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Foods Market. Hello

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everyone and welcome to the History

0:53

of Byzantium, episode 288. Boniface,

0:58

Marquis of Montferrat Last

1:03

time we saw the Latins agree to

1:05

conquer the Roman Empire and run it

1:07

from Constantinople. The Emperor

1:09

Baldwin marched off to war with Bulgaria

1:12

to defend his new lands, only

1:14

to be captured in battle just

1:16

outside Adrianople. One

1:19

of the major reasons for the Latin defeat was

1:21

the absence of so many of the men who'd

1:23

captured New Rome. As

1:25

I mentioned, many were on their way north but

1:27

arrived too late. Yet thousands

1:30

more were nowhere near Adrianople

1:32

on that fateful day. They

1:35

were off conquering Greece, under the

1:37

auspices of Boniface, the

1:39

Marquis of Montferrat. When

1:46

the Latins realised that the city was theirs,

1:49

no one was more excited than Boniface. The

1:52

Marquis had seen both his brothers

1:54

murdered on their quests to become

1:56

great lords, and now he had

1:58

succeeded. what a triumph it was.

2:01

The Queen of cities had fallen to

2:04

his army and he would

2:06

doubtless become the new Roman Emperor. He

2:09

raced his horse through the burnt-out

2:11

husk of central Constantinople and made

2:13

his way to the Great Palace.

2:16

Taking a moment to glance up at the

2:18

Ahia Sophia, as he passed,

2:20

Boniface arrived at the Chalk

2:22

Gate. Once

2:24

he was flanked by his men, he

2:27

announced his intentions to the terrified Byzantines

2:29

inside. If they stood aside

2:31

and allowed his men to occupy the palace, he

2:34

would make sure that they were not harmed. The

2:37

gates opened and Boniface made his way through

2:40

the halls which every Roman

2:42

Emperor since Constantine had called

2:44

their home. Many

2:48

in the palace had known both of the

2:50

Marquess's brothers and had hailed

2:52

each as Caesar. So

2:54

Boniface didn't seem the worst choice to

2:56

be the new Vassilefs. Men

2:59

would ingratiate themselves with their new ruler

3:01

by reminiscing about the times they'd shared

3:03

with his siblings and many

3:06

Romans in that quarter of the city began

3:08

to refer to him by the imperial title,

3:11

keen to be seen as early adopters

3:13

in this new scary world. Most

3:18

Boniface's grateful guests was a woman

3:20

of particular interest. Marguerite

3:23

of Hungary, the widow

3:25

of Isaac Angelos. Isaac

3:27

had married her as part of his efforts to

3:29

secure peace with Hungary but had

3:32

been overthrown nine years later by

3:34

his brother, Alexios Angelos Comlinos. Margaret

3:37

had been forced to live under house

3:40

arrest and was as surprised as anyone

3:42

when she was suddenly re-enthroned by the

3:44

crusaders in 1203. Nothing

3:47

good followed for her family as

3:49

Isaac passed away just as his

3:52

son by another woman, Alexios Angelos,

3:54

was murdered by Maudsuvlos. Back

3:58

into her gilded cage she went

4:00

until now. Boniface

4:02

eyed the 30 year old Empress and

4:04

liked what he saw. Here

4:06

was a way to massively bolster his claim

4:08

to the throne. She was

4:11

the rightful Byzantine Empress in the

4:13

eyes of many and so Boniface

4:15

was simply stepping into the shoes

4:17

vacated by the Anguloi and providing

4:19

continuity. He could even

4:21

rule in the name of her Roman

4:23

children. Yes,

4:25

she had had two sons with

4:27

Isaac Angelos, named

4:29

poignantly John and

4:32

Manuil. The

4:34

two princes were no more than 10 years old.

4:37

If the Roman people had doubts about

4:39

their new Latin overlord, he could actually

4:41

present these children as their true rulers.

4:45

Their marriage would also help secure

4:47

Hungarian support for the new regime.

4:51

Genius move, Boniface! the

4:53

Marquess said to himself he

4:56

quickly married her and then

4:58

didn't become Emperor. To

5:01

his immense frustration, the crusaders stuck

5:03

to their plans to elect a

5:05

new Vassilafs and chose Baldwin. Fuming,

5:08

Boniface demanded that he be compensated

5:11

for this massive loss. But

5:13

as I mentioned last week, Baldwin did things

5:15

by the book. He respected the

5:17

decision of the committee who divided up

5:20

the Byzantine realm according to

5:22

their considered opinion. As

5:24

Baldwin marched off to Thessaloniki to

5:26

secure the city, Boniface

5:29

decided to take what he wanted. He

5:32

suborned the troops occupying one of the

5:34

Thracian towns that Baldwin had just left

5:38

and inside he presented Margaret and

5:40

her children to the local Roman

5:42

population who responded enthusiastically. Sheered

5:46

by this, Boniface gathered his forces, which

5:48

included most of the knights who'd come

5:50

from Italy and Germany, and

5:52

marched them north to Adrianople. As

5:57

you know, Adrianople was the largest city in

5:59

Thrac. By seizing it, Boniface

6:01

would have a tremendous bargaining chip. But

6:04

taking the city proved far harder than he'd

6:06

anticipated. The siege engines the

6:08

Marquis could muster did not threaten

6:10

the walls, and the Roman inhabitants

6:12

resisted stoutly. According

6:15

to the crusader Robert of Clary,

6:17

Boniface now presented Margaret and her children

6:19

to an embassy from the city. Boniface

6:23

urged the ambassadors to admit that they

6:25

recognized the Empress, which they did,

6:28

and they acknowledged that the boys were indeed

6:30

the sons of Isaac Angelos. Baa,

6:33

said Boniface, why have you not recognized

6:35

this boy as your lord then? To

6:38

which the ambassador wisely responded, take

6:41

him to Constantinople to be crowned, and once

6:43

he's in possession of the city, we will

6:46

bow down before him. Boniface's

6:50

blushes were spared when another embassy, this

6:52

time from New Rome, called

6:54

him to come back and make peace with Baldwin.

6:58

When the Doge and other crusade leaders

7:00

heard what was happening, they reacted quickly.

7:03

They knew they couldn't survive a civil war

7:05

and begged the Marquis to stand down. The

7:09

Emperor Baldwin returned from Thessalonica

7:11

and duly offered that city

7:13

to Boniface. The

7:15

Marquis's tantrum had worked. The

7:18

Latins agreed to create a new kingdom

7:20

of Thessalonica for Boniface to rule. This

7:23

would cover most of Greece and the approaches

7:25

to the city in each direction. This

7:29

was how the Latins had divided up the Holy Land.

7:32

As you know, there was a County of

7:34

Odessa, a principality of Antioch and a county

7:36

of Tripoli. Each functioned as

7:38

its own realm, but the ruler of

7:41

each ultimately owed allegiance to the King

7:43

of Jerusalem. So

7:45

even as Boniface became King of

7:47

Thessaloniki, he still owed fealty to

7:50

the Emperor Baldwin. In

7:52

his ego soothed, Boniface rushed off

7:55

to take possession of his

7:57

new prize. As

8:01

you may recall, Boniface wasn't

8:03

the only man rushing west

8:05

that summer. The former emperor,

8:07

Alexios Angelos Comlinos, had already

8:09

travelled in this direction after

8:11

blinding Morsuflos. Angelos

8:14

Comlinos was struggling to find Roman troops

8:16

willing to fight the Latins. Most

8:19

towns only had small garrisons, and in

8:21

the wake of the sack of Constantinople,

8:23

few were willing to stand in the

8:25

face of a Latin cavalry charge. So

8:28

the Vasilefs made his way south into Greece,

8:31

where he knew someone who could be relied

8:33

upon to put up a fight. Leo

8:37

Skoros was one of the many

8:39

figures who decided to rebel against

8:41

Constantinople's authority in the confusing years

8:43

which led up to the arrival

8:46

of the Fourth Crusade. Skoros

8:49

was from Naplion, just south of

8:51

Argos in the Peloponnese. Most

8:54

likely his family were local office holders, and

8:57

with the relentless disruption going on further

9:00

north, he decided to take matters into

9:02

his own hands. He seized

9:04

control of his hometown, then

9:06

Argos, then Corinth. He

9:09

would take control of the local tax revenues,

9:11

pay the soldiers himself, and cease

9:14

to send the expected funds to Constantinople.

9:17

When the Latins arrived on the Bosphorus, Skoros

9:19

took the opportunity to expand his main. He

9:22

marched north, capturing many towns in

9:24

Attica, though failing to take Athens

9:27

itself. He made

9:29

it all the way to Larissa in central Greece, which

9:32

had long been the main Byzantine administrative centre

9:34

in the region. And

9:36

it was there that he received Alexios Angelos

9:38

Komninos and his family in the summer of

9:40

1204. Skoros

9:44

had of course rebelled, technically, against

9:46

Angelos Komninos, so it was a

9:49

strange alliance in many ways. But

9:51

if Skoros could hold Greece against the

9:53

Latins, then perhaps a counterattack could be

9:55

launched in the future. Skoros

9:58

married the daughter of the Vasilev's

10:00

Udochia, and it's

10:02

possible that the Emperor bestowed upon Skoros

10:05

the title of Despot, the same title

10:07

he'd issued to the men who'd married

10:09

his other daughters. Unfortunately,

10:13

this alliance did not stand the

10:15

test of time. Boniface's

10:17

hardened knights would prove to

10:20

be too strong for Skoros's

10:22

levies. The

10:24

Marquis made his way first to

10:26

Tatalaniki, where the locals welcomed their

10:28

new master. He installed

10:30

Margaret and her sons in a palatial residence

10:32

and organized a new administration,

10:35

but he then quickly left to seize further

10:38

territory. Sizing

10:40

up the forces coming towards

10:42

him, Skoros wisely abandoned Laritha

10:44

and made for Thermopylae. The

10:47

famous pass was a natural choke point at which to

10:49

make a stand, but his attempted

10:51

ambush failed and the Latins drove off

10:54

Skoros's men. Leo

10:56

was disappointed by the performance of his

10:58

forces, but he could see

11:00

that standing and fighting the Latins face-to-face

11:02

was a mistake. He

11:05

retreated to the Isthmus of Corinth and

11:07

held it against Baldwin's first attack. But

11:10

the Marquis was on a mission and

11:13

determined to capture the country while his

11:15

followers were still enthusiastic for conquest. A

11:18

second attempt broke through in early 1205 and

11:21

Skoros was forced to distribute his forces

11:24

between his three main strongholds, Corinth,

11:26

Argos and Naplion. Perhaps

11:29

if he could exhaust the Latins in a

11:31

series of sieges, then he could break their

11:34

power. This

11:36

wasn't a bad strategy. The Latins didn't have

11:38

enough men to surround any of these cities.

11:40

They had to occupy strongholds nearby and

11:43

make life difficult for those behind the

11:45

walls. Eventually

11:47

each city succumbed to the pressure and

11:50

made an accommodation with the invaders. As

11:53

Professor Caudellis says in his new book, Roman

11:56

culture did not encourage ordinary citizens to

11:58

fight to the death. They were

12:00

used to preserving their lives and waiting for

12:03

imperial forces to come to the rescue. But

12:05

in this case, no one was coming. Corinth

12:09

would hold out for five years,

12:12

testament to Skorus' organization

12:15

and the formidable defenses of

12:17

the Acro-Corinth, the citadel high

12:20

above the city. By

12:22

the time it fell, Skorus was dead. A

12:25

later legend remembered him as riding his horse

12:27

off the top of the cliff. Denying

12:30

the Latins the chance to take him alive.

12:35

Meanwhile, Alexios Angelos Comlinus fell

12:37

into Boniface's hands. Always

12:40

keeping his pieces on the chessboard,

12:42

the Marquess decided not to execute

12:44

the former emperor or have him

12:47

taken to Constantinople to be humiliated.

12:49

Instead, he shipped him off to Montferrat

12:51

to live in comfortable exile. For

12:54

now. As

12:56

Antony called Ellis notes, this made him

12:58

the first Roman emperor to visit Italy

13:00

since Heraclius's grandson Constans II, some 500

13:02

years earlier. All

13:08

seemed to be going swimmingly for Boniface, and

13:10

so he was shocked when a few months

13:12

later he got word that Baldwin had been

13:15

captured by the Bulgarians. The

13:17

Marquess would never have made it to the battlefield,

13:19

even if he'd wanted to, and he

13:21

was too ensconced in Greece now to make a

13:23

play to become the new emperor. So

13:26

he stuck to the task in front of him. As

13:29

I said, it took five years to

13:31

subdue Corinth, so Boniface had plenty to

13:33

do, building forts around the city and

13:35

harassing the local population. He

13:37

also authorized his subordinates to fan out

13:40

and conquer the rest of Greece. Greece

13:44

was a prosperous and peaceful place in 1200

13:46

AD. They

13:48

hadn't been made in trouble since Basil

13:50

II had eliminated the Bulgarian Empire two

13:52

centuries earlier. The

13:54

landscape was filled with lush fields and productive cities.

13:58

The surplus that these created was then destroyed. carted

14:00

to the coast to be sold to the

14:02

Italian merchants who dominated the trade

14:04

routes. As

14:06

the Latins went from town to town,

14:09

they found the locals receptive to surrender

14:11

on friendly terms. You

14:13

can take over the government if we can keep our

14:15

land. Of course

14:18

it wasn't all smiles, but there was little

14:20

resistance once it became clear that Skoros was

14:22

trapped in Corinth. Arthur

14:25

Dularos became the Grand Lord

14:27

of Athens after capturing

14:29

Attica and its surrounding territories, while

14:33

Guillaume of Champlit and Geoffrey of

14:35

Vilhardouin took 600 soldiers south and

14:39

conquered the Peloponnese. This

14:41

created a principality of Achaia which

14:43

would administer the region. The

14:47

lords of Athens and Achaia were therefore

14:49

vassals of the king of Thessaloniki, and

14:52

between the three territories most of Greece

14:54

was now safely under Latin control. As

14:58

in Western Europe, each lord would then

15:00

reward his own men with lands and

15:02

titles. These would

15:04

prove to be enduring conquests. The

15:08

further south he went, the safer

15:10

these new Latin lords were from

15:12

Roman or Bulgarian assault. Speaking

15:15

of which, in the wake of

15:18

Baldwin's death, the Bulgarians were able

15:20

to rampage across Thrace and briefly

15:22

contemplate taking Thessaloniki. As

15:25

Boniface was helping to besiege Naplion,

15:27

he received alarming news. A

15:29

group of Bulgarians living in Thessalonica had

15:32

stirred a revolt against the Latins. Chaos

15:35

reigned and the Czar's army were on their

15:37

way towards the city. Margaret,

15:40

holed up in the city with her children,

15:42

begged the Marquis to come running, which

15:45

he did. Boniface and

15:47

his men rushed into Thessaloniki and

15:49

ousted the rebels. Order

15:51

was restored and the Bulgarians decided against

15:53

a siege now that the king was

15:56

back in his city. Boniface

15:59

was now fully of what a

16:01

danger the Bulgarians presented. They trampled across

16:03

his lands that summer and dragged their

16:05

captives back north. Boniface

16:09

kept in touch with the authorities

16:11

in Constantinople about the alarming collapse

16:13

of Thrace. The

16:15

Latin Empire could not be allowed to

16:17

disintegrate or his new conquests would be

16:19

intensely vulnerable. And yet he

16:21

couldn't do much to help them because if he took

16:23

his men east to fight the Bulgarians, the

16:25

Greeks would rebel and overthrow his subordinates.

16:29

When it became clear that the Emperor

16:31

Baldwin was gone, Boniface sent for his

16:34

daughter in Italy. When

16:36

she arrived, Boniface offered her

16:38

hand in marriage to the new Versilefs, Baldwin's

16:41

brother Henry. Henry

16:44

and Agnes were married in February 1207 in

16:47

the Ahiasofia. This

16:49

alliance made it clear that Boniface was committed

16:51

to the Latin project and

16:54

he needed to be because that

16:56

summer the Bulgarians rampaged through Thrace

16:58

again. Fear was growing that

17:00

the Slavs were going to sweep the Latins into

17:02

the sea and become the new masters

17:04

of the Balkans. In

17:08

the autumn, Boniface traveled to Kipcella to

17:10

pledge fealty to the new Emperor. This

17:13

was the same imperial mustering grounds where

17:15

Isaac Angelos had been captured and blinded.

17:19

Henry must have been concerned about Boniface

17:21

after all the Marquis had tried to

17:23

humiliate his brother with that stunt at

17:26

Adrianople. But the two men

17:28

needed each other desperately at this point and

17:30

so were mutually relieved when the ceremony went

17:33

off without a hitch and

17:35

they parted on good terms. Unfortunately

17:38

for the Latins, they still

17:40

didn't know the lands they had conquered well enough.

17:43

A party of Bulgarians, possibly led

17:45

by black cavalry, were lurking in

17:47

the area. When they

17:49

got word that the king of Thessalonica was

17:52

making his way slowly back towards his realm,

17:54

they decided to pounce. The

17:57

Bulgarians attacked the rear of the Marquis'

17:59

train and when he heard what

18:01

was happening he spurred his horse into action,

18:03

even though he was not wearing armor. It

18:06

was typical Latin bravery, but also

18:08

a foolhardy move. His

18:11

cavalry charge drove the enemy back, but

18:13

arrows flew at his person and one

18:15

struck a fatal blow below his shoulder.

18:19

With blood pouring from the wound, the

18:21

Marquess fell back and his men began

18:23

to panic. Boniface fainted

18:25

and had to be helped to the ground. The

18:28

Bulgarians swarmed around him and a

18:30

large number of Latins fled to

18:32

save themselves. Those

18:35

who stood with the Marquess were cut down and

18:37

Boniface's head was removed and

18:40

taken back to the Czar. It

18:44

was a gruesome end for a man who dreamt

18:46

dreams of glory. Yet

18:48

just like Baldwin, he took on

18:50

a fight with too few men and his

18:52

personal bravery cost him his throne and his life.

18:57

When the Bulgarians are Calian saw

18:59

Boniface's decapitated head, he immediately

19:01

ordered an attack on Thessaloniki.

19:05

His army had been ravaging the countryside all summer,

19:07

but there was no way he could turn down

19:09

this opportunity. If the

19:11

Bulgarians could capture the Romans' second city,

19:14

then perhaps they could make themselves masters

19:16

of the entire region. Once

19:19

that was done, the noose would slowly tighten around

19:21

the Latin Empire. Could

19:23

Calian actually drive

19:25

the Westerners out and make himself

19:27

Roman Emperor? We'll

19:30

find out together next time. I've

19:36

not seen any scholars talk about

19:38

the curse of Constantinople, but Boniface's

19:40

death just three years after taking

19:42

the city marks the end of

19:44

the entire leadership team of the

19:47

Fourth Crusade. Count

19:49

Louis of Blois had fallen at Adrianople,

19:51

as we discussed last week, and

19:53

the Emperor Baldwin followed sometime later

19:56

in captivity. While their

19:58

colleague Hugh of St. Paul. Died

20:00

of a sickness back a new

20:02

room. At the

20:05

end of May, twelve o' Five,

20:07

the dovish enrico done below joined

20:09

them. He passed from

20:11

natural causes and was buried in

20:13

the A. He is sophia the

20:15

only Christian to receive such an

20:18

honor. None.

20:21

Of them live to see the

20:23

fruits of their conquest and all but

20:25

done Dollar died in pretty miserable

20:27

fashion. It the

20:29

ghost of Constantine or Justinian put

20:32

a curse on them. To

20:34

death, theft of relics upset the divine power that

20:36

had aided them in taking the city. Perhaps.

20:40

Some petty minded present in this

20:42

might suggest that this was comic

20:44

retribution for their crimes, but I

20:46

haven't heard that anywhere yet. Nevertheless,

20:50

they are all gone now. And

20:52

the entire lot project. Is. Hanging

20:54

by a thread. For

20:58

anyone wondering what happened to the sons

21:00

of Isaac angle us, John and Manner.

21:02

We'll Manner We'll seems to have died

21:04

while still young man, while John fled

21:06

to Hungary with his mother in the

21:08

twelve twenties. He would live

21:11

till he was sixty and serve

21:13

for at least twenty years as

21:15

the governor of the area between

21:17

Serbia and Belgrade, the very borderlands

21:19

which had cause so many wars

21:21

between Byzantium and Hungary during the

21:23

com any an era. A very

21:25

fitting appointment for a man whose

21:27

birth was literally designed to bring

21:29

peace to this very rich. Easier

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