Chrysa Savvidou

Throughout its history the Byzantine Empire maintained relations with West Europe and, from the Middle Byzantine period onwards, mainly with the cities active in trade, most of which were Italian. The most important of these were at first Amalfi, followed by Venice, Genoa, and Pisa. From the 11^th century, the period of the Komnenoi, it began to become apparent that the Italian cities were developing into a major factor in the conduct of trade throughout almost the entire Eastern Mediterranean. The economic and demographic growth that they experienced from the beginning of the 11^th century onwards, combined with the obvious signs of weakness in the Byzantine Empire, resulted gradually in their controlling the sea routes and trade of the general area. Initially, the Byzantine emperors granted a number of privileges to the Venetians, who exploited them to make Venice a strong commercial power. In its efforts to check the Venetians, Byzantine turned to Genoa and Pisa, the rivals of Venice, and granted them fresh privileges. These actions led to Italian merchants settling in many cities and areas that served their commercial ends. Relations between the Italians and the Byzantine rulers frequently broke down, and conflicts between them were not rare.

Another factor that strengthened contacts between Byzantines and the West were the Crusades. The Crusades were military ventures undertaken by the West Europeans and instigated by the Popes, whose aim was to liberate the Holy Land from the Muslims, particularly the Seljuk Turks. They were a kind of holy war, or bellum sacrum, against Islam, similar to that launched four centuries earlier by the caliphs against Christianity. A powerful motivation for those who took part in them was the promise of the remission of sins and eternal salvation.

Once they had made contact with the East, the Westerners realised the opportunities it offered and the religious objective gradually faded into the background, while aims of a secular character came to the fore. Through the Crusades, the naval republics of Venice, Genoa and Pisa secured new, safe, and profitable commercial routes. Europe found an outlet for the excess population from which many countries were suffering, and many individuals took advantage of the opportunity to win glory on the field of battle. Finally, the Roman Catholic Church seized the opportunity to impose its superiority over the Eastern Orthodox Church. The First Crusade (1095-1099) was proclaimed by Pope Urban II, at the councils of Plaisance and Clermont (1095). The soldiers were helped to cross to Asia Minor by Alexios Komnenos. The objective of the Crusade was achieved with the capture of Jerusalem by Christian peoples. The men who inspired the Second Crusade (1147-1149) were Pope Eugene III and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. In addition to the nobles, two kings took part in this Crusade: Conrad III of Germany and Louis VII of France. The Byzantines once again helped to transport the soldiers, and Manuel Komnenos assisted them to cross to Asia Minor as expeditiously as possible. The Second Crusade did not bring the desired results, since the milites Christi (soldiers of Christ) retreated, unable to face the powerful defence of the Turks. The capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187 was the occasion of the Third Crusade (1189-1191), in which Frederick Barbarossa and King Philippe Auguste of France and King Richard the Lion Heart of England took part. During this Crusade, Cyprus and Acre were recaptured, the latter an important port in Palestine to which the seat of the Crusader states had been transferred after the loss of Jerusalem.

The Fourth Crusade was proclaimed by Pope Innocent III. Venice played a leading role in the purely political dimension assumed by the campaign. In return for transporting the army to the East, the Council of Ten asked the Crusaders for military assistance in capturing the Dalmatian city of Zara. The Venetians also insisted that the Crusaders accept the offer made by the emperor Isaac II Angelos to reinforce them with an army and finances, in return for their help in removing his uncle, Alexios III who had usurped the throne. The result of this campaign was the capture of Constantinople in April 1204.

The Fifth Crusade (1217-1221) was proclaimed by Honorius III. The campaign met with little success, as it was confined to capturing the port of Damietta in Egypt.

In May 1204, Baldwin, the count of Flanders, was chosen and crowned emperor in Constantinople, while the leader of the Fourth Crusade, Boniface of Montferrat, was proclaimed king of Thessaloniki after a contest with Baldwin. The Byzantine Empire was broken up, leading to the creation of the empire of Trebizond, the empire of Nikaia, and the independent principality of Epiros. The other Byzantine territories were shared out on the bases of an agreement concluded amongst the Latins to divide up Romania, known as the partitio Romaniae. This division, however, took place purely on paper, as the rest of the country (apart from Constantinople), had not yet been conquered. The Partitio Romaniae was based on the future conquest of the Byzantine empire.

Boniface undertook the conquest of Greece, where he met with little resistance. He divided its territory into fiefs and granted them to Crusaders, thus creating a patchwork of small Greek states. Athens became the centre of a separate state, which included Attica, Boeotia, the Megarid and, later, Argos and Nafplion, under the rule of Otho de la Roche.

In accordance with the partitio Romaniae the Peloponnese was to be given to Venice, apart from the territories of Argos, Nauplion and Corinth, which were under the control of Leo Sgouros (the local Byzantine ruler of Nauplion).

In 1205, two French Crusaders, Geoffrey Villehardouin and William Champlitte, having first secured permission from Boniface of Montferrat, began the campaign to capture the Peloponnese. The Byzantine army was easily defeated, and within a short space of time the most important cities in the west Peloponnese had been captured. In 1208, William departed for France in order to receive the inheritance of his brother Louis, count of Burgundy, but died the following year. After this, Geoffrey Villehardouin remained the sole lord of the new Frankish acquisitions. The Chronicle of the Morea is a valuable historical source. It is the work of a Greek or gasmoule (offspring of a French-Greek marriage) who had converted to Catholicism. The verse chronicle captures detail of the history, society and institutions of the Peloponnese under Frankish rule. It is a historical narrative of the first century of Frankish rule and dates from the period 1320-1346. Four versions of it are preserved: in Greek, Aragonese, Italian, and French.

The conquest of the Peloponnese was a gradual process, beginning in 1205 and completed in 1248 under William Villehardouin, the second-born son of Geoffrey II. The arrangements of the partitio Romaniae that concerned the Peloponnese were amended by the treaty of Sapienza, signed in June 1209. The Serenissima Repubblica granted the territories of the Peloponnese to Villehardouin as fiefs, he himself became a vassal of the doges and Venice retained the region of Methoni and Koroni.

The principality reached the height of its prosperity under the rule of the three Villehardouins: Geoffrey I ruled from 1210-1218, followed by his first-born son Geoffrey II (1218-1245), and then by his second-born son William (1245-1278).

For administrative purposes, Geoffrey Villehardouin divided his state into twelve baronies, which included a certain number of fiefs. The social and administrative organisation was based on the model of western feudal Society. At the same time, the Catholic Church was organised into archbishoprics and bishoprics. The Catholic clergy took from the Orthodox their property, their incomes, and many of their churches. This widened the chasm that already existed between the two Churches. However, the Latin clerics were not interested in converting the population. The Catholic clergy also came into conflict with the Frankish leadership, especially with Geoffrey II, since they claimed that they were dependent directly on the Pope and did not wish to recognise their feudal obligation to the secular ruler.

The first two rulers were concerned mainly to stabilise their position and with the internal organisation of the principality, which, after the fall of Thessaloniki, was regarded as the most important of the Frankish states. William, for his part, had grandiose designs of completing the conquest of the fortified Peloponnesian sites that remained independent, of making himself overlord of the Frankish principalities outside of the Peloponnese, and of extending the borders of the principality beyond the Peloponnese. He succeeded in achieving his first two aims, thereby increasing his power and reputation in the West.

Despite all this, his efforts to extend the borders of the principality outside the Peloponnese were not crowned with success, and this marked the beginning of his decline. At the same time he was responsible for the beginning of the recapture of the Peloponnese by the Byzantines. In 1259, while he was fighting on the side of his father-in-law, Michael II despot of Epiros, against the emperor of Nikaia, Michael Palaiologos, at the battle of Pelagonia, William was captured and held prisoner for two full years. In 1262, the Parley of the Ladies (a meeting of the wives of the feudal lords who had been taken prisoner) decided to surrender the castles of Monemvasia, Mani, Yeraki and Mystras to Michael Palaiologos in order to secure William’s release. This was a highly important event, since after the recapture of Constantinople by the Byzantine (1261), these castles served as springboards for the recapture of the Peloponnese.

The conquest of the region by foreign rulers created unrest amongst the Greek population. Pressure from foreign rulers, which became more intense as time went on, combined with an increase in the Latin population, led to an increase in the demands of the conqueror, which resulted in the local population rallying against him. Mystras formed the centre of the Greek resistance for almost 50 years, from 1262-1308. Mystras was governed by a general who held office for one year, and who was called the “Head”. This became a life office from the middle of the 14^th century onwards, when power was assumed first by the family of the Kantakouzenoi (1348-1384), and then by the Palaiologoi (1384 to 1460). Under the Palaiologoi, Byzantine authority was extended to the whole of the Peloponnese.

Through the treaty of Viterbo in 1267, William ceded the principality to Charles I Angevin, king of Sicily. The terms he demanded were that he should retain the usufruct of the principality for life, that his daughter Isabel should marry Charles’ son Philip, and that rule over the Peloponnese would revert to their descendants.

Philip died in 1277 and William in 1278. The Angevins thus became sole rulers of the Peloponnese from 1278-1383. Throughout this period there was a series of Western rulers who changed with great frequency. ¹

After this time, only Methoni and Koroni remained in the hands of westerners, more specifically the Venetians, despite the fact that the Byzantines had reconquered the Peloponnese. The Venetians captured Nauplion in 1388 and Monemvasia in 1462, and retained these acquisitions until 1462, when they finally lost them to the Turks.