Krokodeilos Kladas
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Krokodeilos Kladas ( el, Κροκόδειλος Κλαδάς, 1425–1490), also known as Korkodeilos, Krokondeilos, or Korkondelos, was a military leader from the
Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...
who fought against the
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
on behalf of the Republic of Venice during the late 15th century.


Biography

Krokodeilos Kladas was born in Koroni in 1425. His father was the military chief Theodore Kladas. When the Ottoman Sultan
Mehmed II Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...
(r. 1444–1446 and 1451–1481) took the Morea in 1460, Kladas handed over his castle of Saint George (Agios Giorgios) and was given in exchange the castle of Vardounia in Upper Mani and the territory of Elos. By 1465, the Kladas brothers, Krokodeilos and Epifani, were leading bands of '' stratioti'' (warrior bands) on behalf of
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
against the Turks. They put Vardounia and their lands into Venetian possession, for which Epifani then acted as governor. The Kladas brothers were frequently complimented by Venetian officials, and received generous Venetian gifts. Krokodeilos Kladas and his followers stood as rebels against Mehmed, but the
Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...
- Ottoman peace settlement, while giving them a full pardon, also returned territorial boundaries to what they had been in 1463, so this put the Venetian-Kladas land holdings back into Ottoman possession. Kladas moved to Venetian-held Koroni. On October 9, 1480, Kladas led ''stratioti'' from Koroni to attack Ottoman holdings in Mani. A group of Albanian insurgents led by Kladas became a matter of dispute between the Ottomans and Venetians in the Morea on the issue of responsibility about damage caused by them. Both the Ottomans and the Venetians put a price on his head; the latter, specifically, "put a bounty of 10,000 ''hyperpyrai'' from the mint of Methone on Kladas' head." This revolt was joined in December by ''stratioti'' from
Nafplion Nafplio ( ell, Ναύπλιο) is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece and it is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important touristic destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the ...
led by
Theodore Bua Theodor Bua (Albanian : Teodor Bua) was a 15th-century Albanian military commander who served as a captain of the Stradioti regiments of the Republic of Venice. Biography After the Venetian-Ottoman peace treaty of 1479, that gave to the Ottomans t ...
and Mexas Bozikis. An army sent by the Sultan was defeated between
Passavas Las ( grc, Λᾶς and ἡ Λᾶς), or Laas (Λάας), or La (Λᾶ), was one of the most ancient towns of Lakedaimonia (eventually called the Mani Peninsula), located on the western coast of the Laconian Gulf. It is the only town on the coast men ...
and
Oitylo Oitylo ( el, Οίτυλο, pronounced Ítilo), known as "Βίτσουλο", pronounced Vitsoulo, in the native Maniot dialect, is a village and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part ...
in February 1481. Later that month, a larger force under Mohammed Bey drove Kladas to Porto Kagio where he was taken on board a Neapolitan galley, leaving his revolt to wither in his absence. A peaceful settlement of the revolt was negotiated by the Ottoman governor of the Morea and Venetian official
Bartolomeo Minio Bartolomeo Minio was, among other things, a Republic of Venice, Venetian captain and commander (''provveditor e capitanio'') of Napoli di Romagna (modern Nafplion, Greece), a Venetian outpost on the Morea (Peloponnese) from 1479 to 1483. His reports ...
. Meanwhile, Kladas went with a Neapolitan army to Albania to aid an anti-Ottoman revolt there. It is not known when he returned to Mani. He was captured in battle near Monemvasia in 1490 and flayed alive.


Family

The Kladas family is known in records from the Morea since 1296, when a "''Corcondille''" managed to capture a Frankish-held castle for the Byzantines. According to one view – initially proposed by
Constantine Sathas Constantine Sathas ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Σάθας; Athens, 1842 – Paris, 25 May 1914) was a Greek historian and researcher. Sathas spent his life unearthing hitherto unknown material pertaining to the history of late medieval and ear ...
– the family had migrated from Epirus to Peloponnese; but this isn't based on any evidence. More recent extensive research shows that Kladas was a Byzantine family, that was most likely of turcopole ultimate origin. The family can be traced back to a group, composed of the descendants and soldiers of Kaykaus II (sultan of the
Sultanate of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = By ...
who was deposed in 1262), who acted as mercenaries (turcopoles) in the troops of Michael VIII and
Andronikos II Palaiologos , image = Andronikos II Palaiologos2.jpg , caption = Miniature from the manuscript of George Pachymeres' ''Historia'' , succession = Byzantine emperor , reign = 11 December 1282 –24 May 1328 , coronation = 8 Novembe ...
. It came to the Peloponnese at the beginning of 1263, as part of the army of '' sebastokrator''
Constantine Palaiologos Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος, ''Kōnstantînos Dragásēs Palaiológos''; 8 February 1405 – 29 May 1453) was the last Roman (Byzantine) e ...
, in order to face the Franks ( Principality of Achaea) in the war of 1263-1264. After the war, it received lands and was fully integrated in the Byzantine society of the Morean Despotate, through alliances and marriages made with local '' archontes'', to the point that it managed to gain possession of extensive pieces of land with '' paroikoi'' settled there. Because of the power it had amassed, we see its members as privileged interlocutors of the Venetians, after the fall of the Despotate to the Ottomans.; ; ; Members of the family made donations to a monastery at Mystras in 1366 and 1375. A Krokodeilos is identified as one of the rebels against the Emperor Manuel II in 1415. The "Crocodile" pun made there is a single appearance and never appears in contemporary documents relating to this Krokodeilos Kladas. The carved inscription on a donation to a church in Karytaina with the name transliterated as "Krokontēlos" is probably not related to him, and the carving is dated to the mid-14th century. He and his brothers are strongly praised in Venetian sources. Kladas had been awarded a Venetian knighthood (and a gold robe) just before the 1480 revolt.. Members of the family moved to
Kefalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It ...
and continued to lead ''stratioti'' in Venetian service for at least another hundred years.


References


Citations


Sources

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Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kladas, Krokodeilos 1425 births 1490 deaths Ottoman Peloponnese Mani Peninsula People executed by flaying Republic of Venice military personnel Stratioti Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Ottoman wars People from Koroni