When did the Duchy of the Archipelago exist?

The Duchy of the Archipelago existed 1207–1579. On this map it is drawn 1210–1313.

How large was the Duchy of the Archipelago?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Duchy of the Archipelago covered about 1,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Europe · High and late Middle Ages

Duchy of the Archipelago

1207–1579

The Venetian Duchy of Naxos, founded c. 1207 by Marco Sanudo (nephew of Doge Enrico Dandolo), who conquered the Cyclades (Naxos occupied by c. 1210) and did homage to the Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders for the ducal title. Capital at Naxos (Chora), where Sanudo built the Kastro.

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Existed: 1207–1579
Shown on the map: 1210–1313
Peak area: 1k km²
Region: Europe

Foundation

Dynasties and Venetian vassalage

The House of Sanudo ruled 1207–1383; in 1383 Francesco I Crispo murdered the last Sanudo-line duke Niccolò dalle Carceri and founded the House of Crispo, which ruled until 1566. The duchy was successively a client of the Latin Emperors, the princes of Achaea, the Angevins, and — from 1418 — the Republic of Venice.

Ottoman phases and fall

These should be staged carefully: in 1537 Duke John IV Crispo submitted to Ottoman suzerainty (tribute of 5,000 ducats, agreed 5 November 1537) after raids by the corsair Barbarossa; the last Christian (Crispo) duke Giacomo IV was deposed by Sultan Selim II in 1566, who appointed the Sephardi financier-diplomat Joseph Nasi as duke (1566–1579, governing remotely via his representative Francesco Coronello). On Nasi's death the duchy was formally annexed by Sultan Murad III in 1579 and reorganized as the Ottoman Sanjak of Nakşa (Naxos).

Common questions

What was the Duchy of the Archipelago?: The Venetian Duchy of Naxos, founded c. 1207 by Marco Sanudo (nephew of Doge Enrico Dandolo), who conquered the Cyclades (Naxos occupied by c. 1210) and did homage to the Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders for the ducal title. Capital at Naxos (Chora), where Sanudo built the Kastro.
When did the Duchy of the Archipelago exist?: The Duchy of the Archipelago existed 1207–1579. On this map it is drawn 1210–1313.
How large was the Duchy of the Archipelago?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Duchy of the Archipelago covered about 1,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
How did the Duchy of the Archipelago end?: These should be staged carefully: in 1537 Duke John IV Crispo submitted to Ottoman suzerainty (tribute of 5,000 ducats, agreed 5 November 1537) after raids by the corsair Barbarossa; the last Christian (Crispo) duke Giacomo IV was deposed by Sultan Selim II in 1566, who appointed the Sephardi financier-diplomat Joseph Nasi as duke (1566–1579, governing remotely via his representative Francesco Coronello).

Sources

This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity as the primary basis, cross-checked against Encyclopædia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia and the scholarship of Donald Queller, Thomas Madden and Jonathan Harris on the Fourth Crusade, whose post-conspiracy reading of 1204 this document follows. The article this entry is anchored on:

Wikipedia — Duchy of the Archipelago en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_the_Archipelago

This entry was last updated 27 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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