Duchy of the Archipelago

Crusader state in the Cyclades (1207–1579)

Duchy of the Archipelago

Δουκάτο του Αρχιπελάγους (Greek)
Ducato dell'arcipelago (Italian)
Ducato de l'arcipelago (Venetian)

1207–1579

Coat of arms of the two ruling houses of the Duchy, the House of Sanudo (1207-1383, left) and House of Crispo (1383-1566, right)

Duchy of Naxos, 1450, highlighted within the Aegean Sea

Status| Client state*
Capital| Naxos
Common languages| Italian and Venetian officially,
Greek popularly
Religion

| Roman Catholic,
Greek Orthodox popularly
Government| Feudal Duchy
Duke|

• 1207–27

| Marco I Sanudo

• 1383–97

| Francesco I Crispo

• 1564–66

| Giacomo IV Crispo

• 1566–79

| Joseph Nasi
Historical era| Middle Ages

• Sack of Constantinople

| 1204

• Duchy established

| 1207

• Crispo coup d'état

| 1383

• Ottoman suzerainty

| 1537

• Expropriated by Murad III

| 1579

Preceded by | Succeeded by

|

|  | Byzantine Empire

|

| Sanjak of Nakşa Berre |

|

* The duchy was a client state of, in order, the Latin Emperors at Constantinople, the Villehardouin dynasty of princes of Achaea, the Angevins of the Kingdom of Naples and (after 1418) the Republic of Venice. From 1566–79, the duchy was administered as a part of the Ottoman Empire before total annexation.

The Duchy of the Archipelago (Greek: Δουκάτο του Αρχιπελάγους, romanized: Doukáto tou Archipelágous, Italian: Ducato dell'arcipelago, Venetian: Ducato de l'arcipelago), also known as Duchy of Naxos or Duchy of the Aegean, was a maritime state created by Venetian interests in the Cyclades archipelago in the Aegean Sea, in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, centered on the islands of Naxos and Paros. It included all the Cyclades (except Mykonos and Tinos). In 1537, it became a tributary of the Ottoman Empire, and was annexed by the Ottomans in 1579; however, Christian rule survived in islands such as Sifnos (conquered by the Ottomans in 1617) and Tinos (conquered in 1715).

## Background and establishment of the Duchy

[edit]

The Italian city-states, especially the Republic of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice, had been interested in the islands of the Aegean long before the Fourth Crusade. There were Italian trading colonies in Constantinople and Italian pirates frequently attacked settlements in the Aegean in the 12th century. After the collapse and partitioning of the Byzantine Empire in 1204, in which the Venetians played a major role, Venetian interests in the Aegean could be more thoroughly realized.

The Duchy of the Archipelago was created in 1207 by the Venetian nobleman Marco Sanudo, a participant in the Fourth Crusade and nephew of the former Doge Enrico Dandolo, who had led the Venetian fleet to Constantinople. This was an independent venture, without the consent of the Latin emperor Henry of Flanders. Sanudo was accompanied by Marino Dandolo and Andrea and Geremia Ghisi (as well as Filocalo Navigajoso, possibly). He arranged for the loan of eight galleys from the Venetian Arsenal, set anchor in the harbour of Potamides (port) (now Pyrgaki, in the southwest of Naxos), and largely captured the island.

The Naxiotes continued to resist, however, and established a base inland, around the fortress of Apalyros/Apalire. The latter fell to Sanudo after a five or six weeks' siege, despite the assistance rendered to the Greeks by the Genoese, Venice's main competitors.

With the entire island occupied in 1210, Sanudo and his associates soon conquered Melos and the rest of the islands of the Cyclades, and he established himself as Duke of Naxia, or Duke of the Archipelago, with his headquarters on Naxos. Sanudo rebuilt a strong fortress and divided the island into 56 provinces, which he shared out as fiefs among the leaders of his men, most of whom were highly autonomous and paid their own expenses. Navigajoso had been granted his island domain by Henry of Flanders and was technically a vassal of the Latin Empire; Sanudo himself recognized the Latin Empire's authority rather than making the Duchy a vassal of Venice. The conqueror himself ruled for twenty years (1207–27). He held in his personal possession Paros, Antiparos, Milos, Sifnos, Kythnos, Ios, Amorgos, Kimolos, Sikinos, Syros, and Pholegandros.

Sanudo's fellow crusaders conquered lordships of their own, sometimes as vassals of Sanudo, e.g. Dandolo on Andros. Although they are often considered to have become Sanudo's vassals as well,[1] the Ghisi brothers, who held Tinos, Mykonos, and the Northern Sporades (Skiathos, Skyros, Skopelos) never recognized the suzerainty of Sanudo. Instead, like him, they were directly vassals of the Latin Emperors.[2] Some families thought earlier[3] to have settled at this time in the islands were in fact established later, in the 14th century (Barozzi etc.) or the 15th (Querini).[4] Further south, Kythera (or Cerigo), held by Marco Venier, and Antikythera (or Cerigotto), held by Jacopo Viaro chose to become vassals of Venice.[5]

## Administration, faith and economics

[edit]

The Duchy of Naxos and states in the Morea, carved from the Byzantine Empire, as they were in 1265 (William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911)

The institution of European feudalism caused little disruption to the local islanders[citation needed], who were familiar with the rights of a landowner class under the Byzantine system of the pronoia. The significant legal distinctions between the Byzantine pronoia and feudalism were of little immediate consequence for those who farmed the land or fished the waters in question. In most cases, the local population submitted relatively peacefully to the authority of their new Venetian lords. Sanudo and his successors prudently followed a conciliatory course with their Byzantine subjects, granting even fiefs to certain among them, in an effort to bind them to the dynasty.

The Venetians brought the Catholic Church with them, but, as they were a minority of habitually absentee landowners, most of the population remained Greek Orthodox. Marco Sanudo himself established a Latin archbishopric on Naxos, but in contrast to his successors, did not attempt to forcibly convert the Greek Orthodox majority. These moves consisted primarily of imposing restrictions on Orthodox clergy and the exclusion of Orthodox Christians from positions of authority.

The islands were of great importance in Venetian grand strategy, with their valuable trade routes to Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean, which the Venetians could now control. Aside from providing safe travelling routes to Venetian ships, the Venetians also exported corundum and marble, which they mined on Naxos, to Venice. Certain Latin feudal rights survived on the island of Naxos and elsewhere until they were abrogated in 1720 by the Ottomans.

## Later history

[edit]

Twenty-one dukes of the two dynasties ruled the Archipelago, successively as vassals of the Latin Emperors at Constantinople, of the Villehardouin dynasty of princes of Achaea, of the Angevins of the Kingdom of Naples (in 1278), and after 1418 of the Republic of Venice.

In 1248, the suzerainty of the Duchy was nominally granted by the Latin Emperor Baldwin II to William of Villehardouin, Prince of Achaea.[6] Marco II Sanudo lost many of the islands, except Naxos and Paros, to the forces of the renewed Byzantine Empire under the admiral Licario in the late 13th century. The Byzantine revival was to prove short-lived, though, as they relinquished control of their gains in 1310.[citation needed]

In 1317 the Catalan Company raided the remnants[which?] of the Duchy; in 1383, the Crispo family led an armed insurrection and overthrew Sanudo's heirs as Dukes of Archipelago. Under the Crispo dukes, social order and agriculture decayed, and piracy became dominant. It officially became a vassal of Venice in 1418 in reaction of the Rise of the Ottoman Empire.[7]

## Collapse and Ottoman conquest

[edit]

Eastern Mediterranean in 1450

Before the last Latin Christian duke, Jacopo IV Crispo, was deposed in 1566 by Ottoman Sultan Selim II, he was already paying the Sultan tribute. The Sultan's appointed representative, the last Duke of Archipelago (1566–79) was a Portuguese Jew (Marrano), Joseph Nasi.

Latin Christian rule did not come to a complete end on that date: the Gozzadini family in Bologna survived as lords of Sifnos and other little islands in the Cyclades until 1617, and the island of Tinos remained Venetian until 1714. The last Venetian ports in Morea (the Peloponnese) were captured in 1718. Gaspar Graziani, a Dalmatian nobleman, was awarded the title of Duke of the Archipelago' by the sultan in 1616, but the island was again under direct Ottoman rule at the end of 1617; he was the last to hold the title.

## Legacy and influence

[edit]

Today, Cyclades islands such as Syros and Tinos have some entirely Catholic villages and parishes, while many Greeks from the Cyclades have surnames with a distinctly Italo-Venetian origin e.g. Venieris, Ragousis, Dellaportas, Damigos etc.

## Dukes of the Archipelago

[edit]

Sanudo Tower, Chora of Naxos

### Sanudo dynasty

[edit]

* Marco I Sanudo (1207–27)
* Angelo (1227–62)
* Marco II (1262–1303)
* Guglielmo I (1303–23)
* Niccolò I (1323–41)
* Giovanni I (1341–62)
* Fiorenza (1362–71)
* Niccolò II (1364–71)
* Niccolò III dalle Carceri (1371–83)

### Crispo dynasty

[edit]

* Francesco I Crispo (1383–97)
* Giacomo I (1397–1418)
* Giovanni II (1418–33)
* Giacomo II (1433–47)
* Gian Giacomo (1447–53)
* Guglielmo II (1453–63)
* Francesco II (1463)
* Giacomo III (1463–80)
* Giovanni III (1480–94)

(interregnum)

* Francesco III (1500–11)

(interregnum)

* Giovanni IV (1517–64)
* Giacomo IV (1564–66)

### Ottoman representative

[edit]

* Joseph Nasi (1566–79)

## See also

[edit]

* Byzantine Greece

## References

[edit]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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|

1. ^ cf. Longnon (1969), p. 239
2. ^ Setton (1976), p. 19 note 78
3. ^ cf Longnon (1969), pp. 238–239, basing himself on the works of Karl Hopf
4. ^ Louise Buenger Robbert, Venice and the Crusades in A History of the Crusades vol.V p 432, citing the works of Silvano Borsari and of R-J Loenertz
5. ^ Longnon (1969), p. 239
6. ^ R-J Loenertz, Les seigneurs tierciers de Négrepont, Byzantion, vol. 35, 1965, re-edited in Byzantina et Franco-Graeca : series altera p 152. The date of 1236, proposed by Hopf without justification, has been rejected by Longnon in Problèmes de l'histoire de la principauté de Morée, Journal des savants (1946) pp. 149-150.
7. ^ Jim Crow; Sam Turner; Athanasios K. Vionis (2011). "Characterizing the Historic Landscapes of Naxos". Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology. 24 (1): 117. doi:10.1558/jmea.v24i1.111. ISSN 1743-1700.

## Sources

[edit]

* Frazee, Charles A.; Frazee, Cathleen (1988). The Island Princes of Greece: The Dukes of the Archipelago. Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert. ISBN 90-256-0948-1.
* Sansaridou-Hendrickx, Thekla; Hendrickx, Benjamin (2013). "The Post-Ducal 'Dukes of Naxos' of the 'per Dignità First Duchy of Christendom': A Re-Examination and Assessment". Journal of Early Christian History. 3 (2): 94–107\. doi:10.1080/2222582X.2013.11877287. S2CID 164042809.
* Longnon, Jean (1969) [1962]. "The Frankish States in Greece, 1204–1311". In Setton, Kenneth M.; Wolff, Robert Lee; Hazard, Harry W. (eds.). A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Later Crusades, 1189–1311 (Second ed.). Madison, Milwaukee, and London: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 234–275\. ISBN 0-299-04844-6.
* Miller, William (1908). The Latins in the Levant: A History of Frankish Greece (1204–1566). London: John Murray. OCLC 563022439.
* Miller, William (1921). Essays on the Latin Orient. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 457893641.
* Setton, Kenneth M. (1976). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume I: The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. ISBN 0-87169-114-0.
* Setton, Kenneth M. (1978). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume II: The Fifteenth Century. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. ISBN 0-87169-127-2.
* Setton, Kenneth M. (1984). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume III: The Sixteenth Century to the Reign of Julius III. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. ISBN 0-87169-161-2.
* Loenertz, Raymond-Joseph (1975). Les Ghisi, dynastes vénitiens dans l'Archipel (1207-1390) (in French). Florence: Olschki.

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Frankokratia (1204–1797)

History|

* Fourth Crusade
* Constantinople 1203
* Constantinople 1204
* Partitio Romaniae
* Kountouras Grove
* Treaty of Nymphaeum
* Constantinople 1235
* Genoese occupation of Rhodes
* War of the Euboeote Succession
* Pelagonia
* Constantinople 1260
* Constantinople 1261
* Treaty of Viterbo
* Prinitza
* Makryplagi
* Settepozzi
* Neopatras
* Demetrias
* Revolt of Alexios Kallergis
* Hospitaller conquest of Rhodes
* Halmyros
* Manolada
* Byzantine–Genoese War
* Revolt of Saint Titus
* Echinades
* Rhodes 1444
* Vlastos' conspiracy
* 1st Ottoman–Venetian War
* Rhodes 1480
* 2nd Ottoman–Venetian War
* Rhodes 1522
* 3rd Ottoman–Venetian War
* 4th Ottoman–Venetian War
* 5th Ottoman–Venetian War
* Siege of Candia
* 6th Ottoman–Venetian War
* 7th Ottoman–Venetian War
* Fall of the Republic of Venice
* Treaty of Campo Formio

Major centres|

| Cities|

* Constantinople
* Thessaloniki
* Glarentza
* Patras
* Athens

|

Islands|

* Crete
* Chios
* Lesbos
* Rhodes
* Naxos

States and territories|

* Latin Empire
* Kingdom of Thessalonica
* Principality of Achaea
* Akova
* Arcadia
* Argos and Nauplia
* Bodonitsa
* Chalandritsa
* Estamira
* Geraki
* Gritzena
* Kalavryta
* Karytaina
* Nikli
* Passavant
* Patras
* Veligosti and Damala
* Vostitsa
* Duchy of Athens
* Salona
* Duchy of Neopatras
* County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
* Lordship of Chios
* Maona of Chios and Phocaea
* Catalan Company
* Navarrese Company
* Hospitaller Rhodes
* Triarchy of Negroponte
* Duchy of the Archipelago
* Stato da Màr of the Republic of Venice
* Crete
* Durazzo
* Ionian Islands
* Modon and Coron
* Kingdom of the Morea
* Lepanto
* Parga
* Preveza
* Kingdom of Albania

People|

* Latin Emperors
* Latin Empresses
* Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople
* Princes of Achaea
* Princesses of Achaea
* Family tree
* Baillis of Achaea
* Archbishops of Patras
* Archbishops of Corinth
* Tocco
* Carlo I
* Acciaioli
* Antonio I
* Angevins
* Charles I of Naples
* Gattilusi
* Pallavicini family
* Villehardouin family
* Geoffrey I
* William II
* Marco I Sanudo
* Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat
* Knights Hospitaller
* Pierre d'Aubusson
* Juan Fernández de Heredia
* Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam
* Foulques de Villaret
* Roger de Flor
* Zaccaria
* Benedetto I
* Martino
* Centurione II

Cultural impact|

* Chronicle of the Morea
* Chronicle of the Tocco
* Assizes of Romania
* Catholic Church in the Middle East
* Latin Church in the Middle East
* Latins
* Catholic Church in Greece
* Cretan school
* Cretan literature
* Heptanese school (painting)
* Cuisine of Greece

Monuments|

| Frankish|

* Argyrokastro Castle
* Chlemoutsi
* Exomvourgo
* Fortifications of Rhodes
* Grand Magne
* Isova
* Old Navarino castle
* Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes
* Platamon Castle
* Zaraka Monastery

|

Genoese|

* Castle of Chios
* Castle of Mytilene

Venetian|

* Arkadi Monastery
* Bourtzi Castle
* Frangokastello
* Fortezza of Rethymno
* Fortifications of Chania
* Fortifications of Heraklion
* Gouverneto Monastery
* Koules Fortress
* Toplou Monastery
* New Fortress, Corfu
* Old Fortress, Corfu
* Palamidi

* v
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Successors of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade

Greek states|

* Empire of Nicaea (1204)
* Empire of Trebizond (1204)
* Despotate of Epirus (1205)

Latin states|

* Latin Empire (1204)
* Kingdom of Thessalonica (1205)
* Principality of Achaea (1205)
* Duchy of Athens (1205)
* Triarchy of Negroponte (1205)
* Duchy of the Archipelago (1207)

* v
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* e

Crusader states

List of Crusader states

Levant|

* Kingdom of Jerusalem
* vassals
* Principality of Antioch
* Antioch
* County of Edessa
* Marash
* County of Tripoli
* Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
* Kingdom of Cyprus

Greece|

* Latin Empire of Constantinople
* Duchy of Philippopolis
* Kingdom of Thessalonica
* Principality of Achaea
* Duchy of Athens
* Duchy of Neopatras
* Duchy of the Archipelago
* Triarchy of Negroponte
* County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
* Lordship of Argos and Nauplia
* Venetian Stato da Màr
* Knights Hospitaller
* Hospitaller Rhodes
* Genoese colonies

Prussia
and Livonia|

* State of the Teutonic Order*
* Teutonic Order
* Livonian Order
* Livonian Brothers of the Sword*
* Archbishopric of Riga
* Bishopric of Courland
* Bishopric of Dorpat
* Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek
* Bishopric of Reval
* Dobrzyń Land
* Order of Dobrzyń
* Free City of Riga

* Military orders
* Crusading movement
* Crusades

* v
* t
* e

Stato da Màr of the Republic of Venice

Adriatic Sea|

* Istria (10th century – 1797)
* Dalmatia (11th century – 1797)
* Durazzo (Durrës) (1205–1213, 1392–1501)
* Venetian Albania (1420–1797)

Ionian Islands
and dependencies|

* Cerigo (Cythera) and Cerigotto (Anticythera) (1363–1797)
* Corfu and Paxos (1386–1797)
* Parga (1401–1797)
* Zante (Zakynthos) (1479–1797)
* Cephalonia (1500–1797)
* Ithaca (1500–1797)
* Santa Maura (Leucas) (1684–1797)
* Vonitsa (1684–1797)
* Preveza (1717–1797)

Mainland Greece|

* Modon and Coron (1207–1500)
* Negroponte (Euboea) (1209/1390–1470)
* Pteleos (1322–1470)
* Napoli di Romania (Nafplio) (1388–1540)
* Argos (1394–1463)
* Lepanto (Nafpaktos) (1407–1540, 1687–1699)
* Patras (1408–1413)
* Athens (1395–1402)
* Thessalonica (1423–1430)
* Navarino (1417–1500)
* Monemvasia (1463–1540)
* Kingdom of the Morea (1687–1715)

Aegean Islands|

* Hydra (1204-1566)
* Samothrachi (1204-1355)
* Spezia (1220-1460)
* Crete (1205–1669), then only Souda, Gramvousa and Spinalonga (until 1715)
* Mykonos (1390–1537)
* Duchy of the Archipelago (1383–1537/79), then only Sifnos (1383–1617) and Tinos (1390–1715)
* Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonissos and Skyros (1453–1538)
* Aegina (1451–1537, 1687–1715)
* Poros (1484–1715)

Other|

* Constantinople (1204–1261)
* Gallipoli (1204–1235)
* Rodosto (1204–1235)
* Soldaia (Sudak) (13th century – 1365)
* Cyprus (1489–1571)

Related articles|

* Fourth Crusade
* Partitio Romaniae
* Podestà of Constantinople
* Frankokratia
* Ottoman–Venetian wars
* Venetian–Genoese wars
* Venetian navy
* Fall of the Republic of Venice

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* t
* e

Dukes of Naxos and of the Archipelago

Sanudo dynasty (1207–1383)|

* Marco I
* Angelo
* Marco II
* Guglielmo I
* Niccolò I
* Giovanni I
* Fiorenza with Niccolò (II) Spezzabanda
* Niccolò II (III) dalle Carceri

Crispo dynasty (1383–1566)|

* Francesco I
* Giacomo I
* Giovanni II
* Giacomo II
* Gian Giacomo
* Guglielmo II
* Francesco II
* Giacomo III
* Giovanni III
* Francesco III
* Giovanni IV
* Giacomo IV

Ottoman rule (1566–1579)|

* Joseph Nasi

37°06′N 25°22′E﻿ / ﻿37.100°N 25.367°E﻿ / 37.100; 25.367
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