Bartolomea Acciaioli

In 1385, Nerio Acciaioli married Bartolomea to Theodore I Palaiologos, the Byzantine despot of Morea, cementing their alliance against the Navarrese Company, a band of mercenaries who had settled in the Peloponnese in the 1370s.^[8] Before the marriage, Nerio pledged that Bartolomea would inherit Corinth on his death. Theodore was devoted to his beautiful wife, and she remained loyal to him, but their marriage produced no children.^[6] Relations between Nerio and Theodore grew strained after the Navarrese captured Nerio in 1389. He was released only after promising to persuade Theodore to cede the city of Argos to the Venetians. The Venetians also seized Nerio's town of Megara, agreeing to return it once they obtained Argos, but Theodore refused to surrender the city.^[6][9]

Nerio Acciaioli made his last will in Corinth on 17 September 1394.^[10] He effectively disinherited Bartolomea, dividing his estate between his younger daughter, Francesca, his illegitimate son, Antonio, and the Church of Saint Mary of Athens (the Parthenon). Bartolomea received only the cancellation of 9,700 ducats that her husband had borrowed from her father.^[11] Outraged, she and her husband resolved to seize Corinth when Nerio died on 25 September.^[12] The following month, Theodore attacked the town but could not prevent Francesca from taking possession.^[13] A Turkish invasion of the Morea soon forced him to abandon the campaign in early 1395. After the Turks withdrew, Bartolomea ambushed Francesca between the Isthmus of Corinth and Megara, but she escaped capture.^[14] Ultimately, in 1396, Francesca's husband, Carlo I Tocco, conceded he lacked the strength to hold Corinth and sold her claim to Theodore.^[15]

Bartolomea died c. 1396. Her husband outlived her but struggled with severe depression until his death in 1407.^[16] That same year, a large sum she had deposited in a Venetian bank was given to Theodore's brother, Manuel II Palaiologos.^[17]