Barony of Patras
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Barony of Patras 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 A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form o ...
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 ...
, located in the northwestern coast 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 ...
, centred on the town of
Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 , ...
. It was among the twelve original baronies 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 ...
, but passed into the hands of the
Latin Archbishop of Patras The Latin Archbishopric of Patras is the see of Patras in the period in which its incumbents belonged to the Latin or Western Church. This period began in 1205 with the installation in the see of a Catholic archbishop following the Fourth Crusad ...
at about the middle of the 13th century. From 1337 on, it was an ecclesiastical domain independent of the Principality. It maintained close relations with the
Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
, which governed the barony in 1408–13 and 1418. The barony survived until the
Byzantine 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 ...
reconquest in 1429–30.


History

The Barony of Patras was established ca. 1209, after the conquest 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 ...
by the
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
, 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 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 ...
. With twenty-four knight's fiefs attached to it, Patras, along with Akova, was the largest and one of the most important baronies of the Principality. Patras was in addition the seat of a Latin Archbishopric, which ranked as a distinct ecclesiastic vassal fief with eight knightly fiefs to its name. Relations between the Archbishop and the secular barons, and indeed with the Prince himself, were initially strained. This was due to quarrels between the Archbishop and the Prince over the Latin clergy's allegiance and obligations to the Principality, and resulted in such incidents as the baron's forcible eviction of the Archbishop from his residence and the cathedral of St. Theodore, which were incorporated into the
Patras Castle The Patras Fortress ( el, Κάστρο Πατρών) was built around the mid-6th century A.D above the ruins of the ancient acropolis of the city of Patras, on a low outlying hill of the Panachaiko Mountain and ca. 800 m from the sea. The castle c ...
. According to the French, Greek and Italian versions of 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 ...
'', the secular barony was granted to a knight from the
Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
, William Aleman, but the
Treaty of Sapienza The Treaty of Sapienza was concluded in June 1209 between the Republic of Venice and the newly established Principality of Achaea, under Prince Geoffrey I of Villehardouin, concerning the partition of the Peloponnese (Morea) peninsula, conquered fol ...
between Achaea and the
Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
, concluded in June 1209, mentions Arnulf Aleman as baron, probably William's otherwise unknown predecessor. In addition, 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'' lists a completely different, but unverifiable series of barons, beginning with Walter Aleman, who was succeeded by his son Conrad and he in turn by William (II), who then sold the rights to the barony to the Archbishop of Patras ca. 1276. Historians have generally followed this account in dating the cession of the barony to the Archbishopric to about or shortly after the middle of the century, but the transfer may have taken place, or at least begun, as early as the 1220s, for the first Archbishop,
Antelm of Cluny Antelm of Cluny () was a Burgundian monk who became the first Latin Archbishop of Patras, and was one of the most important figures in the early Principality of Achaea in Greece. He was consecrated a bishop with Pope Innocent III acting as the pr ...
, is said to have had possession of the Patras Castle by 1233. The Archbishop now found himself, with thirty-two fiefs, as the strongest vassal of the Principality, and became a major factor in its affairs. Under
William Frangipani William Frangipani ( it, Guglielmo Frangipani; el, Γουλιέλμος Φραγκιπάνης; died 1337) was the Latin Archbishop of Patras and ruler of the Barony of Patras in Frankish Greece from 1317 until his death in 1337. Biography A memb ...
(1317–1337) in particular, Patras enjoyed close relations with Venice and acted practically independent from the Prince. As a result, when Frangipani died in 1337, the
Angevin Angevin or House of Anjou may refer to: *County of Anjou or Duchy of Anjou, a historical county, and later Duchy, in France **Angevin (language), the traditional langue d'oïl spoken in Anjou **Counts and Dukes of Anjou * House of Ingelger, a Frank ...
''
bailli A bailiff (french: bailli, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in h ...
''
Bertrand of Les Baux Bertrand of Les Baux (french: Bertrand des Baux) was Lord of Courthézon in the Provence. From July 1336 he was named Marshal of the Principality of Achaea, ''bailli'' and vicar-general of Achaea, Cephalonia, and Lepanto on behalf of Catherine of ...
, whom Frangipani had opposed, laid siege to the city hoping to reduce it to obedience. In the event,
Pope Benedict XII Pope Benedict XII ( la, Benedictus XII, french: Benoît XII; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope. Benedict was a careful p ...
reacted by declaring the city "land of the Holy Roman Church" and placed the Principality under the
interdict In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...
. The mother and regent of the Prince,
Catherine of Valois Catherine of Valois or Catherine of France (27 October 1401 – 3 January 1437) was Queen of England from 1420 until 1422. A daughter of Charles VI of France, she was married to Henry V of England and gave birth to his heir Henry VI of Englan ...
, conceded to the Church's demands. As a result, the Archbishop became independent, although his secular fiefs still owed allegiance and services to the Prince.Bon (1969), p. 451 For the remainder of the century, the Archbishops of Patras played an active role in the intrigues and feuds of the Principality, and in turn the contending families often tried to place one of their own scions on the archiepiscopal throne. However, the increasing Ottoman threat on the Greek mainland and the depredations of 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, Se ...
led the Archbishops to turn increasingly to Venice for protection; after several entreaties to secure its protection, in 1408 the Republic took over the administration of the barony, although it remained Church territory, in exchange for a rent of 1,000
ducat The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wi ...
s a year. This move was opposed by the Pope, however, and in 1413 Venice returned the administration to the Archbishopric; another attempt in 1418 again faltered at the opposition of the Holy See. Finally, in 1429/30, the city and the citadel were surrendered to the
Byzantine Greeks The Byzantine Greeks were the Greek-speaking Eastern Romans of Orthodox Christianity throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. They were the main inhabitants of the lands of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire), of Constantinople ...
of the
Despotate of the Morea The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...
under
Constantine Palaiologos Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος, ''Kōnstantînos Dragásēs Palaiológos''; 8 February 1405 – 29 May 1453) was the last Roman (Byzantine) e ...
, the future last Byzantine Emperor.Bon (1969), p. 452Topping (175), p. 165


References


Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Patras, Barony of States and territories established in 1209 States and territories disestablished in 1429 History of Patras Baronies of the Principality of Achaea Medieval Achaea