Establishment of the Duchy The first duke of
Athens (as well as of
Thebes, at first) was
Otto de la Roche, a minor
Burgundian knight of the
Fourth Crusade. Although he was known as the "Duke of Athens" from the foundation of the duchy in 1205, the title did not become official until 1260. Instead, Otto proclaimed himself "Lord of Athens" (in
Latin Dominus Athenarum, in
French ''Sire d'Athenes''). The local Greeks called the dukes "Megas Kyris" (, "Great Lord"), from which the shortened form "Megaskyr", often used even by the Franks to refer to the Duke of Athens, is derived. Athens was originally a
vassal state of the
Kingdom of Thessalonica, but after
Thessalonica was captured in 1224 by
Theodore, the
Despot of Epirus, the
Principality of Achaea claimed suzerainty over Athens, a claim disputed by the de la Roche in the
War of the Euboeote Succession. Like the rest of Latin Greece, however, the Duchy recognized the suzerainty of
Charles I of Sicily after the
Treaties of Viterbo in 1267. The Duchy occupied the
Attic peninsula as well as
Boeotia and extended partially into
Thessaly, sharing an undefined border with Thessalonica and then Epirus. It did not hold the islands of the
Aegean Sea, which were
Venetian territories, but exercised influence over the Latin
Triarchy of Negroponte. The buildings of the
Acropolis in Athens served as the palace for the dukes.
Catalan conquest . The Duchy was held by the family of la Roche until 1308, when it passed to
Walter V of Brienne. Walter hired the
Catalan Company, a group of mercenaries founded by
Roger de Flor, to fight against the Byzantine
successor state of Epirus, but when he tried to dismiss and cheat them of their pay in 1311, they slew him and the bulk of the Frankish nobility at the
Battle of Halmyros and took over the Duchy. Walter's son
Walter VI of Brienne retained only the lordship of
Argos and Nauplia, where his claims to the Duchy were still recognized. in the mid-18th century. The discernible fortifications, eventually demolished in the mid-19th century, date back to the de la Roche and Acciaioli periods. In 1312, the Catalans recognized the suzerainty of King
Frederick III of Sicily, who appointed his son
Manfred as Duke. The ducal title remained in the hands of the
Crown of Aragon until 1388, but actual authority was exercised by a series of vicars-general. In 1318/19 the Catalans conquered
Siderokastron and the south of
Thessaly as well, and created the
Duchy of Neopatras, united to Athens. Part of Thessaly was conquered from the Catalans by the
Serbian Empire in the 1340s. Under Catalan rule, the feudal system continued to exist, not anymore under the
Assizes of Romania, but under the
Customs of Barcelona, and the official common language was now
Catalan instead of French. Each city and district—on the example of Sicily—had its own local governor (
veguer,
castlà,
capità), whose term of office was fixed at three years and who was nominated by the Duke, the vicar-general or the local representatives. The principal towns and villages were represented by the
síndic, which had their own councils and officers. Judges and notaries were elected for life or even inherited offices.
Decline and fall In 1379 the
Navarrese Company, in the service of the
Latin emperor James of Baux, conquered
Thebes and part of the Duchy of Neopatras. Meanwhile, the Catalan kept another part of Neopatras and Attica. commissioned during the reign of
Francesco I (1451–1454). From the St. Elias church in Athens, demolished in 1849. After 1381 the Duchy was ruled by the
Kings of Sicily until 1388 when the
Acciaioli family of
Florence captured Athens. Neopatras was occupied in 1390. From 1395 to 1402 the
Venetians briefly controlled the Duchy. In 1444 Athens became a tributary of
Constantine Palaeologus, the
Despot of Morea and heir to the Byzantine throne. In 1456, after the
Fall of Constantinople (1453) to the
Ottoman Empire,
Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey conquered the remnants of the Duchy. Despite the Ottoman conquest, the title of "Duke of Athens and Neopatras" continued in use by the Kings of Sicily, and through them by the
Kings of Spain, up to the present day. ==The Catholic Church in the Duchy of Athens==