- William of Champlitte
[
Principality of Achaea under the Champlitte regime (1205-1209).]William of Champlitte (died 1209) was a participant on the
Fourth Crusade , and the first Prince of Achaea.He was the third son of
Edward I of Champlitte (Count of UpperBurgundy ) and grandson of Hugh I,count of Champagne . During the crusade he was acquainted withBoniface of Montferrat , the leader of the crusade, and helped bridge his differences with Baldwin of Flanders, who became the first Latin emperor ofConstantinople . During the siege of the city in July of 1203, William and a number of the crusaders were drawn close to the walls of the city by a group of strategically-retreating Varangian Guardsmen. There, William's arm was broken when it was struck during a hail of stones from Greek counter-siege petraries. [Phillips, Jonathan. "The Fourth Crusade and the Siege of Constantinople". 2004. page 173.]After the crusade had captured
Constantinople and split up theByzantine Empire , in autumn 1204 he followedBoniface of Montferrat fromThessalonica to the campaign for the conquest of Greece. William conqueredMorea (thePeloponnese ) along withGeoffrey I Villehardouin in 1205 (seethe battle of the olive grove of Koundouros ).Pope Innocent III named him ruler of allAchaea . Because of the title of his grandfather (de Champagne), indicating his home place, he was called Campanezis (Καμπανέζης) by the Greeks.In 1209, while he was concerned with the organization of the Peloponnese, he received news that his elder brother Louis had died childless and he had to rush to France to claim his rights. He died on the way to France, in
Apulia . Shortly thereafter, his nephew Hugh, whom William had left in his place in Peloponnese, also died.ources
*Finley Jr, John H. " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0038-7134%28193210%297%3A4%3C477%3ACITMA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R Corinth in the Middle Ages.] " "Speculum", Vol. 7, No. 4. (Oct., 1932), pp. 477-499.
*Tozer, H. F. " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0075-4269%281883%294%3C165%3ATFITP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S The Franks in the Peloponnese.] " "The Journal of Hellenic Studies", Vol. 4. (1883), pp. 165-236.References
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