Niccolò Gattilusio

Who was Niccolò Gattilusio?

Niccolò Gattilusio was the last Prince of Lesbos.

He was a younger son of Dorino of Lesbos and Orietta Doria.

He deposed his elder brother Domenico of Lesbos, threw him in prison, and had him strangled. Sultan Mehmed II used this crime as his pretext to invade Lesbos. In truth he was angry with Niccolò for the latter's sponsorship of Catalan pirates in the region.

After the Turks almost completely demolished the capital city, Mytilini, and slaughtered many of the inhabitants, Niccolò surrendered. He was carried off to Constantinople as a captive, along with most of his family. There he converted to Islam and was briefly released. His sister Maria Gattilusio, who was called the most beautiful woman of her day, disappeared into the sultan's harem. Her son Alexios became a page, but seems to have been beheaded not long afterwards.

Then Mehmed II discovered that a favorite page of his, who had fled from him some time before, had become Christian and was included among the retinue of Prince Niccolò. This final indignity seems to have hastened Niccolò's death sentence. He was strangled to death with a bowstring.