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Villehardouin
Villehardouin was a noble dynasty that originated in Villehardouin, a former commune of the Aube department, now part of Val-d'Auzon, France. It is most notable as the ruling house of the Principality of Achaea, a Frankish crusader state in the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece, between 1209 and 1278, when possession passed to the Angevin Kings of Naples. Notable Family Members # Vilain of Villehardouin (died before 1170) ## John of Villehardouin (died after 1216), Lord of Villehardouin ### Geoffrey I of Villehardouin (ca. 1169–1229/31), helped William of Champlitte conquer the Morea, Prince of Achaea in 1209–1229/31; married Elisabeth (de Chappes?) #### Geoffrey II of Villehardouin (c. 1194-1246), Prince of Achaea in 1229/31–1246; married Agnes of Courtenay #### William II of Villehardouin (1211–1278), Prince of Achaea in 1246–1278; married unnamed daughter of Narjot of Toucy, Carintana dalle Carceri (died 1255); Anna Komnene Doukaina (died 1286) ##### Isabella of Vill ...
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Principality Of Achaea
The Principality of Achaea () or Principality of 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. 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. 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 ...
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Principality Of Achaea
The Principality of Achaea () or Principality of 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. 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. 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 ...
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William II Of Villehardouin
William of Villehardouin (french: Guillaume de Villehardouin; Kalamata, 1211 – 1 May 1278) 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 ro ...
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Geoffrey I Of Villehardouin
Geoffrey I of Villehardouin (french: Geoffroi Ier de Villehardouin) (''c.'' 1169 – ''c.'' 1229) was a French knight from the County of Champagne who joined the Fourth Crusade.Evergates 2007, p. 246.Setton 1976, p. 24.Longnon 1969, p. 242. He participated in the conquest of the Peloponnese and became the second prince of Achaea (1209/1210–''c.'' 1229). Under his reign, the Principality of Achaea became the direct vassal of the Latin Empire of Constantinople.Longnon 1969, p. 239. He extended the borders of his principality, but the closing years of his rule were marked by his conflict with the church. Early years and the Fourth Crusade Geoffrey was the eldest son of John of Villehardouin and his wife, Céline of Briel. He married one Elisabeth, traditionally identified with Elisabeth of Chappes, a scion of a fellow crusader family, an identification rejected by Longnon. He took the cross with his uncle, Geoffrey of Villehardouin, the future chronicler of the Fourth Crusade ...
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Geoffrey II Of Villehardouin
Geoffrey II of Villehardouin (french: Geoffroi II de Villehardouin) (''c.'' 1195- after May 6, 1246) was the third prince of Achaea (''c.'' 1229-1246).Longnon 1969, p. 242. From his accession to the princely throne, he was a powerful and respected person, and even France, French knights came to the principality to enter his service. Geoffrey II emerged as the most powerful vassal of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, the person around whom the Crusades, crusaders' states in modern Greece gradually regrouped themselves. He came to the rescue of the imperial capital three times. As a reward of his services to the Latin Empire, he was granted suzerainty over the island of Euboea by his brother-in-law, Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople (1228–1261).Fine 1994, p. 614. He was also a humane prince, benevolent and just, solicitous for the condition of the common people.Longnon 1969, p. 243. Early years Geoffrey was born as the eldest son of Geoffrey I of Villehardouin, Geoffrey of Vi ...
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Anna Komnene Doukaina
Anna Komnene Doukaina (died 4 January 1286), known in French as Agnes, was princess-consort of the Principality of Achaea in 1258–1278 and regent between 1259–1262, during the captivity of her husband, Prince William II of Villehardouin, by the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. After William II's death in 1278, she re-married to the powerful baron Nicholas II of Saint Omer. Life Anna was a daughter of the ruler of Epirus, Michael II Komnenos Doukas (), and his wife, Theodora. Marriage to William II of Villehardouin In 1258, she was married to the Prince of Achaea, William II of Villehardouin, at Patras, while her sister Helena was married to Manfred of Hohenstaufen, King of Sicily. These marriages were part of a web of alliances directed against the Empire of Nicaea, whose expansion threatened both the interests of the Epirote ruler, who claimed the Byzantine imperial heritage for himself, and the very existence of the Latin states of Greece. The diplomatic and ...
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William Of Champlitte
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).Longnon 1969, p. 239.Evergates 2007, p. 220. 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. 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. He later married Elisabeth of Mount-Saint-Jean, but they divorced in 1199. William and his brother, Odo II of Champlitte joined the Fourth Crusade in September 1200 at Cîteaux. William was one of the crusader leaders who signed the letter written in April 1203 by Counts Baldwin IX of Flanders, Louis I of Blois and Chartres and Hugh IV of Saint Pol to Pope Innocent III who had excommunicated the whole expedition ...
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Matilda Of Hainaut
Matilda of Hainaut ( French: ''Mathilde de Hainaut''; November 1293 – 1331), also known as Maud and Mahaut, was Princess of Achaea from 1316 to 1321. She was the only child of Isabella of Villehardouin and Florent of Hainaut, co-rulers of Achaea 1289–1297. After Florent's death in 1297, Isabella continued to rule alone until she remarried to Philip of Savoy in 1300. Per arrangements made with King Charles II of Naples, Isabella was not allowed to marry without his consent and after Philip failed to adequately participate in the king's campaigns against Epirus, Charles in 1307 revoked their rights to Achaea. Matilda, just fourteen years old, tried to press her claim as their heir but was refused by the bailiff Nicholas III of Saint Omer, who instead chose to wait for orders from Naples. Shortly thereafter, Charles appointed his favorite son, Philip of Taranto as the new Prince of Achaea. Philip of Taranto spent little time in Greece and appointed as his bailiff Guy II de la R ...
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Barony Of Kalamata
Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia regional unit, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf. The 2011 census recorded 69,849 inhabitants for the wider Kalamata Municipality, of which, 62,409 resided in the municipal unit of Kalamata, and 54,567 in the city proper. Kalamata is renowned as the land of the Kalamatianos dance and Kalamata olives. Name The modern name ''Kalamáta'' is a corruption of the older name Καλάμαι, ''Kalámai'', " reeds". The phonetic similarity of ''Kalamáta'' with the phrase καλά μάτια "kalá mátia" ("good eyes") has led to various folk etymologies. Administration The municipality Kalamata was formed as part of the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following four former municipalities, each of w ...
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Isabella Of Villehardouin
Isabella of Villehardouin (1260/1263 – 23 January 1312) was reigning Princess of Achaea from 1289 to 1307. She was the elder daughter of Prince William II of Achaea William of Villehardouin (french: Guillaume de Villehardouin; Kalamata, 1211 – 1 May 1278) 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 ... and of his third wife, Anna Komnene Doukaina, the second daughter of Michael II Komnenos Doukas, the despot of Despotate of Epirus, Epiros. First marriage On 28 May 1271 Isabella married Philip of Sicily, son of Charles I of Sicily. This marriage had been pre-determined by the Treaty of Viterbo in May 1267 between Charles, the exiled Baldwin II of Constantinople and Isabella's father. Taking advantage of the precarious situation of the remains of the Latin Empire in the face of renascent Greek power, Charles gained suzerain rights over Achaea; furthermore, the heirs of ...
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Margaret Of Villehardouin
Margaret of Villehardouin (Greek: Μαργαρίτα Βιλλεαρδουίνου; 1266 – February/March 1315) was the daughter of William II of Villehardouin, Prince of Achaea, and his third wife Anna Komnene Doukaina. Biography In ca. 1276, her father granted her two thirds (16 knights' fiefs) of the Barony of Akova. After William II's death in 1278, as he had no sons, per the Treaty of Viterbo, the princely title passed to the King of Sicily, Charles of Anjou, the father-in-law of Margaret's elder sister Isabella. Her mother Anna retained only the Villehardouins' patrimonial domain, the Barony of Kalamata, and the fortress of Chlemoutsi, but was forced to give them up in 1282 in exchange for lands elsewhere in Messenia. Margaret remained under her mother's guardianship until Anna's death on 4 January 1286. In 1304, she claimed from her brother-in-law, Prince Philip of Savoy, one fifth of the Principality of Achaea, but was rebuffed. She repeated her claim, this time for t ...
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Philip I Of Piedmont
Philip I, known as Philip of Savoy (, ) (1278 – 25 September 1334) was the lord of Piedmont from 1282 until his death and prince of Achaea between 1301 and 1307. He was the son of Thomas III of Piedmont and Guyonne de Châlon. Philip's first marriage was celebrated in Rome on 12 February 1301 to Isabella of Villehardouin, Princess of Achaea. By that marriage, he became Prince of Achaea, though he had already been lord of Piedmont by inheritance from his father in 1282. He was, however, an authoritative prince and this put him at odds with the baronage of his realm. He tried to placate the barons of Morea, but was forced to accept a parliament in 1304. The Greek archonts from Skorta revolted in 1302. In 1307, King Charles II of Naples, the suzerain of Achaea, confiscated the principality and gave it to his son, Prince Philip I of Taranto. In 1312, Philip married Catherine de la Tour du Pin (died 1337), daughter of Humbert I of Viennois and had issue: * James of Piedmont * Elea ...
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