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Marquisate of Bodonitsa

In 1204 the Latin king of Thessalonika Boniface of Montferrat (1204-1207) ceded Bodonitsa as a fief to the marquis Guy Pallavicini (1204-1237), whom the Greeks of the region called "Markezopoulos". The aim thereof was to defend the pass of Thermopylae and the territories of the Latin king in Thessaly and Macedonia, which were menaced by the army of the Greek "guerrilla" Leo Sgouros. Initially, the marquisate of Bodonitsa was under the dominion of the Latin emperor of Constantinople. Possibly around 1248 it became tributary to the prince of Achaia until 1278, when it came under the rule of Charles I of Anjou (1278-1285).

The marquis of Bodonitsa Guy Pallavicini was the main counsellor of the widow of Boniface of Montferrat, Margaret. In 1207 he had participated in the movement of the Lombard lords of Thessalonika. Finally, he capitulated with the Latin emperor Henry of Flanders (1206-1216), when in 1209 the imperial troops reached the region.

After the downfall of the Latin kingdom of Thessalonika in 1224, Guy, barricaded in the castle of Bodonitsa (Vriokastro), put up a sturdy resistance against the despot of Epirus Theodore I Komnenos Doukas (1215-1230) and thus succeeded in checking the descent of the latter to the south. Around 1250 Bodonitsa was menaced when the Byzantine emperor of Nicaea John III Doukas Vatatzes (1222-1254) launched a campaign against the despot of Epirus Michael II Doukas (1231-1271), who aspired to expand his control to the pass of Thermopylae and the northern part of the Frankish Attica-Boeotia. A few years later, ca 1256, the marquis of Bodonitsa Ubertino Pallavicini (1237-1278) was involved in the feud between the prince of Achaia William de Villehardouin and the triarchs of Euboea (1256-1258).

In 1311, the region was attacked by the Catalan Company. After the severe defeat of the Frankish rulers of Romania by the Catalans at the battle of Orchomenos in Copais (1311), Maria de Verona, the widow of Albert Pallavicini, the marquis of Bodonitsa, married Andrew Cornaro, lord of Karpathos, to whom she gave half of the marquisate of Bodonitsa as a dowry. The marquisate, despite the pillages that it had suffered by the Catalans, remained under the rule of Cornaro until 1335, when it devolved on the Venetian family of Giorgi or Zorzi. The Giorgi governed Bodonitsa until it fell to the Turks in 1414.

The marquisate of Bodonitsa flourished during the second half of the 14th century, under the marquis Francis, who enjoyed the trust and support of the Venetians. At times, the region had been governed by women as well, such as Isabelle Pallavicini (1278-1286) and Guillauma Pallavicini (1311-1358). In its long history the marquisate of Bodonitsa and especially the Latin bishop of the region had often become the target of the pirates of the Euboean gulf.