Geoffrey II Geoffroi II | |
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Prince of Achaea | |
![]() Coat of Arms of the Principality of Achaea | |
Reign | c. 1229-1246 |
Predecessor | Geoffrey I |
Successor | William II |
Born | c. 1195 Unknown |
Died | after May 6, 1246 Unknown |
Burial | Church of St James, Andravida |
Spouse | Agnes of Courtenay |
Issue | None |
Dynasty | Villehardouin |
Father | Geoffrey I |
Mother | Elisabeth of Chappes |
Geoffrey II of Villehardouin (French : Geoffroi II de Villehardouin) (c. 1195- after May 6, 1246) was the third prince of Achaea (c. 1229-1246). [1] [2] From his accession to the princely throne, he was a powerful and respected person, and even French knights came to the principality to enter his service. [3] Geoffrey II emerged as the most powerful vassal of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, the person around whom the crusaders' states in modern Greece gradually regrouped themselves. [2] He came to the rescue of the imperial capital three times. [2] As a reward of his services to the Latin Empire, he was granted suzerainty over the island of Euboea by his brother-in-law, Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople (1228–1261). [2] [4] He was also a humane prince, benevolent and just, solicitous for the condition of the common people. [5]
Geoffrey was born as the eldest son of Geoffrey of Villehardouin, a French knight from Champagne and his wife, Elisabeth of Chappes. [1] His father joined the Fourth Crusade in 1199, later conquered a significant part of the Peloponnese and seized the throne of the Principality of Achaea following the death of its first prince, William I (1205–1209). [6]
The new prince summoned his wife from Champagne during the early period of his residence in the Peloponnese. [7] She came with their young son, Geoffrey and the family took up its residence in the castles of La Crémonie (now Sparta, Greece) and Kalamata. [8]
In 1217 the young Geoffrey married Agnes, the daughter of Emperor Peter I of Constantinople (1217). [2] [4]
Geoffrey II succeeded his father at the age of about 35. [2] He lived in a noble style, keeping always at his court 80 knights with golden spurs, supported on his bounty. [2]
He began his reign during a very critical period in the history of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, because the fall of the Kingdom of Thessalonica in 1224 had interposed formidable enemies between the capital of the empire on the one hand and the crusaders' states in the Peloponnese on the other. [3] [9] But the defeat of Emperor Theodore Komnenos Doukas of Thessalonica (c. 1225-1230) by Tzar Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria (1218–1241) at Klokotnitza in April, 1230 freed them from the dangers inherent in the great concentration of power in the hand of Theodore Komnenos Doukas. [3] [10]
Living on good terms with his Greek neighbors, Geoffrey II assured the peace and prosperity of his principality. [5] [11] He frequently sent investigators to the courts of the barons to inform him of their way of life and of the manner in which they treated their vassals. [5]
His resources permitted him to send financial aid to his liege lord Emperor John I of Constantinople (1231–1237). [4] [5] In 1236 he intervened in person to succor Constantinople, besieged by the forces of the Greek Emperor John III Vatatzes of Nicaea (1222–1254). [5] [12] With a fleet manned by 100 knights, 300 crossbow-men, and 500 archers, he forced the blockade and then, in conjunction with the Venetians, Pisans, and Genoese, repulsed the Greek fleet and delivered the capital. [5] In the same year, Count Maio I Orsini of Cephalonia (1194–1238) placed himself under Geoffrey II's suzerainty. [13] In July 1237 he gave the Teutonic Knights a hospital in Andravida.[ citation needed ]
In 1238, uniting his ships with those of Venice, he again came to the rescue of Constantinople, once more besieged by the emperor of Nicaea. [5] In the following year, Geoffrey II wished to take part in the crusade of his overlord of France, Count Theobald IV of Champagne (1201–1253), but Pope Gregory IX ordered him to turn his forces against the Greek emperor in order to ensure the safety of Constantinople. [5] On February 9, 1240, the pope granted him an indulgence to the effect that the vow he had made of going as a crusader to the Holy Land might be fulfilled, with all benefits, by rendering continued assistance to the beleaguered Latin Empire. [14]
In 1243, upon the false rumor of the death of his brother-in-law, Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople (1228–1261), Geoffrey II returned to the capital of the empire in order to secure the regency during the minority of his wife's nephew, Philip. [4] [5]
Geoffrey II died in 1246 and was buried in his capital, Andravida, in the church of the monastery of St. Jacob. [1]
The Principality of Achaea or Principality of Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire, which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, along with the Duchy of Athens, until Thessalonica was captured by Theodore, the despot of Epirus, in 1224. After this, Achaea became for a while the dominant power in Greece.
The Duchy of the Archipelago, also known as Duchy of Naxos or Duchy of the Aegean, was a maritime state created by Venetian interests in the Cyclades archipelago in the Aegean Sea, in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, centered on the islands of Naxos and Paros. It included all the Cyclades. In 1537, it became a tributary of the Ottoman Empire, and was annexed by the Ottomans in 1579; however, Christian rule survived in islands such as Sifnos and Tinos.
The Battle of Pelagonia or Battle of Kastoria took place in early summer or autumn 1259, between the Empire of Nicaea and an anti-Nicaean alliance comprising Despotate of Epirus, Kingdom of Sicily and the Principality of Achaea. It was a decisive event in the history of the Eastern Mediterranean, ensuring the eventual reconquest of Constantinople and the end of the Latin Empire in 1261.
William of Villehardouin was the fourth prince of Achaea in Frankish Greece, from 1246 to 1278. The younger son of Prince Geoffrey I, he held the Barony of Kalamata in fief during the reign of his elder brother Geoffrey II. William ruled Achaea as regent for his brother during Geoffrey's military campaigns against the Greeks of Nicaea, who were the principal enemies of his overlord, the Latin Emperor of Constantinople Baldwin II. William succeeded his childless brother in the summer of 1246. Conflicts between Nicaea and Epirus enabled him to complete the conquest of the Morea in about three years. He captured Monemvasia and built three new fortresses, forcing two previously autonomous tribes, the Tzakones and Melingoi, into submission. He participated in the unsuccessful Egyptian crusade of Louis IX of France, who rewarded him with the right to issue currency in the style of French royal coins.
The Prince of Achaea was the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, one of the crusader states founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). Though more or less autonomous, the principality was never a fully independent state, initially being a vassal state subservient of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, which had supplanted the Byzantine Empire, and later of the Angevin Kingdom of Naples. During the Angevin period, the princes were often absent, being represented in the Principality by their baillis, who governed in their name.
The Battle of the Olive Grove of Kountouras took place in the summer of 1205, in Messenia in the Morea peninsula, between the Frankish Crusaders and the local Byzantine Greeks, resulting in a victory of the Franks and the collapse of the local resistance.
William I of Champlitte (1160s-1209) was a French knight who joined the Fourth Crusade and became the first prince of Achaea (1205–1209).
Villehardouin was a noble dynasty that originated in Villehardouin, a former commune of the Aube department, now part of Val-d'Auzon, France. It is most notable as the ruling house of the Principality of Achaea, a Frankish crusader state in the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece, between 1209 and 1278, when possession passed to the Angevin Kings of Naples.
Geoffrey I of Villehardouin was a French knight from the County of Champagne who joined the Fourth Crusade. He participated in the conquest of the Peloponnese and became the second prince of Achaea.
Othon de la Roche, also Otho de la Roche, was a Burgundian nobleman of the De la Roche family from La Roche-sur-l'Ognon. He joined the Fourth Crusade and became the first Frankish Lord of Athens in 1204. In addition to Athens, he acquired Thebes by around 1211.
The War of the Euboeote Succession was fought in 1256–1258 between the Prince of Achaea, William of Villehardouin, and a broad coalition of other rulers from throughout Frankish Greece who felt threatened by William's aspirations. The war was sparked by Villehardouin's intervention in a succession dispute over the northern third of the island of Euboea, which was resisted by the local Lombard barons with the aid of the Republic of Venice. The Lord of Athens and Thebes, Guy I de la Roche, also entered the war against William, along with other barons of Central Greece. Their defeat at the Battle of Karydi in May/June 1258 effectively brought the war to an end in an Achaean victory, although a definite peace treaty was not concluded until 1262.
The Battle of Prinitza was fought in 1263 between the forces of the Byzantine Empire, marching to capture Andravida, the capital of the Latin Principality of Achaea, and a small Achaean force. The Achaeans launched a surprise attack on the greatly superior and overconfident Byzantine force, defeated and scattered it, saving the principality from conquest.
The Battle of Makryplagi or Makry Plagi was fought between the forces of the Byzantine Empire, and the Latin Principality of Achaea. The Byzantines had been weakened and demoralized by the defection of their numerous Turkish mercenaries to the Achaeans. At Makryplagi, the Byzantines suffered a heavy defeat, which together with their defeat at the Battle of Prinitza the previous year ended their attempted reconquest of the Morea.
The Barony of Karytaina or of Skorta was a medieval Frankish fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, located in the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, centred on the town of Karytaina in the mountainous region known as Skorta.
Vilain of Aulnay was a French knight from Aulnay-l'Aître in the Champagne who became marshal of the Latin Empire of Constantinople and first Baron of Arcadia in the Principality of Achaea. In the Greek version of the Chronicle of the Morea, he is attested as Βηλὲς ντὲ Ἀνόε, a form which passed to the other versions of the Chronicle as Anoé, Annoée or Anoée.
Geoffrey of Briel, in older literature Geoffrey of Bruyères, was a French knight and the third lord of the Barony of Karytaina in the Principality of Achaea, in Frankish Greece. He led a colourful and turbulent life, narrated in detail in the Chronicle of the Morea. Accounted the finest knight in the Principality, he fought in the wars against the Byzantine Greeks, was captured in the Battle of Pelagonia in 1259, and was sent back to Achaea bearing the Byzantine terms in 1261. Geoffrey was twice deprived of his barony, once for rebelling against his uncle, the Prince of Achaea William II of Villehardouin, and then for abandoning the Principality without leave in order to spend time with a mistress, the wife of one of his feudatories, in Italy. He was pardoned both times, but henceforth held his title as a gift of the Prince. He died childless in 1275, and the Barony of Karytaina was split up.
The Treaty of Sapienza was concluded in June 1209 between the Republic of Venice and the newly established Principality of Achaea, under Prince Geoffrey I of Villehardouin, concerning the partition of the Peloponnese (Morea) peninsula, conquered following the Fourth Crusade. By its terms, Venice, which had been accorded most of the Peloponnese in the Partitio Romaniae, recognized Villehardouin in possession of the entire peninsula except for the two forts of Modon and Coron, which came under Venetian control, and secured commercial and tax privileges in the Principality. The text of the treaty is also a valuable primary source for the early history of the Principality of Achaea.
The First Parliament of Ravennika was convened in May 1209 by Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders in the town of Ravennika in Central Greece in an attempt to resolve the rebellion of the Lombard barons of the Kingdom of Thessalonica.
The Second Parliament of Ravennika was convened in May 1210 by Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders in the town of Ravennika in Central Greece in order to resolve the differences between the princes of Frankish Greece and the Roman Catholic clergy of their domains.
The bailli, bailie, or bailiff was the administrative representative of the Princes of Achaea, ruling the Principality of Achaea in the Prince's absence. The early princes, who belonged to the founding Villehardouin dynasty, resided in the principality, and governed it directly. In 1278, Achaea passed to Charles of Anjou, the King of Naples. Charles, and many of his successors, ruled the principality through their baillis, and never visited it in person. Originally, the baillis were Angevin officials, but the post was often given to powerful feudatories from Achaea and the rest of Frankish Greece.