Carlo I Tocco
In the early 15th century, Carlo I Tocco, the Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, became the ruler of most of western continental Greece (Aetolia-Acarnania and Epirus). After his death in 1429/30, the Ottomans took over most of Epirus, leaving his nephew Carlo II Tocco to rule over a truncated realm as an Ottoman vassal. When he too died in 1448, his heir Leonardo III Tocco attempted to seek Venetian protection, whereupon the Ottomans began to occupy the remaining mainland territories, seizing Arta in 1449.