Nicholas I of Saint Omer

Nicholas I of Saint Omer was a French knight who in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade became a lord in the Frankish Duchy of Athens.

Nicholas was a younger son of William IV of Saint Omer, castellan of Saint-Omer in northern France, and Ida of Avesnes.[1][2] Ida's brother James of Avesnes took part in the Fourth Crusade (1203–04) and accompanied Boniface of Montferrat in the conquest and partition of Greece in its aftermath. He was rewarded with possessions in Euboea, but was dead by August 1205.[1] Nicholas remained in his native region until ca. 1208, after which he and his brother James came to Greece, where they received a fief at Erimokastro, the site of ancient Thespiae, west of Thebes.[2][3] According to F. Van Tricht, the fief may have formed part of the Templar possessions that were confiscated ca. 1209 by the Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders.[4] In 1210, he was among the signatories of the concordat with the Latin Church at the Second Parliament of Ravennika.[5]

Nicholas later married Margaret of Hungary, the widow of Boniface of Montferrat, who died in 1207.[6] It is unclear when the marriage took place: traditional accounts mention that Nicholas died already in 1212[7] or 1214,[6] but F. Van Tricht dates the marriage to after 1217.[8]

With Margaret he had two sons, Bela and William. Bela would marry Bonne de La Roche, the sister of Guy I, the Duke of Athens, become lord of one half of Thebes, and lay the foundations for the rise of the Saint Omer family to a prominent position in Frankish Greece.[3][6][7]

References
  1. Van Tricht 2011, p. 163 (note 26).
  2. Giry 1875, p. 97.
  3. Longnon 1949, p. 119.
  4. Van Tricht 2011, p. 163.
  5. Longnon 1949, p. 123.
  6. Bon 1969, p. 707.
  7. Perra 2011, Οικογένεια Σεντ Ομέρ.
  8. Van Tricht 2011, pp. 381–382 (note 112).

Sources
  • Bon, Antoine (1969). La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d'Achaïe [The Frankish Morea. Historical, Topographic and Archaeological Studies on the Principality of Achaea] (in French). Paris: De Boccard. OCLC 869621129.
  • Giry, Arthur (1875). "Les châtelains de Saint-Omer (1042–1386) (deuxième article)". Bibliothèque de l'école des chartes (in French). 36: 91–117. doi:10.3406/bec.1875.446625.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Longnon, Jean (1949). L'empire latin de Constantinople et la principauté de Morée (in French). Paris: Payot.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Perra, Foteini (2011). Οικογένεια Σεντ Ομέρ. Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World, Boeotia (in Greek). Foundation of the Hellenic World.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Van Tricht, Filip (2011). The Latin Renovatio of Byzantium: The Empire of Constantinople (1204–1228). Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-20323-5.
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