John of Gravina (1294 – 5 April 1336), also known as John of Anjou, was Count of Gravina 1315–1336,

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 ...

1318–1332, Duke of Durazzo 1332–1336 and ruler of the Kingdom of Albania (although he never used a royal title). He was the youngest son of King Charles II of Naples and

Mary of Hungary Mary, also known as Maria of Anjou (, , ; 137117 May 1395), reigned as Queen of Hungary and Croatia (officially 'king') between 1382 and 1385, and from 1386 until her death. She was the daughter of Louis the Great, King of Hungary and Poland ...

. He was a younger brother of (among others)

Charles Martel of Anjou Charles Martel ( hu, Martell Károly; 8 September 1271 – 12 August 1295) of the Angevin dynasty was the eldest son of king Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary, the daughter of King Stephen V of Hungary. __NOTOC__ The 18-year-old Charles Ma ...

Saint Louis of Toulouse Saint Louis of Toulouse (9 February 1274 – 19 August 1297), also known as Louis of Anjou, was a Neapolitan prince of the Capetian House of Anjou and a Catholic bishop. Life Louis was born in Brignoles, Provence (or in Italy, at Nocera, whe ...

Robert of Naples Robert of Anjou ( it, Roberto d'Angiò), known as Robert the Wise ( it, Roberto il Saggio; 1276 – 20 January 1343), was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of I ...

and

Philip I of Taranto Philip I of Taranto (10 November 1278 – 26 December 1331), of the Angevin house, was titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople (as Philip II) by right of his wife Catherine of Valois–Courtenay, Despot of Romania, King of Albania, Prince of A ...

. On 3 September 1313 he was named Captain-General of Calabria. In 1315, he succeeded his brother Peter, Count of Gravina after the latter was killed at the

Battle of Montecatini The Battle of Montecatini was fought in the Val di Nievole on 29 August 1315 between the Republic of Pisa, and the forces of both the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Florence. The army of Pisa, commanded by Uguccione della Faggiuola, won ...

. The death of

Louis of Burgundy Louis of Burgundy (1297 – August 2, 1316) was a member of the Capetian House of Burgundy who ruled the Principality of Achaea and claimed the defunct Kingdom of Thessalonica. Louis was a younger son of Duke Robert II of Burgundy and Agnes o ...

in 1316 widowed

Matilda of Hainaut Matilda of Hainaut ( French: ''Mathilde de Hainaut''; November 1293 – 1331), also known as Maud and Mahaut, was Princess of Achaea from 1316 to 1321. She was the only child of Isabella of Villehardouin and Florent of Hainaut, co-rulers of Ac ...

, Princess of Achaea. Her suzerain, John's brother Philip I of Taranto, had her brought by force to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in 1318 to marry John, a design intended to bring the Principality of Achaea into the Angevin inheritance. The marriage, celebrated in March 1318, failed of its objective: Matilda refused to surrender her rights to Achaea to her husband and ultimately contracted a

secret marriage Clandestinity is a diriment impediment in the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. It invalidates a marriage performed without the presence of three witnesses, one of whom must be a priest or a deacon. History It was promulgated in the 16th ...

with

Hugh de La Palice Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

. This violated the marriage contract of her mother Isabelle, which had pledged that Isabelle and all her female heirs should not marry without permission of their suzerain. On these grounds, Philip stripped her of Achaea and bestowed it upon John: the marriage was annulled for non-consummation, and Matilda was imprisoned in the

Castel dell'Ovo Castel dell'Ovo ("Egg Castle") is a seafront castle in Naples, located on the former island of Megaride, now a peninsula, on the Gulf of Naples in Italy. The castle's name comes from a legend about the Roman poet Virgil, who had a reputation in ...

. On 14 November 1321, John took a second wife, Agnes of Périgord, daughter of Helie VII, Count of Périgord and Brunissende de Foix. They had three sons: * Charles, Duke of Durazzo (1323–1348). Married

Maria of Calabria Maria of Calabria (6 May 1329 – 20 May 1366), Countess of Alba, was a Neapolitan princess of the Capetian House of Anjou whose descendants inherited the crown of Naples following the death of her older sister, Queen Joanna I. Life Early ye ...

. *

Louis of Durazzo Louis of Durazzo (1324 – 22 July 1362) was Count of Gravina and Morrone. He was the son of John of Durazzo and Agnes of Périgord. In 1337, he was named Vicar- and Captain-General of the Kingdom of Albania. During the ascension of the Dura ...

(1324–1362), Count of Gravina *

Robert of Durazzo Robert of Durazzo (1326 – 19 September 1356, Poitiers) was the third son of John, Duke of Durazzo and Agnes de Périgord. He was the lord of Cappacio, Muro, and Montalbano in the Kingdom of Naples. Captured in 1350 at the siege of Avers ...

(1326–1356) In a tardy reaction to the Byzantine advances in the central Morea, in 1325 John launched a military expedition, financed by the Acciaiuoli, to Achaea. While he re-established his authority in Cefaphonia and Zante, he was unable to recapture

Skorta Skorta ( el, τὰ Σκορτὰ, french: Escorta) was a name used in the 13th and 14th centuries, during the period of Frankish rule in the Peloponnese, to designate the mountainous western half of the region of Arcadia, which separated the coa ...

from the control of 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 1332, Philip of Taranto died and was succeeded by his son

Robert of Taranto Robert II of Taranto (1319 or early winter 1326 – 10 September 1364Peter Lock, ''The Franks in the Aegean: 1204-1500'', (Routledge, 1988), 129.), of the Angevin family, Prince of Taranto (1331–1346), King of Albania (1331–1364), Prin ...

, who became the new suzerain of Achaea. Not wishing to swear fealty to his nephew, John arranged to surrender Achaea to him in exchange for Robert's rights to the Kingdom of Albania and a loan of 5,000 ounces of gold raised upon Niccolo Acciaiuoli, and thenceforth adopted the style of "Duke of Durazzo".

References

Sources

* * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:John, Duke of Durazzo Durazzo, John, Duke of Durazzo, John, Duke of House of Anjou-Durazzo Princes of Achaea Dukes of Durazzo Counts of Gravina Counts palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos Burials at the Basilica of San Domenico, Naples Sons of kings