 These modern Palaiologoi cannot be confidently proven to descend from the imperial dynasty, or the medieval family which produced it.It is possible that many of them are descended from wealthy Greeks in the Ottoman period, who commonly assumed Byzantine surnames and claimed descent from the famous noble houses of their Byzantine past.The Paleologus family in Pesaro, attested from the early 16th century onwards, claimed descent from 'John Palaiologos', a purported third son of Thomas Palaiologos.