Kingdom of Thessalonica

Short description: Short-lived Crusader State in Thessaly and Macedon

Kingdom of Thessalonica

Regnum Thessalonicae (Latin)

1204–1224

Coat of Arms per The Lord Marshal's Roll (1295)

The Kingdom of Thessalonica in 1204 as a vassal of the Latin Empire

Status| Vassal of the Latin 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 to Epirus

| 1224

Preceded by | Succeeded by

|

|  | Byzantine Empire (Angelos dynasty)

|

| Empire of Thessalonica |

|

The Kingdom of Thessalonica (Greek: Βασίλειον τῆς Θεσσαλονίκης, romanized: Vasílion tis Thessaloníkis) was a short-lived Crusader State established as a vassal of the Latin Empire following the Fourth Crusade. It was formed from the partition of Byzantine lands in today's territory of Northern Greece with Thessaloniki as its capital. The kingdom faced continual pressure from neighboring powers and it collapsed after being conquered by the Despotate of Epirus in 1224.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 Background
* 1.2 Establishment
* 1.3 The Lombard Rebellion
* 1.4 War with Epirus and fall
* 1.5 Titular claimants
* 2 See also
* 3 References
* 4 Bibliography
* 4.1 Primary
* 4.2 Secondary
* 5 Further reading

## History

### Background

After the Sack of Constantinople to the crusaders in 1204, Boniface of Montferrat, the leader of the crusade, hoped to become the new emperor.[1] The Venetians, however, viewed him as ambitious, noted his ties to their rival Genoa,[2] and were wary of his family's connections to the Byzantine court, his brother Conrad of Montferrat had married into the imperial dynasty.[3] The Venetians, instead, voted for Baldwin of Flanders, who was elected as emperor of the new Latin Empire.[1][4]

### Establishment

Seal of Baldwin as emperor

Boniface was assigned to a large fief in Anatolia, but he, wanting a fief in Europe, demanded Thessalonica, the second-largest Byzantine city after Constantinople.[1] Late 13th and 14th century sources suggest that Boniface based his claim to Thessalonica on the statement that his younger brother Renier had been granted Thessalonica on his marriage to Maria Komnene in 1180.[5][6] He set out to Thessalonica, however, Emperor Baldwin changed his mind and took control of the city before the arrival of Boniface. In response, Boniface moved against emperor's possessions, by taking Didymoteicho and besieging Adrianople. The two men reached for peace with Boniface getting Thessalonica and returning Didymoteicho back to the emperor.[1]

In 1204–05, Boniface was able to extend his rule south into Greece, advancing through Thessaly, Boeotia, Euboea, and Attica. The boundaries of the actual Kingdom of Thessalonica seem to have extended only up to Domokos, Pharsalus, and Velestino: southern Thessaly, with the towns of Zetounion and Ravennika, was under governors appointed by the Latin Emperor, and the principalities of southern Greece were only Boniface's feudal vassals.[7] Emperor Henry of Flanders' expedition against the rebellious Lombard barons of Thessalonica in 1208–09, and ended the feudal dependency of the southern principalities—the Duchy of Athens, the Marquisate of Bodonitsa, the Lordship of Salona, and the Triarchy of Negroponte—on Thessalonica, replacing it with direct imperial suzerainty.[8]

### The Lombard Rebellion

Boniface's rule lasted less than two years before he was ambushed by Tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria and killed on September 4, 1207.[9] The kingdom passed to Boniface's son Demetrius, who was still a baby, so actual power was held by various minor nobles of Lombard origin. These nobles, under the regent Oberto, began plotting to place William VI of Montferrat, Boniface's elder son, on the throne, and openly defied the Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders. Henry marched against them in 1209 and forced their submission.[10] As a result, Henry's brother Eustace then became regent for Demetrius.[11]

### War with Epirus and fall

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 successor Theodore began 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 Byzantine Empire of Nicaea in 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 the Despotate of Epirus.[12][13]

### Titular claimants

The kingdom was claimed by titular kings of the house of Montferrat until 1284 and also by the dukes of Burgundy; Baldwin II of Constantinople had promised the title to Hugh IV should he regain the Latin Empire.[14]

## See also

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Fine 1994, p. 63.
2. ↑ Runciman 1951–1954, p. 121.
3. ↑ Queller, Madden & Andrea 1999, pp. 201–202.
4. ↑ Curta 2022, p. 386.
5. ↑ Runciman 1951–1954, vol. 3 p. 125.
6. ↑ Haberstumpf 1995, pp. 56–67.
7. ↑ Van Tricht 2011, pp. 161–162.
8. ↑ Van Tricht 2011, pp. 162–163.
9. ↑ Fine 1994, p. 87.
10. ↑ Bury 1886, p. 314.
11. ↑ Giebfried 2023, p. 61.
12. ↑ Van Arsdall & Moody 2018, p. 12.
13. ↑ Fine 1994, pp. 119–120.
14. ↑ Barker 2003, pp. 9–12.

## Bibliography

### Primary

* The Old French Chronicle of Morea: An Account of Frankish Greece after the Fourth Crusade. Routledge. 2018. ISBN 9781134797462. https://books.google.com/books?id=Dnh0DwAAQBAJ.

### Secondary

* Barker, John W. (2003). "Late Byzantine Thessalonike: A Second City's Challenges and Responses". Dumbarton Oaks Papers 57: 5–33. doi:10.2307/1291874. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291874.
* Bury, John B. (1886). "The Lombards and Venetians in Euboia (1205-1303)". Journal of Hellenic Studies 7: 309–352. https://www.jstor.org/stable/623649.
* Curta, Florin, ed (2022). The Routledge Handbook of East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1300. London/New York: Routledge. https://books.google.com/books?id=f85JEAAAQBAJ.
* Fine, John VA. (1994). The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Mischigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4. https://www.google.com/books?LvVbRrH1QBgC.
* Giebfried, John (2023). "Crusader Constantinople's crucified constable?". Revista de Estudios Bizantinos 11: 53–68. doi:10.37536/ebizantinos.2023.11.2392. https://erevistas.publicaciones.uah.es/ojs/index.php/ebizantinos/article/download/2392/1364.
* Haberstumpf, Walter (1995), Dinastie europee nel Mediterraneo orientale. I Monferrato e i Savoia nei secoli XII–XV, Torino, http://centri.univr.it/RM/biblioteca/scaffale/volumi.htm#Walter Haberstumpf
* Queller, Donald E.; Madden, Thomas F.; Andrea, Alfred J. (1999). The Fourth Crusade, The Conquest of Constantinople. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812217131. https://books.google.com/books?id=0NpWFGvA5VQC.
* Template:Runciman-A History of the Crusades
* Template:The Latin Renovatio of Byzantium

## Further reading

* Gibbon, Edward (1906). The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. 11. New York: Fred de Fau and Co..
* Jacoby, David (2003). "Foreigners and the Urban Economy in Thessalonike, ca. 1150-ca. 1450". Dumbarton Oaks Papers 57: 85–132. doi:10.2307/1291877. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291877.
* Template:Latins in the Levant
* Salimbene de Adam, Chronicle, 1966 edition vol. 2

Template:Crusader States Template:Fragments of the Byzantine Empire Template:Frankish and Latin Greece Template:Greek Macedonia [ ⚑ ]  40°38′N 22°57′E﻿ / ﻿40.633°N 22.95°E﻿ / 40.633; 22.95

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