Treaty of Devol

Timeline

1. 1107–1108Dyrrhachium · AlbaniaBohemond I led Norman forces across the Adriatic to besiege Dyrrhachium, hoping to force Byzantine recognition of his hold on Antioch. Learning from 1081, Alexios I avoided a decisive battle, instead cutting Norman supplies and reinforcements by land and sea blockade and using Greek fire to destroy siege engines; plague spread through the Norman camp and the assault collapsed.
2. 1108Deabolis · AlbaniaAlexios invited Bohemond to negotiate at the imperial camp of Devol. Bohemond acknowledged his 1097 oath as void and, under the presidency of Nikephoros Bryennios, swore fealty as a vassal, receiving the title Duke of Antioch and promising military aid, the return of Cilician territories, and acceptance of a Greek patriarch. Each side kept a copy, witnessed by Western court and church figures and envoys of several nations.
3. 1108–1158Antioch · SyriaAfter returning to Italy, Bohemond never went to Antioch and died in Apulia in 1111. Regent Tancred rejected the treaty and the Greek patriarch was not restored. Yet the Devol terms became the legal basis for Byzantine dealings with the princes of Antioch: John II besieged the city in 1137, and Manuel I made Antioch a vassal in 1158.