaria, Centurione I Zaccaria
HouseZaccaria
FatherPaleologo Zaccaria
ReligionRoman Catholic

Martino Zaccaria was the Lord of Chios from 1314 to 1329, ruler of several other Aegean islands, and baron of Veligosti–Damala and Chalandritsa in the Principality of Achaea. He distinguished himself in the fight against Turkish corsairs in the Aegean Sea, and received the title of "King and Despot of Asia Minor" from the titular Latin Emperor, Philip II. He was deposed from his rule of Chios by a Byzantine expedition in 1329, and imprisoned in Constantinople until 1337. Martino then returned to Italy, where he was named the Genoese ambassador to the Holy See. In 1343 he was named commander of the Papal squadron in the Smyrniote crusade against Umur Bey, ruler of the Emirate of Aydin, and participated in the storming of Smyrna in October 1344. He was killed, along with several other of the crusade's leaders, in a Turkish attack on 17 January 1345.