In 1204 A.D. the Crusaders occupy Constantinople and plunder it brutally. Many leave Constantinople and among them Michael Komnenos Doukas, the illegitimate son of the Sebastokrator Ioannis Doukas and emperors’ first cousin. Michael heals his leadership ambitions in Epirus. He establishes the "Despotate of Epirus", an independent state, with Arta as its first city and Ioannina as its second one.