Guido I. de la Roche

Guido I. de la Roche (French: Guy ; * around 1205; † 1263 ) was a grand lord of Athens and Thebes from the la Roche family . Since 1260 he held the title of duke.

family

According to various sources, Guido was a son of Otto de la Roche or his brother, Pons de la Roche, Herr von Flagey . Guido had at least three siblings:

• Bonne, heiress of one half of Thebes, ⚭ with Béla de St. Omer
• Wilhelm, progenitor of the Lords of Veligosti
• Otto, regent of Athens

Life

Grand Lord of Thebes and Athens

Guido took part in the fourth crusade and returned to his homeland after the conquest of Constantinople (1204). But after Otto de la Roche had risen to become one of the leading Latin princes in ancient Greece, Guido and several family members with him moved back to Greece. In 1211 Otto entrusted him with rule over Thebes . After Otto de la Roche returned to his Burgundian homeland in 1225, Guido became the new grand lord ( Megaskyr ) of Thebes and Athens.

Theodoros I Angelos had already destroyed the kingdom of Thessaloniki in 1224, thereby breaking the feudal ties of the Lords of Athens. In addition, there was no longer any geographical connection to the Latin Empire of Constantinople , which was soon established by the Bulgarians under Ivan Assen II and the Byzantines under John III. Batazes was harassed.

Guido had taken up his residence in Thebes, where the Kadmeia served as his palace. He promoted agriculture as well as silk cultivation and in 1240 concluded a trade agreement with the Genoese . He allied himself with the prince of Achaia , William II of Villehardouin , whom he helped with the conquest of Monembasia (1248). The ambition of the Prince of Achaia, however, resulted in a break with the Duke of Athens. In 1255 the prince laid claim to the overlordship over the triple lords of Euboea (Negroponte) , which the Republic of Venice rejected. Thereupon a war broke out between the disputing parties, in which Guido sided with Venice. In return, Villehardouin now also claimed sovereignty over Thebes. On Mount Karydi, Guido and his vassals were defeated by Villehardouin in the summer of 1258, whereupon Guido had to submit.

Duke of Athens

Villehardouin then summoned the Achaia Court of Justice in Nikli , before which Guido was to answer. To the surprise of the Prince of Achaia, however, the court refused to give a verdict because Guido was not a vassal of Achaia. In order to clarify the feudal relationship between the Lords of Thebes and Athens and the Prince of Achaia, King Louis IX should instead . be requested by France for an arbitration award. Guido had to travel to France personally; he transferred the reign of his property to his brother Otto. In the spring of 1259 he traveled by ship from Livadostro to Brindisi and from there overland to France.

The trip paid off for Guido. King Louis IX asserted that Guido had never taken a feudal oath towards Villehardouin. Guido had atoned for his conspiracy with the Venetians against the prince through his penitential trip to distant France. The Chronicle of Morea reports that Guido, faced with the choice of his mercy, asked the French king to be awarded the title of "Duke of Athens", which he granted. This was intended to underline an equality of rank between Guido and the prince of Achaia.

This diplomatic success for Guido was followed by the crushing defeat of Villehardouin against Michael VIII. Palaiologos in the Battle of Pelagonia in September 1259. A subsequent siege of Thebes by the Byzantines was repulsed by Guido's brother. Due to the captivity of the prince of Achaia, Guido was the leading Frankish prince in Greece after his return to Athens in 1260. The Villehardouins wife even appointed him Bailli of the Principality, since all of her other barons had also been imprisoned. In the name of Achaia, Guido made peace with Venice by releasing the triad of Euboea. In July 1261, Michael VIII Palaiologos conquered Constantinople, annihilating the Latin Empire and reestablishing the Byzantine Empire. Guido granted exile in Athens to the fleeing Latin emperor Baldwin II .

Guido now operated diplomatic efforts to release Villehardouin. Emperor Michael demanded the handover of the castles of Maina, Misithra , Geraki and Monembasia in exchange for the prince. After consulting with the Haute Cour of Achaia in Nikli, Guido went into the conditions. After Villehardouin recognized the Byzantine Emperor as overlord, he was released in 1262.

Guido died in 1263 and was buried in Daphni Monastery. He was married to Agnes de Bruyères, daughter of Hugo de Bruyères, lord of Karytaina . Your children were:

• Johann I de la Roche († 1280), Duke of Athens
• Wilhelm I de la Roche († 1287), Duke of Athens
• Alice de la Roche († after 1277), ⚭ around 1250 with John II of Ibelin († 1264), Lord of Beirut
• Isabelle de la Roche
  • ⚭ 1256 with Gottfried de Bruyères († 1269), Lord of Karytaina
  • ⚭ 1277 with Hugo von Brienne († 1296)
• Marguerite de la Roche, ⚭ around 1252 with Count Heinrich I of Vaudémont († 1278)
• Caterina de la Roche, ⚭ with Carlo di Lagonessa, Seneschal of Naples

literature

• Ferdinand Gregorovius : History of the City of Athens in the Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian to the Turkish conquest. 2 volumes. Cotta, Stuttgart 1889, ( digitized volume 1 , digitized volume 2 ; numerous editions).

predecessor	Office	successor
Otto de la Roche	Duke of Athens 1225–1263	Johann I. de la Roche