Principality of Achaea

The Principality of Achaea or of the 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.[1] 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.

Principality of Achaea

1205–1432
Coat of Arms of the House of Villehardouin
(first dynasty, see: Princes of Achaea)
Coat of arms of the Zaccaria family
(last rulers)
The Latin Empire with its vassals and the Greek successor states after the partition of the Byzantine Empire, c. 1204. The borders are very uncertain.
StatusClient state*
CapitalAndravida (1205-1249)
Mystras (1249-1261)
Common languagesFrench officially,
Greek popularly
Religion
Roman Catholic,
Greek Orthodox popularly
GovernmentFeudal monarchy
Prince 
Historical eraMiddle Ages
1204
1205
1259
 Angevin takeover
1278
 Absorbed in Despotate of the Morea
1432
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty
Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty
Today part of Greece
* The principality was a client state of, in order, the Latin Emperors at Constantinople, the Angevins of the Kingdom of Naples

Foundation

Achaea was founded in 1205 by William of Champlitte and Geoffrey I of Villehardouin, who undertook to conquer the Peloponnese on behalf of Boniface of Montferrat, King of Thessalonica. With a force of no more than 100 knights and 500 foot soldiers, they took Achaea and Elis, and after defeating the local Greeks in the Battle of the Olive Grove of Koundouros, became masters of the Morea. The victory was decisive, and after the battle all resistance from the locals was limited to a few forts, that continued to hold out. The fort of Araklovon[2] in Elis, was defended by Doxapatres Boutsaras and withstood the attacks until 1213, when the garrison finally surrendered. The fort of Monemvasia, and the castles of Argos, Nauplia and Corinth under Leo Sgouros held out until his suicide in 1208. By 1212, these too had been conquered, and organized as the lordship of Argos and Nauplia, and only Monemvasia continued to hold out until 1248. William of Champlitte ruled Achaea until he departed for France to assume an inheritance, but died on the way there in 1209. He was succeeded by Geoffrey I of Villehardouin, who ruled until his own death in 1219.

Organization of the Principality

Territorial organization and feudal structure

Map of the Peloponnese with its principal locations during the late Middle Ages

Achaea was rather small, consisting of the Peloponnese peninsula (then known as the Morea), but it was fairly wealthy, exporting wine, raisins, wax, honey, oil and silk. The capital of the principality was originally at Andravida. It was bordered on the north by Epirus and the Duchy of Athens and surrounded by Venetian-held territories in the Aegean Sea, including the forts of Modon and Coron on the Peloponnese.

In 1208/9, after Champlitte's departure, William I created a commission, composed of two Latin bishops, two bannerets and five Greek magnates and chaired by himself, to assess the land and divide it, according to Latin practice, in fiefs. The resulting register was presented at a parliament held at the princely residence at Andravida, and divided the country into twelve baronies, mostly centred around a newly constructed castle—a testament to the fact that the Franks were a military elite amidst a potentially hostile Greek population.[3][4] The twelve temporal barons were joined by seven ecclesiastic lords, headed by the Latin Archbishop of Patras. Each of the latter was granted a number of estates as knightly fiefs, with the Archbishop receiving eight, the other bishops four each, and likewise four granted to each of the military orders: the Templars, Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights.[5] The twelve secular baronies were:[6][7]

Barony Fiefs Territory First holder
Akova (Mattegrifon)24ArcadiaWalter of Rosières
Karytaina (Chabron)22SkortaRenaud of Briel
Patras24N. AchaeaWilliam Aleman
Passavant (Passava)4Mani PeninsulaJohn of Nully
Vostitsa8E. AchaeaHugh I of Charpigny
Kalavryta12SE. AchaeaOtho of Tournay
Chalandritsa4 (later 8)S. AchaeaAudebert of la Trémouille
Veligosti4S. ArcadiaMatthew of Mons
Nikli6S. ArcadiaWilliam of Morlay
Geraki6E. LaconiaGuy of Nivelet
Gritzena4SE. MesseniaLuke
Kalamata-S. MesseniaWilliam I of Villehardouin

Shortly after 1260, a thirteenth barony, that of Arcadia (modern Kyparissia) was established, which was also a personal fief of the Villehardouins.[6] Aside from Kalamata (and later Arcadia), which became the Villehardouins' personal fief, the Prince's own domain encompassed the region of Elis, where the capital Andravida, the port of Glarentza (Clarence) and the fortress of Chlemoutsi (Clermont) were situated, Corinthia, with the Acrocorinth as the chief site, as well as most of Messenia and Laconia around the fertile valley of Eurotas. When Tsakonia and the other mountainous regions of the southeast were subdued in the late 1240s, these too came under the Prince's control.[8]

The twelve barons retained considerable powers and privileges, so that the Prince was not an absolute sovereign but rather a "first among equals" among them. Thus they had the right to construct a castle without the Prince's permission, or to decree capital punishment. Since Salic Law was not adopted in Achaea, women could also inherit the fiefs.[9] The high secular and ecclesiastic lords formed the High Court (la Haute Court) of the principality, presided over by the Prince, which acted as the Prince's advisory council and judged affairs pertaining to feudal law.[10][11] In addition, a Lower Court (la Court de la Borgesie) is mentioned, which abjudicated in matters of common law.[10]

On the other hand, all vassals owed the Prince four months service in the field and four months garrison duty every year, retiring after the age of sixty, but only if a replacement could be provided. This put the principality on constant war footing. Indeed, the knights of Achaea enjoyed a considerable reputation both in the Levant and in Western Europe.[12][13]

With the Byzantine recovery of the region around Mystras after 1261, however, the rapid extinction of the original families and the expansion of Achaean influence across Frankish Greece, the initial organization of the Principate changed. By the time the principality's laws, the Assizes of Romania, were codified in the 1330s, the peers of the Prince were: the Duke of Athens, the Duke of Naxos, the Triarchs of Negroponte, the Margrave of Bodonitza, the Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, the barons of Patras, Matagrifon and Kalavryta, as well as the marshal of the principality.[6]

Government and administration

Achaean tornese from Glarentza (Clarentia)

The most important secular and ecclesiastical lords participated in the council of the "Grand Court", which was presided over by the Prince. The council had great authority, and its decisions were binding for the Prince. The Principality's higher officials were the chancellor, the Prince's chief minister, the marshal, the constable, the treasurer, the protovestiarius, in charge of the Prince's personal treasury, and the pourveur des chastiaux, who was responsible for the replenishment of the castles.

The Principality also produced a unique set of laws, the "Assizes of Romania", which combined aspects of Byzantine and French law, and became the basis for the laws of the other Crusader states. Several Byzantine titles such as logothetes and protovestarius continued in use, although these titles were adapted to fit the conceptions of Western feudalism. The Byzantine pronoia system was also adapted to fit Western feudalism; peasants (paroikoi) technically owned their land, but military duties and taxes that they had not been subject to under the pronoia system were imposed on them by their new French lords.

The Frankish barons were subjected to heavy military obligations. They had to serve four months each year with the Principality's army and further four months of guard duty on various castles.[14] They could not leave the Principality, except with the Prince's permission, and even then had to return within two years and two days or have their property confiscated.[15]

The Principality in the 13th century

Geoffrey I was succeeded by his son Geoffrey II, who ruled until his death in 1245. By confiscating the ecclesiastical taxes, in the years 1221-1223 he built himself a powerful castle at Chlemoutsi, near modern Kyllini, which he used as his main residence. Because of this, he came into conflict with the Catholic Church, and was briefly excommunicated by the Pope. When John III of Nicaea besieged Constantinople in 1236, Geoffrey II came to the aid of the Latin Empire with 100 knights, 800 archers and 6 vessels.

Under his son and successor, Prince William II Villehardouin, the Principality reached its zenith. William was a poet and troubadour, and his court had its own mint at Glarentza, and a flourishing literary culture, using a distinct form of spoken French. In 1249, William II moved the capital of Achaea to the newly built fortress of Mistra, near ancient Sparta. In 1255 he became embroiled in the War of the Euboeote Succession, and in 1259 he allied with Michael II, despot of Epirus, against Michael VIII Palaeologus of Nicaea. However, Michael II then deserted to join the Nicaean side, and William was taken prisoner at the Battle of Pelagonia. After Michael recaptured Constantinople in 1261, William was released in 1262 in return for Mistra and much of Laconia, which became a Byzantine province (the nucleus of the future Despotate of the Morea), as well as an oath of allegiance to the Emperor.

Map of the Greek and Latin states in southern Greece ca. 1278

However, soon after his release, William broke his oath of allegiance, and begun seeking alliances with and help from various Western nations.[16] Informed by the local Byzantine governor of William's actions, Michael VIII sent an army under the command of his half-brother, Constantine, against William, but the expedition was unsuccessful, the Byzantines first being routed at the Battle of Prinitza in 1263 and then, after Constantine's return to Constantinople, suffering a heavy defeat at the Battle of Makryplagi in 1264.[17][18]

Despite his successes at Prinitza and Makryplagi, the war with the Byzantines had taken a toll on Achaean resources, and their empire remained a looming threat. A proposal to marry William's elder daughter Isabella to Andronikos, eldest son of Michael VIII, was strongly opposed by the Achaean nobility, who had no desire to come under Byzantine rule. Both William and his overlord Baldwin II, now dispossessed of Constantinople, had hoped for aid from King Manfred of Sicily, who had sent troops to aid William at Pelagonia. But Manfred fell under Papal sanction and was killed in 1266, when Charles of Anjou conquered his kingdom. Charles was now ascendant in Italy, and William and Baldwin came to terms with him in the Treaty of Viterbo (1267). In return for the military aid and funds they so greatly needed, Charles obtained the suzerainty over Achaea from Baldwin, and the Principality itself from William. The latter was to retain the Principality for life, and it was to pass to his daughter, Isabella, who was to marry one of Charles' sons.[19]

These were hard terms, essentially detaching Achaea from the Latin Empire and making it a dependency of the Kingdom of Sicily. Nonetheless, William fulfilled his obligations, leading an Achaean force to aid Charles against the invasion of Conradin at the Battle of Tagliacozzo (1268), and bringing Isabelle to Italy to marry Charles' son Philip in 1271.[20] The military support of Charles allowed William to resist the Byzantines, and the last years of his reign were relatively quiet.[21]

However, after the death of William in 1278, the seeds of a calamitous succession dispute were laid. In the normal course of events, Achaea would have passed to a cadet branch of the House of Anjou. However, his son-in-law Philip had died in 1277 without an heir, and a reversionary clause in the Treaty of Viterbo provided that the Principality would go to Charles of Anjou, rather than Isabelle, should this occur.[21] Charles duly took possession of the Principality, which he ruled through a series of baillis; he would never personally visit it.[22]

A renewed commitment by Charles to retake the Latin Empire (Treaty of Orvieto, 1281) was forestalled by the War of the Sicilian Vespers, and this struggle with the Crown of Aragon consumed the remainder of his life. His son Charles II succeeded him in Achaea as well as Sicily (now reduced to the Kingdom of Naples), but was a prisoner in Aragonese hands. In the interim, the rule of Achaea devolved upon a series of baillis chosen from the Morean nobility. Not long after his release and coronation in 1289, he granted the Principality to Isabelle of Villehardouin upon her marriage with Florent of Hainaut, in part to redress the grasping application of the Treaty of Viterbo at William's death. However, he retained feudal overlordship over the Principality, and his grant provided that neither Isabelle nor any daughter who was her heir might marry without his consent.[23]

The feudal conflict of the Morea (1307–1383) and last decades of the principality

For this period the principality was under a violent succession dispute, which originated from the dispossessed Latin Emperor Baldwin II's gift of the overlordship of Achaea to Charles I of Sicily in return for support in his attempt to reconquer the throne in Constantinople, an action which ignored the rights of the Villehardouin Princes of Achaea. The Angevin kings of Naples subsequently gave Achaea as their fief to a series of their own relatives and creatures, who fought against Princess Margaret of Villehardouin and her heirs.

Map of the southern Balkans and western Anatolia in 1410. The Principality of Achaea under Centurione II Zaccaria was by then reduced to the western Morea.

Charles II of Naples had at first granted the fiefdom of Morea or Achaea to Princess Isabella of Villehardouin (from the Villehardouin dynasty), but he deposed her in 1307 and granted it to his son Philip I of Taranto, who in 1313 transferred it to Matilda (or Mafalda, or Maud) of Hainaut, heiress of Isabella of Villehardouin, who was married to Louis of Burgundy, titular King of Thessalonica. But Margaret, younger daughter of William II Villehardouin, claimed her rights from 1307. In 1313 she claimed them again without success and then transferred her rights to her daughter Isabelle of Sabran, wife of Ferdinand of Majorca. The son of Ferdinand and Isabelle, known as James the Unfortunate, was proclaimed prince of the Morea in 1315 under the regency of his father, who conquered the principality between 1315 and 1316 but was defeated and executed by Louis of Burgundy and Matilda in 1316. In 1316 Louis of Burgundy died and King Robert of Naples deposed Matilda and gave the principality to his brother John of Durazzo, to whom Matilda was briefly married under duress before being imprisoned.

From 1331 the feudal lords began to recognize the rights of James, and in 1333 the recognition was total. Then John transferred his rights to his sister-in-law, Catherine of Valois, titular Empress of Constantinople, wife of Philip I of Taranto, whose stepson Robert claimed her rights until 1346 when she died. Then the claim was issued by the son of Philip and Catherine, Philip II of Taranto. In 1349 James was succeeded by his son James IV (II of the Morea). In 1364 Robert of Taranto, stepson of Catherine and eldest surviving son of Philip I of Taranto, died. In 1373 Philip II transferred his rights to his cousin, overlord and former sister-in-law Queen Joan I of Naples, whose third husband James IV of Majorca, when he died in 1375, left her his own claim to the principality, at which point she became more or less uncontested Princess of Achaea. However, when Joan was imprisoned in Naples in 1381, another, much younger, James, James of Baux, grandson of Catherine and nephew of Philip II, who in 1374 had become titular Emperor of Constantinople, used the opportunity and seized Achaea. In 1383, Achaea was annexed by Charles III of Naples, successor and murderer of Queen Joan of Naples, who was the grandson of John of Durazzo, and James of Baux was driven away. In 1383 the Vicary government began, lasting until 1396, under the Durazzo kings of Naples.

In 1404, Ladislaus, King of Naples, installed Centurione II Zaccaria, the lord of Arkadia (modern Kyparissia), as prince. Centurione continued to hold the post until 1430, when invasions by the Despots of the Morea, Constantine Palaiologos and Thomas Palaiologos, conquered the heartland of the Principality in Achaea. Centurione married off his daughter and heiress, Catherine, to Thomas, and retreated to his ancestral Messenian castle. On his death in 1432, this too was seized by the Byzantines. In about 1450, his illegitimate son, John Asen, was the focus of rebellions against Constantine, who was despot at the time. The Byzantine reconquest proved short-lived, however, as in 1460, the Ottomans conquered the Despotate.

Princes of Achaea

Prince Other titles Birth Marriages Death
William I
1205-1209
with his nephew Hugh as regent and heir
-12th century
son of Eudes of Champlitte
1209
Apulia, Kingdom of Sicily
Geoffrey I
1209-1228
-12th century
{nephew of Geoffrey of Villehardouin, Marshal of Champagne and of Romania)
??1228
Geoffrey II
1228-1245
-1195
son of Geoffrey I of Villehardouin
Agnes of Courtenay
1217
no heirs
1245
aged 50
Andravida, Achaea
William II
1245-1278
after 1195
Kalamata castle
son of Geoffrey I of Villehardouin
daughter of Narjot de Toucy
1239
no children

Carintana della Carceri
before 1255
no children

Anna Komnene Doukaina
1259
2 daughters
1 May 1278
Charles I
1278-1285
King of Sicily to 1282
King of Naples
King of Albania
Count of Provence
Count of Anjou
21 March 1226
France
son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile
Beatrice of Provence
31 January 1246
7 children

Margaret of Burgundy
1268
no children
7 January 1285
aged 58
Foggia, Apulia, Kingdom of Naples
Charles II
1285-1289
King of Naples
King of Albania
Count of Anjou
1254
son of King Charles I and Beatrice of Provence
Maria of Hungary
1270
14 children
5 May 1309
aged about 55
Naples, Kingdom of Naples
Isabella
1289-1307
with Florent until 1297
with Philip I from 1301
-c. 1260
daughter of Prince William II and Anne Komnene Doukaina
Philip of Sicily, titular King of Thessalonica
28 May 1271
no children

Florent of Hainaut
16 September 1289
one daughter

Philip I of Piedmont
12 February 1301
no children
23 January 1312
Hainaut
Florent
1289-1297
with Isabella
Stadholder of Zeeland
Constable of the Kingdom of Naples
c. 1255
son of John I of Avesnes and Adelaide of Holland
Isabella of Villehardouin
16 September 1289
one daughter
23 January 1297
aged about 41
Castle of Saint George, Arcadia
Philip I
1301-1307
with Isabella
Lord of Piedmont1278
son of Thomas III of Piedmont and Guia of Burgundy
Isabella of Villehardouin
12 February 1301
no children

Catherine de la Tour du Pin
1312
5 children
Philip II
1307-1313
Prince of Taranto
Lord of the Kingdom of Albania
titular Latin Emperor jure uxoris from 1313
10 November 1278
Naples, Kingdom of Naples
son of King Charles II and Maria of Hungary
Thamar Angelina Komnene
12 July 1294
5 children

Catherine of Valois
29 July 1313
5 children
26 December 1331
aged 53
Matilda
1313-1318
with Louis until 1316
in opposition to Odo from 1316
Duchess of Athens 1289-1308
Duchess of Durazzo 1318-1321
29 November 1293
daughter of Florent of Hainaut and Isabella of Villehardouin, Princess of Achaea
Guy II de la Roche, Duke of Athens
1299
no children

Louis of Burgundy
31 July 1313
no children

John, Duke of Durazzo
March 1318
no children

Hugh de La Palice
c. 1321
no children
1331
aged about 38
Aversa, Kingdom of Naples
Louis Ι
1313-1316
with Matilda
titular King of Thessalonica1297
son of Robert II, Duke of Burgundy and Agnes of France
Matilda of Hainaut, Princess of Achaea
31 July 1313
no children
2 August 1316
aged about 19
Elis
Odo
1316-1320
in opposition to Matilda until 1318
Duke of Burgundy1295
son of Robert II, Duke of Burgundy and Agnes of France
Joan III, Countess of Burgundy
1318
6 children
3 April 1350
aged about 55
Louis ΙΙ
1320-1321
Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis1279
son of Robert, Count of Clermont and Beatrix of Burgundy
Mary of Avesnes
1310
8 children
29 January 1342
aged about 62
John
1322-1332
Count of Gravina1294
son of King Charles II and Maria of Hungary
Matilda of Hainaut, Princess of Achaea
March 1318
no children

Agnes de Périgord
14 November 1321
4 sons
5 August 1336
aged 42
Robert
1332-1364
Prince of Taranto until 1346
titular Latin Emperor from 1346
1319
son of Prince Philip II and Catherine of Valois
Marie of Bourbon
9 September 1347
no children
10 September 1364
aged about 45
Naples, Kingdom of Naples
Philip III
1364-1373
Prince of Taranto
titular Latin Emperor
1329
son of Prince Philip II and Catherine of Valois
Maria of Calabria
April 1355
5 children

Elizabeth of Slavonia
20 October 1370
one son
25 November 1374
aged about 45
Taranto, Kingdom of Naples
Joan
1373-1381
Queen of Naples
Countess of Provence
titular Queen consort of Majorca
1328
Naples, Kingdom of Naples
daughter of Charles, Duke of Calabria and Marie of Valois
Andrew, Duke of Calabria
1334
one son

Louis, Prince of Taranto
20 August 1346
2 daughters

James IV of Majorca
26 September 1363
no children

Otto, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen
25 September 1376
no children
12 May 1382
aged about 54
San Fele, Kingdom of Naples
James
1381-1383
Duke of Andria
Prince of Taranto
titular Latin Emperor
??
son of Francis of Baux, Duke of Andria and Marguerite of Taranto
Agnes of Durazzo
16 September 1382
no children
7 July 1383
Charles III
1383-1386
King of Naples
King of Hungary from 1385
1345
Naples, Kingdom of Naples
son of Louis of Durazzo and Margaret of Sanseverino
Margaret of Durazzo
February 1369
3 children
7 February 1386
aged about 40
Visegrád, Kingdom of Hungary
Interregnum: At Charles III's death in 1386 the principality entered an interregnum where five pretenders claimed its throne, none having a strong enough claim to be considered a ruler until Peter of Saint Superan, leader of the Navarrese Company, declared himself Prince in 1396 with the blessing of Pope Urban VI, who claimed ownership of the principality since James of Baux's heirs had forfeited their rights to the Holy See.
Pedro de San Superano
1396-1402
-??Maria II Zaccaria
one son
1402
Maria II Zaccaria
1402-1404
-??Pedro de San Superano
one son
after 1404
Centurione II Zaccaria
1404-1430
Baron of Arcadia??
son of Andronikos Asen Zaccaria
Creusa Tocco
c. 1404
one daughter
1432
Arcadia

Claimants to the Principality

Ferdinand of Majorca began to claim the Principality from 1313 on behalf of his wife Isabelle of Sabran, daughter of Marguerite of Villehardouin, younger daughter of William II and sister to Isabella of Villehardouin. The claim passed to Ferdinand and Isabelle's son James III and thereafter to his son James IV. He willed his claim to his wife Joan I of Naples, and after his death she held the title relatively without contest.

Although Philip I of Piedmont only held power in Achaea through his first wife, the title Prince of Achaea was claimed by his son by his second wife, James of Piedmont, and subsequently his sons Philip II, Amadeo and Louis. None of these three had sons and their claim died with Louis.

Centurione II willed his lands to Thomas Palaiologos, Despot of the Morea and husband of his daughter Catherine Zaccaria. Thomas's son Andreas later willed all of his titles to Ferdinand II of Aragon. Centurione II's bastard son John Asen Zaccaria claimed his father's title during the Morea revolt of 1453–54.

In fiction

  • Lord Geoffrey's Fancy (first published 1962, Bello Publishing, ISBN 1447232259). One of the last books by British historical novelist Alfred Duggan, this covers events in the Morea and the Duchy of Athens during the period 1257-1272. It is told from the perspective of an English knight who follows Geoffrey of Briel, a real person who held the Barony of Karytaina. Duggan was an archaeologist and historian; key facts are taken from the Chronicle of the Morea then fleshed out but it is as accurate as any historical reconstruction can be.

See also

  • Roman and Byzantine Greece

Footnotes

  1. Lock, Peter (2006). "Achaia". In Alan V. Murray (ed.). The Crusades: An Encyclopedia. 1. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. pp. 5–8. OCLC 70122512.
  2. Miller William (1908)The Latins in the Levant : a history of Frankish Greece, 1204-1566 E.P. Dutton and Company, New York. p38
  3. Setton (1976), p. 30
  4. Miller (1921), p. 71
  5. Miller (1921), pp. 72–73
  6. Setton (1976), p. 31
  7. Miller (1921), pp. 71–72
  8. Bon (1969), p. 104
  9. Miller (1921), p. 74
  10. Setton (1976), p. 32
  11. Miller (1921), pp. 71, 72
  12. Miller (1921), p. 72
  13. Setton (1976), pp. 31–32
  14. Chronicle of the Morea, verses 1995-2004
  15. Assizes Articles 111 & 120
  16. Bartusis, M.C., The Late Byzantine Army (1997), p. 49
  17. Bartusis, M.C., The Late Byzantine Army (1997), pp. 49-50
  18. Hooper, N. & Bennett, M., The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare (1996), p. 104
  19. Longnon 1969, pp. 254–255.
  20. Longnon 1969, p. 256.
  21. Longnon 1969, p. 258.
  22. Longnon 1969, p. 259.
  23. Longnon 1969, p. 260–261.

References

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