William of Champlitte

William I of Champlitte (French: Guillaume de Champlitte) (1160s-1209) was a French knight who joined the Fourth Crusade and became the first prince of Achaea (1205–1209).^[1][2][3]

William I
Prince of Achaea
Coat of Arms of William of Champlitte
Reign	1205-1209
Successor	Geoffrey I
Born	1160s
Died	1209
Spouse	Alais of Meursault Elisabeth of Mount-Saint-Jean
House	House of Blois House of Champlitte
Father	Odo I of Champlitte
Mother	Sybille

Early years and the Fourth Crusade

William was the second son of Odo or Eudes I of Champlitte, viscount of Dijon.^[3] He later married Elisabeth of Mount-Saint-Jean, but they divorced in 1199.

William was one of the crusader leaders who signed the letter written in April 1203 by Counts Baldwin IX of Flanders, Louis I of Blois and Chartres and Hugh IV of Saint Pol to Pope Innocent III after the occupation of Zara (now Zadar, Croatia).^[4]

The imperial throne was given to Baldwin IX of Flanders on May 16, 1204.^[5]

Foundation of the Principality of Achaea

Early in 1205 Geoffrey of Villehardouin, one of William of Champlitte's allies went to the camp of Boniface I of Thessalonica at Nauplia (now Nafplion, Greece).^[6][7] He had earlier occupied some parts of Messenia.^[6]

The Peloponnese in the Middle Ages

William in short time occupied Coron (now Koroni, Greece), Kalamata and Kyparissia.^[8]

Fortress at Modon (Methoni)

William became the Prince of Achaea during 1205.^[9]

While traveling to France, his death occurred during 1208 in Apulia.^[10][11]

See also

• Fourth Crusade
• Principality of Achaea
• Battle of the Olive Grove of Koundouros

References

1. Runciman 1951, p. 126.
2. Longnon 1969, p. 239.
3. Evergates 2007, p. 220.
4. Andrea 2000, pp. 54-56.
5. Runciman 1951, p. 125.
6. Fine 1994, p. 69.
7. Longnon 1969, p. 237.
8. Setton 1976, p. 25.
9. Fine 1994, p. 70.
10. Fine 1994, p. 71.
11. Setton 1976, p. 34.

Sources

• Andrea, Alfred J. (2000). Contemporary Sources for the Fourth Crusade. Brill. ISBN 90-04-11740-7.
• Evergates, Theodore (2007). The Aristocracy in the County of Champagne, 1100-1300. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-4019-1.
• Fine, John V. A. Jr. (1994) [1987]. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08260-4.
• Longnon, Jean (1969) [1962]. "The Frankish States in Greece, 1204–1311". In Setton, Kenneth M.; Wolff, Robert Lee; Hazard, Harry W. (eds.). A History of the Crusades, Volume II: The Later Crusades, 1189–1311 (Second ed.). Madison, Milwaukee, and London: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 234–275. ISBN 0-299-04844-6.
• Runciman, Steven (1954). A History of the Crusades, Volume III: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Setton, Kenneth M. (1976). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume I: The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. ISBN 0-87169-114-0.

Further reading

• Bon, Antoine (1969). La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d'Achaïe [The Frankish Morea. Historical, Topographic and Archaeological Studies on the Principality of Achaea] (in French). Paris: De Boccard. OCLC 869621129.
• Finley Jr, John H. "Corinth in the Middle Ages." Speculum, Vol. 7, No. 4. (Oct., 1932), pp. 477–499.
• Joinville, Jean de; Villehardouin, Geoffroi de; Shaw, Margaret R. B. (1963). Chronicles of the Crusades. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-044124-7.
• Tozer, H. F. "The Franks in the Peloponnese." The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 4. (1883), pp. 165–236.

Regnal titles
New title	Prince of Achaea 1205–1209	Succeeded by Geoffrey I