Draft:House of Licudi

The house of Licudi (Leichoudes) was a sovereign princely family of the Byzantine Empire that ruled the principality of Bulgaria from the 11th century to the 14th century which after the fall of Constantinople branched out to other regions of the world enjoying nobility.

Origins
This most noble family, of which a line is flourishing in Venice at the present day, descends from the ancient and princely Lichudis of Constantinople, and was related to the Imperial House of Palaiologo.

They held the sovereign principality of Bulgaria from the 11th century until the 14th of which a branch in Russia was recognized with the title Prince of Bulgaria in 1682. Many illustrious men emerged from the Licudi, including 2 Ecumenical Patriarch's of Constantinople, the first among equals of the several heads of the autocephalous churches which compose the Eastern Orthodox Church; a position comparable to that of the Pope.

Nicholas I of Constantinople known as the mystic, prime minister and secretary of Emperor Basil, and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in 901

Saint Constantine III Leichoudes, protovestiarios, President of the Senate, senior aide of emperors Michael V and Constantine IX. He also became abbot of the imperial Mangana Monastery, and in 1059, following the dismissal of Michael I Cerularius, he was elected and became the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, a position in which he held until his death.

Constantine, general and prime minister of four emperors, and prince of the senate

Joannicus, recipient of the Russian Khazars, Ivan and Peter the Great.

Info
After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1455, Gregory and Matthew Licudi took refuge in one of the Cyclades, and then in 1456 in Cephalonia, where they obtained a lordship with a fief in Zakynthos. They were enrolled in the Noble Councils of Corfu, Kefalonia and Vonizza and ascribed to the first nobility of Petersburg and to the Austro-Hungarian hereditary knighthood. A branch in Russia was recognized with the title Prince of Bulgaria in 1682 and another obtained the nobility of the Venetian Republic.

Among the recent protagonists of this family were, George of Mark who was the general admiral of the city and the fortress of Corfu in 1795, A Peter was admiral of the Venetian Navy and president of the supreme criminal court in Corfu in 1801, A Vector was captain of vessel and divisional commander in Dalmatia and Albania in 1816, Major General Petros Lykoudis (1843- 1913, and Rear Admiral Stylianos Lykoudis (23 March 1878 - 1958) who was the husband of Angeliki Louggi, a descendant of a family with long history in military service.