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The first duke of Athens (as well as Thebes, at first) was Otto de la Roche, a minor Burgundian knight of the Fourth Crusade. Although he was known as the "Duke of Athens" from the foundation of the duchy in 1205, the title did not become official until 1280.
Athens was originally a vassal state of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, but after Thessalonica was captured in 1224 by Theodore, the Byzantine Despot of Epirus, the duchy became a vassal of the Principality of Achaea. The Duchy occupied the Attic peninsula and extended partially into MacedoniaAlexander the Great, king of ancient Macedon, on the waterfront at Thessaloniki, capital of Greek Macedonia Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in south-eastern Europe with an area of around 67,000 square kilometres a, sharing an undefined border with Thessalonica and then Epirus. It did not hold the islands of the Aegean SeaGreece as seen from the island of Santorini The Aegean Sea ( Greek: Alpha;ιγαον Πλαγο&sigmaf Aigaion Pelagos Turkish: Ege denizi is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, located between the Greek penins, which were VenetianVenice ( Italian Venezia German Venedig , the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto, population 271,073 (2001). The city stretches across numerous small islands in a marshy lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater l territories. The buildings of the Acropolis in Athens served as the palace for the dukes.
The de la Roche family held the duchy until 1308 when Walter of Brienne became duke. Walter hired the Catalan CompanyThe Oriental Catalan Company or the Grand Company, was founded by Roger de Flor (who inspired the medieval tale of Tirant lo Blanc) after the Peace of Caltabellotta in 1302 had left jobless the soldiers from Catalonia and Aragon fighting against the Frenc, a group of mercenaries led by Roger de FlorRoger de Flor a military adventurer of the 13th and 14th century, was the second son of a German falconer surnamed Blum ( flower) in the service of the emperor Frederick II, who fell at Tagliacozzo (1268). At eight years old he was sent to sea in a galley, to fight for the Duchy against the Byzantine successor states of Epirus and NicaeaThe Empire of Nicaea was the largest of the states founded by refugees from the Byzantine Empire after Constantinople was conquered during the Fourth Crusade. It lasted from 1204 to 1261. Foundation In 1204, Byzantine emperor Alexius V fled Constantinople, but in 1311 they overthrew Walter and took over the Duchy, making Catalan the official language and replacing the French and Byzantine-derived laws Principality of Achaea with the laws of Catalonia. Walter remained in possesion of Argos and Nauplia where it was titled Duke.
In 1318/1319 the catalan conquered Siderocastron and the South of Thesalia and created the Duchy of Neopatria , united to Athens. Part of Thesalia was conquered by serbs in 1337. In 1379 the Navarrese Company at service of the Emperor James of Baux, conquered Tebas and part of Neopatria remaining for the catalans Neopatria and sourrondings and Atica.
The Duchy was ruled after 1381 by the kings of Aragon and Sicily (who were lords of Catalonia) until 1388 when the Acciajuoli family of Florence took Athens. Neopatria was occupated in 1390.
From 1395 to 1402 the Venetians briefly controlled the Duchy. In 1444 Athens became a tributary of Constantine Palaeologus, the despot of Morea and heir to the Byzantine throne. In 1456, after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Mehmed II conquered the remnants of the Duchy.