Treaty of Orvieto

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The Treaty of Orvieto was an agreement made in 1281 between Charles I of Sicily, the Republic of Venice, and Philip of Courtenay, titular Latin Emperor, for recovery of the Latin Empire.

1 Background
2 Provisions
3 Consequences
4 References

[edit] Background

Charles had signed the Treaty of Viterbo with Philip's father, Baldwin of Courtenay in 1267, agreeing to help reconquer the Latin Empire in exchange for the suzerainty of Achaea and other important concessions. However, wars in Sicily, the Eighth Crusade and negotiations for the union of the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches had all combined to delay an expedition against Constantinople. The accession of Pope Martin IV, much under Charles' influence, removed the last obstacle. The new Pope declared the Union of the Churches a failure and excommunicated the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII.

[edit] Provisions

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Charles was to supply 8,000 infantry and cavalry and the ships to transport them, while the Venetians would supply a fleet of 40 ships. Philip would be restored to the throne, and confirm the concessions of the Treaty of Viterbo and the traditional trading privileges of the Venetians in the Latin Empire. The treaty was signed on 3 July 1281.

[edit] Consequences

Provisions were duly made for the expedition, but shortly before it was to sail, the Sicilian Vespers broke out (30 March 1282). The resulting civil war split the Kingdom of Sicily in two, and Charles spent the rest of his life trying to quell it. His descendants would continue to maintain an ever more tenuous rule over parts of the Latin Empire, but no grand expedition against Constantinople was ever mounted.