Florent of Hainaut (also ''Floris'' or ''Florence'';
Hainaut, also spelled "Hainault") (c. 1255 – 23 January 1297) was
Prince of Achaea
The Prince of Achaea was the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, one of the crusader states founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). Though more or less autonomous, the principality was never a fully independent s ...
from 1289 to his death, in right of his wife,
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 and of his third wife, Anna Komnene Doukaina, the second daughter of Michael II ...
. He was the son of
John I of Avesnes
John of Avesnes (1 May 1218 – 24 December 1257) was the count of Hainaut from 1246 to his death.
Life
Born in Houffalize, John was the eldest son of Margaret II of Flanders by her first husband, Bouchard IV of Avesnes. As the marriage of Marg ...
and
Adelaide of Holland. From his father he received the
stadholder
In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...
ship (government) of
Zeeland
, nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge")
, anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem")
, image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg
, map_alt =
, m ...
.
After he left Zeeland, he took up service with
Charles II of Naples, who made him
constable of the
Kingdom of Naples. After his marriage with Isabella on 16 September 1289, they had one daughter,
Matilda. She succeeded him and her mother as princess.
Florent settled with his wife in
Morea
The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottom ...
. He negotiated the
Treaty of Glarentsa with the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
in 1290. The situation for 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, ...
in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
was hopeless by this time, however. The fall of the
Angevins in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
meant that they were preoccupied with recouping territory there and few Western governments would send troops to defend Morea. Florent thus made peace and maintained it until 1293, when the Greeks retook
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 regi ...
. Florent did not despair and did not reopen the war which had been ongoing until his succession: he instead sent an embassy in protest to
Andronikos II Palaiologos, and the emperor returned Kalamata. In 1296, the Greeks retook the
castle of Saint George in
Arcadia. Florent besieged the castle, but died before it could be taken.
Sources
*
*Grousset, René. ''L'Empire du Levant: Histoire de la Question d'Orient''.
*
1297 deaths
Avesnes family
Princes of Achaea
Year of birth unknown
13th-century people of the Principality of Achaea
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