Stephen Zaccaria

Stephen Zaccaria was the youngest brother of the last Prince of Achaea, Centurione II Zaccaria, and Latin Archbishop of Patras from 1404 until his death in 1424.

Stephen was the youngest of the four sons of Andronikos Asen Zaccaria, Grand Constable of Achaea and Baron of Chalandritsa and Arcadia. In 1404, he was elected as Latin Archbishop of Patras. In April 1404, Stephen's elder brother Centurione II Zaccaria succeeded in replacing his aunt, Maria II Zaccaria, as ruler of the Principality of Achaea.

Despite their kinship, Centurione and Stephen were not always aligned: in 1406–07, Stephen allied himself with and the Byzantine Despot of the Morea, Theodore I Palaiologos, in the latter's unsuccessful attempts to overthrow Centurione and capture his domains. In 1408 Stephen, threatened by mounting Ottoman raids in the Peloponnese and faced with financial difficulties, decided to lease the administration of Patras to the Republic of Venice for five years, in exchange for an annual fee of 1,000 ducats. This move suited the strategic interests of the Republic, as together with Lepanto, Patras gave it control of the entrance to the Corinthian Gulf. In 1418, threatened by the advances of the Byzantines in Messenia, Stephen once again turned to Venice for protection, calling on Venice to send troops from Negroponte to garrison Patras. The Republic accepted, but the Venetian troops had to withdraw in 1419 due to the opposition of the Pope, who was concerned lest Patras, a possession of the Church, fall permanently under Venetian control.

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