Nicholas Orsini, who had married the widow…

Nicholas Orsini, who had married the widow of the rival he had poised, Thomas I Komnenos Doukas, had claimed to rule not only Epirus, but all of Greece; his rule was limited only to Akamania, or the southern part of Epirus.

He was overthrown by his brother John in 1323, who attempted to balance submission to Constantinople with cooperation with the Angevins of Naples, who also claim Greece as part of their domains.

John had been poisoned around 1335 by his wife Anna, who became regent for their son Nikephoros II.

The new Emperor, Andronikos III Palaiologos, arrives in northern Epirus in 1337 with an army partly composed of two thousand Turks contributed by his ally Umur of Aydın.

Andronikos first deals with unrest due to attacks by Albanians and then turns his interest to the Despotate.

Anna tries to negotiate and obtain the Despotate for her son when he comes of age, but Andronikos demands the complete surrender of the Despotate, to which she finally agrees.

Thus Epirus comes peacefully under imperial rule, with Theodore Synadenos as governor.