Editing Epirus (section)

====Despotate of Epirus====
[[File:Epirus 1205-1230-en.svg|thumb|alt=Map of the Balkans, with the original core of Epirus and its conquered territories shown in various shades of green|Expansion of the [[Despotate of Epirus]] in the early 13th century]]
When [[Constantinople]] fell to the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204, the ''[[partitio Romaniae]]'' assigned Epirus to [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], but the Venetians were largely unable to effectively establish their authority, except over Dyrrhachium (the "[[Duchy of Durazzo (Republic of Venice)|Duchy of Durazzo]]"). The Greek noble [[Michael I Komnenos Doukas|Michael Komnenos Doukas]], who had married the daughter of a local magnate, took advantage of this, and within a few years consolidated his control over most of Epirus, first as a Venetian [[vassal]] and eventually as an independent ruler. By the time of his death in 1214/5, Michael had established a strong state, the [[Despotate of Epirus]], with the former theme of Nicopolis at its core and Arta as its capital.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|pp=59–61}}{{sfn|Osswald|2007|p=132}} Epirus, and the city of Ioannina in particular, became a haven for Greek refugees from the [[Latin Empire of Constantinople]] for the next half century.{{sfn|Osswald|2007|p=132}}

The Despotate of Epirus ruled over Epirus and western Greece as far south as Naupaktos and the Gulf of Corinth, much of Albania (including Dyrrhachium), Thessaly, and the western portion of [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]], extending its rule briefly over central Macedonia and most of [[Thrace]] following the aggressive expansionism of [[Theodore Komnenos Doukas]], who established the [[Empire of Thessalonica]] in 1224.{{sfn|Nicol|1984|loc="Introduction", pp. 4–5}}{{sfn|Osswald|2007|p=133}} During this time, the definition of Epirus came to encompass the entire coastal region from the Ambracian Gulf to Dyrrhachium, and the hinterland to the west up to the highest peaks of the [[Pindus]] mountain range. Some of the most important cities in Epirus, such as Gjirokastër (Argyrokastron), were founded during this period.{{sfn|Giakoumis|2002|p=176}} The oldest reference to [[Albanians]] in the area of Epirus proper is from a Venetian document dating to 1210, which states that "the continent facing the island of Corfu is inhabited by Albanians".<ref>{{harvnb|Giakoumis|2002|p=176|ps=: "Are we obliged to see in this a possible earlier Albanian immigration in the Epeirote lands, as Kostas Komis did in the case of the etymology of the toponym 'Preveza'? I believe that the use of hypothetical immigrations as a basis to interpret sources that indicate the presence of Albanians in the Epeirote lands prior to the thirteenth-fourteenth century is somewhat arbitrary."}}</ref>