After Klokotnitsa: Sanctity of Despots and Despotissai in Epirus During the Centuries Following the Twilight of the Imperial Prospect

After the fourth Crusade, the three most powerful Byzantine principalities that emerged in the aftermath developed their own political ideology, mostly adapting the old theories of Eusebius of Caesarea and Agapetos Deacon. While in Nicaea it seemed that little had changed from the pre-1204 era, the Grand Komnenoi soon began to emphasise the nobility of their lineage and the Komneno-Doukai underlined Michael I’s fight against the Latins and their dynastic continuity with him. Following the conquest of Thessalonica (1224) by Theodore Komneno-Doukas and his imperial coronation (1227), thanks to the theoretical support of George Bardanes, Demetrios Chomatianos and John Apokaukos, the Epirotes adopted quite a similar stance to their Nicaean counterparts, which necessarily produced an ideological clash with them. However, following the battle of Klokotnitsa (1230) and, a fortiori, after the reconquest of Constantinople (1261) by Michael VIII Palaiologos, it was clear that Nicaea had won the quest for the restoration of the basileia, therefore, if the Komneno-Doukai wanted to preserve and justify their independence, they had to adapt their imperial ideal to the times. Having no longer at hand the formidable scholars of the previous generation, it was not an abrupt switch, but rather a lengthy process which took decades before its completion. The core of the renewed ‘Epirote ideology’ became the legitimisation to rule through the transmission of the dynastic charisma, whose medium were the princesses of the reigning family. Such transmission occurred by marriage or birth, but since the carrier of the charisma had to deliver it untarnished, she must have been immaculate, hence, ideally, a saint. That is why the dynasty and local elites made considerable efforts to ‘sanctify’ their despotissai, not merely as a matter of prestige, but rather to ensure that their right to rule and exist could not be challenged effectively.