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Peter II of Courtenay

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Peter II of Courtenay
Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
Latin Emperor of Constantinople
Claimant Roman Emperor
Reign1216 – 1217 (de facto) or 1219 (de jure)
Coronation9 April 1217
PredecessorHenry
SuccessorYolanda
Died1219
Spouse
Issue
more...
HouseCourtenay
FatherPeter I of Courtenay
MotherElizabeth de Courtenay

Peter, also Peter II of Courtenay (French: Pierre de Courtenay; died 1219), was emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople from 1216 to 1217.

Biography

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Peter II was a son of Peter I of Courtenay (died 1183), a younger son of Louis VI of France and his second wife, Adélaide de Maurienne.[1] His mother was Elisabeth de Courtenay, daughter of Renaud de Courtenay (died 1194) and Hawise du Donjon.[2]

Peter first married Agnes I, via whom he obtained the three counties of Nevers, Auxerre, and Tonnerre.[3] In 1193 he married secondly to Yolanda,[3] a sister of Baldwin and Henry of Flanders, who were afterwards the first and second emperors of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. Peter accompanied his cousin, King Philip Augustus, on the third Crusade in 1190, returning to France in 1193. He fought (alongside his brother Robert) in the Albigensian Crusade in 1209 and 1211, when he took part in the siege of Lavaur. He was present at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214.

When his brother-in-law, the emperor Henry, died without issue in 1216, Peter was chosen as his successor, and with a small army he left his residence of château de Druyes in France to take possession of his throne. He was consecrated emperor at the Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls in Rome by Pope Honorius III on 9 April 1217. He then borrowed some ships from the Venetians, promising in return to conquer Durazzo for them, but he failed in this enterprise, and sought to make his way to Constantinople by land.[4] On the journey he was seized by the despot of Epirus, Theodore Komnenos Doukas, and, after an imprisonment of two years, died,[4] probably by foul means. Peter thus never governed his empire, which, however, was ruled for a time by his wife, Yolanda, who had succeeded in reaching Constantinople. Two of his sons, Robert and Baldwin, reigned in turn as emperors of the Latin Empire of Constantinople.

Family

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By his first wife Agnes I, Countess of Nevers he had:

By his second wife Yolanda of Flanders, of the House of Flanders [6] he had:

He had an illegitimate son:

References

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  1. ^ Rasmussen 1997, p. 9.
  2. ^ Commire 1999, p. ?.
  3. ^ a b Bouchard 1987, p. 349.
  4. ^ a b Ostrogorsky 1995, p. 433.
  5. ^ Berman 2018, p. 91.
  6. ^ Bouchard 1987, p. 342.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Previte-Orton 1960, p. 732.

Sources

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  • Angold, Michael (2011). "The Latin Empire of Constantinople, 1204–1261: Marriage Strategies". Identities and Allegiances in the Eastern Mediterranean after 1204. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited. pp. 47–68. ISBN 9781409410980.
  • Berman, Constance H. (2018). The White Nuns: Cistercian Abbeys for Women in Medieval France. University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Bouchard, Constance Brittain (1987). Sword, Miter, and Cloister:Nobility and the Church in Burgundy, 980–1198. Cornell University Press.
  • Commire, Anne, ed. (1999). "Elizabeth of Courtenay (d. 1205)". Women in World History: A biographical encyclopedia. Waterford, CT: Yorkin Publications, Gale Group. ISBN 0787640808. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  • Ostrogorsky, George (1995). History of the Byzantine State. Translated by Hussey, Joan. Rutgers University Press.
  • Perry, Guy (2013). John of Brienne: King of Jerusalem, Emperor of Constantinople, c. 1175–1237. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107043107.
  • Previte-Orton, C.W. (1960). The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. II:The Twelfth Century to the Renaissance. Cambridge at the University Press.
  • Rasmussen, Ann Marie (1997). Mothers and Daughters in Medieval German Literature. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815603894.
  • Vincent, Nicholas (1999). "Isabella of Angouleme:John's Jezebel". In Church, S. D. (ed.). King John: New Interpretations. The Boydell Press.


Peter II of Courtenay
Cadet branch of the House of Capet
Born: c.1155 Died: 1218
Regnal titles
Preceded by Latin Emperor of Constantinople
1216–1217
Succeeded byas regent
Royal titles
Preceded by Count of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnerre
1184–1200
Succeeded by