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Triarchy of Negroponte | |||||||||
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1204–1470 | |||||||||
Status | Protectorate of the Republic of Venice (1209-1390) Colony of the Republic of Venice (1390-1470) | ||||||||
Capital | Chalkis | ||||||||
Common languages | Venetian officially, Greek popularly | ||||||||
Religion | Roman Catholic officially, Greek Orthodox | ||||||||
Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Principality established | 1204 | ||||||||
• Ottoman Conquest | 1470 | ||||||||
Area | |||||||||
• Total | 3,660 km2 (1,410 sq mi) | ||||||||
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The Triarchy of Negroponte was a crusader state established on the island of Euboea (Venetian : Negroponte) after the partition of the Byzantine Empire following the Fourth Crusade. Partitioned into three baronies (terzieri, "thirds") (Chalkis, Karystos and Oreos) run by a few interrelated Lombard families, the island soon fell under the influence of the Republic of Venice. From circa 1390, the island became a regular Venetian colony as the Realm of Negroponte (Venetian : Reame di Negroponte o Signoria di Negroponte).
According to the division of Byzantine territory (the Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae ), Euboea was awarded to Boniface of Montferrat, King of Thessalonica. Boniface in turn ceded the island as a fief to the Flemish noble Jacques II of Avesnes, who fortified the capital Chalkis.
After his death in mid-1205 however, the island was ceded to three Veronese barons: Ravano dalle Carceri, Giberto dalle Carceri and Pecoraro da Mercanuovo. They divided the island into three triarchies ( terzieri , "thirds"): the northern, based at Oreos (Italian : terzero del Rio), the southern, ruled from Karystos (Italian : terzero di Caristo) and the central portion, ruled from Chalkis (Italian : terzero della Clissura). The city of Chalkis or Negroponte (città de' Lombardi, "city of the Lombards") however was not under the latter's control, but served as overall capital of the island and joint residence of the Lombard rulers and their families. By 1209 however, Ravano had established himself as sole master of Euboea, styling himself as dominus insulae Nigropontis.
Having allied himself with an unsuccessful Lombard rebellion against the Latin Emperor, Henry of Flanders, Ravano was eager to find a powerful protector. Thus, in March 1209, he signed an alliance with Venice, which recognized Venetian overlordship and gave the Venetians significant commercial privileges. In May, however, in an act of political balancing, Ravano also acknowledged his vassalage to the Latin Empire.
However, already after the death of Ravano in 1216, his heirs disagreed over the succession, allowing the Venetian bailo to intervene as a mediator. He partitioned the three baronies in two, creating thus six hexarchies ( sestieri ). The northern triarchy of Oreos was divided between Ravano's nephews, Marino I and Rizzardo; the southern triarchy of Karystos was divided between his widow, Isabella, and his daughter, Bertha; and the central triarchy was divided between Giberto's heirs, Guglielmo I and Alberto. Provisions were also made that in the case someone among the sestieri died, his inheritor would be the other sestiere of the respective triarchy, and not his children. In fact, most sestieri were succeeded by their brothers, sons or nephews, keeping the baronies within the tight circle of the original Lombard families.
In 1255 however, the death of Carintana dalle Carceri, hexarch of Oreos, led to the so-called "War of the Euboeote Succession", which involved the Principality of Achaea and Venice. William II of Villehardouin, Prince of Achaea and nominal overlord of Negroponte, asserted his authority as overlord, while the Lombard barons were unwilling to concede it. On 14 June 1256, Guglielmo of Verona and Narzotto dalle Carceri, the other two triarchs, repudiated their allegiance to William and pledged themselves to Venice. William responded by capturing Chalkis, which the Venetians retook in early 1258. The war ended in the battle of Karydi in May/June 1258, where William defeated the Duke of Athens, Guy I de la Roche, who had allied himself with the rebellious triarchs. Finally, in 1259, Doge Reniero Zeno negotiated a peace, followed by a treaty in 1262, which recognized William's suzerainty over the island. [1]
By that time, however, the Empire of Nicaea had established itself as the foremost power in the area of the former Byzantine Empire, reconquering several territories from the Latins. Its successes culminated in the recapture of Constantinople in 1261 and the reestablishment of the Byzantine Empire, whose energetic ruler, Michael VIII Palaeologus, sought to reconquer the remaining Latin principalities in southern Greece. To this end, he accepted the services of Licario, an Italian renegade, who had his base near Karystos. Under Licario's command, Byzantine troops soon conquered most of Euboea, except Chalkis.
After the departure of Licario sometime after 1280 however, with Venetian aid, the island gradually returned to Latin control. [2] By 1296, Boniface of Verona had completely expelled the Byzantines from Euboea.
In 1317 however, Karystos fell to the Catalan Company of Don Alfonso Fadrique, royal vicar-general (governor) of the duchy of Athens and illegitimate son of Frederick III of Sicily. In 1319, a peace treaty was signed between Venice and Don Alfonso, whereby he retained Karystos, which the Venetians acquired in 1365.
When the last triarchs, Niccolò III dalle Carceri and Giorgio III Ghisi, died in 1383 and 1390 respectively, they left their territories to Venice, which thus established complete predominance over the island. Nevertheless, the triarchic system was maintained, with Venetian families appointed to the positions of terzieri, while the Venetian podestà (magistrate) resided at Chalkis.
Venice's rule lasted until 1470, when, during the Ottoman–Venetian War of 1463–1479, Sultan Mehmed II campaigned against Chalkis. With the fall of the city on 12 July, the whole island came under Ottoman control. The city's fall is the subject of the Rossini opera Maometto II.
Note: The sequence of rulers during the 13th century, as well as the familial relations between them, are not very clear, as information about Euboea's internal history is scarce to non-existent, especially for the period 1216–1255. [3] According to the rules of succession laid down on the island's division into thirds and sixths in 1216, on the death of a hexarch, he was succeeded in his domain by his fellow hexarch within their third, and not by the former's heirs. [4]
Barony of Karystos [note 1] | Karystos Southern Triarchy | Chalkis Central Triarchy | Oreos Northern Triarchy | ||||
Jacques d'Avesnes (1204–1205) | |||||||
Ravano dalle Carceri (1205-1208) | Giberto da Verona I (1205-1208) | Pecoraro da Mercanuovo (1205-1209) | |||||
Ravano dalle Carceri (1208-1209) | |||||||
Ravano dalle Carceri (1209-1216)[ citation needed ] | |||||||
Felicia dalle Carceri (1216-1278), [5] with Othon de Cicon (1216-1264) [note 2] , (jure uxoris) or Othon de Cicon (1250 [6] -1264) with his wife Agnese Ghisi [7] Guy de Cicon (1264-1278), under his mother's regency, Agnese Ghisi (1266-1269). [8] He was made prisoner in 1278. [9] | Berta dalle Carceri (1216-1240),[ citation needed ] daughter of Ravano. | Isabella dalle Carceri (1216-1220),[ citation needed ] widow of Ravano. | Guglielmo da Verona I (1216-1220),[ citation needed ] son of Giberto I, recovered his father's triarchy. | Alberto da Verona (1216-1220),[ citation needed ] son of Giberto I, recovered his father's triarchy. | Marino dalle Carceri I (1216-1247),[ citation needed ] nephew of Ravano. | Rizzardo dalle Carceri (1216-1220), [5] nephew of Ravano. | |
Berta dalle Carceri (1220-1236 [5] /1240[ citation needed ]) and/or Marino dalle Carceri I (1220[ citation needed ]/1236 [5] -1247) | Guglielmo da Verona I (1220-1256)[ citation needed ] | Marino dalle Carceri I (1220-1236 [5] /1247[ citation needed ]) [note 3] or Carintana dalle Carceri (1220[ citation needed ]/1236 [5] /1247[ citation needed ] -1255 [note 4] ) | |||||
Carintana dalle Carceri (1240-1255) [5] [note 5] Vice-hexarch: Michele Morosini [5] [note 6] | Narzotto dalle Carceri (1247-1255), [5] son of Marino. | Narzotto dalle Carceri (1247-1256) [5] | |||||
Narzotto dalle Carceri (1255-1256) [5] [note 7] | Grapello dalle Carceri (da Verona) [note 8] (1220-1256 [5] /1247[ citation needed ]). [note 9] | ||||||
Guillaume II de Villehardouin [note 10] (1256[ citation needed ]-c.1260 [5] ) Vice-triarch in Karystos: Othon de Cicon [5] [note 11] | |||||||
Narzotto dalle Carceri (1260-1264),[ citation needed ] [5] restored to his triarchy. | Guglielmo da Verona I (1260-1263), [5] restored to his triarchy. | Grapello dalle Carceri (da Verona) (1260-1264), [5] restored to his triarchy. | |||||
Marino dalle Carceri II (1264-1278), [5] son of Narzotto, under regency of his mother, Felicia da Verona . [note 12] | Guglielmo da Verona II (1263-1275) [5] | Grapozzo dalle Carceri (da Verona) (1264-1278), [5] nephew of Guglielmo II da Verona. Vice-hexarch: Leone da Verona [5] [note 13] | Gaetano dalle Carceri (da Verona) (1264-1278), [5] nephew of Guglielmo II da Verona. Vice-hexarch: Leone da Verona [5] [note 14] | ||||
Giberto da Verona II (1275-1278) [5] | |||||||
Occupation of the Nicaean Empire (1278-1285/96) Vice-governor: Licario [5] | |||||||
Agnès de Cicon (1296-1317), [5] daughter of Guy, with Bonifacio da Verona, [note 15] (jure uxoris) | Alicia dalle Carceri (1285-1313), [5] daughter of Narzotto, with Giorgio Ghisi I (1299-1311, jure uxoris ) | Beatrice da Verona [5] (1285-1328), daughter of Giberto II, [note 16] with Jean de Noyers (1303-1326, jure uxoris ) Vice-triarch: Maria Navigajoso [5] [note 17] | Maria dalle Carceri (da Verona) (1285-1323), [5] daughter of Gaetano, with: Alberto Pallavicini (1285-1311, jure uxoris ) Andrea Cornaro (1311-1323, jure uxoris ) | ||||
Marulla da Verona (1317-1326) [5] , daughter of the previous, with Alfonso Fadrique of Sicily (1317-1338, jure uxoris ) | Bartolomeo Ghisi II [note 18] (1313-1341), son of the previous. | Pietro dalle Carceri (1285[ citation needed ]/1323 [5] -1340), son of Grapozzo and Beatrice, recovered in 1323 his father's triarchy and united it to his mother's after her death in 1328. | |||||
Bonifacio Fadrique of Sicily (1338-1365), [5] son of the previous. In 1365 he sold the barony to the Republic of Venice. | Giorgio Ghisi II (1341-1358) | Giovanni dalle Carceri (1340-1358), [5] son of the previous, under regency of his mother, Balzana Gozzadini . [note 19] | |||||
Part of the Republic of Venice [note 20] | Bartolomeo Ghisi III (1358-1384) Giorgio Ghisi III (1384-1390) | Niccolò dalle Carceri (1358-1383), [5] [note 21] son of the previous, under regency of his mother, Fiorenza Sanudo . [note 22] | |||||
Between 1370 and 1380, Venice gained even more influence over the island's government, to the point that, in this period, Venice redistributed the powers on the island, returning to it the original triachy form of government. Venice appointed new families for the Northern and Southern Triachies, where its ruling families had been extinguished, and kept the central triarchy to Maria Sanudo, maternal half-sister of Niccolò dalle Carceri. | |||||||
Michele Giustiniani, Andrea Giustiniani, and Giovanni Giustiniani (1390-1402) Antonio Giustiniani (1402-1406) | Maria Sanudo II (1383-1426), [5] with Gaspare Sommaripa (1383-1402, jure uxoris ) | Januli I d'Aulnay (1385–1394) Niccolò d'Aulnay (1394-c.1425) Januli II d'Aulnay (c.1425–1434) | |||||
Niccolò II Zorzi (1406-1436) Niccolò III Zorzi (1436-1440) Jacopo Zorzi (1440-1447) Antonio Zorzi (1447-1470) | Crusino I Sommaripa (1426-1462) Domenico Sommaripa (1462-1466) Giovanni Sommaripa (1466-1468) Crusino II Sommaripa (1468-1470) | ||||||
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.
Karystos or Carystus is a small coastal town on the Greek island of Euboea. It has about 5,000 inhabitants. It lies 129 km south of Chalkis. From Athens it is accessible by ferry via Marmari from the port of Rafina. After the Greek war of independence, its urban plan was laid out by the renowned Bavarian civil engineer Bierbach, in the middle of the 19th century.
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.
Oberto, Uberto, or Umberto II was the Count of Biandrate (Blan-Dras) in Lombardy and a participant in the Fourth Crusade.
Licario, called Ikarios by the Greek chroniclers, was a Byzantine admiral of Italian origin in the 13th century. At odds with the Latin barons of his native Euboea, he entered the service of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, and reconquered many of the Aegean islands for him in the 1270s. For his exploits, he was rewarded with Euboea as a fief and rose to the rank of megas konostaulos and megas doux, the first foreigner to do so.
Boniface of Verona was a Lombard Crusader lord in Frankish Greece during the late 13th and early 14th century. A third son from a junior branch of his family, he sold his castle to equip himself as a knight, became a protégé of Guy II de la Roche, Duke of Athens, expelled the Byzantines from Euboea in 1296, and advanced to become one of the most powerful lords of Frankish Greece. Following Guy II's death, he served as regent for the Duchy of Athens in 1308–09, and was captured by the Catalan Company in the Battle of Halmyros in March 1311. The Catalans held Boniface in high regard, and offered to make him their leader. Boniface refused, but retained close relations with them, sharing their hostility towards the Republic of Venice and its own interests in Euboea. Boniface died in late 1317 or early 1318, leaving his son-in-law, the Catalan vicar-general Alfonso Fadrique, as the heir of his domains.
Ravano dalle Carceri was an Italian nobleman from Lombard. He was one of the first triarchs of Negroponte from 1205.
Maria Sanudo was lady of the island of Andros in the Duchy of the Archipelago in 1372–1383, and lady of the island of Paros and of one third of Negroponte in 1383–1426 in co-regency with her spouse, Gaspare Sommaripa.
The Battle of Demetrias was a sea engagement fought at Volos in Greece in the early 1270s between a Byzantine fleet and the assembled forces of the Latin barons of Euboea (Negroponte) and Crete. The battle was fierce, and initially in favour of the Latins, but the timely arrival of Byzantine reinforcements tipped the scale, resulting in a crushing Byzantine victory.
Guglielmo II da Verona was a Lombard noble from the triarchy of Negroponte (Euboea), considered by earlier historians as a triarch and a marshal of the principality of Achaea in Frankish Greece.
George I Ghisi was a Latin feudal lord in medieval Greece.
Bartholomew II Ghisi was a Latin feudal lord in medieval Greece, lord of Tinos and Mykonos, Triarch of Negroponte and Grand Constable of the Principality of Achaea.
Othon de Cicon was a Frankish noble and baron of Karystos on the island of Euboea (Negroponte) in medieval Greece.
Peter dalle Carceri was a Triarch of Euboea and Baron of Arcadia. He was descended from the noble Dalle Carceri family, son of Grapozzo dalle Carceri and Beatrice of Verona, both Lords of Euboea.
The Family of Verona was a noble Italian family originally from Verona. The family descended from the Lombards, and are most notable as the ruling house of the Triarchy of Negroponte, established on the island of Euboea in Greece, between 1205 and 1470.
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 House of Ghisi was a prominent Venetian noble family, originally from Padua or Aquileia.
The dalle Carceri were a noble family of Verona and Frankish Negroponte from the 12th to the 14th century.
Carintana dalle Carceri was the triarch of the northern third (Oreus) of the Lordship of Negroponte in Frankish Greece in circa 1220–1255.
Marco Gradenigo was a 13th-century Venetian nobleman, senior provincial administrator in the Venetian overseas empire and a military commander. He was involved in three major conflicts: the War of the Euboeote Succession, where Gradenigo organized a league of the lords of Latin Greece against the Principality of Achaea; the defence of the Latin Empire against the Empire of Nicaea, which failed with the Reconquest of Constantinople by the Nicaeans during Gradenigo's tenure as Podestà of Constantinople; and the naval operations of the War of Saint Sabas against the Republic of Genoa.