Geoffrey I of Villehardouin () (c. 1169 – c. 1229) was a French knight from the County of Champagne who joined the Fourth Crusade.Runciman 1951, p. 126.Evergates 2007, p. 246.Setton 1976, p. 24.Longnon 1969, p. 242. He participated in the conquest of the Peloponnese and became the second prince of Achaea (1209/1210–c. 1229).
Under his reign, the Principality of Achaea became the direct vassal of the Latin Empire of Constantinople.Longnon 1969, p. 239. He extended the borders of his principality.Longnon 1969, p. 240
Early years and the Fourth Crusade
Geoffrey was the eldest son of Céline of Briel and John of Villehardouin. He married one Elisabeth, who may be Elisabeth of Chappes,Evergates 2007, p. 263. a scion of a fellow crusader family, an identification rejected by Longnon.Jean Longnon, Les compagnons de Villehardouin (1978), p. 36
Conquest of the Peloponnese
William of Champlitte was prince of Achaea (1205–1209) under the suzerainty of the king of Thessalonica.Longnon 1969, p. 237.Fine 1994, p. 70. Geoffrey received Kalamata and Messenia as a fief from the new prince.
Reign in Achaea
In 1208 William I of Achaea sought to claim an inheritance his brother had left to him.Setton 1976, p. 33. However, both the first prince of Achaea and his nephew died.Setton 1976, pp. 33-34.
The Chronicle of the Morea narrates that Geoffrey only became prince of Achaea some time later.Fine 1994, p. 71.
Next the papal legate Cardinal Giovanni Colonna in 1218 excommunicated Geoffrey I.Setton 1976, pp. 47-48. Upon the request of the local high clergy, it was confirmed during 1219.Setton 1976, p. 47.
Geoffrey died sometime between 1228 and 1230. He was buried in the Church of St James in Andravida.
Footnotes
See also Fourth Crusade Principality of Achaea Chronicle of Morea
References Evergates, Theodore (2007). The Aristocracy in the County of Champagne, 1100-1300. University of Pennsylvania Press. .
Further reading
Bratu, Cristian. “Clerc, Chevalier, Aucteur: The Authorial Personae of French Medieval Historians from the 12th to the 15th centuries.” In Authority and Gender in Medieval and Renaissance Chronicles. Juliana Dresvina and Nicholas Sparks, eds. (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012): 231-259. Finley Jr, John H. "Corinth in the Middle Ages." Speculum, Vol. 7, No. 4. (Oct., 1932), pp. 477–499. Tozer, H. F. "The Franks in the Peloponnese." The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 4. (1883), pp. 165–236.