Triarchy of Negroponte

Triarchy of Negroponte Nigropont
Client state*
← 1204–1470 →
Negroponte (brown) and the other Greek and Latin states of southern Greece, ca. 1214
Capital		Chalkis (Negroponte)
Languages		Venetian officially, Greek popularly
Religion		Roman Catholic officially, Greek Orthodox popularly
Political structure		Client state
Historical era		Middle Ages
-	Principality established	1204
-	Ottoman Conquest	1470
* The duchy was nominally a vassal state of, in order, the Kingdom of Thessalonica, the Latin Empire (from 1209), the Principality of Achaea (from 1236), but effectively, and from 1390 also de jure, under Venetian control

The Triarchy of Negroponte was a crusader state established on the island of Euboea (Italian: Negroponte) after the partition of the Byzantine Empire following the Fourth Crusade. Partitioned into three baronies (terzieri, "thirds") run by a few interrelated Lombard families, the island soon fell under the influence of the Republic of Venice. From ca. 1390, the island became a regular Venetian colony as the Kingdom of Negroponte (Regno di Negroponte).

History

Establishment

According to the division of Byzantine territory (the Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae), Euboea was awarded to Boniface of Montferrat, King of Thessalonica. Boniface in turn ceded the island as a fief to the Flemish noble Jacques d' Avesnes, who fortified Chalkis. After his death in mid-1205 however, the island was ceded to three Veronese barons: Ravano dalle Carceri, Giberto dalle Carceri and Pecoraro da Mercanuovo. They divided the island into three triarchies (terzieri, "thirds"): the northern, based at Oreos (Italian: terzero del Rio), the southern, ruled from Karystos (Italian: terzero di Caristo), and the central portion, ruled from Chalkis (Italian: terzero della Clissura). The city of Chalkis or Negroponte (città de' Lombardi, "city of the Lombards") however was not under the latter's control, but served as overall capital of the island and joint residence of the Lombard rulers and their families. By 1209 however, Ravano had established himself as sole master of Euboea, styling himself as dominus insulae Nigropontis.

Having allied himself with an unsuccessful Lombard rebellion against the Latin Emperor, Henry of Flanders, Ravano was eager to find a powerful protector. Thus, in March 1209, he signed an alliance with Venice, which recognized Venetian overlordship and gave the Venetians significant commercial privileges. In May, however, in an act of political balancing, Ravano also acknowledged his vassalage to the Latin Empire.

Succession disputes

Depiction of the city of Negroponte (Chalkis) by the Venetian cartographer Giacomo Franco (1597)

However, already after the death of Ravano in 1216, his heirs disagreed over the succession, allowing the Venetian bailli to intervene as a mediator. He partitioned the three baronies in two, creating thus six hexarchies (sestieri). The northern triarchy of Oreos was divided between Ravano's nephews, Marino I and Rizzardo; the southern triarchy of Karystos was divided between his widow, Isabella, and his daughter, Bertha; and the central triarchy was divided between Giberto's heirs, Guglielmo I and Alberto. Provisions were also made that in the case someone among the sestieri died, his inheritor would be the other sestiere of the respective triarchy, and not his children. In fact, most sestieri were succeeded by their brothers, sons or nephews, keeping the baronies within the tight circle of the original Lombard families.

In 1255 however, the death of Carintana dalle Carceri, hexarch of Oreos and wife to William II of Villehardouin, nominal overlord of Negroponte, led to the so-called "War of the Euboeote Succession", which involved Achaea and Venice. William claimed for himself his wife's inheritance, while the Lombard barons were unwilling to concede it. On 14 June 1256, Guglielmo of Verona and Narzotto dalle Carceri, the other two triarchs, repudiated their allegiance to William and pledged themselves to Venice. William responded by capturing Chalkis, which the Venetians retook in early 1258. The war ended in the battle of Karydi in May/June 1258, where William defeated the Duke of Athens, Guy I de la Roche, who had allied himself with the rebellious triarchs. Finally, in August 1259, Doge Reniero Zeno negotiated a peace, followed by a treaty in 1262, which recognized William's suzerainty over the island, but not his possession of the triarchy of Oreoi.

Byzantine interlude

By that time, however, the Empire of Nicaea had established itself as the foremost power in the area of the former Byzantine Empire, reconquering several territories from the Latins. Its successes culminated in the recapture of Constantinople in 1261 and the reestablishment of the Byzantine Empire, whose energetic ruler, Michael VIII Palaeologus, sought to reconquer the remaining Latin principalities in southern Greece. To this end, he accepted the services of Licario, an Italian renegade, who had his base near Karystos. Under Licario's command, Byzantine troops soon conquered most of Euboea, except Chalkis. After the departure of Licario sometime after 1280 however, with Venetian aid, the island gradually returned to Latin control. By 1296, Bonifazio da Verona had completely expelled the Byzantines from Euboea.

Later history

In 1317 however, Karystos fell to the Catalan Don Alfonso Fadrique, vicar-general of the duchy of Athens and illegitimate son of Frederick III of Sicily. In 1319, a peace treaty was signed between Venice and Don Alfonso, whereby he retained Karystos, which the Venetians acquired in 1365. When the last triarchs, Niccolo III dalle Carceri and Giorgio III Ghisi, died in 1383 and 1390 respectively, they left their territories to Venice, which thus established complete predominance over the island. Nevertheless, the triarchic system was maintained, with Venetian families appointed to the positions of terzieri, while the Venetian podestà resided at Chalkis. Venice's rule lasted until 1470, when, during the Ottoman–Venetian War of 1463–1479, Sultan Mehmed II campaigned against Chalkis. With the fall of the city on 12 July, the whole island came under Ottoman control.

List of rulers of Negroponte

Note: The sequence of rulers during the 13th century, as well as the familial relations between them, are not very clear, as information about Euboea's internal history is scarce to non-existent, especially for the period 1216–1255.^[1] According to the rules of succession laid down on the island's division into thirds and sixths in 1216, on the death of a hexarch, he was succeeded in his domain by his fellow hexarch within their third, and not by the former's heirs.^[2] The following outline for the 13th century relies on the reconstruction by J.B. Bury.^[3]

• Jacques d'Avesnes (1204–1205)

Triarchy of Oreos

Triarchy of Chalkis

Triarchy of Karystos

References

Sources and bibliography

• Bury, John Bagnell (1886). "The Lombards and Venetians in Euboia (1205–1303)". The Journal of Hellenic Studies 7: 309–352. 
• Bury, John Bagnell (1887). "The Lombards and Venetians in Euboia (1303–1340)". The Journal of Hellenic Studies 8: 194–213. 
• Bury, John Bagnell (1888). "The Lombards and Venetians in Euboia (1430–1470)". The Journal of Hellenic Studies 9: 91–117. 
• Cawley, Charles, Latin lordships in Greece: Euboea, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, retrieved August 2012 ,
• Fine, John Van Antwerp (1994), The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest, University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5 
• Koder, Johannes (1973), Negroponte: Untersuchungen zur Topographie und Siedlungsgeschichte der Insel Euboia während der Zeit der Venezianerherrschaft (in German), Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, ISBN 3-7001-0020-5 
• Miller, William (1908), The Latins in the Levant, a History of Frankish Greece (1204–1566), New York: E.P. Dutton and Company 
• Nicol, Donald MacGillivray (1993), The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-43991-6 
• Setton, Kenneth M. (1976), The Papacy and the Levant, 1204–1571: Volume I, The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, DIANE Publishing, ISBN [[Special:BookSources/978-0-87169-114-0 |978-0-87169-114-0 [[Category:Articles with invalid ISBNs]]]] Check |isbn= value (help) 

v t e Frankish and Latin Greece People Latin Emperor Latin empresses Latin Patriarch of Constantinople Prince of Achaea Princess of Achaea Latin Archbishop of Patras Latin Archbishopric of Corinth Tocco family Acciaioli family Gattilusi Pallavicini family Geoffrey I of Villehardouin Marco I Sanudo Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat Demetrius of Montferrat Pierre d'Aubusson Juan Fernández de Heredia Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam Foulques de Villaret Roger de Flor Major centres Cities: Constantinople Thessaloniki Patras Athens Islands: Crete Naxos Chios Rhodes States and territories Latin Empire Kingdom of Thessalonica Principality of Achaea (Akova Arcadia Argos and Nauplia Chalandritsa Estamira Geraki Gritzena Kalavryta Karytaina Nikli Passavant Patras Veligosti and Damala Vostitsa) Duchy of Athens (Salona Marquisate of Bodonitsa) Duchy of Neopatria County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos Triarchy of Negroponte Duchy of the Archipelago Lordship of Chios Overseas possessions of the Republic of Venice (Kingdom of Candia Ionian Islands Modon and Coron Kingdom of the Morea Parga Preveza) Catalan Company Navarrese Company Knights Hospitaller History Fourth Crusade Siege of Constantinople (1203) Siege of Constantinople (1204) Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae Battle of the Olive Grove of Koundouros Treaty of Nymphaeum (1214) Siege of Constantinople (1235) Genoese occupation of Rhodes War of the Euboeote Succession Battle of Pelagonia Siege of Constantinople (1260) Treaty of Viterbo Battle of Prinitza Battle of Settepozzi Battle of Makryplagi Battle of Neopatras Battle of Demetrias Battle of the Cephissus Battle of Manolada Battle of Chios (1319) Byzantine–Genoese War (1348–49) Revolt of Saint Titus Battle of the Echinades (1427) First Ottoman–Venetian War Siege of Rhodes (1480) Second Ottoman–Venetian War Siege of Rhodes (1522) Third Ottoman–Venetian War Fourth Ottoman–Venetian War Cretan War (1645–69) (Siege of Candia) Morean War Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War Cultural impact Chronicle of the Morea Chronicle of the Tocco Cretan School Roman Catholicism in Greece Georgios Chortatzis Vitsentzos Kornaros Monuments Argyrokastro Castle Arkadi Monastery Bourtzi (Nafplio) Castle of Chios Chlemoutsi Exomvourgo Frangokastello Fortezza of Rethymno Grand Magne Glarentza Gouverneto Monastery Isova Koules Fortress New Fortress, Corfu Old Fortress, Corfu Old Pylos castle Palamidi Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes Platamon Castle Zaraka Monastery