Roger Deslaur

Roger Deslaur (* in the 13th century ; † around 1320 ) was a Catalan mercenary and briefly Duke of Athens .

Deslaur came from Roussillon and came to Greece in 1302 as a mercenary of the Catalan company ( the happy army of the Franks ). After the Duke of Athens, Walter von Brienne , had drawn the company's enmity in 1310, Deslaur decided to fight his former comrades in the duke's pay. In the Battle of Kephissos the company won a crushing victory over the Duke, who was killed in the process. Deslaur was one of the few survivors on the duke's side.

The Catalan mercenaries thus became the new masters of the Duchy of Athens. Due to their own republican constitution, however, they had no outstanding leader who could now rule the country. So they looked for a new leader among their prisoners. After the knight Bonifazio da Verona had refused, the mercenaries offered their former comrade Deslaur leadership, who finally accepted them. So he went from the loser of Kephissus to the new captain of the company and Duke of Athens. In the subsequent distribution of the conquered land, the rich widow of Thomas III, who fell at Kephissos. de Stromoncourt married Deslaur, who thus received rule over Salona as his own fief.

The new Catalan rule in Athens was surrounded by enemies, to the west and north by the Greek despotism of Thessaly and Epirus, to the east by Venice on Evia and to the south by the Principality of Achaia , which was dominated by the Anjou from Naples . The old ducal family of Brienne was also able to stay in Argos and Nauplia , where they maintained their own duchy. The Catalans therefore came to the decision that they could only survive under the protection of a powerful ruler. So they turned to King Frederick II of Sicily from the House of Aragon, who had once founded the company in the fight against the arch enemy Anjou. The company specially developed a new constitution for the duchy, which provided for a separation of powers between the autonomous company and the ducal power. All military and civil offices (marshal and chancellor) were to remain in the authority of the company, the duke was only granted the right of appointment. In return, the duke retained all sovereign rights, such as jurisdiction, administration, the tax authorities and the decision on war and peace. The Assises of Romania ( Assises de Jerusalem ) based on Frankish feudal law were replaced by the civil constitution of Catalonia .

In 1312 this constitution was sworn by messengers from the company and the King of Sicily and was thus legally valid. The king became the new lord of the duchy and appointed his underage son, Prince Manfred , the new duke. Berenguer Estanyol was sent to Athens as vicar and took over the government there on behalf of the duke. Deslaur then resigned his offices and retired to Salona. He probably died around the year 1320, since that year the vicar Alfonso Fadrique de Aragón was mentioned for the first time in the possession of Salona.

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
Walter of Brienne	Duke of Athens 1311-1312	Manfred of Sicily