Empire of Thessalonica | |||||||||||||
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| 1224–1246 | |||||||||||||
 Conquests of the Komnenodoukas dynasty of Epirus until theBattle of Klokotnitsa | |||||||||||||
| Status | Vassal of theSecond Bulgarian Empire (1230–37) and of theEmpire of Nicaea (1242–46) | ||||||||||||
| Capital | Thessalonica | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Greek | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Greek Orthodoxy(official)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| Emperor, after 1242Despot | |||||||||||||
• 1224–1230 | Theodore Komnenos Doukas | ||||||||||||
• 1244–1246 | Demetrios Angelos Doukas | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||||
• Epirus conquest of Thessalonika | 1224 | ||||||||||||
• Fall of Thessalonica to Nicaea | 1246 | ||||||||||||
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TheEmpire of Thessalonica is ahistoriographic term used by some modern scholars[2] to refer to the short-livedByzantine Greek state centred on the city ofThessalonica between 1224 and 1246 (sensu stricto until 1242) and ruled by theKomnenodoukas dynasty ofEpirus. At the time of its establishment during thestruggle for Constantinople, the Empire of Thessalonica, under the capableTheodore Komnenos Doukas, rivaled theEmpire of Nicaea and theSecond Bulgarian Empire as the strongest state in the region, and aspired to capturingConstantinople, putting an end to theLatin Empire, and restoring theByzantine Empire that had been extinguished in 1204.
Thessalonica's ascendancy was brief, ending with the disastrousBattle of Klokotnitsa against Bulgaria in 1230, where Theodore Komnenos Doukas was captured. Reduced to a Bulgarian vassal, Theodore's brother and successorManuel Komnenos Doukas was unable to prevent the loss of most of his brother's conquests inMacedonia andThrace, while the original nucleus of the state, Epirus, broke free underMichael II Komnenos Doukas. Theodore recovered Thessalonica in 1237, installing his sonJohn Komnenos Doukas, and after himDemetrios Angelos Doukas, as rulers of the city, while Manuel, with Nicaean support, seizedThessaly. The rulers of Thessalonica bore the imperial title from 1225/7 until 1242, when they were forced to renounce it and recognize the suzerainty of the rivalEmpire of Nicaea. The Komnenodoukai continued to rule asDespots of Thessalonica for four more years after that, but in 1246 the city was annexed by Nicaea.
After theFourth Crusade capturedConstantinople in April 1204, theByzantine Empire dissolved and was divided between the Crusader leaders and theRepublic of Venice. TheLatin Empire was set up in Constantinople itself, while most of northern and eastern mainland Greece went to theKingdom of Thessalonica underBoniface of Montferrat.[3][4] At the same time, two major nativeByzantine Greek states emerged to challenge the Latins and claim the Byzantine inheritance, the so-calledEmpire of Nicaea underTheodore I Laskaris inAsia Minor, and the so-calledDespotate of Epirus in western Greece underMichael I Komnenos Doukas, while a third state, the so-calledEmpire of Trebizond, established a separate existence on the remote shores of thePontus.[5][6] Michael I Komnenos Doukas soon extended his state intoThessaly, and his successorTheodore Komnenos Doukas captured Thessalonica in 1224.[7][8]
The capture of Thessalonica, traditionally the second city of the Byzantine Empire after Constantinople, allowed Theodore to challenge the Nicaean claims on theByzantine imperial title. With the support of the bishops of his domains, he was crowned emperor at Thessalonica by theArchbishop of Ohrid,Demetrios Chomatenos. The date is unknown, but has been placed either in 1225 or in 1227/8.[9][10] Having openly declared his imperial ambitions, Theodore turned his gaze onto Constantinople. Only the Nicaean emperorJohn III Doukas Vatatzes, and theBulgarian emperorIvan II Asen were strong enough to challenge him. In a bid to preempt Theodore, the Nicaeans seizedAdrianople from the Latins in 1225, but Theodore quickly marched intoThrace and forced the Nicaeans to leave their European possessions to him. Theodore was free to assault Constantinople, but for unknown reasons delayed this attack. In the meantime, the Nicaeans and Latins had settled their differences, and although formally allied with Theodore, Ivan II Asen also entered talks for a dynastic alliance between the Latin Empire and Bulgaria.[11] In 1230, Theodore finally marched against Constantinople, but unexpectedly turned his army north into Bulgaria instead. In the ensuingBattle of Klokotnitsa, Theodore's army was destroyed and he himself taken captive and later blinded.[12][13]
This defeat abruptly diminished the power of Thessalonica. A state built upon rapid military expansion and relying on the ability of its ruler, its administration was unable to cope with defeat. Its territories in Thrace, as well as most of Macedonia and Albania rapidly fell to the Bulgarians, who emerged as the strongest Balkan power.[13][14] Theodore was succeeded by his brotherManuel Komnenos Doukas. He still controlled the environs of Thessalonica as well as the dynasty's lands in Thessaly and Epirus, but was forced to acknowledge himself Asen's vassal. In order to preserve some freedom of manoeuvre, Manuel even turned to his brother's erstwhile rivals in Nicaea, offering to acknowledge the superiority of Vatatzes and thePatriarch of Constantinople, who resided in Nicaea.[15] Manuel was also unable to preventMichael II Komnenos Doukas, the bastard son of his older bastard half-brother, Michael I, from returning from exile in the aftermath of Klokotnitsa and seizing control of Epirus, where he apparently enjoyed considerable support. In the end Manuel was forced to accept thefait accompli, and recognized Michael II as ruler of Epirus under his own suzerainty. As sign of this, he conferred on Michael the title ofDespot. From the start, Manuel's suzerainty was rather theoretical, and by 1236–37 Michael was acting as an independent ruler, seizingCorfu, and issuing charters and concluding treaties in his own name.[16]
Manuel's rule lasted until 1237, when he was deposed in a coup by Theodore. The latter had been released from captivity and secretly returned to Thessalonica after John II Asen fell in love with and married his daughterIrene. Having been blinded, Theodore could not claim the throne for himself and crowned his sonJohn Komnenos Doukas, but remained the actual power behind the throne and virtual regent.[17][18] Manuel soon escaped and fled to Nicaea, where he pledged loyalty to Vatatzes. Thus in 1239 Manuel was allowed to sail to Thessaly, where he began assembling an army to march on Thessalonica. After he capturedLarissa, Theodore offered him a settlement, whereby he and his son would keep Thessalonica, Manuel would keep Thessaly, while another brother,Constantine Komnenos Doukas, would rule overAetolia andAcarnania, which he had held as anappanage since the 1220s. Manuel agreed and ruled Thessaly until his death in 1241, at which point it was quickly occupied by Michael II of Epirus.[19]
In 1241, on the assurance of safe conduct, Theodore went to Nicaea, but there Vatatzes held him prisoner, and in the next year he embarked with his army for Europe and marched on Thessalonica. Vatatzes had to break off the campaign and return to Nicaea when he received news of aMongolinvasion of Asia Minor, but managed to browbeat John into submission: in exchange for renouncing his imperial title and recognizing Nicaean authority, John was allowed to remain as ruler of Thessalonica with the title of Despot.[17][20]
In 1244, John died and was succeeded by his younger brotherDemetrios Angelos Doukas. Demetrios was a frivolous ruler who quickly made himself unpopular with his subjects.[21] In 1246, Vatatzes once more crossed into Europe. In a three-month campaign he wrested much of Thrace as well as most of Macedonia from Bulgaria, which now became his vassal, while Michael II of Epirus also expanded his territory into western Macedonia.[22] After this remarkable success, Vatatzes turned on Thessalonica, where leading citizens were already conspiring to overthrow Demetrios and deliver the city to him. When Vatatzes appeared before the city, Demetrios refused to come out and pay homage to his suzerain, but Nicaean supporters inside the city opened a gate and let the Nicaean army in. Thessalonica was incorporated into the Nicaean state, withAndronikos Palaiologos as its governor, while Demetrios was sent to a comfortable exile in estates granted to him in Asia Minor. Conversely his father was exiled toVodena.[17][23]
Despite the end of the Thessalonian state, Michael II of Epirus now took up the mantle of his family's claims. Michael tried to capture Thessalonica and re-establish a strong western Greek state able to challenge Nicaea for supremacy and the Byzantine imperial inheritance. A first assault in 1251–53, encouraged by the old Theodore Komnenos Doukas, failed, and Michael was forced to come to terms. This did not long deter Michael, who after 1257 sought alliances with other powers against the growing menace of Nicaea, including the LatinPrincipality of Achaea andManfred of Sicily. Michael's ambitions were shattered however at theBattle of Pelagonia in 1259. In the aftermath of Pelagonia, even Epirus and Thessaly were for a short time occupied by the Nicaeans. More importantly, the victory opened the way for the Nicaeanrecapture of Constantinople on 15 August 1261, and the restoration of theByzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty.[24][25]
List of the Komnenos Doukas rulers of Thessalonica:
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