John of Saint Omer


John of Saint Omer was Marshal and baron of a third of Akova in the Principality of Achaea.

Life

He was a younger son of Bela of Saint Omer and Bonne de la Roche, sister of the Lord of Athens and Thebes, Guy I de la Roche. Upon their marriage, in 1240, Guy gave Bela the lordship over half of Thebes. John participated, along with his brothers Nicholas II and Otho, in the War of the Euboeote Succession in the ranks of the coalition of most of the princes of Frankish Greece, who opposed the expansionist policies of the Prince of Achaea, William II of Villehardouin.
John married Margaret of Passavant in 1276, but was unsuccessful in securing her inheritance of the Barony of Akova in the Principality of Achaea, which had been appropriated by the Prince after the death of baron Walter of Rosières. Despite the support of his brother Nicholas, he managed to receive only a third of the barony, as well as the post of hereditary Marshal of the Principality.
From his marriage he had one son, Nicholas III of Saint Omer.