1. Constantine Cominato Arianiti known as Constantine Komnenos Arianites, was a 15th and 16th-century Albanian nobleman, military leader, diplomat and pretender who lived most of his life in exile in Italy due to the conquest of his homeland by the Ottoman Empire.
The son of Gjergj Arianiti, an Albanian lord who had fought alongside the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg against the Ottomans, Constantine was taken to Italy for his safety in 1469, after the death of his father.
Constantine Arianiti was removed from office by Leo in 1516, following a riot by the locals, but was reinstated by Pope Clement VII in 1524, whereafter Constantine governed Fano from a mountain fortress at Montefiore Conca until his death in 1530.
Constantine Cominato Arianiti was born in 1456 or 1457 as the son of Gjergj Arianiti.
Constantine Arianiti's mother was Pietrina Francone from Apulia, a daughter of Oliviero Francone, an Aragonese officer in Lecce.
Constantine Arianiti had numerous siblings, including two brothers George and Thomas, and several sisters.
The Constantine Arianiti had grown increasingly influential in Albania just prior to the conquest of the country by the Ottoman Empire.
Three of Constantine Arianiti's sisters were married to highly influential figures: his sister Angelina was the wife of Stefan Brankovic, the Despot of Serbia, his sister Gojisava was the wife of Ivan Crnojevic, the Lord of Zeta, and his sister Donika was the wife of the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg, who led the Albanian resistance against the Ottomans from 1443 to 1468.
Constantine Arianiti would go on to have a successful career in Italy.
The records of these meetings are the first time Constantine Arianiti's claimed titles are attested.
Constantine Arianiti had been in Venice at the time, but managed to escape imprisonment by fleeing on a ship to Apulia.
Constantine Arianiti had been in Montferrat since 1486, in service to his niece Marija Brankovic, who was married to Boniface III, Marquis of Montferrat.
The advantageous marriage resulted in Constantine Arianiti being granted his own castle and accompanying lands, increasing his status and wealth considerably.
From 1501 onwards, Constantine Arianiti served the Papacy as a diplomat, travelling between Italy and Germany.
The contemporary Venetian historian Marino Sanuto the Younger recorded that Constantine Arianiti, in addition to being tall and black-haired, was a skilled speaker.
In 1504, Constantine Arianiti was sent by Pope Julius II as an ambassador to Maximilian.
The negotiations in which Constantine Arianiti was involved eventually resulted in the formation of the unsuccessful League of Cambrai in 1508, an alliance to counteract the Ottomans and the Republic of Venice.
Constantine Arianiti's contemporaries appear to have respected his claims to lands in Greece, given that Maximilian referred to Constantine Arianiti by both 'Prince of Macedonia' and 'Duke of Achaea' when sending him back as an ambassador to Rome in 1504.
Constantine Arianiti was not popular among the people of Fano, being disliked not only by the Italians but by the Albanians and Greeks, who were mostly discontent over the heavy taxations by the Papacy owing to the recent wars in Italy.
In 1516, the townsfolk of Fano began rioting, forcing Constantine Arianiti to flee to the castle.
The affair led Leo to depose Constantine Arianiti and install Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, as the governor of Fano in Constantine Arianiti's stead.
Constantine Arianiti was reappointed as governor of Fano by Pope Clement VII in 1524.