Doxapatres Boutsaras ( el, Δοξαπατρής Βουτσαράς) was a

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...

independent lord in the central

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

in the early 13th century. He had his headquarters in the

Araklovon Castle Araklovon ( el, ), rarely known with the variant Oreoklovon (Ὀρεόκλοβον) and in French as Bucelet and variants thereof, was a medieval castle of the Byzantine era located in the region of Skorta in the southwestern Peloponnese in Greece ...

, which is located near the

Minthi Minthi ( el, Μίνθη, before 1927: Άλβενα - ''Alvena'') is a mountain village and a community in the municipality of Zacharo, Elis, Greece. In 2011 its population was 77 for the village and 86 for the community, including the village Kotr ...

village, in the Municipality of Zacharo. He withstood the attacks of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

of the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

for several years, until it finally fell ca. 1210 and became part of the

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 o ...

. His heroic defense of the fort is recorded in the ''

Chronicle of the Morea The ''Chronicle of the Morea'' ( el, Τὸ χρονικὸν τοῦ Μορέως) is a long 14th-century history text, of which four versions are extant: in French, Greek (in verse), Italian and Aragonese. More than 9,000 lines long, the ''Ch ...

'', especially its

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

versions, where he assumes superhuman proportions: he is said to have held a mace that no other man could lift, and that his cuirass alone weighed 150 pounds. Stories are also told of his daughter, Maria Doxapatre, who allegedly threw herself from the castle walls rather than become the mistress of

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 ...

Doxapatres Doxapatres ( gr, Δοξαπατρη̑ς, anglicized Doxapater) is Byzantine family name. The forms Δοξόπατρος, Doxopatros, Doxopatres and Doxopater are erroneous. Persons with this name include; * Gregory Doxapatres (11th century), commen ...

is a family name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boutsaras, Doxapatres Medieval Peloponnese 13th-century Byzantine people Christians of the Fourth Crusade 13th-century Greek people People from Elis

See also

References