Kingdom of Thessalonica
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(December 2022) |
Kingdom of Thessalonica Regnum Thessalonicae(Latin) | |||||||||
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| 1204–1224 | |||||||||
 Coat of Arms perThe Lord Marshal's Roll(1295)
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 The Kingdom of Thessalonica in 1204 as a vassal of theLatin Empire | |||||||||
| Status | Vassalof theLatin Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Thessalonica | ||||||||
| Common languages | Latin(official) Greek(popular) | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic(official) Eastern Orthodox(popular) | ||||||||
| Government | Feudal Monarchy | ||||||||
| King of Thessalonica | |||||||||
• 1205–1207 | Boniface | ||||||||
• 1207–1224 | Demetrius | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Kingdom established | 1204 | ||||||||
• Fall of Thessalonica toEpirus | 1224 | ||||||||
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TheKingdom of Thessalonica(Greek:Βασίλειον τῆς Θεσσαλονίκης,romanized:Vasílion tis Thessaloníkis) was a short-livedCrusader Statefounded after theFourth Crusadeover conqueredByzantinelands in today's territory ofNorthern GreeceandThessaly.
History
[edit]Background
[edit]After the fall ofConstantinopleto the crusaders in 1204,Boniface of Montferrat,the leader of the crusade, was expected by both the Crusaders and the defeatedByzantinesto become the new emperor. However, theVenetiansfelt that Boniface was too closely tied to the Byzantine Empire, as his brotherConradhad married into the Byzantine imperial family. The Venetians wanted an emperor whom they could control more easily, and with their influence,Baldwin of Flanderswas elected as emperor of the newLatin Empire.
Establishment
[edit]Boniface reluctantly accepted this, and set out to conquerThessalonica,the second-largest Byzantine city after Constantinople. At first he had to compete with Emperor Baldwin, who also wanted the city. He then went on to capture the city later in 1204 and set up a kingdom there, subordinate to Baldwin, although the title of "king" was never officially used. Late 13th and 14th century sources suggest that Boniface based his claim to Thessalonica on the statement that his younger brotherRenierhad been granted Thessalonica on his marriage toMaria Komnenein 1180.[1]
In 1204–05, Boniface was able to extend his rule south into Greece, advancing throughThessaly,Boeotia,Euboea,andAttica.The boundaries of the actual Kingdom of Thessalonica seem to have extended only up toDomokos,Pharsalus,andVelestino:southern Thessaly, with the towns ofZetounionandRavennika,was under governors appointed by the Latin Emperor, and the principalities of southern Greece were only Boniface's feudal vassals.[2]EmperorHenry of Flanders' expedition against the rebellious Lombard barons of Thessalonica in 1208–09, however, ended the feudal dependency of the southern principalities—theDuchy of Athens,theMarquisate of Bodonitsa,theLordship of Salona,and theTriarchy of Negroponte—on Thessalonica, replacing it with direct imperial suzerainty.[3]
The Lombard Rebellion
[edit]Boniface's rule lasted less than two years before he was ambushed by TsarKaloyan of Bulgariaand killed on September 4, 1207. The kingdom passed to Boniface's sonDemetrius,who was still a baby, so actual power was held by various minor nobles ofLombardorigin. These nobles, under the regentOberto,began plotting to placeWilliam VI of Montferrat,Boniface's elder son, on the throne, and openly defied the Latin EmperorHenry of Flanders.Henry marched against them in 1209 and forced their submission. As a result, Henry's brotherEustacethen became regent for Demetrius.[4]
War with Epirus and fall
[edit]Taking advantage of this situation,Michael I of Epirus,a former ally of Boniface, attacked the kingdom in 1210, as did the Bulgarians. Henry of Flanders eventually defeated both, but after Michael's death in 1214, his brother and successorTheodorebegan anew the assault on the kingdom. Over the next nine years Theodore gradually conquered all of Thessalonica except the city itself, as the Latin Empire could spare no army to defend it while they were busy fighting the ByzantineEmpire of Nicaeain Asia. In 1224, just as Demetrius had become old enough to take power for himself, Theodore finally captured Thessalonica and the kingdom became part of theDespotate of Epirus.[5]
Titular claimants
[edit]The kingdom was claimed by titular kings of the house ofMontferratuntil 1284 and also by thedukes of Burgundy;Baldwin II of Constantinoplehad promised the title to Hugh IV should he regain theLatin Empire.
References
[edit]- ^E.g.Salimbene de Adam,Chronicle,1966 edition vol. 2 p. 790. Cf. (Runciman 1951–1954,vol. 3 p. 125), and for full discussion (Haberstumpf 1995,pp. 56–67).
- ^Van Tricht 2011,pp. 161–162.
- ^Van Tricht 2011,pp. 162–163.
- ^Gibbon, Edward (1906).Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 11.New York: Fred de Fau and Co.
- ^Anne Van Arsdall, Helen Moody (7 December 2018).The Old French Chronicle of Morea: An Account of Frankish Greece after the Fourth Crusade.Routledge.ISBN9781134797462.
Bibliography
[edit]- Haberstumpf, Walter (1995),Dinastie europee nel Mediterraneo orientale. I Monferrato e i Savoia nei secoli XII–XV,Torino
{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Miller, William(1908).The Latins in the Levant: A History of Frankish Greece (1204–1566).London: John Murray.OCLC563022439.
- Runciman, Steven(1951–1954).A History of the Crusades(3 vols.).Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Van Tricht, Filip (2011).The LatinRenovatioof Byzantium: The Empire of Constantinople (1204–1228).Leiden: Brill.ISBN978-90-04-20323-5.
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