County of Kefalonia and Zakynthos, 1 January 1200

Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Ithaca were taken from the empire in 1185 by the Sicilian fleet under the admiral Margaritus of Brindisi during William II's invasion, and unlike Dyrrachion and Corfu (recovered by 1191) they were never won back (Miller: 'permanently severed from the empire'; en.wikipedia: 'the other islands henceforth remained lost to Byzantium').

Margaritus held them of the Sicilian crown; Roger of Howden says Henry VI confirmed him as admiral at Christmas 1194 and gave him the 'duchy of Durazzo', which probably means these islands, four days before his arrest. On the usual account the islands then passed to Matthew (Maio), an Apulian from Monopoli, who acknowledged the kings of Sicily and lived until after 1238. The islanders are Greek and Orthodox, under a small Latin household and an Italian colony from Brindisi (Miller).

On 1 January 1200 the county is a Latin lordship outside the empire: its nominal overlord is a child under papal wardship who cannot help it, while the emperor in Constantinople still lists the islands among the places open to Venetian trade in his privilege of November 1198 (Miller).

Who rules

Name: Matthew (Maio), an Apulian of Monopoli, 'Matthew of Cephalonia', later called Orsini: on the usual account
Title: Count (comes) of Kefalonia; the style 'count palatine' is attested only later (not pinned for 1200)
Since: Not pinned: about 1194-1195 on the usual account (after Margaritus of Brindisi's arrest at Palermo on 29 December 1194); only by 1206 on Kiesewetter's reading
Born: Not pinned
Family: Called 'Apulus, de civitate Monopoli' by the Breve chronicon de rebus Siculis; the Orsini surname is Karl Hopf's conjecture and appears in no primary source. His wife was the daughter of the local Byzantine governor (Aragonese Chronicle of the Morea) or of Margaritus (Hopf, Miller): not pinned. No child is known by 1200; the later counts Richard and perhaps Theodore are of uncertain relation.
Confidence: low

English Wikipedia (Matthew Orsini) dates him 'before 1206 (1194?)' and reports Kiesewetter (2006) that he became master of the islands only as late as 1206; the county page dates his rule from 1195; Miller (1908) has 'Count Maio, or Matthew' holding the islands at the time of the Fourth Crusade and recognizing the king of Sicily; the Italian county page (after Hopf) gives Richard Orsini, Margaritus's son-in-law, from 1197.

Overlord

The king of Sicily, as for Margaritus before him: in 1200 the boy Frederick, just five, under Innocent III's wardship, with the regency at Palermo fighting Markward of Annweiler. In practice the count answers to no one.

What the realm holds

Kefalonia, with the castle of St George, the island's capital since Byzantine times
Zakynthos, with its town and castle
Ithaca (the medieval Val di Compare)

How it was acquired

Conquered for William II of Sicily by Margaritus of Brindisi in 1185 and held by him as a royal fief (in 1192-1193 he signed as admiral and count of Malta). Confirmed by Henry VI at Christmas 1194 (Howden's 'duchy of Durazzo'). After Margaritus's arrest on 29 December 1194 the islands passed to Matthew by means not recorded: grant, marriage or seizure.

Allies and rivals

Rival of the emperor, who has never given up the islands. Neighbour of Corfu, held that winter either by the Genoese corsair Leone Vetrano or by an imperial governor (Vetrano (Corfu)). Tied by trade and people to Brindisi and Apulia. No dealings with Venice or the pope are recorded before 1207.

The realm that morning

A Latin lordship outside the empire: the count holds Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Ithaca from the castle of St George. Who the count is that morning is not pinned (Matthew on the usual account). Across the water: Byzantine Lefkada and Acarnania to the north and east (the governor of Nikopolis, Governor of Nikopolis), Byzantine Patras and the western Peloponnese to the south-east (pel), Corfu to the north (contested: the corsair Vetrano or an imperial governor), and Apulia across the Ionian Sea (the kingdom of Sicily, on the Southern Italy map).

Wealth

The islands' farms and vineyards, the sea road between the Adriatic, the Gulf of Corinth and the Peloponnese, and very likely piracy: in 1191 Benedict of Peterborough gave Kefalonia and Ithaca a bad name for pirates (Miller).

Military

The castle of St George on Kefalonia and the castle of Zakynthos; the count's galleys. No numbers in any source.

Threats

The emperor's claim to the islands
Venice, if it turns to the Ionian Sea (it is given the islands in the partition of 1204)
Rival Latin adventurers, such as the corsair at Corfu
No help to be had from the Sicilian regency

Heirs and kin

No heir known for 1200. Count Richard, often called Matthew's son, and a Theodore who may have come between them belong to later decades and are not pinned. Hopf's line (Richard Orsini as Margaritus's son-in-law, count from 1197) is rejected by modern scholarship.

Officers and household

None named. Miller notes an Italian colony from Brindisi settled on Kefalonia under these Apulian adventurers.

Treaties

None recorded for 1200.

Wars and feuds

No war recorded that winter. The standing quarrel is with the empire, which claims the islands.

Church

A Greek bishop of Kefalonia (name in 1200 not pinned). The Latin diocese of Kefalonia and Zakynthos dates from 1222 (later).

Coinage

No coinage of the counts is recorded.

Host and fleet

The count's ships and the castle garrisons; no numbers in any source.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1207 (beyond 1200)Matthew places himself and his islands under Pope Innocent III.Depends on: The fall of Constantinople (1204) and the partition, which assigns the Ionian islands to Venice Stopped by: A surviving empire, or a Sicilian king able to protect him
1209 (beyond 1200; reported only by 14th- and 15th-century Venetian chroniclers)Matthew accepts Venetian suzerainty.Depends on: Venice holding Corfu (taken from Vetrano in 1206) Stopped by: Venice losing Corfu (it does in 1210)

Places of note

Castle of St George (Kastro): Hill fortress above the Livatho plain; seat of the count
Castle of Zakynthos: Castle hill above the town

Where the sources disagree

Holder and start date: en.wikipedia's county page dates Matthew from 1195; its Matthew Orsini page gives 'before 1206 (1194?)' and reports Kiesewetter (2006) that he was master of the islands only by 1206; it.wikipedia (after Hopf) gives Richard Orsini from 1197; Miller (1908) has Maio holding them at the time of the Fourth Crusade. Ruled here: Matthew on the usual account, low confidence; the islands are drawn as the county in any case, since no source puts them back under the empire after 1185.
Origins: Hopf made Matthew a Roman Orsini and a grandson or son-in-law of Margaritus; recent work makes him an Apulian from Monopoli unrelated to Margaritus. The late Aragonese Chronicle of the Morea has him a swineherd driven out of Monopoli who married the daughter of the local Byzantine governor on Kefalonia; if true, an imperial officer was on the island when he arrived, which fits Kiesewetter's later date.
Margaritus's end: en.wikipedia has him blinded and dead in Germany in 1197, but also cites Howden for his murder in Rome by a servant; either way he is out of the islands from 29 December 1194.

Evidence: No document of the county survives from 1194-1206. The account rests on Roger of Howden, the Breve chronicon, the late Aragonese Chronicle of the Morea, papal letters from 1207, and Hopf's reconstructions as revised by Kiesewetter (2006, not seen in this run).

On the map: The three islands are drawn whole. Who holds them that morning is not pinned; on Kiesewetter's later date they could lie under a royal officer, an imperial governor or local men in 1200, but no source shows the empire back on them after 1185.

Sources and studies

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.