duchy · Greece and the Aegean
Duchy of Athens
Origins
In 1205 Boniface of Montferrat granted Athens and Thebes to the Burgundian knight Otho de la Roche, who took the title Lord of Athens. His nephew Guy I was styled Duke of Athens by the mid-13th century. The duchy covered Attica, Boeotia and parts of Locris, and was nominally subject to the Principality of Achaea.
Rule and society
Under the de la Roche family the duchy prospered, with its court at Thebes, a silk industry and a Latin church that turned the Parthenon into a Catholic cathedral of Our Lady. Greek peasants remained Orthodox. In 1311 the Catalan Company killed Duke Walter of Brienne at Halmyros and ruled the duchy for the Crown of Aragon and Sicily.
Decline and legacy
Nerio I Acciaioli, a Florentine banker's son, took Athens in 1388 and founded a new ducal line. The Ottomans, who already exacted tribute, captured Athens in 1456 and the Acropolis in 1458, annexing the duchy.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (8)
- Duchy of Athens was a vassal of Kingdom of Thessalonica1205 CE – 1224 CE
- Lordship of Argos and Nauplia in personal union with Duchy of Athens1212 CE – 1311 CE
- Duchy of Athens was a vassal of Principality of Achaea1248 CE – 1311 CE
- County of Salona was a vassal of Duchy of Athens1311 CE – 1380 CE
- Duchy of Athens was a vassal of Kingdom of Sicily1312 CE – 1379 CE
- Duchy of Neopatras in personal union with Duchy of Athens1319 CE – 1390 CE
- Duchy of Athens was a vassal of Crown of Aragon1379 CE – 1388 CE
- Duchy of Athens was conquered by Ottoman Empire1458 CE
More states of Greece and the Aegean →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Duchy of Athens. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-athens
- MLA
- “Duchy of Athens.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-athens. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Duchy of Athens.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-athens.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Duchy of Athens’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-athens (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻