Nikephoros II Orsini -
Doukas (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: Νικηφόρος Β΄ Δούκας, ''Nikēphoros II Doukas''), was the
ruler
A ruler, sometimes called a rule, line gauge, or scale, is a device used in geometry and technical drawing, as well as the engineering and construction industries, to measure distances or draw straight lines.
Variants
Rulers have long ...
of
Epirus
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...
from 1335 to 1338 and from 1356 until his death in 1359.
Life
Nikephoros was the son of
John Orsini of Epirus and
Anna Palaiologina. When his mother allegedly poisoned his father in 1335, Nikephoros II succeeded as a 7-year-old child. His mother Anna assumed the regency for her young son but failed to allay the enmity of the Byzantine Emperor
Andronikos III Palaiologos
, image = Andronikos_III_Palaiologos.jpg
, caption = 14th-century miniature.Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek.
, succession = Byzantine emperor
, reign = 24 May 1328 – 15 June 1341
, coronation = ...
, who invaded and annexed the Epirote part of
Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...
in 1336 and advanced on
Ioannina
Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...
. The
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Ser ...
took advantage of conflict to the south to raid the Byzantine possessions in the north, but were defeated by the emperor in 1337.
Andronikos summoned Anna to negotiate in 1338 but refused to accept her son as Byzantine vassal and installed his governors in Epirus. Keeping Anna as hostage, Andronikos arranged for the marriage between Nikephoros and Maria Kantakouzene, the daughter of his right-hand man
John Kantakouzenos. However, the anti-Byzantine faction of the nobility smuggled Nikephoros out of the country and sent him to the court of the titular
Empress of Constantinople Catherine II
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
of Valois at
Taranto
Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label=Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important comme ...
, hoping to effect his restoration with Angevin help.
In 1338 Catherine crossed to the
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...
to attend to her interests there, bringing Nikephoros with her. At Catherine's instigation the Epirotes rebelled in
Arta on behalf of Nikephoros in late 1338: the rebels seized Arta and the Byzantine governor,
Theodore Synadenos, and Nikephoros was crossed over into Epirus. However, Andronikos III and John Kantakouzenos swiftly subdued the rebellion and besieged Nikephoros in
Thomokastron
Riniasa Castle ( gr, Κάστρο Ῥινιάσας), originally known as Thomokastron ( gr, Θωμόκαστρον, , Castle of Thomas), is a medieval Byzantine fortress on the coast of Epirus, close to the modern village of Riza near Preveza. T ...
. Assuring his personal safety, John Kantakouzenos persuaded the garrison to surrender. Nikephoros was duly married to Maria Kantakouzene and was honored with the title of ''
panhypersebastos''. Taken to
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, Nikephoros remained attached to the household of Kantakouzenos during the
Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, sometimes referred to as the Second Palaiologan Civil War, was a conflict that broke out in the Byzantine Empire after the death of Andronikos III Palaiologos over the guardianship of his nine-year-old son ...
. When his father-in-law succeeded in asserting himself as Emperor John VI in 1347, Nikephoros was given the higher rank of ''
despotes
Despot or ''despotes'' ( grc-gre, δεσπότης, despótēs, lord, master) was a senior Byzantine court title that was bestowed on the sons or sons-in-law of reigning emperors, and initially denoted the heir-apparent of the Byzantine emperor ...
''. From 1351 he was entrusted with governing
Ainos and the cities along the Hellespont.
In late 1355, taking advantage of the
renewal of the Byzantine civil war and the death of Emperor (
tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
)
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
, who had conquered Epirus in the late 1340s, Nikephoros returned to
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 wi ...
and rallied support. Taking advantage of the anarchy caused by the death of the Serbian governor of Thessaly, Nikephoros took over the region in Spring 1356, and advanced on Epirus. He chased out Dušan's brother
Simeon Uroš (who had married Nikephoros' sister
Thomais) from Arta and asserted his control over the cities of the region.
The countryside, however, had been overrun by the
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...
n clans and was effectively impossible to control. To strengthen his position and avert a Serbian reaction, Nikephoros set aside his wife Maria Kantakouzene and prepared to marry Theodora of Bulgaria, the sister of Dušan's widow Helena, who governed Serbia for her son. However, Maria was popular and her husband was forced to recall her by the Epirote nobility. Nikephoros also entered into negotiations with his brother-in-law Simeon Uroš. Soon after recalling his wife, Nikephoros was killed in 1359 while fighting against the Albanians in the
Battle of Achelous in
Aetolia
Aetolia ( el, Αἰτωλία, Aἰtōlía) is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania.
Geography
The Achelous River separates Aetoli ...
.
Family
By his marriage to Maria Kantakouzene, Nikephoros II may have had at least one son:
* Manuel, who may be identical to Antony Kantakouzenos, a monk at
Meteora
The Meteora (; el, Μετέωρα, ) is a rock formation in central Greece hosting one of the largest and most precipitously built complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries, second in importance only to Mount Athos.Sofianos, D.Z.: "Metéora" ...
in 1404.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikephoros 02 Orsini
1328 births
1359 deaths
14th-century despots of Epirus
Christians of the Crusades
Orsini family
Rulers deposed as children
Medieval child rulers
14th-century Byzantine people
14th-century rulers in Europe
Greek people of Italian descent
Panhypersebastoi