View source for Duchy of the Archipelago

{{Short description|Crusader state in the Cyclades (1207–1579)}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = {{native name|el|Δουκάτο του Αρχιπελάγους}}<br/>{{native name|it|Ducato dell'arcipelago}}<br/>{{native name|vec|Ducato de l'arcipelago}}
| conventional_long_name = Duchy of the Archipelago
| common_name            = Duchy of Naxos
| image_flag             = 
| image_coat             = {{multiple images
|total_width = 250px
|image1 = Coat of Arms of the House of Sanudo.svg
|image2 = Crispi Coat of Arms.svg
}}
| symbol_type            = Coat of arms of the two ruling houses of the Duchy, the [[House of Sanudo]] (1207&ndash;1383, left) and [[House of Crispo]] (1383&ndash;1566, right)
| image_map              = Duchy of Naxos locator.svg
| image_map_caption      = Duchy of Naxos, 1450, highlighted within the [[Aegean Sea]]
| era                    = Middle Ages
| status                 = Client state
| status_text            = Client state*
| empire                 = Republic of Venice
| government_type        = [[Feudalism|Feudal]] [[Duchy]]
| year_start             = 1207
| year_end               = 1579|
| event_pre              = [[Sack of Constantinople]]
| date_pre               = 1204
| event_start            = Duchy established
| date_start             = 
| event1                 = Crispo ''[[coup d'état]]''
| date_event1            = 1383
| event2                 = [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] suzerainty
| date_event2            = 1537
| event_end              = Expropriated by [[Murad III]]
| date_end               = 
| p1                     = Byzantine Empire
| s1                     = Sanjak of Nakşa Berre
| capital                = [[Naxos Island|Naxos]]
| common_languages       = [[Italian language|Italian]] and [[Venetian language|Venetian]] officially,<br/>[[Medieval Greek|Greek]] popularly
| religion               = [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]],<br/>[[Greek Orthodox]] popularly|
| leader1                = Marco I Sanudo
| year_leader1           = 1207–27
| leader2                = Francesco I Crispo
| year_leader2           = 1383–97
| leader3                = Giacomo IV Crispo
| year_leader3           = 1564–66
| leader4                = [[Joseph Nasi]]
| year_leader4           = 1566–79
| title_leader           = [[Duke]]
| footnotes              = * The duchy was a client state of, in order, the [[Latin Empire|Latin Emperors]] at [[Constantinople]], the [[Villehardouin family|Villehardouin]] dynasty of [[Principality of Achaea|princes of Achaea]], the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevins]] of the [[Kingdom of Naples]] and (after 1418) the [[Republic of Venice]]. From 1566–79, the duchy was administered as a part of the [[Ottoman Empire]] before total annexation.
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| HDI                    = 
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| today                  = 
| image_flag2            = 
}}
The '''Duchy of the Archipelago''' ({{langx|el|Δουκάτο του Αρχιπελάγους|Doukáto tou Archipelágous}}, {{langx|it|Ducato dell'arcipelago}}, {{langx|vec|Ducato de l'arcipelago}}), also known as '''Duchy of Naxos''' or '''Duchy of the Aegean''', was a maritime state created by [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] interests in the [[Cyclades|Cyclades archipelago]] in the [[Aegean Sea]], in the aftermath of the [[Fourth Crusade]], centered on the islands of [[Naxos (island)|Naxos]] and [[Paros]]. It included all the Cyclades (except [[Mykonos]] and [[Tinos]]). In 1537, it became a tributary of the [[Ottoman Empire]], and was annexed by the Ottomans in 1579; however, Christian rule survived in islands such as [[Sifnos]] (conquered by the Ottomans in 1617) and [[Tinos]] (conquered in 1715).

==Background and establishment of the Duchy==
The [[Italian city-states]], especially the [[Republic of Genoa]], [[Republic of Pisa|Pisa]], and Venice, had been interested in the islands of the Aegean long before the Fourth Crusade. There were Italian trading colonies in [[Constantinople]] and Italian [[pirate]]s frequently attacked settlements in the Aegean in the 12th century. After the collapse and partitioning of the [[Byzantine Empire]] in 1204, in which the Venetians played a major role, Venetian interests in the Aegean could be more thoroughly realized.

The Duchy of the Archipelago was created in 1207 by the Venetian nobleman [[Marco I Sanudo|Marco Sanudo]], a participant in the Fourth Crusade and nephew of the former [[Doge of Venice|Doge]] [[Enrico Dandolo]], who had led the Venetian fleet to Constantinople. This was an independent venture, without the consent of the [[Latin Empire|Latin emperor]] [[Henry of Flanders]]. Sanudo was accompanied by [[Marino Dandolo]] and [[Andrea Ghisi|Andrea]] and [[Geremia Ghisi]] (as well as [[Filocalo Navigajoso]], possibly). He arranged for the loan of eight [[galley]]s from the [[Venetian Arsenal]], set anchor in the harbour of [[Potamides (port)]] (now [[Pyrgaki]], in the southwest of Naxos), and largely captured the island.

The Naxiotes continued to resist, however, and established a base inland, around the fortress of [[Apalyros]]/[[Apalire]]. The latter fell to Sanudo after a five or six weeks' siege, despite the assistance rendered to the Greeks by the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]], Venice's main competitors.

With the entire island occupied in 1210, Sanudo and his associates soon conquered [[Melos]] and the rest of the islands of the [[Cyclades]], and he established himself as ''Duke of Naxia'', or ''Duke of the Archipelago'', with his headquarters on Naxos. Sanudo rebuilt a strong fortress and divided the island into 56 provinces, which he shared out as [[Fiefdom|fiefs]] among the leaders of his men, most of whom were highly autonomous and paid their own expenses. Navigaojso had been granted his island domain by Henry of Flanders and was technically a vassal of the Latin Empire; Sanudo himself recognized the Latin Empire's authority rather than making the Duchy a [[vassalage|vassal]] of Venice. The conqueror himself ruled for twenty years (1207–27). He held in his personal possession [[Paros]], [[Antiparos]], [[Milos]], [[Sifnos]], [[Kythnos]], [[Ios (island)|Ios]], [[Amorgos]], [[Kimolos]], [[Sikinos]], [[Syros]], and [[Pholegandros]].

Sanudo's fellow crusaders conquered lordships of their own, sometimes as vassals of Sanudo, e.g. Dandolo on [[Andros]]. Although they are often considered to have become Sanudo's vassals as well,<ref>cf. Longnon (1969), p. 239</ref> the Ghisi brothers, who held [[Tinos]], [[Mykonos]], and the [[Northern Sporades]] ([[Skiathos]], [[Skyros]], [[Skopelos]]) never recognized the suzerainty of Sanudo. Instead, like him, they were directly vassals of the Latin Emperors.<ref>Setton (1976), p. 19 note 78</ref> Some families thought earlier<ref>cf Longnon (1969), pp. 238–239, basing himself on the works of Karl Hopf</ref> to have settled at this time in the islands were in fact established later, in the 14th century ([[Barozzi family|Barozzi]] etc.) or the 15th ([[Querini]]).<ref>Louise Buenger Robbert, ''Venice and the Crusades'' in ''A History of the Crusades vol.V'' p 432, citing the works of Silvano Borsari and of R-J Loenertz</ref> Further south, [[Kythera]] (or ''Cerigo''), held by [[Marco Venier]], and [[Antikythera]] (or ''Cerigotto''), held by [[Jacopo Viaro]] chose to become vassals of Venice.<ref>Longnon (1969), p. 239</ref>

==Administration, faith and economics==
[[Image:ShepherdByzempire1265.jpg|thumb|right|380px|The Duchy of [[Naxos (island)|Naxos]] and states in the [[Morea]], carved from the [[Byzantine Empire]], as they were in 1265 (William R. Shepherd, ''Historical Atlas'', 1911)]]

The institution of European [[feudalism]] caused little disruption to the local islanders{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}, who were familiar with the rights of a [[landowner]] class under the Byzantine system of the ''[[pronoia]]''. The significant legal distinctions between the Byzantine ''pronoia'' and feudalism were of little immediate consequence for those who farmed the land or fished the waters in question.  In most cases, the local population submitted relatively peacefully to the authority of their new Venetian lords. Sanudo and his successors prudently followed a conciliatory course with their Byzantine subjects, granting even fiefs to certain among them, in an effort to bind them to the dynasty.

The Venetians brought the [[Roman Catholicism|Catholic Church]] with them, but, as they were a minority of habitually absentee landowners, most of the population remained [[Greek Orthodox]]. Marco Sanudo himself established a Latin archbishopric on Naxos, but in contrast to his successors, did not attempt to forcibly convert the Greek Orthodox majority. These moves consisted primarily of imposing restrictions on Orthodox clergy and the exclusion of Orthodox Christians from positions of authority.

The islands were of great importance in Venetian [[grand strategy]], with their valuable trade routes to [[Anatolia]] and the [[Eastern Mediterranean]], which the Venetians could now control. Aside from providing safe travelling routes to Venetian ships, the Venetians also exported [[corundum]] and [[marble]], which they mined on Naxos, to Venice. Certain Latin feudal rights survived on the island of Naxos and elsewhere until they were abrogated in 1720 by the Ottomans.

==Later history==
Twenty-one dukes of the two dynasties ruled the Archipelago, successively as vassals of the Latin Emperors at Constantinople, of the [[Villehardouin family|Villehardouin]] dynasty of [[Principality of Achaea|princes of Achaea]], of the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevins]] of the [[Kingdom of Naples]] (in 1278), and after 1418 of the Republic of Venice.

In 1248, the suzerainty of the Duchy was nominally granted by the Latin Emperor [[Baldwin II, Latin Emperor|Baldwin II]] to [[William II Villehardouin|William of Villehardouin]], Prince of Achaea.<ref>R-J Loenertz, ''Les seigneurs tierciers de Négrepont'', Byzantion, vol. 35, 1965, re-edited in ''Byzantina et Franco-Graeca : series altera'' p 152. The date of 1236, proposed by Hopf without justification, has been rejected by Longnon in ''Problèmes de l'histoire de la principauté de Morée'', ''Journal des savants'' (1946) pp. 149-150.</ref> Marco II Sanudo lost many of the islands, except Naxos and Paros, to the forces of the renewed Byzantine Empire under the admiral [[Licario]] in the late 13th century. The Byzantine revival was to prove short-lived, though, as they relinquished control of their gains in 1310.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

In 1317 the [[Catalan Company]] raided the remnants{{which?|date=October 2024}} of the Duchy; in 1383, the Crispo family led an armed insurrection and overthrew Sanudo's heirs as Dukes of Archipelago. Under the Crispo dukes, social order and agriculture decayed, and piracy became dominant. It officially became a vassal of Venice in 1418 in reaction of the [[Rise of the Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/733644|title=Characterizing the Historic Landscapes of Naxos|doi=10.1558/jmea.v24i1.111|author1=Jim Crow|author2=Sam Turner|author3=Athanasios K. Vionis|page=117|issn=1743-1700|journal=Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology|volume=24|issue=1|year=2011}}</ref>

==Collapse and Ottoman conquest==
[[File:Eastern Mediterranean 1450 .svg|thumb|280px|Eastern Mediterranean in 1450]]
Before the last Latin Christian duke, [[Jacopo IV Crispo]], was deposed in 1566 by [[Ottoman Dynasty|Ottoman Sultan]] [[Selim II]], he was already paying the Sultan tribute. The Sultan's appointed representative, the last Duke of Archipelago (1566–79) was a [[History of the Jews in Portugal|Portuguese Jew]] ([[Marrano]]), [[Joseph Nasi]].

Latin Christian rule did not come to a complete end on that date: the [[Gozzadini]] family in [[Bologna]] survived as lords of [[Sifnos]] and other little islands in the Cyclades until 1617, and the island of [[Tinos]] remained Venetian until 1714. The last Venetian ports in [[Morea]] (the [[Peloponnese]]) were captured in 1718. [[Gaspar Graziani]], a [[Dalmatia]]n nobleman, was awarded the title of ''Duke of the Archipelago' by the sultan in 1616, but the island was again under direct Ottoman rule at the end of 1617; he was the last to hold the title.

==Legacy and influence==
Today, Cyclades islands such as [[Syros]] and [[Tinos]] have some entirely Catholic villages and parishes, while many Greeks from the Cyclades have surnames with a distinctly Italo-Venetian origin e.g. Venieris, Ragousis, Dellaportas, Damigos etc.

==Dukes of the Archipelago==
[[File:Tower of Sanudo, side view.JPG|thumb|260px|Sanudo Tower, Chora of [[Naxos]]]]

===[[Sanudo dynasty]]===
*[[Marco I Sanudo]] (1207–27)
*[[Angelo Sanudo|Angelo]] (1227–62)
*[[Marco II Sanudo|Marco II]] (1262–1303)
*[[William I Sanudo|Guglielmo I]] (1303–23)
*[[Nicholas I Sanudo|Niccolò I]] (1323–41)
*[[John I Sanudo|Giovanni I]] (1341–62)
*[[Florence Sanudo|Fiorenza]] (1362–71)
*[[Nicholas II Sanudo|Niccolò II]] (1364–71)
*[[Nicholas III dalle Carceri|Niccolò III dalle Carceri]] (1371–83)

===Crispo dynasty===
*[[Francesco I Crispo]] (1383–97)
*[[Giacomo I Crispo|Giacomo I]] (1397–1418)
*[[John II Crispo|Giovanni II]] (1418–33)
*[[Giacomo II Crispo|Giacomo II]] (1433–47)
*[[Gian Giacomo Crispo|Gian Giacomo]] (1447–53)
*[[William II Crispo|Guglielmo II]] (1453–63)
*[[Francesco II Crispo|Francesco II]] (1463)
*[[Giacomo III Crispo|Giacomo III]] (1463–80)
*[[John III Crispo|Giovanni III]] (1480–94)
''(interregnum)''
*[[Francesco III Crispo|Francesco III]] (1500–11)
''(interregnum)''
*[[John IV Crispo|Giovanni IV]] (1517–64)
*[[Giacomo IV Crispo|Giacomo IV]] (1564–66)

=== Ottoman representative ===
*[[Joseph Nasi]] (1566–79)

==See also==
* [[Byzantine Greece]]

==References==
{{more citations needed|date=June 2009}}
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | last1 = Frazee | first1 = Charles A. | last2 = Frazee | first2 = Cathleen | year = 1988 | title = The Island Princes of Greece: The Dukes of the Archipelago | location = Amsterdam | publisher = Adolf M. Hakkert | isbn = 90-256-0948-1 }}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Sansaridou-Hendrickx | first1 = Thekla | last2 = Hendrickx |  first2 = Benjamin  | title = The Post-Ducal 'Dukes of Naxos' of the 'per Dignità First Duchy of Christendom': A Re-Examination and Assessment | year = 2013 | journal = Journal of Early Christian History | volume = 3 | issue = 2 | pages = 94–107 | doi = 10.1080/2222582X.2013.11877287 | s2cid = 164042809 }}
* {{Setton-A History of the Crusades | volume = 2 | chapter = The Frankish States in Greece, 1204–1311 | pages = 234–275 | last = Longnon | first = Jean | chapter-url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=article&did=History.CrusTwo.i0021&id=History.CrusTwo }} 
* {{The Latins in the Levant}}
* {{Essays on the Latin Orient}}
* {{The Papacy and the Levant|volume=1}}
* {{The Papacy and the Levant|volume=2}}
* {{The Papacy and the Levant|volume=3}}
* {{cite book | last = Loenertz | first = Raymond-Joseph | author-link = Raymond-Joseph Loenertz | title = Les Ghisi, dynastes vénitiens dans l'Archipel (1207-1390) | year = 1975 | language = fr | publisher = [[Leo S. Olschki Editore|Olschki]] | location = Florence}}

{{Frankish and Latin Greece}}
{{Fragments of the Byzantine Empire}}
{{Crusader States}}
{{Stato da Mar}}
{{Dukes of Naxos}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Duchy Of The Archipelago}}
[[Category:Duchy of the Archipelago| ]]
[[Category:Former duchies|Archipelago, Duchy of]]
[[Category:Territories of the Republic of Venice]]
[[Category:States of Frankish and Latin Greece]]
[[Category:History of Naxos]]
[[Category:Paros]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1207]]
[[Category:13th-century establishments in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:1579 disestablishments in Europe]]
<!--annexation-->
[[Category:Island countries]]
[[Category:1207 establishments in Europe]]
[[Category:Tributary states of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 1570s]]