Colaianni used by Comneni and Paleologo from 11th-14th century

[vjmIII]

Greetings-

I'm terribly sorry to take up space on your board and hope you don't mind this query.

I have found a great deal of scholarly sources from the 19th century that list various Byzantine Emperors as "Colaianni", (others Caloianni, or Colajanni).  Giovanni II and various others took this name formally and even used it as a surname of sorts.  This happend in both Comneni and Paleologo lines from the 11th century until the 14th century.  

I have found other sources that say "Colaianni" was an ambassador of the Paleologo - another different connection between the name and the family.  

My question is regarding the surname Colaianni.  As I understand it, any Byzantine claimants are false as Thomas Paleologo had no issue?  Is this true?  Could some branch have taken Colaianni?  Colajanni/Colaianni interestingly enough appears as noble of Bari from 800-1750, specifically in Trani and Molfetta.  (In Molfetta Don Michele Colaianni and Giambattista Colaianni, secretary of war, inhabited Palazzo Colaianni).  

Any thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated.  I'd be more than glad to share my sources (which are all housed at top universities).  

Thank you.

[vjmIII]

I shoudl also add that Colaianni was a "famiglia nobili greci", so their origins before Bari do support a connection to Byzantine. 

As I read more on the board it seems evident that some Byzantine claims may be legitimate. 

[Ilias_of_John]

vjmIII,
Thomas did indeed leave heirs, his son was one Andreas, here is the wiki link on him,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Palaiologos
I have never heard of this name or family Colaianni,nor was that name ever used by any of the Paleologues(that I can find),
It is said that the Paleologues did leave legitimate heirs and successors, and as you would well know, the Russian Romanov Imperial familyare DIRECTLY RELATED  to them through the femanle line.
Now,why are you so interested in these Italians, and who does the honorific vjmIII honour?

[vjmIII]

John-

Thank you dearly for getting back to me so quickly.

Many Paleologo most certainly used Colaianni as a name.  I will email you over 50 scholarly sources (history books all housed at Harvard, Yale, University of California, etc).  if you'd like. 

My interest in this family is as a researcher.  They're connection to Byzantine seems to certainly be lost/overlooked.  Again, they were a "Greek" nobile family of Bari - so they did have connection to Byzantine, and they did have connection to nobility.  And many Emperors used Colaianni as a name.  That is my interest !


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For your records (and again, I will gladly email you all of the documents, with digital images of the pages as they appear in the books):

I registri della Cancelleria angioina, ricostruiti da Riccardo Filangieri con la collaborazione degli archivisti napoletani
By Naples (Kingdom). Regia Cancelleria, Riccardo Filangieri
Published by L'Accademia, 1950                 

The above book lists "Colaianni" as an ambassador of the Paleologo.


Dizionario biografico degli uomini illustri di Terra d'Otranto -  refers to re/King Colaianni throughout the book.


IMPORTANT connection to Byzantine/Paleologo :
1423, Emperor Colaianni
The Basilica of St. Mark in Venice -  Giovanni Musolino
- The book reads ,
"IN 1423, Doge Francesco Foscari escorted the Emperor Colaianni to the top."
If it was in 1423 - it clearly connects to the Paleologo.



Colaianni, Emperor of Trabisonda
St. Andrews University Publications - University of St. Andrews, 1927
"Che Despina, figliuola di Colaianni Imperatore di Trabisonda, Christiana, maritata a Vissuncassano Re di Persia"


Storia della Pittura in Italia dal secolo II al secolo XVI.
 By Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle, Joseph Archer Crowe
Colaianni, 1143, Venezia


Colaianni, Byzantine EmperorVenezia nei secoli - Eugenio Miozzi
"Colaianni, Imperatore bizantino - I, 250"


Colaianni, Emperor of Constantinople
Storia Della Toscana
"Colaianni, Imperatore di Constantinopoli , VI , 188"



Again, these references to Colaianni are all stand alone.  The Emperor is referred to as simply Colaianni - so Colaianni was not used simply as a nickname for the first Giovanni. 

[Saluti]

Stumbled across this site...

Is it possible for you to send me a list of the Colaianni information references?  I am from the Colajanni/Colaianni lines and from Sicily/Italy.  Would like to research line further if possible.

Thank you

[vjmIII]

There are a few important distinctions to make regarding the Colaianni families of Italy.

Firstly, it is Famiglia Colaianni di Bari that has the likeliest possible descent from some branch of the Comneni or Paleologo. 
Bari, the principal city of Puglia, was very much interconnected to Byzantium in the 11th-15th centuries.  Giovanni Il Buono (Colaianni, Calojanni, or Kalojanni, with various other similar transcriptions) spent time in Bari - and this was much documented.

More importantly, as I stated earlier in this thread, Vincenzo Massilla's chronicles of Bari's nobility names "Famiglia Colajanni/Colaianni" (di Bari) as one of the ten noble families of "Greek" origin in Bari pre 1726.  "Greche", however does not mean simply from "Greece", but in this case, from Constantinople.

This is undisputedly confirmed in Beatillo's definitive "Historia di Bari", 1636.   

Beatillo confirms Vincezo Massilla’s documentation of the diaspora of the ten important noble families of the Byznatine Empire, from Constantinople to Bari.   This is again confirmed in the scholarly source of Archivio Storico Italiano, volumes 3-4, Deputazione Toscana di storia Patria.

Now read carefully ...
"Il Beatillo annovera fra le famiglie venute da Costantinopoli a stabilirsi a Bari quelle dei Dottola, dei Gizzinosi, degli Effrem, degli Elia, dei Nai, dei Sergii, dei Turmarca, dei Caloianni, dei Seripandi, dei Carofili, degli Ametusa.  cc. pag 14,  E sarebbe facile cercarne anche nella altre citta"

Interestingly, the families included in Massilla’s chronicles as well as Beatillo’s are all, except for the Joannaci, the Protospada, the Protospatarii, and the Arcamonii.  Furthermore, Beatillo’s transciption of family Colaianni as "Caloianni" indicates that the family most likely descends directly from the Byznatine Imperial family.


And finally, concerning your Famiglia Colaianni di Sicilia
Famiglia Colaianni di Bari was listed in three separate Rivista Araldica's from 1905-1923.
Interestingly, Bertini-Frassoni denotes Famiglia Colaianni di Sicilia as a ramo (branch) of Famiglia Colaianni di Bari. 

Although I think it's safe to say that Famiglia Colaianni di Sicilia lost any claim to regency after Napoleone Colajanni - who was certainly disliked by most all royalists.