the family is first mentioned in the 15th century when a rich landord in nafplio named emmanuel mormori was married to a lady from the bua family. when the ottoman army conquered nafplio in 1540, many greeks fled and some members of the mormoris family escaped to the island of crete controlled by the venetians. in the 16th century, members of the "mormori" or "murmuri" family were active in nafplio fighting against the ottoman empire. other members of the same family served the republic of venice in crete. mormoris himself praises the greeks and his family members in their fight against the ottomans.