Duchy of the Archipelago

Duchy of the Archipelago Ducato dell'arcipelago (Italian)
1207–1579
Coat of arms of the Sanudo family
Duchy of Naxos, 1450, highlighted within the Aegean Sea
Status	Client state*
Capital	Naxos
Common languages	Venetian officially, Greek popularly
Religion	Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox popularly
Government	Feudal Duchy
Duke
• 1207–27	Marco I Sanudo
• 1383–97	Francesco I Crispo
• 1564–66	Giacomo IV Crispo
• 1566–79	Joseph Nasi
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Sack of Constantinople	1204
• Duchy established	1207
• Crispo coup d'état	1383
• Ottoman suzerainty	1537
• Expropriated by Murad III	1579
Preceded by Succeeded by Byzantine Empire Sanjak of Nakşa Berre
* The duchy was a client state of, in order, the Latin Emperors at Constantinople, the Villehardouin dynasty of princes of Achaea, the Angevins of the Kingdom of Naples and (after 1418) the Republic of Venice. From 1566–79, the duchy was administered as a part of the Ottoman Empire before total annexation.

The Duchy of the Archipelago (Greek: Δουκάτο του Αρχιπελάγους, Italian: Ducato dell'arcipelago), also known as Duchy of Naxos or Duchy of the Aegean, was a maritime state created by Venetian interests in the Cyclades archipelago in the Aegean Sea, in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, centered on the islands of Naxos and Paros. It included all the Cyclades (except Mykonos and Tinos). In 1537, it became a tributary of the Ottoman Empire, and was annexed by the Ottomans in 1579; however, Christian rule survived in islands such as Sifnos (conquered by the Ottomans in 1617) and Tinos (conquered in 1715).