Greeks furnished a considerable pecuniary revenue, which enabled the despots to maintain a respectable army of mercenaries; and round this force they could assemble the Albanian mountaineers without fear of seditious conduct on the part of that dangerous militia. The government thus acquired the power, rarely possessed by the masters of this wild country, of arresting the predatory habits of the native mountain tribes. The fear of the Franks rendered the Vallachians obedient subjects whenever a force was required to resist foreign invasion. The mountain brigands, who had wasted the country under the latter Byzantine emperors, were now paid to fight the common enemies; and military courage, instead of being denied official employment by rapacious courtiers from Constantinople, became a means of securing wealth and honour. The public taxes, no longer transmitted to a distant land to be lavished in idle pomp, were expended in the country, and the exigencies of the times insured their being employed in such a way as to produce a greater degree of order, and a more effectual protection for property, than the distant government at Constantinople had been able to afford. These circumstances explain how it happened that Michael succeeded in checking the progress of the warlike Franks, and in creating an independent principality with the discordant elements of the population of Epirus. It must not, moreover, be overlooked, that the geographical configuration of the country, and the rugged nature of the great mountain barriers by which it is intersected in numerous successive ridges, protected Michael from immediate attack, and allowed him time to complete his preparations for defence, and unite his subjects by a feeling of common interest, before the Crusaders were prepared to encounter him. History has unfortunately preserved very little information concerning the organisation and social condition of A. D. 1204. CHAP. VI. the different classes and races which inhabited the domi§ 2. nions of the princes of Epirus. Almost the only facts that have been preserved, relate to the wars and alliances of the despots and their families with the Byzantine emperors and the Latin princes. These facts must be noticed as they occur. In this place it is only necessary to give a short chronological sketch of the princes who ruled Epirus. They all assumed the name of Angelos Komnenos Dukas; and the title of despot, by which they are generally distinguished, was a Byzantine honorary distinction, never borne by the earlier members of the family until it had been conferred on them by the Greek emperor. Michael I., the founder of the despotat, distinguished himself by his talents as a soldier and a negotiator. He extended his authority over all Epirus, Acarnania, and Etolia, and a part of Macedonia and Thessaly. Though virtually independent, he acknowledged Theodore I., (Laskaris,) as the lawful emperor of the East. Michael was assassinated by one of his slaves in the year 1214.1 SECT. II.-EMPIRE OF THESSALONICA. Theodore Angelos Komnenos Dukas, the legitimate brother of Michael I., escaped from Constantinople to Nicæa, and resided at the court of Theodore I., (Laskaris,) where he received an invitation from his brother to visit Epirus, in order to assist in directing the administration. The emperor Theodore I., distrusting the restless and intriguing spirit of his namesake, would not allow him to depart until he had sworn fidelity to the throne of Nicæa, and to himself as the lawful emperor of the East. After the murder of Michael, Theodore was proclaimed his successor, and soon displayed the greatest ability and activity in his government, joined to an utter want of 1 Acropolita, p. 13. THEODORE DESPOT AND EMPEROR. 145 A. D. principle in the measures he adopted for extending his dominions. The suspicions of the emperor Theodore I. 1214-1230. were fully warranted by his conduct, for he made no distinction between Greek and Frank whenever he conceived that his interest could be advanced by attacking or assisting either the one or the other. In the year 1217, as we have already seen, he defeated and captured the Latin emperor, Peter of Courtenay, in the defiles near Croia. After completing the conquest of Thessaly and Macedonia, and driving the Lombards out of Thessalonica, he assumed the title of emperor in direct violation of his oath to Theodore I., and was crowned in the city of Thessalonica, which he made his capital, by the archbishop of Achrida, patriarch of Bulgaria. Theodore Angelos then pushed his conquests northward with increased vigour, and in the year 1224, having gained possession of Adrianople, his dominions extended from the shores of the Adriatic to those of the Black Sea. The empire of Thessalonica then promised to become the heir of the Byzantine empire in Europe. Theodore was already forming his plans for the attack of Constantinople, when his restless ambition involved him in an unnecessary war with John Asan, king of Bulgaria, by whom he was defeated and taken prisoner in 1230. His treacherous intrigues while in captivity alarmed the Bulgarian monarch, who ordered his eyes to be put out. Theodore had two brothers, Manuel and Constantine, both holding high commands in his empire. Manuel was present at the time of his defeat, but escaped from the field of battle to Thessalonica, where he assumed the direction of the government and the imperial title.1 His reign as emperor was short, for John Asan, the king of Bulgaria, falling in love with the daughter of his blind prisoner, married her and released his father-in-law. Theodore returned to Thessalonica, where he kept himself § 2. CHAP. VI. concealed for some time; but his talents for intrigue enabled him to form so powerful a party of secret partisans, before his brother Manuel was aware of his designs, that the usurper was driven into exile. It was impossible for Theodore, on account of his blindness, to reascend the throne: the imperial crown was therefore placed on the head of his son John; but the father continued to direct the administration, with the title of Despot. In the mean time Manuel, who had escaped to Asia, obtained military aid from the emperor John III., (Vatatzes,) and landing at Demetriades (Volo) made himself master of Pharsala, Larissa, and Platamona. Constantine, his younger brother, who governed a part of Thessaly, joined the invaders, and the country was threatened with a destructive civil war. But the spirit of the politic Theodore averted this catastrophe. He succeeded in inducing his two brothers who were in arms against him to hold a conference, in which, acting as prime minister of his son's empire, he employed so many powerful arguments in favour of family union, and agreed to such concessions, that Manuel and Constantine joined in a family compact for supporting the empire of Thessalonica, and abandoned the cause of the emperor John III. of Nicæa. The three brothers then concluded an alliance with the Franks in Greece, for their mutual defence against the emperor of Nicæa. John, the young emperor of Thessalonica, was a virtuous prince, by no means destitute of talent, though he submitted with reverence to his father, who governed his empire. But neither his own virtues nor his father's talents were able to save Thessalonica from the attacks of the emperor of Nicæa, who was determined that no Greek should share the honours of the imperial title. The emperor of Nicæa took Thessalonica, and compelled John to lay aside the imperial title, but allowed him to retain the direction of the government on his accepting MICHAEL II., DESPOT OF EPIRUS. 147 A. D. the rank of despot, as a public recognition of his submission to the emperor of Nicæa as the lawful emperor of 1230-1267. the East. The short-lived empire of Thessalonica ceased to exist in the year 1234. SECT. III.-DESPOTAT OF EPIRUS. PRINCIPALITY OF VALLACHIAN THESSALY. FAMILY OF TOCCO. John continued to govern Thessalonica as despot until his death in 1244. He was succeeded by his brother Demetrius, a weak prince, whose authority never extended far beyond the walls of the city. His misconduct drove his politic father from his counsels, and involved himselt in disputes with the Greek emperor, John III., who soon drove him from office, and united Thessalonica directly to the Greek empire in 1246. In the mean time Michael II., a natural son of Michael I., had acquired great influence in Epirus, where he gradually gained possession of the power and dominions occupied by his father. The fall of Thessalonica, and the weakness of his uncles in their Thessalian principalities, enabled him to gain possession of Pelagonia, Achrida, and Prilapos, while the blind old Theodore maintained himself as an independent prince in Vodhena, Ostrovos, and Staridola.1 The emperor John III., in order to secure the friendship of Michael II., and induce him to acknowledge the supremacy of the throne of Nicæa, conferred on him the title of despot, and promised him Maria, the daughter of his son, the emperor Theodore II., as bride for Michael's son Nicephorus. The restless and intriguing old Theodore succeeded, however, in involving Michael II. in war with the emperor. Michael was unsuccessful, and his reverses compelled him to purchase peace by delivering up his blind uncle Theodore as a 1 Acropolita, 46. There is no doubt that Staridola is the present Sarighioli. -Leake's Travels in Northern Greece, i. 311; Cantacuzenos, p. 776. |