Michael I Komnenos Doukas
| Michael I Komnenos Doukas | |
|---|---|
| Ruler of Epirus | |
Monogram of Michael on the walls of Berat Castle, Albania
|
|
| Reign | ca. 1205 – ca. 1215 |
| Successor | Theodore Komnenos Doukas |
| Born | c. 1170 |
| Died | late 1214 or 1215 |
| Issue |
|
| Dynasty | Komnenos Doukas |
| Father | John Doukas |
| Religion | Greek Orthodoxy |
Michael I Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Comnenus Ducas (Greek: Μιχαήλ Κομνηνός Δούκας, Mikhaēl Komnēnos Doukas), and in modern sources often recorded as Michael I Angelos, a name he never used, was the founder and first ruler of the Despotate of Epirus from ca. 1205 until his assassination in ca. 1215.
Born ca. 1170, Michael was a descendant of Alexios I Komnenos and a cousin of emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos. He began his public career in 1190, as a hostage to the Third Crusade, and went on to serve as governor of the province of Mylasa and Melanoudion in the 1190s and again in ca. 1200/1. During the latter tenure he rebelled against Alexios III but was defeated and forced to flee to the Seljuk Turks. In the aftermath of the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, he attached himself to Boniface of Montferrat. Soon, however, he abandoned the Crusader leader and went to Epirus, where he established himself as ruler, apparently through marriage with the daughter or widow of a local magnate.
Michael's domain in Epirus became a refuge and centre of resistance of the Greeks against the Latin Crusaders. At about the same time, according to some modern scholars, he may have led the abortive Greek resistance to the Crusaders in the Peloponnese, which was crushed at the Battle of the Olive Grove of Kountouras; according to other views, he may have led a campaign there between 1207 and 1209. In order to avoid invasion and buy time to consolidate his position in Epirus, Michael soon entered into negotiations with Pope Innocent III, and concluded treaties with the Latin Empire and the Republic of Venice. In the meantime, his rule received a boost in legitimacy when he ransomed the deposed Alexios III from captivity. According to later chroniclers, Alexios III conferred the hereditary rule of Epirus to Michael and his descendants.
...
Wikipedia