Leonardo V Tocco

Leonardo V Tocco was the son of Francesco Tocco, the titular Despot of Epirus and Count Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, and the Italian noblewoman Veronica Malaspina.[1] Leonardo was baptized on 2 June 1591 in Alessandria.[2] In addition to inheriting his father's claims to lands in Greece, Leonardo also inherited his status as a patrician of Venice and the lord of Refrancore in Montferrat.[2]

On 28 November 1613, Leonardo married Francesca Pignatelli, daughter of the Neapolitan patrician Cesare Pignatelli.[3] They evidently lived together in Naples, given that all of their children, from 1615 to 1631, were born there.[4] The contemporary Neapolitan composer Oddo Savelli Palombara dedicated one of his sonnets, concerning wars between Italians and the Ottomans, to Leonardo.[5]

In 1639, Leonardo expanded his family's holdings in Italy by purchasing the fiefs of Apice and Tinchiano for 43,433 ducats, 1 tarì and 13 grana.[3] He died on 24 January 1641 in Rome.[2]

With his wife Francesca, Leonardo V had twelve children:[4]

• Carlo Tocco (6 January 1615 – 10 July 1630), the eldest son, died at the age of fifteen.[6]
• Cesare Tocco (16 January 1616 – ?), son who died in infancy.[6]
• Ippolita Veronica Tocco (15 June 1617 – ?), the eldest daughter, became a Benedictine nun in Naples in 1633, living under the name 'sister Veronica' at the Santa Patrizia monastery.[7]
• Antonio Tocco (16 August 1618 – 5 March 1678), the eldest living son at the time of Leonardo's death and thus the heir to his claims and titles.[7]
• Giovanni Battista Tocco (10 May 1620 – ?), son who was made rector of the church of San Marco at Apice, appointed by the archbishop of Benevento on 24 August 1626. He left his duties at Apice on 7 November 1637.[8]
• Ippolita Maria Tocco (22 May 1621 – ?), daughter who became a Benedictine nun in Naples in 1642, residing in the same monastery as her sister Ippolita Veronica, under tha name 'sister Maria Arcangela'.[9]
• Giuseppe Tocco (? – 3 January 1662), son, married Girolama Carafa, daughter of a Neapolitan patrician,[9] with whom he had the two daughters Francesca and Dorotea.[10]
• Maria Francesca Tocco (18 September 1624 – ?), daughter who became a Franciscan nun in Naples in 1645, residing in the Capuccinelle monastery under the name 'sister Maria'.[9]
• Eleonora Tocco (25 December 1625 – ?), daughter who died in infancy.[9]
• Cesare Tocco (18 October 1627 – ?), son who died in infancy.[9]
• Cesare Tocco (18 June 1629 – ?), son who died in infancy.[9]
• Teresa Tocco (22 September 1631 – ?), daughter who became a Benedictine nun in Naples in 1648, residing in the same monastery as her sisters Ippolita Veronica and Ippolita Maria, under tha name 'sister Maria Caterina'.[9]