Ecclesiastical organization

In 1208, the Orthodox bishop of Euboea, who right after the Latin conquest declared submission to Rome and acknowledged the Latin archbishop of Constantinople, was unfrocked and replaced by a Latin bishop. Euboea was initially organized in the Latin bishoprics of Chalkis, Karystos, Oreos and Avlona. Later, in 1222, the Latin bishoprics of Karystos, Oreos and Avlona were merged with that of Chalkis and constituted a bishopric seated in the latter city. After 1239, the bishopric of Avlona was reestablished due to strong protestation by the region’s inhabitants. The bishopric of Avlona included southern Euboea, whereas the rest of the island belonged to the jurisdiction of the Latin archbishop of Athens.

However, the bishopric of Chalkis enjoyed a privileged treatment, as the seat of the titular Latin patriarch of Constantinople, after its recapture by the Byzantines (1261). The orthodox clergy of the island practically remained leaderless throughout the Latin occupation in Euboea. Since 1211, in the capital of the island, Chalkis, there was the church of St. Marcus, which came under the church of San Giorgio Maggiore of Venice. From early times Dominican, Franciscan and Cistercian monks as well as Knights Templars had settled in Euboea.