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Information about Despotate Of Morea

Δεσποτάτο του Μυστρά
Despotate of Morea
←
1308 – 1460 →
Enlarge picture
Location of Morea
The Despotate of Morea in 1450, showing Mystras.
CapitalMystras
Language(s)Greek
ReligionEastern Orthodox Church
GovernmentNot specified }}
Despot
 - 1308 – 1316Michael
 - 1449 – 1460Thomas Palaiologos
Historical eraLate Medieval
 - Established1308
 - Disestablished1460


The Despotate of Morea (Greek: Δεσποτάτο του Μυστρά) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centuries. Its territory varied in size during its 100 years of existence but eventually grew to take in almost all the southern Greek Peloponnese peninsula, which at this time was called the Morea. It was usually ruled by the current Byzantine emperor's heir, who was given the title of despot or despoinis (in this context it should not be confused with despotism). Its capital was the fortified city of Mystras, near ancient Sparta, which became an important centre of Byzantine culture and power.

The Byzantine Despotate of Morea was carved out of territory seized from the Frankish Principality of Achaea. This itself had been carved out of former Byzantine territory following the Fourth Crusade (1204). In 1259, the Principality's ruler Guillaume II de Villehardouin lost the Battle of Pelagonia against the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus. Guillaume was forced to ransom himself by giving up most of the eastern part of Morea and his newly built strongholds. The surrendered territory became the nucleus of the Despotate of Morea.

A later Byzantine emperor, John VI Cantacuzenus, reorganized the territory in the mid-14th century to establish it as an appanage for his son Manuel Cantacuzenus. The rival Palaeologus dynasty seized the Morea after Manuel's death in 1380, with Theodore I Palaeologus becoming the new despot of Morea in 1383. Theodore ruled it until 1407, consolidating Byzantine rule and coming to terms with his more powerful neighbours – particularly the expansionist Ottoman Empire, whose suzerainty he recognised. He also sought to reinvigorate the local economy by inviting Albanians to settle in the territory.

As Latin power on the Peloponnese waned during the 15th century, the Despotate of Morea expanded to incorporate the entire peninsula. However, in 1446 the Ottoman Sultan Murad II destroyed the Byzantine defences on the Isthmus of Corinth. His attack opened the peninsula to invasion, though Murad died before he could exploit this. His successor Mehmed II "the Conqueror" captured the Byzantine capital Constantinople in 1453 and seven years later overran the Despotate of Morea, destroying the last European fragment of the Byzantine Empire.

Byzantine despots of Morea at Mystras

Enlarge picture
The Despotate of Morea and surrounding states carved from the Byzantine Empire, as they were in 1265.
(William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911).

See also

Byzantine Empire or Byzantium is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople.
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8th century - 9th century - 10th century
850s  860s  870s  - 880s -  890s  900s  910s
885 886 887 - 888 - 889 890 891

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14th century - 15th century - 16th century
1430s  1440s  1450s  - 1460s -  1470s  1480s  1490s
1457 1458 1459 - 1460 - 1461 1462 1463

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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Ottoman Empire or Ottoman Caliphate (1299 to 1922) (Old Ottoman Turkish: دولت عالیه عثمانیه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish:
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Throughout the world there are many cities that were once national capitals but no longer have that status because the country ceased to exist, the capital was moved, or the capital city was renamed. This is a list of such cities, sorted by country and then by date.
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Greek}}} 
Writing system: Greek alphabet 
Official status
Official language of:  Greece
 Cyprus
 European Union
recognised as minority language in parts of:
 European Union
 Italy
 Turkey
Regulated by:
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state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. Practically, a state without a state religion is called a secular state.
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Eastern Christianity

History
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Traditions
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government is a body that has the power to make and the authority to enforce rules and laws within a civil, corporate, religious, academic, or other organization or group.[1]
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Despot can refer to:
  • Despotism, a form of government where the ruler exercises absolute power
  • Despotes (Despotēs), a Byzantine court title
  • Despot (hip hop), a rapper signed to Definitive Jux Records

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Thomas Palaiologos or Palaeologus (Greek: Θωμάς Παλαιολόγος, Thōmas Palaiologos) (1409 – May 12, 1465) was Despot in Morea from 1428 until the Ottoman conquest in 1460.
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Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th to 16th centuries (AD 1300–1500). The Late Middle Ages were preceded by the High Middle Ages, and followed by the Early Modern era (Renaissance).
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Greek}}} 
Writing system: Greek alphabet 
Official status
Official language of:  Greece
 Cyprus
 European Union
recognised as minority language in parts of:
 European Union
 Italy
 Turkey
Regulated by:
..... Click the link for more information.
Byzantine Empire or Byzantium is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople.
..... Click the link for more information.
14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400.

Events

  • The transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age
  • Beginning of the Ottoman Empire, early expansion into the Balkans

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15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500.

Events

  • 1402: Ottoman and Timurid Empires fight at the Battle of Ankara resulting in Timur's capture of Bayezid I.
  • 1402: The conquest of the Canary Islands signals the beginning of the Spanish Empire.

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Motto
Ελευθερία ή θάνατος
Eleftheria i thanatos  
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The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus (Greek: Πελοπόννησος Pelopónnisos; see also List of Greek place names) is a large peninsula in southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth.
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Morea (Greek: Μωρέας or Μωριάς) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period.
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This is a list of the Emperors of the late Eastern Roman Empire, called Byzantine by modern historians. This list does not include numerous co-emperors who never attained sole or senior status as rulers.
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Despotism is a form of government by a single authority, either an individual or tightly knit group, which rules with absolute political power. In its classical form, a despotism is a state where one single person, called a Despot
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Sparta (Doric: Σπάρτᾱ Spártā, Attic: Σπάρτη Spártē
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Byzantine Empire or Byzantium is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople.
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Franks or Frankish people (Latin: Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an ethnic group living north and east of the Lower Rhine.
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The Principality of Achaea or of the Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.
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Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was originally designed to conquer Jerusalem through an invasion of Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of the West invaded and conquered the Greek Orthodox city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.
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1204 in other calendars
Gregorian calendar 1204
MCCIV
Ab urbe condita 1957
Armenian calendar 653
ԹՎ ՈԾԳ
Bah' calendar -640 – -639
Buddhist calendar 1748
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1259 in other calendars
Gregorian calendar 1259
MCCLIX
Ab urbe condita 2012
Armenian calendar 708
ԹՎ ՉԸ
Bah' calendar -585 – -584
Buddhist calendar 1803
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