The Despotate of Epiros 1267–1479
A Contribution to the History of Greece in the Middle Ages

The Despotate of Epiros illuminates part of Byzantine history and of the history of Greece in the Middle Ages.

Donald M. Nicol (Author)

9780521130899, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 11 February 2010

312 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.46 kg

The district of Epiros in north-western Greece became an independent province following the Fourth Crusade and the dismemberment of the Byzantine Empire by the Latins in 1204. It retained its independence despite the recovery of Constantinople by the Greeks in 1261. Each of its rulers acquired the Byzantine titles of Despot, from which the term Despotate was coined to describe their territory. They preserved their autonomy partly by seeking support from their foreign neighbours in Italy. The fortunes of Epiros were thus affected by the expansionist plans of the Angevin kings of Naples and the commercial interests of Venice. Until 1318 it was governed by direct descendants of its Byzantine founder. Thereafter it was taken over first by the Italian family of Orsini, then conquered by the Serbians, infiltrated by the Albanians, and appropriated by an Italian adventurer, Carlo Tocco. Like the rest of Byzantium and eastern Europe it was ultimately absorbed into the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth century. The Despotate of Epiros illuminates part of Byzantine history and of the history of Greece in the Middle Ages.

Preface
List of abbreviations
Map: Epiros in the fourteenth century
Introduction
1. The restored Despotate 1267–1285
2. Epiros between Italy and Byzantium 1285–1306
3. French, Byzantines and Venetians in Epiros 1294–1318
4. The Italian inheritance: the Orsini family 1318–1337
5. The Byzantine restoration 1337–1348
6. The Serbian occupation 1348–1359
7. The Serbian Despotate of Ioannina and the Albanian Despotate of Arta 1359–1384
8. The Italian restoration: Esau Buondelmonti and Carlo Tocco 1384–1411
9. The reunited Despotate 1411–1429
10. The Turkish conquest and the end of the Despotate 1429–1479
11. The administration and the economy
12. The church and cultural life
Epilogue
Genealogical tables
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]