Byzantine successor state under warlord Theodore Komnenos
The
Empire of Thessalonica
is a
historiographic
term used by some modern scholars
[2]
to refer to the short-lived
Byzantine Greek
state centred on the city of
Thessalonica
between 1224 and 1246 (
sensu stricto
until 1242) and ruled by the
Komnenodoukas dynasty
of
Epirus
. At the time of its establishment, the Empire of Thessalonica, under the capable
Theodore Komnenos Doukas
, rivaled the
Empire of Nicaea
and the
Second Bulgarian Empire
as the strongest state in the region, and aspired to capturing
Constantinople
, putting an end to the
Latin Empire
, and restoring the
Byzantine Empire
that had been extinguished in 1204.
Thessalonica's ascendancy was brief, ending with the disastrous
Battle of Klokotnitsa
against Bulgaria in 1230, where Theodore Komnenos Doukas was captured. Reduced to a Bulgarian vassal, Theodore's brother and successor
Manuel Komnenos Doukas
was unable to prevent the loss of most of his brother's conquests in
Macedonia
and
Thrace
, while the original nucleus of the state, Epirus, broke free under
Michael II Komnenos Doukas
. Theodore recovered Thessalonica in 1237, installing his son
John Komnenos Doukas
, and after him
Demetrios Angelos Doukas
, as rulers of the city, while Manuel, with Nicaean support, seized
Thessaly
. The rulers of Thessalonica bore the imperial title from 1225/7 until 1242, when they were forced to renounce it and recognize the suzerainty of the rival
Empire of Nicaea
. The Komnenodoukai continued to rule as
Despots
of Thessalonica for four more years after that, but in 1246 the city was annexed by Nicaea.
Background
[
edit
]
After the
Fourth Crusade
captured
Constantinople
in April 1204, the
Byzantine Empire
dissolved and was divided between the Crusader leaders and the
Republic of Venice
. The
Latin Empire
was set up in Constantinople itself, while most of northern and eastern mainland Greece went to the
Kingdom of Thessalonica
under
Boniface of Montferrat
.
At the same time, two major native
Byzantine Greek
states emerged to challenge the Latins and claim the Byzantine inheritance, the so-called
Empire of Nicaea
under
Theodore I Laskaris
in
Asia Minor
, and the so-called
Despotate of Epirus
in western Greece under
Michael I Komnenos Doukas
, while a third state, the so-called
Empire of Trebizond
, established a separate existence on the remote shores of the
Pontus
.
Michael I Komnenos Doukas soon extended his state into
Thessaly
, and his successor
Theodore Komnenos Doukas
captured Thessalonica in 1224.
Rise and decline
[
edit
]
The capture of Thessalonica, traditionally the second city of the Byzantine Empire after Constantinople, allowed Theodore to challenge the Nicaean claims on the
Byzantine imperial title
. With the support of the bishops of his domains, he was crowned emperor at Thessalonica by the
Archbishop of Ohrid
,
Demetrios Chomatenos
. The date is unknown, but has been placed either in 1225 or in 1227/8.
Having openly declared his imperial ambitions, Theodore turned his gaze onto Constantinople. Only the Nicaean emperor
John III Doukas Vatatzes
, and the
Bulgarian
emperor
Ivan II Asen
were strong enough to challenge him. In a bid to preempt Theodore, the Nicaeans seized
Adrianople
from the Latins in 1225, but Theodore quickly marched into
Thrace
and forced the Nicaeans to leave their European possessions to him. Theodore was free to assault Constantinople, but for unknown reasons delayed this attack. In the meantime, the Nicaeans and Latins had settled their differences, and although formally allied with Theodore, Ivan II Asen also entered talks for a dynastic alliance between the Latin Empire and Bulgaria.
In 1230, Theodore finally marched against Constantinople, but unexpectedly turned his army north into Bulgaria instead. In the ensuing
Battle of Klokotnitsa
, Theodore's army was destroyed and he himself taken captive and later blinded.
This defeat abruptly diminished the power of Thessalonica. A state built upon rapid military expansion and relying on the ability of its ruler, its administration was unable to cope with defeat. Its territories in Thrace, as well as most of Macedonia and Albania rapidly fell to the Bulgarians, who emerged as the strongest Balkan power.
Theodore was succeeded by his brother
Manuel Komnenos Doukas
. He still controlled the environs of Thessalonica as well as the dynasty's lands in Thessaly and Epirus, but was forced to acknowledge himself Asen's vassal. In order to preserve some freedom of manoeuvre, Manuel even turned to his brother's erstwhile rivals in Nicaea, offering to acknowledge the superiority of Vatatzes and the
Patriarch of Constantinople
, who resided in Nicaea.
Manuel was also unable to prevent
Michael II Komnenos Doukas
, the bastard son of his older bastard half-brother, Michael I, from returning from exile in the aftermath of Klokotnitsa and seizing control of Epirus, where he apparently enjoyed considerable support. In the end Manuel was forced to accept the
fait accompli
, and recognized Michael II as ruler of Epirus under his own suzerainty. As sign of this, he conferred on Michael the title of
Despot
. From the start, Manuel's suzerainty was rather theoretical, and by 1236?37 Michael was acting as an independent ruler, seizing
Corfu
, and issuing charters and concluding treaties in his own name.
Manuel's rule lasted until 1237, when he was deposed in a coup by Theodore. The latter had been released from captivity and secretly returned to Thessalonica after John II Asen fell in love with and married his daughter
Irene
. Having been blinded, Theodore could not claim the throne for himself and crowned his son
John Komnenos Doukas
, but remained the actual power behind the throne and virtual regent.
Manuel soon escaped and fled to Nicaea, where he pledged loyalty to Vatatzes. Thus in 1239 Manuel was allowed to sail to Thessaly, where he began assembling an army to march on Thessalonica. After he captured
Larissa
, Theodore offered him a settlement, whereby he and his son would keep Thessalonica, Manuel would keep Thessaly, while another brother,
Constantine Komnenos Doukas
, would rule over
Aetolia
and
Acarnania
, which he had held as an
appanage
since the 1220s. Manuel agreed and ruled Thessaly until his death in 1241, at which point it was quickly occupied by Michael II of Epirus.
Submission to Nicaea
[
edit
]
In 1241, on the assurance of safe conduct, Theodore went to Nicaea, but there Vatatzes held him prisoner, and in the next year he embarked with his army for Europe and marched on Thessalonica. Vatatzes had to break off the campaign and return to Nicaea when he received news of a
Mongol
invasion of Asia Minor
, but managed to browbeat John into submission: in exchange for renouncing his imperial title and recognizing Nicaean authority, John was allowed to remain as ruler of Thessalonica with the title of Despot.
In 1244, John died and was succeeded by his younger brother
Demetrios Angelos Doukas
. Demetrios was a frivolous ruler who quickly made himself unpopular with his subjects.
In 1246, Vatatzes once more crossed into Europe. In a three-month campaign he wrested much of Thrace as well as most of Macedonia from Bulgaria, which now became his vassal, while Michael II of Epirus also expanded his territory into western Macedonia.
After this remarkable success, Vatatzes turned on Thessalonica, where leading citizens were already conspiring to overthrow Demetrios and deliver the city to him. When Vatatzes appeared before the city, Demetrios refused to come out and pay homage to his suzerain, but Nicaean supporters inside the city opened a gate and let the Nicaean army in. Thessalonica was incorporated into the Nicaean state, with
Andronikos Palaiologos
as its governor, while Demetrios was sent to a comfortable exile in estates granted to him in Asia Minor. Conversely his father was exiled to
Vodena
.
Aftermath
[
edit
]
Despite the end of the Thessalonian state, Michael II of Epirus now took up the mantle of his family's claims. Michael tried to capture Thessalonica and re-establish a strong western Greek state able to challenge Nicaea for supremacy and the Byzantine imperial inheritance. A first assault in 1251?53, encouraged by the old Theodore Komnenos Doukas, failed, and Michael was forced to come to terms. This did not long deter Michael, who after 1257 sought alliances with other powers against the growing menace of Nicaea, including the Latin
Principality of Achaea
and
Manfred of Sicily
. Michael's ambitions were shattered however at the
Battle of Pelagonia
in 1259. In the aftermath of Pelagonia, even Epirus and Thessaly were for a short time occupied by the Nicaeans. More importantly, the victory opened the way for the Nicaean
recapture of Constantinople
on 15 August 1261, and the restoration of the
Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty
.
Rulers
[
edit
]
List of the Komnenos Doukas rulers of Thessalonica:
References
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Bartusis, Mark C. (1997).
The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society 1204?1453
. University of Pennsylvania Press.
ISBN
0-8122-1620-2
.
- Fine, John V. A. Jr.
(1994) [1987].
The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest
. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
ISBN
0-472-08260-4
.
- Finlay, George
(1877).
A History of Greece: Mediaeval Greece and the empire of Trebizond, A.D. 1204?1461
. Clarendon Press.
- Hendy, Michael F. (1999).
Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and in the Whittemore Collection, Volume 4: Alexius I to Michael VIII, 1081?1261 ? Part 1: Alexius I to Alexius V (1081?1204)
. Washington, District of Columbia:
Dumbarton Oaks
Research Library and Collection.
ISBN
0-88402-233-1
.
- Magdalino, Paul (1989).
"Between Romaniae: Thessaly and Epirus in the Later Middle Ages"
. In Arbel, Benjamin; Hamilton, Bernhard; Jacoby, David (eds.).
Latins and Greeks in the Eastern Mediterranean After 1204
. Frank Cass & Co. Ltd. pp. 87?110.
ISBN
0-71463372-0
.
- Nicol, Donald M.
(1993).
The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261?1453
(Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
978-0-521-43991-6
.
- Vasiliev, Alexander A.
(1952).
History of the Byzantine Empire, 324?1453
. University of Wisconsin Press.
ISBN
978-0-299-80926-3
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Bredenkamp, Francois (1996).
The Byzantine Empire of Thessaloniki (1224?1242)
. Thessaloniki: Thessaloniki History Center.
ISBN
9608433177
.
- Stavridou-Zafraka, Alkmini (1990).
Ν?καια και ?πειρο? τον 13ο αι?να. Ιδεολογικ? αντιπαρ?θεση στην προσπ?θει? του? να ανακτ?σουν την αυτοκρατορ?α
[
Nicaea and Epirus in the 13th century. Ideological confrontation in their effort to recover the empire
] (in Greek). Thessaloniki.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- Stavridou-Zafraka, Alkmini (1992). "Η κοινων?α τη? Ηπε?ρου στο κρ?το? του Θε?δωρου Δο?κα".
Πρακτικ? Διεθνο?? Συμποσ?ου για το Δεσποτ?το τη? Ηπε?ρου (?ρτα, 27?31 Μα?ου 1990)
[
The society of Epirus in the state of Theodore Doukas
] (in Greek). Arta: Μουσικοφιλολογικ?? Σ?λλογο? ?ρτη? ≪Ο Σκουφ??≫. pp. 313?333.
- Stavridou-Zafraka, Alkmini (1999). "The Empire of Thessaloniki (1224?1242). Political Ideology and Reality".
Vyzantiaka
.
19
: 211?222.
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