Nicholas Orsini

Nicholas Orsini (Italian Nicolò, died 1323), eldest son of Count John I Orsini of Cephalonia, succeeded his father as count palatine in 1317. In 1318 he murdered his childless uncle, Despot Thomas Komnenos Doukas, seized Arta and southern Epirus, adopted Orthodoxy and married Thomas's widow Anna Palaiologina, daughter of Emperor Michael IX.

In 1319 he refused to pay homage to the Angevins as ruler of Epirus. The Byzantines kept Ioannina, recognizing him only as despot in 1319/1320, and his later siege of the city failed when its citizens joined the defence. In 1323 he was killed by his own brother, the future John II.