Philip I, Latin Emperor Explained

Birth Date:1243
Death Date:15 December 1283
Birth Place:Constantinople
Death Place:Viterbo
Successor:Catherine I
Succession:Latin Emperor of Constantinople
Predecessor:Baldwin II
Reign:October 1273 - 12 December 1283
Father:Baldwin II, Latin Emperor
Mother:Marie of Brienne
Issue:Catherine I, Latin Empress
House:Courtenay

Philip, also Philip of Courtenay (1243 – 15 December 1283), held the title of Latin Emperor of Constantinople from 1273–1283, although Constantinople had been reinstated since 1261 to the Byzantine Empire; he lived in exile and only held authority over Crusader States in Greece. He was born in Constantinople, the son of Baldwin II of Constantinople and Marie of Brienne.[1]

In his youth, his father was forced to mortgage him to Venetian merchants to raise money for the support of his empire, which was lost to the Empire of Nicaea in 1261.

By the Treaty of Viterbo in 1267, his father agreed to marry him to Beatrice of Sicily, daughter of Charles I of Sicily and Beatrice of Provence.

The marriage was performed in October 1273 at Foggia; shortly thereafter, Baldwin died, and Philip inherited his claims on Constantinople. Although Philip was recognized as emperor by the Latin possessions in Greece, much of the actual authority devolved on the Angevin kings of Naples and Sicily. Philip died in Viterbo in 1283.

Philip and Beatrice had a daughter:

References

Notes and References

  1. Lock, Peter. The Franks in the Aegean: 1204-1500 (Routledge, 2013), p.66.