Byzantine Battles: Capture of Thessalonica

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15 th century

Capture of Thessalonica	year: 1224 December 1224
The Byzantines of the Despotate of Epirus took Thessaloniki from the Latins	★ ★ ★ ★ ★

enemy: Latins	location: Modern Thessaloniki, Northern Greece	accuracy: ●●●●●
battle type: City Capture	war: Latin-Epirote War	modern country: Greece

	▼ The Byzantines(emperor: John III Doukas Vatatzes)	▼ The Enemies
Commander:	Despot Theodore Komnenos Doukas of Epirus	King Demetrius of Montferrat of Thessalonica
Forces:	Unknown	Unknown
Losses:

Background story:

Initially in the service of Emperor Theodore I Laskaris of Nicaea, Theodore Komnenos Doukas joined his half-brother Michael I in Epirus in c. 1210. Michael had founded the so called Despotate of Epirus in 1205. The Despotate was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire which were formed after the conquest of Constantinople by the Latin crusaders in 1204.
When Michael was murdered, Theodore took his place and embarked on a policy of aggressive expansion after allying himself with Serbia and the Albanian clans. Taking advantage of the temporary weakness of Bulgaria and the Latin Kingdom of Thessalonica, Theodore seized most of Macedonia (including Ohrid) and Thessaly in c. 1216. In 1217, when the new Latin Emperor Peter II of Courtenay attempted to cross through Epirus to reach his lands, Theodore defeated and captured him. In 1220 he took Beroia, and in 1221 Serres and Drama, tightening the noose around Thessalonica.

The Latin kingdom of Thessalonica was founded by Marquis Boniface of Montferrat who took the city in the division of the spoils after the conquest of Byzantium. Boniface married Margaret of Hungary, the widow of Emperor Isaac II Angelos. He named their son Demetrius who is the patron saint of Thessaloniki. The kingdom, most of the time of its existence, was a vassal state of the Latin Empire.
At the time of the attack by the Epirotes, the head of the kingdom was Demetrius of Montferrat. The throne of Thessaloniki was also claimed by his 30-year-old half-brother William of Monferrat (Guglielmo VI del Monferrato) , who had inherited the title of Marquis of Monferrat. The Lombard aristocracy supported William, but he, who had never set foot in Thessaloniki, was not at all willing to take the throne from his brother.

The Battle:

Theodore Komnenos Doukas had gradually captured all the fortified positions around Thessalonica and the city was actually in a state of siege before 1222 (although it does not seem that this was a typical siege, with attacks on the walls).
The situation became more and more difficult for the Latins. William of Momferatt, who was in Piedmont (northwestern Italy), was advised to intervene, but was very reluctant to campaign in Greece while he had serious problems in his domain in Italy. Finally, when his brother Demetrius resorted to him and under the Pope's pressure, he was persuaded to organize a "crusade" to regain his father’s lost lands.
He managed to gather a small army of men by various Italian cities and moved slowly to Brindisi where at the last moment, before leaving for Greece, he fell ill and had to delay even more.
However, the events did not wait and in December 1224, Theodoros occupied Thessaloniki, with the help of the lords of the city.
King Demetrius, together with the Latin archbishop, fled to the court of Emperor Frederick II (of the Holy Roman Empire) in Italy. William of Momferrat died next year in Almyros, Greece, still trying to reach Thessaloniki.

Aftermath:

That was the end of the Latin kingdom of Thessalonica after 20 years of existence.
The ambitious Theodore was crowned Byzantine Emperor but he was not recognized as such by the rest of the Greeks and was overthrown a few years later at Klokotnitsa.