| Paleologus Palaiologos, Palaeologus, Paleologue | |
|---|---|
 Reconstructed coat of arms of Theodore Paleologus. Colors are conjectural but follow Hall (2015).[1] | |
| Parent house | Palaiologos (?) |
| Country | Duchy of Urbino Kingdom of England British West Indies |
| Founded | Late 15th or early 16th century |
| Founder | John Palaiologos, son of Thomas Palaiologos (?) |
| Final head | Godscall Paleologue |
| Traditions | Roman Catholicism (16th century) Church of England (17th century) |
| Dissolution | Late 17th or 18th century |
The Paleologus family (pl. Paleologi; Italian: Paleologo), also called Palaiologos, Palaeologus and Paleologue, were a noble family from Pesaro in Italy who later established themselves in England in the 17th century. They might have been late-surviving descendants of the Palaiologos dynasty, rulers of the Byzantine Empire from 1259/1261 to its fall in 1453.
Members of the family claimed to be descendants of Thomas Palaiologos, a younger brother of the final Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, though modern historians are divided on whether their line of descent is true. With the exception of a single figure in their purported genealogy, a son of Thomas by the name of John who is absent in contemporary sources, their claimed line of descent can be verified through documents at Pesaro. None of their contemporaries ever doubted their claims to imperial descent. If they were descendants of the Palaiologoi emperors, they were the last living members of the Palaiologos dynasty.
For much of their early history in Pesaro, the members of the Paleologus family served the town's ruling Della Rovere family in a military capacity. After brothers Leonidas and Scipione Paleologus, together with their nephew Theodore, were arrested for attempted murder, the family was disgraced in Pesaro and Theodore was forced into exile. After working as a soldier and assassin, Theodore arrived in England in 1597 and eventually settled in Cornwall. He had several children, but only one of them, Ferdinand, who later settled in Barbados, is known to have had children of his own. The last known living member of the family, Godscall Paleologue, is last attested as a newborn baby in 1694 and her subsequent fate is unknown.