William I de la Roche (died 1287) succeeded his brother,

John I John I may refer to: People * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526 * John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna * John I o ...

, as

Duke of Athens The Duchy of Athens (Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of th ...

in 1280. He was the son of

Guy I de la Roche Guy I de la Roche (1205–1263) was the Duke of Athens (from 1225/34), the son and successor of the first duke Othon. After the conquest of Thebes, Othon gave half the city in lordship to Guy. Life Guy's early life is obscure. Since the 18th cen ...

. William reversed the territorial losses of his brother's reign, extending his control over

Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...

and Gardiki. He married

Helena Angelina Komnene Helena Angelina Komnene ( el, Ἑλένη Ἀγγελίνα Κομνηνή) was a daughter of the Greek ''sebastokrator'' John I Doukas, ruler of Thessaly in ca. 1268–1289, and a Greek princess of Aromanian origin, known only by her monastic name ...

, daughter of

John I Doukas John I Doukas ( gr, Ἰωάννης Δούκας, Iōánnēs Doúkas), Latinized as Ducas, was an illegitimate son of Michael II Komnenos Doukas, Despot of Epirus in –1268. After his father's death, he became ruler of Thessaly from to his own ...

, ruler of Thessaly, securing a military alliance with him.Trapp, Erich; Beyer, Hans-Veit (2001). ''

Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit The ''Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit'' (German: "Prosopographical Lexicon of the Palaiologan era"), abbreviated ''PLP'', is a German-language reference work on the people of the last two centuries of the Byzantine Empire, from 126 ...

''. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. . In 1285, while

Charles II of Naples Charles II, also known as Charles the Lame (french: Charles le Boiteux; it, Carlo lo Zoppo; 1254 – 5 May 1309), was King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1285–1309), Prince of Achaea (1285–1289), and Count of Anjou and Maine ( ...

, nominal

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 ...

, was imprisoned,

Robert of Artois Robert I (25 September 1216 – 8 February 1250), called the Good, was the first Count of Artois. He was the fifth (and second surviving) son of King Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile. Life He received Artois as an appanage, in accordan ...

, regent of the kingdom, named William bailiff and vicar-general of Achaea. William built the castle of Dimatra to defend

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; el, Μεσσηνία ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a ...

from 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 ...

. He was then the most powerful baron in

Frankish Greece The ''Frankokratia'' ( el, Φραγκοκρατία, la, Francocratia, sometimes anglicized as Francocracy, "rule of the Franks"), also known as ''Latinokratia'' ( el, Λατινοκρατία, la, Latinocratia, "rule of the Latins") and ...

. In 1286, he arbitrated the succession of the March of Bodonitsa following the death of

Isabella Pallavicini Isabella Pallavicini (died 1286), sometimes Jezebel, was sovereign marchioness of Bodonitsa from 1278 to 1286. She succeeded her brother Ubertino and also inherited her elder sister Mabilia's Italian possessions in Parma. The three were the only ...

. He chose her cousin

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

over her widower Antoine le Flamenc. William's rule was peaceful, but short, as he died two years after assuming power in Achaea (1287).''The Latins in Greece and the Aegean from the Fourth Crusade to the End of the Middle Ages'', K. M. Setton, ''The Cambridge Medieval History:Vol IV, The Byzantine Empire'', ed. J.M Hussey, D.M. Nicol and G. Cowan, (Cambridge University Press, 1966), 410. He was succeeded by his son Guy, who was seven years old.

Notes

References

* 1287 deaths Christians of the Crusades Dukes of Athens Year of birth unknown Baillis of the Principality of Achaea William 01 Lords of Argos and Nauplia 13th-century rulers in Europe 13th-century French nobility 13th-century people of the Principality of Achaea {{europe-noble-stub