In addition to the position of grand master, Giovanni Andrea also claimed the titles "Prince of Macedonia" and "Duke and Count of Drivasto and Durazzo".

For the most part, such claimants were opportunists without actual links to Greek or Albanian families, and the Angeli were consistently successful in exposing fraudsters and maintaining their own rights.

On 10 February 1638, Pope Urban VIII officially recognized and confirmed the titles and privileges of Giovanni Andrea's family and order, restoring the previous papal support.

[9] In the early 17th century, Charles II Gonzaga (who was descended from the Palaeologus-Montferrat family, a western cadet branch of the Byzantine Palaiologos dynasty) dreamt of a crusade against the Ottoman Empire.

Already in 1611, Charles had made plans for an expedition to conquer Cyprus, and he was in touch with several prominent Orthodox Christian religious leaders in the eastern Mediterranean.

Having achieved the support of the princes of Moldavia and Wallachia, as well as figures throughout Europe, it was planned that an army 160,000 strong was to attack the Ottoman Empire and capture several strategic fortresses and settlements, including Constantinople itself.

Giovanni Andrea's limited participation in the failed scheme had been a financial gamle: it not only meant that no attempt was made to take the family's claimed lands, it also left him in debt.

Seeking a drastic solution to his problems, Giovanni Andrea on 14 August 1623 ceded the position of grand master to Marino Caracciolo,[12] prince of Avellino, a prominent Neapolitan noble and a distant relative of the Angeli.

Though Caracciolo enthusiastically accepted, and was proud to be grand master, his claim to the position was tenuous given that succession was normally based on primogeniture within the Angeli family.

Marcantonio Franciotta in 1632, criticized the Constantinan Order and the claims of the Angeli family, forbidding Giovanni Andrea from bestowing titles or privileges.