William of Champlitte

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William I
Prince of Achaea
Coat of Arms of William of Champlitte
Reign1205-1209
SuccessorGeoffrey I
Born1160s
Died1209
SpouseAlais of Meursault
Elisabeth of Mount-Saint-Jean
House
FatherOdo I of Champlitte
MotherSybille

William I of Champlitte (French: Guillaume de Champlitte) (1160s-1209) was a French knight who joined the Fourth Crusade and became the first prince of Achaea (1205–1209).[1][2][3]

Early years and the Fourth Crusade

William was the second son of Odo or Eudes I of Champlitte, viscount of Dijon (son of Hugh, Count of Champagne) and his wife, Sybille.[3] He married first Alais, the lady of Meursault. With the consent of his wife, he donated property to the Cistercian abbey of Auberive for the soul of his younger brother, Hugh in 1196.[4] He later married Elisabeth of Mount-Saint-Jean, but they divorced in 1199.

William and his brother,

Boniface I of Montferrat, the leader of the crusade who had, in order to preserve the integrity of the expedition, withheld the publication of the papal bull of anathema.[7][8]

The crusaders

Partitio Romaniae, a treaty concluded by all the leaders of the Fourth Crusade, the Republic of Venice received title to occupy, among other territories, the whole Peloponnese (in modern Greece).[11]

Foundation of the Principality of Achaea

Early in 1205

Nauplia (now Nafplion, Greece).[13] He had earlier occupied some parts of Messenia and now persuaded the king that even though the northeastern part of the Peloponnese was offering resistance the rest of the peninsula could easily be conquered.[13] Geoffrey also offered to share the territory with William.[14] Boniface I thereupon appointed William to hold the Peloponnese as a fief from him.[13] Geoffrey of Villehardouin then paid homage to William and the two, with one hundred knights given them by the king plus each leader's own personal retinue, set off to conquer the rest of the peninsula.[13]

From Nauplia William and Geoffrey of Villehardouin made their way north to

Elis.[15] Wherever William met no resistance, he recognized the rights of the Greeks to their lands, customs, and privileges.[15]

The Peloponnese in the Middle Ages

The conquerors met their first serious obstacle at the coastal fortress of Arcadia (modern

was fought in an olive grove called Koundoura in the summer of 1205.[15] Here the well-armed and well-disciplined crusaders won an overwhelming victory over the much more numerous Greek forces.[15] Michael fled from the battle-field and William in short time occupied Coron (now Koroni, Greece), Kalamata and Kyparissia.[15]

Fortress at Modon (Methoni)

Although the peninsula had not been entirely overrun—for example

Latin Patriarch of Constantinople, referred to William as princeps totius Achaiae provinciae (‘prince of all Achaea province’).[17][18]

However, the Venetians, in order to secure control of the key ports between Italy and Constantinople, demanded that their rights granted to them by the partition treaty of 1204 be recognized.[19] Early in 1206 they occupied Modon and Coron, expelling the Frankish garrisons.[19]

In 1208 William learned of the death of his brother Louis in Burgundy and decided to return home to France to claim the family lands.[19][20] He left Geoffrey of Villehardouin as acting bailiff to administer Achaea until William's nephew named Hugh should arrive to replace Geoffrey of Villehardouin as bailiff.[19] William, however, died en route home in Apulia.[19][21]

See also

References

  1. ^ Runciman 1951, p. 126.
  2. ^ Longnon 1969, p. 239.
  3. ^ a b Evergates 2007, p. 220.
  4. ^ Bouchard 1987, p. 121.
  5. ^ Runciman 1951, p. 115.
  6. ^ Andrea 2000, pp. 54-56.
  7. ^ Runciman 1951, p. 111.
  8. ^ Andrea 2000, p. 55.
  9. ^ Fine 1994, p. 62.
  10. ^ Runciman 1951, pp. 124-125.
  11. ^ a b Runciman 1951, p. 125.
  12. ^ Setton 1976, p. 16.
  13. ^ a b c d Fine 1994, p. 69.
  14. ^ Longnon 1969, p. 237.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Setton 1976, p. 25.
  16. ^ a b c d Fine 1994, p. 70.
  17. ^ Runciman 1951, p. 124.
  18. ^ Setton 1976, p. 26.
  19. ^ a b c d e Fine 1994, p. 71.
  20. ^ Setton 1976, p. 33.
  21. ^ Setton 1976, p. 34.

Sources

  • Andrea, Alfred J. (2000). Contemporary Sources for the Fourth Crusade. Brill.
    ISBN 90-04-11740-7
    .
  • Bon, Antoine (1969). La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d'Achaïe [The Frankish Morea. Historical, Topographic and Archaeological Studies on the Principality of Achaea] (in French). Paris: De Boccard.
    OCLC 869621129
    .
  • Bouchard, Constance Brittain (1987). Sword, Miter, and Cloister: Nobility and the Church in Burgundy, 980-1198. Cornell University Press.
    ISBN 0-8014-1974-3
    .
  • Evergates, Theodore (2007). The Aristocracy in the County of Champagne, 1100-1300. University of Pennsylvania Press.
    ISBN 978-0-8122-4019-1
    .
  • ISBN 0-472-08260-4
    .
  • ISBN 0-14-044124-7
    .
  • Longnon, Jean (1969) [1962]. "The Frankish States in Greece, 1204–1311". In
    ISBN 0-299-04844-6
    .
  • Runciman, Steven (1954). A History of the Crusades, Volume III: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • ISBN 0-87169-114-0
    .

Further reading
Regnal titles
New title Prince of Achaea
1205–1209 		Succeeded by
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