|
John Of Durnay
John of Durnay (french: Jean de Durnay) was the Baron of Gritzena in the Principality of Achaea in the late 1280s and early 1290s. The family's original possession, the Barony of Kalavryta, had been lost to the Byzantines in the 1260s or early 1270s. According to Antoine Bon, John's father, Geoffrey of Durnay, received the Barony of Gritzena in compensation. John succeeded his father as lord of Gritzena (and titular baron of Kalavryta) some time after 1283. In 1289/90, he appears, along with John Chauderon, as one of the principal aides of the new Prince of Achaea, Florent of Hainaut, in his efforts to re-establish proper administration and internal peace in the principality. In 1292, following a series of destructive raids in the Greek and Latin-held islands of the Aegean Sea, the Aragonese admiral Roger of Lauria led his fleet to anchor at Navarino. With Prince Florent absent in Italy, the local castellan, George I Ghisi, assembled two hundred knights, at Androusa to oppo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baron Of Gritzena
The Barony of Gritzena or Gritsena was a medieval Frankish fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, located in eastern Messenia, in the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, centred on the settlement of Gritzena ( el, Γρίτζενα/Γρίτσενα; french: La Grite). History The Barony of Gritzena was established , after the conquest of the Peloponnese by the Crusaders, and was one of the original twelve secular baronies within the Principality of Achaea. The various versions of the '' Chronicle of the Morea'' mention that the barony comprised four knight's fiefs, and was located in the region of Lakkoi (the upper Messenian plain, between Kalamata and Skorta), under a certain Lucas (Λούκας), of whom nothing other than his name is known. The Barony of Gritzena is little-known. It remained a peaceful backwater until the Byzantine attacks of the 1260s, and there is no evidence of a castle being constructed there; it is hence impossible to establish its exact location. If ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pylos
Pylos (, ; el, Πύλος), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It was the capital of the former Pylia Province. It is the main harbour on the Bay of Navarino. Nearby villages include Gialova, Pyla, Elaiofyto, Schinolakka, and Palaionero. The town of Pylos has 2,345 inhabitants, the municipal unit of Pylos 5,287 (2011). The municipal unit has an area of 143.911 km2. Pylos has been inhabited since Neolithic times. It was a significant kingdom in Mycenaean Greece, with remains of the so-called "Palace of Nestor" excavated nearby, named after Nestor, the king of Pylos in Homer's ''Iliad''. In Classical times, the site was uninhabited, but became the site of the Battle of Pylos in 425 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. After that, Pylos is scarcely mentioned until th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Count Of Cephalonia
The County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos existed from 1185 to 1479 as part of the Kingdom of Sicily. The title and the right to rule the Ionian islands of Cephalonia and Zakynthos was originally given to Margaritus of Brindisi for his services to William II, King of Sicily, in 1185. Following Margaritus, the county passed on to a branch of the Orsini family until 1325, when it passed briefly to Angevins and then, from 1357, to the Tocco family. The Tocco used the county as a springboard for their acquisition of lands in the Greek mainland, and were successful in gaining control over the Despotate of Epirus in 1411. However, facing the advance of the Ottoman Turks they successively lost their mainland territories and were once again reduced to the County Palatine, which they held until 1479, when it was divided between Venice and the Ottomans. Zakynthos was put under the direct rule of Venice. History The beginning of the Frankish conquest in the islands of Cephalonia, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard I Orsini
Richard Orsini ( it, Riccardo Orsini) was the Count Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from before 1260 to his death in 1303/4, and also Captain-General of Corfu in 1286–90, Count of Gravina in 1284–91. He also served as the Angevin ''bailli'' in the Principality of Achaea from 1297 to 1300. Biography Richard is generally thought to be the son of Matthew Orsini, Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, and a daughter of the ''sebastokrator'' John Komnenos Doukas. However, given the long period between the beginning of Matthew's reign in the first years of the 13th century and the attested date of Richard's death, it is possible that another character is to be intercalated between Matthew and Richard, perhaps the "count Theodore" referred to in a document from 1264 (possibly Matthew's son and Richard's father). It is unclear when exactly Richard became Count palatine; he is not specifically recorded by name in a document until 1264. However, according to the testimony ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyperpyra
The ''hyperpyron'' ( ''nómisma hypérpyron'') was a Byzantine coin in use during the late Middle Ages, replacing the ''solidus'' as the Byzantine Empire's gold coinage. History The traditional gold currency of the Byzantine Empire had been the ''solidus'' or ''nomisma'', whose gold content had remained steady at 24 carats for seven centuries and was consequently highly prized. From the 1030s, however, the coin was increasingly debased, until in the 1080s, following the military disasters and civil wars of the previous decade, its gold content was reduced to almost zero. Consequently, in 1092, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos ( 1081–1118) undertook a drastic overhaul of the Byzantine coinage system and introduced a new gold coin, the ''hyperpyron'' (meaning "super-refined"). This was of the same standard weight (4.45 grams) as the ''solidus'', but only 20.5 carat purity instead of 24, resulting in a reduced gold content of only 4.1 grams instead of 4.8 grams. The lower purity was due ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isabella Of Villehardouin
Isabella of Villehardouin (1260/1263 – 23 January 1312) was reigning Princess of Achaea from 1289 to 1307. She was the elder daughter of Prince William II of Achaea William of Villehardouin (french: Guillaume de Villehardouin; Kalamata, 1211 – 1 May 1278) was the fourth prince of Achaea in Frankish Greece, from 1246 to 1278. The younger son of Prince Geoffrey I, he held the Barony of Kalamata ... and of his third wife, Anna Komnene Doukaina, the second daughter of Michael II Komnenos Doukas, the despot of Despotate of Epirus, Epiros. First marriage On 28 May 1271 Isabella married Philip of Sicily, son of Charles I of Sicily. This marriage had been pre-determined by the Treaty of Viterbo in May 1267 between Charles, the exiled Baldwin II of Constantinople and Isabella's father. Taking advantage of the precarious situation of the remains of the Latin Empire in the face of renascent Greek power, Charles gained suzerain rights over Achaea; furthermore, the heirs of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glarentsa
Glarentza ( el, Γλαρέντζα), also known as or Clarenia, Clarence, or Chiarenza, was a medieval town located near the site of modern Kyllini in Elis, at the westernmost point of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. Founded in the mid-13th century by William II of Villehardouin, the town served as the main port and mint of the Frankish Principality of Achaea, being located next to the Principality's capital, Andravida. Commerce with Italy brought great prosperity, but the town began to decline in the early 15th century as the Principality itself declined. In 1428, Glarentza was ceded to the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea, and served as its co-capital, being the residence of one of the Palaiologos despots, until the Ottoman conquest in 1460. Under Ottoman rule, Glarentza declined rapidly as the commercial links with Italy were broken, and by the 16th century was abandoned and falling into ruin. Little remains of the town today: traces of the city wall, of a chur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chronicle Of The Morea
The ''Chronicle of the Morea'' ( el, Τὸ χρονικὸν τοῦ Μορέως) is a long 14th-century history text, of which four versions are extant: in French, Greek (in verse), Italian and Aragonese. More than 9,000 lines long, the ''Chronicle'' narrates events of the Franks' establishment of feudalism in mainland Greece. West European Crusaders settled in the Peloponnese (called Morea at the time) following the Fourth Crusade. The period covered in the ''Chronicle'' was 1204 to 1292 (or later, depending on the version). It gives significant details on the civic organization of the Principality of Achaia. The extant texts of the ''Chronicle of the Morea'' The Greek text is the only text written in verse. The French, Italian and Aragonese texts are written in prose.Jean-Claude Polet, ''Patrimoine littéraire européen'', De Boeck Université, 1995, Greek text The verses of the Greek text are written in a 15-syllable political verse. The verses are accented but not r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morea
The Morea ( el, Μορέας or ) was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The name was used for the Byzantine province known as the Despotate of the Morea, by the Ottoman Empire for the Morea Eyalet, and later by the Republic of Venice for the short-lived Kingdom of the Morea. Etymology There is some uncertainty over the origin of the medieval name "Morea", which is first recorded only in the 10th century in the Byzantine chronicles. Traditionally, scholars thought the name to have originated from the word ''morea'' (μορέα), meaning morus or mulberry, a tree which, though known in the region from the ancient times, gained value after the 6th century, when mulberry-eating silkworms were smuggled from China to Byzantium. The British Byzantinist Steven Runciman suggested that the name comes "from the likeness of its shape to that of a mulberry leaf". History After the conquest of Constantinople by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Androusa
Androusa ( el, Ανδρούσα) is a village and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Messini, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 50.514 km2. Predominantly a farming region, the principal exports include kalamata olives, olive oil, and livestock. It is located 22 km north-west of the regional capital Kalamata. Municipal unit population 2,397 (2011), village population 628 (2011). History Androusa is recorded as being founded by William II of Villehardouin during the mid 13th century. This was the same period as when the Androusa fortress/castle is thought to have been built, of which city walls and partially ruined towers remain on the village's eastern perimeter overlooking the Pamisos River and the Messenian plain. There are alternate theories pointing to an earlier (and possible Byzantine) construction due to certain design elements of the fortres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George I Ghisi
George I Ghisi ( it, Giorgio Ghisi) (died 15 March 1311) was a Latin feudal lord in medieval Greece. A son of Bartholomew I Ghisi, through his first marriage to a daughter of Guy II of Dramelay he was Baron of Chalandritsa in the Principality of Achaea. In 1292, he was also named as castellan of Kalamata.Bon (1969), pp. 234–235, 459 In that year, following a series of destructive raids in the Greek and Latin-held islands of the Aegean Sea, the Aragonese admiral Roger of Lauria led his fleet to anchor at Navarino. Fearful lest the Aragonese seize possession of lands in Achaea, or repeat their plundering raids, and with Prince Florent of Hainaut absent in Italy, George assembled two hundred knights at Androusa and attacked the Aragonese. In a brief but bloody combat, the Achaeans were defeated and George captured, only to be ransomed for 8,000 ''hyperpyra'' shortly after when the Aragonese fleet sailed to Glarentsa. In 1303, when his father died, he inherited the lordship of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Of Lauria
Roger of Lauria (''c''. 1245 – 17 January 1305) was a Neapolitan admiral in Aragonese service, who was the commander of the fleet of the Crown of Aragon during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. He was probably the most successful and talented naval tactician of the Middle Ages. He is known as Ruggero or Ruggiero di Lauria in Italian and Roger de Llúria in Catalan language, Catalan. Biography Roger of Lauria was born at Lauria or Scalea in what is now southern Italy, the son of Richard of Lauria, Great Justiciar of the Kingdom of Sicily, and Bella d'Amichi, Donna Bella, a nurse of Constance of Sicily, Queen of Aragon, Constance of Sicily. His father had served under King Manfred of Sicily, a Hohenstaufen; when the last member of that family, Conradin of Swabia, was beheaded at Naples in 1268, he took refuge with other Guelphs and Ghibellines, Ghibelline exiles at Barcelona, part of the Crown of Aragón with his mother. Later King Peter III of Aragon, who had married Constan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
