Kingdom of Thessalonica Regnum Thessalonicae (Latin) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1204–1224 | |||||||||
 Coat of Arms perThe Lord Marshal's Roll (1295) | |||||||||
 The Kingdom of Thessalonica in 1204 as a vassal of theLatin Empire | |||||||||
| Status | Vassal of theLatin Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Thessalonica | ||||||||
| Common languages | Latin (official) Greek (popular) | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic (official) Eastern Orthodox (popular) | ||||||||
| Government | Feudal Monarchy | ||||||||
| King of Thessalonica | |||||||||
• 1205–1207 | Boniface | ||||||||
• 1207–1224 | Demetrius | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Kingdom established | 1204 | ||||||||
• Fall of Thessalonica toEpirus | 1224 | ||||||||
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TheKingdom of Thessalonica (Greek:Βασίλειον τῆς Θεσσαλονίκης,romanized: Vasílion tis Thessaloníkis) was a short-livedCrusader State established as a vassal of theLatin Empire following theFourth Crusade. It was formed from the partition ofByzantine lands in today's territory ofNorthern Greece withThessaloniki as its capital. The kingdom faced continual pressure from neighboring powers and it collapsed after being conquered by theDespotate of Epirus in 1224.
After theSack of Constantinople to the crusaders in 1204,Boniface of Montferrat, the leader of the crusade, hoped to become the new emperor.[1] The Venetians, however, viewed him as ambitious, noted his ties to their rivalGenoa,[2] and were wary of his family's connections to the Byzantine court, his brother Conrad of Montferrat had married into the imperial dynasty.[3] The Venetians, instead, voted forBaldwin of Flanders, who was elected as emperor of the newLatin Empire.[1][4]
Boniface was assigned to a large fief in Anatolia, but he, wanting a fief in Europe, demandedThessalonica, the second-largest Byzantine city after Constantinople.[1] Late 13th and 14th century sources suggest that Boniface based his claim to Thessalonica on the statement that his younger brotherRenier had been granted Thessalonica on his marriage toMaria Komnene in 1180.[5][6] He set out to Thessalonica, however, Emperor Baldwin changed his mind and took control of the city before the arrival of Boniface. In response, Boniface moved against emperor's possessions, by takingDidymoteicho and besiegingAdrianople. The two men reached for peace with Boniface getting Thessalonica and returning Didymoteicho back to the emperor.[1]
In 1204–05, Boniface was able to extend his rule south into Greece, advancing throughThessaly,Boeotia,Euboea, andAttica. The boundaries of the actual Kingdom of Thessalonica seem to have extended only up toDomokos,Pharsalus, andVelestino: southern Thessaly, with the towns ofZetounion andRavennika, was under governors appointed by the Latin Emperor, and the principalities of southern Greece were only Boniface's feudal vassals.[7] EmperorHenry of Flanders' expedition against the rebellious Lombard barons of Thessalonica in 1208–09, and ended the feudal dependency of the southern principalities—theDuchy of Athens, theMarquisate of Bodonitsa, theLordship of Salona, and theTriarchy of Negroponte—on Thessalonica, replacing it with direct imperial suzerainty.[8]
Boniface's rule lasted less than two years before he wasambushed by TsarKaloyan of Bulgaria and killed on September 4, 1207.[9] The kingdom passed to Boniface's sonDemetrius, who was still a baby, so actual power was held by various minor nobles ofLombard origin. These nobles, under the regentOberto, began plotting to placeWilliam VI of Montferrat, Boniface's elder son, on the throne, and openly defied the Latin EmperorHenry of Flanders. Henry marched against them in 1209 and forced their submission.[10] As a result, Henry's brotherEustace then became regent for Demetrius.[11]
Michael I of Epirus, a former ally of Boniface, attacked the kingdom in 1210, as did the Bulgarians. Henry of Flanders eventually defeated both, but after Michael's death in 1214, his brother and successorTheodore began anew the assault on the kingdom. Over the next nine years Theodore gradually conquered all of Thessalonica except the city itself, as the Latin Empire could spare no army to defend it while they were busy fighting the ByzantineEmpire of Nicaea in Asia. In 1224, just as Demetrius had become old enough to take power for himself, Theodore finally captured Thessalonica and the kingdom became part of theDespotate of Epirus.[12][13]
The kingdom was claimed bytitular kings of the house ofMontferrat until 1284 and also by thedukes of Burgundy;Baldwin II of Constantinople had promised the title toHugh IV should he regain theLatin Empire.[14]
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