1280-94 AD., Crusader States, Frankish Greece, Duchy of Athens, William or Guy II de la Roche, Thebes mint, Denier tournois, Metcalf 787 ff.

Crusader States, Frankish Greece, Duchy of Athens, William or Guy II de la Roche (1287-1308), Thebes mint, struck 1280-94 AD.,
Denier tournois (ø 18-19 mm / 0,65 g), silver, axes about coin alignment ↑↓ (ca. 160°),
Obv.: + ·GVI·DVX·ATЄHЄS , cross pattée in a circle.
Rev.: + ThЄBAHI·CIVIS· , castle tournois at center.
Malloy 94 ; Schl. XIII. 9 ; Metcalf 787 ff. .

The Duchy of Athens was one of the Crusader States set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade, encompassing the regions of Attica and Boeotia, and surviving until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. The first duke of Athens (as well as of Thebes, at first) was Otto de la Roche, a minor Burgundian knight of the Fourth Crusade.
This type was minted either under William de La Roche, 1280-87, or during the minority of Guy I de La Roche, 1287-94.

William I de la Roche (died 1287) succeeded his brother, John I, as Duke of Athens in 1280.
William reversed the territorial losses of his brother's reign, extending his control over Lamia and Gardiki. He married Helena Angelina Komnene, daughter of John I Doukas, ruler of Thessaly, securing a military alliance with him.
In 1285, while Charles II of Naples, nominal prince of Achaea, was imprisoned, Robert of Artois, regent of the kingdom, named William bailiff and vicar-general of Achaea. He built the castle of Dimatra to defend Messenia from the Byzantine Empire. He was then the most powerful baron in Frankish Greece. In 1286, he arbitrated the succession of the March of Bodonitsa following the death of Isabella Pallavicini. He chose her cousin Thomas over her widower Antoine le Flamenc.
William's rule was peaceful, but short, as he died two years after assuming power in Achaea. He was succeeded by his son Guy, who was seven years old.

Guy II de la Roche (1280 – 5 October 1308) was the Duke of Athens from 1287, the last duke of his family. He succeeded as a minor on the death of his father, William I, at a time when the duchy of Athens had exceeded the Principality of Achaea in wealth, power, and importance.
Guy was originally under the tutorship and regency of his mother, Helena Angelina Komnene, who was forced to make submission to Isabella of Villehardouin in December 1289. In 1291, she married her second husband, Hugh of Brienne, and he became bailiff of the duchy. Guy reached his majority in 1296 and did homage to Isabella and her husband, Florent of Hainaut. In 1299, Guy was engaged to Matilda, daughter of Isabella and Florent. Charles objected, as his permission had not been sought, but Pope Boniface VIII intervened on the young couple's behalf.
When Guy did homage to Isabella's second husband, Philip of Savoy, in 1301, he took his troops with him and entered Thessaly to defend his cousin John II Doukas against the invasion of the despot of Epirus, Thomas I Komnenos Doukas, and his mother, Anna Palaiologina Kantakouzene. Joined by Nicholas III of St Omer, lord of Thebes, he repulsed the Epirotes and later invaded Greek territory as far as Thessalonica, where they were convinced to turn back by the empress Eirene of Montferrat.
In 1307, Guy was made bailli of Achaea by its new prince, Philip I of Taranto. He governed well, but for barely a year. He died young, but respected and renowned for his chivalry and manners, typical of the Frankish courts kept in Greece. He was buried in Daphni Monastery alongside his ancestors. He left no heirs and the De la Roche line of dukes came to an end; Athens was disputed among rival claimants until the parliament of the duchy elected Walter V of Brienne.