Guy I de la Roche (1205–1263) was the
Duke of Athens (from 1225), the nephew and successor of the first duke
Otto. After the conquest of
Thebes, Otto gave half the city in lordship to Guy.
After Otto's departure for
Burgundy, Guy inherited the whole of Thebes as well as the lordship of
Argos, both of which owed homage to the
Principality of Achaea. Athens itself was independent of any other sovereign than the
Latin Emperor after the fall of the
Kingdom of Thessalonica in 1224. The duchy was prospering at the time, however, due to its
silk industry (centred at Thebes) and its trade with
Venice and
Genoa. In 1240, Guy gave out half of the lordship of Thebes to
Bela of St. Omer, the husband of his sister
Bonne.
When
William II of Achaea disputed the suzerainty over the island of
Euboea with the Venetians and the local
triarchs, Guy supported the latter. In the spring of 1258, William marched on Thebes and defeated Guy in a
hard-fought battle at the foot of
Mount Karydi. He was subsequently besieged in Thebes and forced to surrender. He did homage at Nikli, but the barons of the realm, not being his peers, sent him for judgment to
France. He left in the spring of 1259. The court of France found him not liable for liege homage and thus unable to be deprived of his fief. His journey was to be his punishment. The
Chronicle of Morea asserts that Athens, which was technically only a lordship, was officially raised to the status of a duchy only after Guy met with
Louis IX of France...
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