Licario

Licario, called Ikarios (Greek: Ἰκάριος) by the Greek chroniclers, was a Byzantine admiral of Italian origin in the 13th century. At odds with the Latin barons of his native Euboea, he entered the service of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282), and reconquered many of the Aegean islands for him in the 1270s. For his exploits, he was rewarded with Euboea as a fief and rose to the rank of megas konostaulos and megas doux, the first foreigner to do so.

Licario was born in Karystos in Latin-held Euboea (Negroponte), from a Vicentian father and a local woman. He was of humble origin, but able and ambitious. Serving as a knight under the Latin triarch Giberto II da Verona, he managed to win the heart of Felisa, sister of Giberto and widow of another triarch, Narzotto dalle Carceri. The match was met with disapproval by Felisa's family. They secretly married, but the marriage was cancelled by her relatives. Fleeing from their wrath, Licario sought refuge in the fort of Anemopylae near Cavo D'Oro. He repaired the strong fortress, assembled a small group of followers, and began raiding the surrounding estates, belonging to the island's nobles.

At that time, the newly restored Byzantine Empire, under the leadership of Michael VIII Palaiologos, sought to recover Euboea, which was the major Latin insular possession in the Aegean Sea and a base for piratical activity directed against his lands. Furthermore, along with the Principality of Achaea it presented the major obstacle to his complete recovery of Greece. Already in 1269/1270, a Byzantine fleet under Alexios Doukas Philanthropenos had attacked and captured many Latin nobles, the town of Oreos.

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