Despotate of Epirus

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Despotate of Epirus
Δεσποτᾶτον τῆς Ἠπείρου (
Medieval Greek
)
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) of Epirus
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)
Greek Orthodoxy[1]
GovernmentMonarchy
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
• Ottoman conquest of Vonitsa
1479
CurrencyDenier
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Byzantium under the Angeloi
Empire of Thessalonica
Despotate of Arta
Byzantium under the Palaiologoi
Ottoman Empire
Today part ofAlbania
Bulgaria
Greece
North Macedonia

The Despotate of Epirus (

historiographic
convention and not a name in use at the time.

The Despotate was centred on the region of

Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos Carlo I Tocco managed to reunite the core of the Epirote state, but his successors gradually lost it to the advancing Ottoman Empire, with the last stronghold, Vonitsa
, falling to the Ottomans in 1479.

Nomenclature

In traditional and modern

Latin captivity in c. 1206/7 or c. 1210; this has been disproven by more recent research.[5]

Furthermore, even after Michael II, speaking of the Epirote rulers as "Despots of Epirus" is technically incorrect.

John Kantakouzenos, the hagiography of St. Niphon, or the Chronicle of the Tocco, where the inhabitants of the Despotate are referred to as the Despotatoi.[7][8][9] The term "Despotate of Epirus" is thus sometimes replaced by "(Independent) State of Epirus" in more recent historiography.[10]

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

Hellenes" was widely used instead of the earlier "Romans" by the 13th-century court of the Despotate to describe its population.[13]

Foundation

The Epirote state was founded in 1205 by

John X Kamateros, the Patriarch of Constantinople, did not consider him a legitimate successor and instead joined Theodore I Laskaris in Nicaea; Michael instead recognized the authority of Pope Innocent III over Epirus, cutting ties to the Eastern Orthodox Church
.

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

Emperor of Thessaloniki
, c. 1227

Adrianople, Theodore arrived and took it back from him. Theodore also allied with the Bulgarians and drove the Latins out of Thrace
. In 1227 Theodore crowned himself Byzantine emperor, although this was not recognized by most Greeks, especially not the Patriarch in Nicaea.

In 1230 Theodore broke the truce with

Manuel Komnenos Doukas took power in Thessalonica, but Epirus itself soon broke away under Michael I's illegitimate son, Michael II Komnenos Doukas. Manuel awarded Michael the title of Despot—making Michael the first Epirote ruler to bear the title—as a sign of his nominal dependency on Thessalonica, but Michael was de facto independent, which he demonstrated by seizing Corfu in ca. 1236. In the rump Empire of Thessalonica, after Theodore was released in 1237, he overthrew his brother Manuel, and set up his son John Komnenos Doukas
as ruler of Thessalonica.

Nicaean and Byzantine suzerainty

The despotate of Epirus from 1230 to 1251
The despotate of Epirus from 1252 to 1315

Thessalonica never regained its power after the battle of Klokotnitsa. Theodore's younger son

William II, Prince of Achaea, and Michael decided to honour this alliance over his obligations to Vatatzes. The allies were defeated in the ensuing conflict at the Battle of Pelagonia
in 1259.

Emperor

Corcyra. However, Michael immediately allied with him by marrying his daughter Helena to him. After Theodore II died, Michael, Manuel[who?], and William II fought the new Nicaean emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologos. The alliance was very unstable and in 1259 William was captured at the disastrous Battle of Pelagonia. Michael VIII went on to capture Michael II's capital of Arta, leaving Epirus with only Ioannina
and Vonitsa. Arta was recovered by 1260 while Michael VIII was occupied against Constantinople.

Italian invasions

After Michael VIII restored the empire in Constantinople in 1261 he frequently harassed Epirus, and forced Michael's son

Charles of Anjou
, and in 1267/68 Michael II died. Michael VIII did not attempt to annex Epirus directly, and allowed Nikephoros I to succeed his father and deal with Charles, who captured Dyrrhachium in 1271. In 1279 Nikephoros allied with Charles against Michael VIII, agreeing to become Charles' vassal. With Charles' defeat soon after Nikephoros lost Albania to the Byzantines.

Under

Catherine II of Valois, Princess of Achaea
.

Collapse of the despotate

The despotate of Epirus from 1315 to 1358

Anna succeeded in marrying off Thomas to a daughter of Michael IX, but Thomas was assassinated in 1318 by his cousin

Umur of Aydın. Andronikos first dealt with unrest due to attacks by Albanians and then turned his interest to the Despotate. Anna tried to negotiate and obtain the Despotate for her son when he came of age, but Andronikos demanded the complete surrender of the Despotate to which she finally agreed. Thus Epirus came peacefully under imperial rule, with Theodore Synadenos as governor.[14]

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]

The Paregoretissa Church, the new cathedral of the Despotate's capital, Arta, built in the 13th century during the reign of Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas.

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

Thomokastron. By the end of the year the imperial army returned to the area, and in the following year, 1340, Andronikos III himself arrived together with John Kantakouzenos. Nikephoros was persuaded through diplomacy to recognize the authority of the emperor. He surrendered Thomokastron, married Maria Kantakouzene, the daughter of John Kantakouzenos, and received the title of panhypersebastos.[15]

The Empire soon fell into a

Angelokastron
as its capital.

In 1367 a part of the Epirotan Despotate was resurrected under local Serbian nobleman

Angelokastron in 1460, and finally Vonitsa
in 1479. With the exception of several coastal Venetian possessions, this was the end of Frankish rule in mainland Greece.

References

Bibliography