Mary Paleologus

Mary or Maria Paleologus (Italian: Maria Paleologa; died 1674) was a daughter of the 16th/17th-century soldier and assassin Theodore Paleologus. She might have been one of the last living members of the Palaiologos dynasty, which ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1259 to 1453. Born in Lincolnshire, Mary lived in England her entire life. She lived with her family in Tattershall until 1616, then in Plymouth and later in Landulph, Cornwall, where her parents died. She died in 1674 and was buried in Landulph on 15 May that year. As she maintained her original surname throughout her entire life, it is unlikely that Mary ever married.

Not to be confused with Maria Palaiologina; Maria Palaiologina Kantakouzene; or Maria Palaiologina, Queen of Serbia.

Mary Paleologus
Born	Unknown Tattershall, Lincolnshire, England
Died	1674 Landulph, Cornwall, England
Buried	15 May 1674 Landulph, Cornwall, England
Noble family	Paleologus
Father	Theodore Paleologus
Mother	Mary Balls

Biography

Mary Paleologus was a daughter of Theodore Paleologus by his wife, Mary Balls.[1] Mary is the only one of Theodore's children whose birth year is unknown.[2] Her family might have been the last living members of the Palaiologos dynasty,[3] which ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1259 to 1453.[4] They claimed descent from Thomas Palaiologos, a brother of Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, through a son called John, whose existence can not be confirmed through contemporary sources. All other purported ancestors (descendants of this John) of the later Paleologus family can be verified through contemporary records.[5] On account of the absence of evidence for John's existence, English Byzantininst Donald Nicol wrote in 1974 that the family's claim to descend from Thomas "must be held unproven".[6] John Hall, author of a 2015 biography on Mary's father, believes that it would be wrong to dismiss their descent on account of a single missing link.[7]

In her youth, Mary lived with her family at Tattershall, since her father served the hated and feared Earl Henry Clinton as Master of the Horse. When Clinton died in 1616 and Theodore left Lincolnshire, possibly being evicted by the new Earl (Thomas Clinton), the whereabouts of the children are unknown. What likely transpired was that the children were placed in the service of some household of higher class, a common practice in regards to adolescents at the time. It is also possible that the family lived with relatives of Theodore´s wife, the Balls family.[8]

From 1619 to 1628, Mary lived in Plymouth with her parents, her older sister Dorothy, and her younger brother Ferdinand.[9] The whereabouts of Mary's other brothers, Theodore Junior and John Theodore, are more unclear, but Theodore is known to have also lived at Plymouth from at least 1623 onwards.[9] Theodore Junior left his family at some point prior to 1628, making his own life elsewhere.[9] In 1628, Mary's father was invited by the rich Cornish squire Sir Nicholas Lower to join him at his home in Landulph, Cornwall.[10] Lower's large home, Clifton Hall, was divided to accommodate two families after Mary, her mother, her sister Dorothy, and probably Ferdinand moved in shortly thereafter.[11] Mary's mother died on 24 November 1631 and was buried in Plymouth.[12] Her father Theodore died on 21 January 1636 and was buried in Landulph.[1][13]

After the deaths of their parents, Mary and Dorothy remained at Clifton Hall. The sole references to Mary after her father's death is money being bequethed to her in wills; first ten pounds by Nicholas Lower in 1654 and then twenty shillings by her brother Ferdinand in 1670.[2] In his 1670 will, Ferdinand refers to her sister as Mary Paleologus and not with a married name (as he did for his other sister as Dorothy Arundel).[14] It is probable that Mary never married.[1][2][15] She died in 1674[15] and was buried in Landulph on 15 May that same year.[2]

References

1. Nicol 1974, p. 202.
2. Hall 2015, p. 180.
3. Hall 2015, p. 15.
4. Haldon 2005, p. 176.
5. Hall 2015, p. 38.
6. Nicol 1974, p. 201.
7. Hall 2015, pp. 15, 40–42.
8. Hall 2015, p. 144.
9. Hall 2015, p. 152.
10. Hall 2015, p. 155.
11. Hall 2015, p. 160.
12. Hall 2015, p. 149.
13. Hall 2015, p. 164.
14. Urban 1843, p. 20.
15. Jago 1817, p. 93.

Cited bibliography

• Haldon, John (2005). The Palgrave Atlas of Byzantine History. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0230243644.
• Hall, John (2015). An Elizabethan Assassin: Theodore Paleologus: Seducer, Spy and Killer. Stroud: The History Press. ISBN 978-0750962612.
• Jago, Vyvyan (1817). "Some Observations on a Monumental Inscription in the Parish Church of Landulph, Cornwall". Archaeologia, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts, Relating to Antiquity. 18.
• Nicol, Donald M. (1974). "Byzantium and England". Balkan Studies. 15 (2): 179–203.
• Urban, Sylvanus (1843). The Gentleman's Magazine: Volume XIX, New Series. London: William Pickering; John Bowyer Nichols and Son.