The Barony of Nikli was a medieval

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, located in the southern

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

region of the

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 ...

peninsula 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 with ...

, and centred on the town of Nikli ( el, Νίκλι; french: Nicles; it, Nicli), also known as Amyklai or Amyklion (Ἀμύκλαι, Αμύκλιον).Bon (1969), p. 522

History

The Barony of Nikli was established ca. 1209, after the conquest of the

by the Crusaders, and was one of the original twelve secular

baronies Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

within the Principality of Achaea. The barony, with six knight's fiefs attached to it, was given to a lord known in the Greek and Italian versions of the '' Chronicle of the Morea'' only as William, but whose family name is given by Angevin records as Morlay. William was succeeded by his son Hugh—although

Karl Hopf Karl Hopf may refer to: * Karl Hopf (historian) Karl Hopf (Hamm, Westphalia, February 19, 1832 – Wiesbaden, August 23, 1873) or Carl Hermann Friedrich Johann Hopf was a historian and an expert in Medieval Greece, both Byzantine and Frankish. ...

suggested the interposition of a second William after the original founder for chronological reasons—and then, around 1280, by Androuin de Villiers or de Villa, who had married Hugh's sister Sachette. Nikli, known in Antiquity as

Tegea Tegea (; el, Τεγέα) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal unit w ...

, is located on the southern

n plain and was conquered by the Franks after a siege sometime before 1209; at the time it was a town of some importance and the seat of a bishopric, which was taken over by a Latin bishop until 1222, when it was abolished and joined to that of Lacedaemon. Nikli's location made it an excellent assembly point for armies, as well as for parliaments like the famous " Ladies' Parliament" in 1261, but after 1262, when the Byzantines recovered parts of the southeastern Peloponnese, the barony became a battleground, and by the early 1270s, Nikli was permanently garrisoned to prevent the Byzantines from breaking out of their territory in

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word ''laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...

into the central Arcadian plateau. Nikli was still in Frankish hands in 1280, but was lost to the resurgent Byzantines sometime after. The

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

ese version of the ''Chronicle'' states that the Byzantines occupied the town in 1296, but, it being indefensible on account of its location on the plain, they preferred to destroy and abandon it. The region seems to have remained under Frankish control for a few years after that, but by 1302, it was definitely in Byzantine hands.Bon (1969), pp. 112, 146, 182, 523–524

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikli, Barony of States and territories established in 1209 States and territories disestablished in the 1290s Medieval Arcadia Baronies of the Principality of Achaea