The church is well known as the resting place of Theodore Paleologus a descendent of the rulers of the once mighty Byzantine Christian Empire. At some time, presumably after this date, Palaeologus and his daughters from his second wife settled in Landulph, and apparently lived with Sir Nicholas and Lady Lower at Clifton, both classical scholars who enjoyed the company of Palaeologus and studied classics with him. The response is unknown and he next learn that Palaeologus owned a small property in Plymouth, as his name appears among the monthly assessments for the relief of the poor in Old Town Ward for the year 1628, being rated at one halfpenny per week. The next we hear of him is few decades later, in 1627, when at Plymouth, he wrote a letter to the Duke of Buckingham, begging to be taken into the King's service. In the same year, Palaeologus married at his second wife, Mary Balls, in Yorkshire. Apparently, his friends "perswaded one Seignor Theadora Polalga.a noble Italian Gentleman, to insinuate into his woodish acquaintances" and gradually drew him back into normal society. There he met the celebrated Captain John Smith, who had recently returned from service in Europe and at the age of only 21, "being glutted with too much company wherein he took small delight," had retired into seclusion at Tattershall. The patriarch of the family, Theodore Palaeologus not long after his wife's death in 1596 came to England, and in 1600 was named "Rider to Henry Earl of Lincolne" at Tattershall Castle. Constantine Rhodocanakis, born in 1653, became a well-known physician, scholar and friend of King Charles II, whom he met during his European exile. The couple had a daughter, Theodora, who in October 1614, married Prince Demetrius Rhodocanakis in Naples. In particular, a brass near the vestry door of the church commemorates a certain Theodore Palaeologus, who on 6 July 1593, married Eudoxia Commena, descended from the previous imperial Comnenus dynasty. Meanwhile, in far off Cornwall, a monument in the Landulph parish church commemorates the most unlikely of parishioners, members of the Palaeologus family that, after remaining in Chios, then under Genoese control, gradually made their way, via Italy, where many Byzantine refugees and a considerable number of members of the Palaeologus family had settled, marrying into the ruling family of the marquisate of Mantua, to England, settled and died there, having played an interesting role in key events in English history. Considering that his profligate nephew, Andreas sold the rights to the Byzantine crown to Charles VIII of France in 1494, a dispute as to the legitimacy of the title of Emperor seems more than likely, considering that said Andreas also sold the title to King Ferdinand of Spain. There he lies until such time as we need him most, whereupon he will once more arise and re-establish his Empire. Constantine's body was never found giving rise to the popular legend that an angel had taken him and entombed him in marble.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |