Nicholas Orsini

Nicholas Orsini
Byzantine-style seal of Nicholas with a bust of Saint Nicholas, and with his title of despot
Despot of Epirus
Reign1318–1323
PredecessorThomas Komnenos Doukas
SuccessorJohn II Orsini
Count palatine of Cephalonia
Reign1317–1323
PredecessorJohn I Orsini
SuccessorJohn II Orsini
Died1323
SpouseAnna Palaiologina
DynastyOrsini ('apostolic' branch [it])
FatherJohn I Orsini
MotherMaria Komnene Doukaina

Nicholas Orsini (Italian: Nicolò Orsini;[1] Greek: Νικόλαος Ορσίνι, romanizedNikolaos Orsini) was a Greek–Italian nobleman who was count palatine of Cephalonia from 1317 to 1323 and ruler of southern Epirus around Arta from 1318 to 1323. The son of Count John I Orsini and Maria, an Epirote princess, he succeeded his father upon the latter's death, and in the next year murdered his uncle, Thomas Komnenos Doukas, and usurped his rule of Epirus. While able to secure his control over southern Epirus, however, the north with the city of Ioannina were taken over by the Byzantine Empire. Nicholas' attempts to ally with the Republic of Venice and recover Ioannina failed, and he was in turn killed by his brother John II Orsini in 1323.

  1. ^ PLP, 224. <Ἄγγελος> Νικόλαος.