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Duke of Athens

Duchy of Athens
Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν (Greek)
Ducat d'Atenes (Catalan)
Vassal state* of various countries, de facto autonomous
1205–1458


Arms of the Duchy under the de la Roche family

The Lordship of Athens and the other Greek and Latin states of southern Greece, ca. 1210
Capital Athens, Thebes
Languages French (until 1311)
Catalan (1311–88)
Greek popularly and officially after 1388
Religion Roman Catholicism,
Greek Orthodoxy popularly
Government Feudal monarchy
Historical era Middle Ages
 •  Fourth Crusade 1204
 •  Duchy established 1205
 •  Catalan conquest 1311
 •  Acciaioli rule 1388
 •  Tributary to Morea 1444
 •  Ottoman conquest 1458
Currency Denier tournois
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Byzantine Empire
Ottoman Empire
*The duchy was a vassal of, in order, the Kingdom of Thessalonica, the Kingdom of Sicily, the Crown of Aragon, the Republic of Venice, and the Despotate of the Morea


Arms of the Duchy under the de la Roche family

The Duchy of Athens (Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, Doukaton Athinon; Catalan: Ducat d'Atenes) was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade, encompassing the regions of Attica and Boeotia, and surviving until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century.

The first duke of Athens (as well as of 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 1260. Instead, Otto proclaimed himself "Lord of Athens" (in Latin Dominus Athenarum, in French Sire d'Athenes). The local Greeks called the dukes "Megas Kyris" (Greek: Μέγας Κύρης, "Great Lord"), from which the shortened form "Megaskyr", often used even by the Franks to refer to the Duke of Athens, is derived.


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