Despotate of Epirus
Despotate of Epirus Δεσποτᾶτον τῆς Ἠπείρου ( Medieval Greek ) | |||||||||||||||
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1205–1337 1356–1479 | |||||||||||||||
Coat of arms of Carlo I Tocco, founder of the last ruling dynasty of Epirus, as count of Cephalonia (dexter) and despot of Epirus (sinister)
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Greek Orthodoxy[1] | |||||||||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
Despot of Epirus | |||||||||||||||
• 1205–1214 | Michael I Komnenos Doukas | ||||||||||||||
• 1448–1479 | Leonardo III Tocco | ||||||||||||||
Historical era | High Medieval | ||||||||||||||
• Established | 1205 | ||||||||||||||
• Byzantine conquest | 1337 | ||||||||||||||
• Re-establishment by Nikephoros II Orsini | 1356 | ||||||||||||||
1479 | |||||||||||||||
Currency | Denier | ||||||||||||||
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Today part of | Albania Bulgaria Greece North Macedonia |
The Despotate of Epirus (
The Despotate was centred on the region of
Nomenclature
In traditional and modern
Furthermore, even after Michael II, speaking of the Epirote rulers as "Despots of Epirus" is technically incorrect.
The Epirote realm itself did not have an official name. Contemporaries, particularly in Western Europe, used the term Romania (Greek: Ῥωμανία, romanized: Rhōmania, lit. 'land of the
Foundation
The Epirote state was founded in 1205 by
Henry of Flanders demanded that Michael submit to the Latin Empire, which he did, at least nominally, by allowing his daughter to marry Henry's brother Eustace in 1209. Michael did not honour this alliance, assuming that mountainous Epirus would be mostly impenetrable by any Latins with whom he made and broke alliances. Meanwhile, Boniface's relatives from Montferrat made claims to Epirus as well, and in 1210 Michael allied with the Venetians and attacked Boniface's Kingdom of Thessalonica. Pope Innocent III excommunicated him in response. Henry forced Michael into a renewed nominal alliance later that year.
Michael turned his attention to capturing other strategically important Latin-held towns, including Larissa and Dyrrhachium. He also took control of the ports on the Gulf of Corinth. In 1214 he captured Corcyra from Venice, but he was assassinated later that year and was succeeded by his half-brother Theodore.
Conflict with Nicaea and Bulgaria
In 1230 Theodore broke the truce with
Nicaean and Byzantine suzerainty
Thessalonica never regained its power after the battle of Klokotnitsa. Theodore's younger son
Emperor
Italian invasions
After Michael VIII restored the empire in Constantinople in 1261 he frequently harassed Epirus, and forced Michael's son
Under
Collapse of the despotate
Anna succeeded in marrying off Thomas to a daughter of Michael IX, but Thomas was assassinated in 1318 by his cousin
The imperials had insisted that Nikephoros would be engaged to one of the daughters of the emperor's right-hand man, John Kantakouzenos. When the time of the engagement came, Nikephoros had vanished. Andronikos learned that Nikephoros had fled to Italy, with the help of members of the Epirote aristocracy who supported an independent Epirus. He stayed in Taranto, Italy, in the court of Catherine II of Valois (Philip of Taranto's widow), the titular empress of Constantinople.[15]
In 1339 a revolt began, supported by Catherine of Valois, who had previously moved to the Peloponnese, and by Nikephoros who had returned to Epirus, based in
The Empire soon fell into a
In 1367 a part of the Epirotan Despotate was resurrected under local Serbian nobleman
References
- ISBN 9781610690263.
Constantinople (ruled by Roman Catholics) is now surrounded by a number of relatively small competing states including Bulgaria, the empire of Nicea (Greek Orthodox), the despotate of Epirus (Greek Orthodox), and the sultanate of Rum (Sunni Islam).
- ^ Fine 1994, p. 68.
- ^ Fine 1994, pp. 68–69.
- ^ Kazhdan 1991, p. 716.
- ^ Nicol 1984, p. 2.
- ^ Fine 1994, p. 69.
- ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, pp. 38–39.
- ^ Kazhdan 1991, pp. 614, 716.
- ^ Stiernon 1959, pp. 122–126.
- ^ a b c Veikou 2012, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 38.
- ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Bialor, Perry (2008). "Chapter 2, Greek Ethnic Survival Under Ottoman Domination". ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst: 73.
- ^ Nicol 1993, pp. 179–181.
- ^ a b Nicol 1993, p. 181.
- ^ Soulis 1984.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0472082604.
- ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
- Magdalino, Paul (1989). "Between Romaniae: Thessaly and Epirus in the Later Middle Ages". In Arbel, Benjamin; Hamilton, Bernhard; Jacoby, David (eds.). Latins and Greeks in the Eastern Mediterranean After 1204. Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. pp. 87–110. ISBN 0-71463372-0.
- ISBN 9780521261906.
- ISBN 9780521439916.
- Soulis, George Christos (1984). The Serbs and Byzantium during the reign of Tsar Stephen Dušan (1331–1355) and his successors. Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Library and Collection. ISBN 9780884021377.
- Soustal, Peter; Koder, Johannes (1981). Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 3: Nikopolis und Kephallēnia (in German). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 3-7001-0399-9.
- Stavridou-Zafraka, Alkmini (1990). Νίκαια και Ήπειρος τον 13ο αιώνα. Ιδεολογική αντιπαράθεση στην προσπάθειά τους να ανακτήσουν την αυτοκρατορία [Nicaea and Epirus in the 13th century. Ideological confrontation in their effort to recover the empire] (in Greek). Thessaloniki.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Stavridou-Zafraka, Alkmini (1992). "Η κοινωνία της Ηπείρου στο κράτος του Θεόδωρου Δούκα". Πρακτικά Διεθνούς Συμποσίου για το Δεσποτάτο της Ηπείρου (Άρτα, 27–31 Μαΐου 1990) [The society of Epirus in the state of Theodore Doukas] (in Greek). Arta: Μουσικοφιλολογικός Σύλλογος Άρτης «Ο Σκουφάς». pp. 313–333.
- Stavridou-Zafraka, Alkmini (2007). "Από την εκκλησιαστική οργάνωση του κράτους της Ηπείρου. Εκκλησιαστικά οφφίκια και υπηρεσίες του κλήρου τον 13ο αιώνα". Πρακτικά Β ́ Διεθνούς Αρχαιολογικού και Ιστορικού Συνεδρίου (Άρτα, 12–14 Απριλίου 2002) [From the ecclessiastical organization of the state of Epirus. Ecclesiastical offices and functions of the clergy in the 13th century] (in Greek). Arta: Μουσικοφιλολογικός Σύλλογος Άρτης «Ο Σκουφάς». pp. 161–196.
- Stavridou-Zafraka, Alkmini (2014). "Πολιτική ιδεολογία του κράτους της Ηπείρου" [Political ideology of the state of Epirus] (PDF). Vyzantiaka (in Greek). 31: 155–178. ISSN 1012-0513.
- Stiernon, Lucien (1959). "Les origines du despotat d'Épire. À propos d'un livre récent". Revue des études byzantines (in French). 17: 90–126. .
- Veikou, Myrto (2012). Byzantine Epirus: A Topography of Transformation – Settlements of the Seventh–Twelfth Centuries in Southern Epirus and Aetoloacarnania, Greece. Leiden: Brill.
- Zečević, Nada (2014). The Tocco of the Greek Realm: Nobility, Power and Migration in Latin Greece (14th–15th centuries). Belgrade: Makart. ISBN 9788691944100.