John II Duca

John was the son of the governor of Thessaoia, Constantine Duci and his wife, Anna of Eugionyssia. When his father died in 1303, John was still a child. The Thessalian archons chose Cousin Constantine, Duke of Athens Guy II de la Rocha, as regent.

The arrival of the French sovereign was very timely. The ruler of the kingdom of Epirus, Anna Kantakuzina, organized an invasion, which was repelled by the efforts of Guy, and she had to pay a large indemnity. After that, the duke approached Thessaloniki, and the second wife of Andronicus II Irina Monferratskaya was able to persuade him to end the siege. But in 1306 the troops of the Catalan company entered the land of Thessaly, which devastated the region for 3 years. Guy died in 1308.

The successor of de la Rocha Gauthier V de Brienne tried to maintain the Athenian protectorate over Thessaly, and hired a Catalan army. The duke managed to capture many fortresses, but the Spanish garrisons began to operate completely independently. Brienne refused to pay the mercenaries, and in 1310 they opposed their employer. In the battle of Kefisa, the Franks were defeated, and Gauthier was killed.

When the Catalans occupied Attica , Boeotia and the coast of the Gulf of Corinth, John II was able to strengthen his power in Thessaly. But local archons resisted this, and the ruler began to strengthen relations with the Byzantine Empire . In 1315, he married the illegitimate daughter of Emperor Andronicus II Paleolog Irina, and then received the title of Sevastocrat . Receiving Romanian help, Duca began to plan military operations against the Catalans, but died in 1318, leaving no heirs.

By the time of John's death, most of his possessions were ruled by the archon Stephen Gabrielopoulos, and the Catalans in southeast Thessaly created their own Duchy of Neopatria .

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