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 French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

(in verse),

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and Aragonese. More than 9,000 lines long, the ''Chronicle'' narrates events of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

' establishment of

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

in mainland

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. West European Crusaders settled in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...

(called

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 Ottom ...

at the time) following the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

. 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 Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. The verses are accented but not rhymed.William Smith, ''A History of Greece'', R. B. Collins, 1855, p. 579 It is written in the spoken Greek of the time, with the inclusion of several French words. There are two parallel Greek texts, as well as three copies: *Ms Havniensis 57 (14th–15th century, in

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) 9219 verses **Ms Taurinensis B.II.I, library of

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, closely related to the Copenhagen text *Ms Parisinus graecus 2898 (15th–16th century, at the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

) 8191 verses **Ms Parisinus graecus 2753 and **Ms

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

509 grec, both copies of the Paris version. The oldest text is that held in Copenhagen, the language of which is more archaic. The Parisian, more recent, text is simpler in language and has fewer foreign words. The transcriber omitted several anti-Hellenic references, so the overall text expressed less contempt of Greeks. The difference of about one century between the Copenhagen and Parisian version shows a considerable number of linguistic differences due to the rapid evolution of the Greek language. The text of the Copenhagen version describes events until 1292.

French text

Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium (french: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history ...

No 15702 This text is known under the title: "The Book of the Conquest of Constantinople and the Empire of Roumania and the country of the Principality of Morea", since in the

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it b ...

, it is indicated "C'est le livre de la conqueste de Constantinople et de l'empire de Romanie, et dou pays de la princée de la Morée" Information in this text reaches until the year 1304.

Italian text

*''Cronaca di Morea'', is a summary that was compiled later than the previous texts and contains several mistakes. Its source is the text found in the Greek manuscript held in Turin.

Aragonese text

*''Libro de los fechos et conquistas del principado de la Morea'', was compiled at the end of the 14th century, in 1393, from the Greek version and other later sources, at the request of the Grand Master Jean Fernandez de Heredia of the

Knights of St. John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headqu ...

. It covers events to 1393.

Which text is the original? Which version came out first?

It appears that the original text of the ''Chronicle of the Morea'' has been lost. Although the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to s ...

ese and Italian texts have been clearly identified as later texts, there is no widely accepted consensus on the priority of the Greek or French text.

The Author

The author of the original text of the chronicle appears to be a Franc or a '' gasmoule'' (a French-Greek, born from a mixed French-Greek marriage, the word seems to have an etymology from ''garçon'' (boy) and ''mule''). He appeared to admire the Franks (Crusaders) and have contempt of the local population and the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

. Notably, the author respects the citizenship of the

Byzantine Greeks The Byzantine Greeks were the Greek-speaking Eastern Romans of Orthodox Christianity throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. They were the main inhabitants of the lands of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire), of Constantinople ...

, calling them Romans (Ρωμαῖοι) (especially in verses 1720-1738).

The significance of the ''Chronicle''

The ''Chronicle'' is famous in spite of certain historical inaccuracies because of its lively description of life in the feudal community and because of the character of the language which reflects the rapid transition from Medieval to Modern Greek. Polet explains that since the author admired the Franks and had contempt for the Byzantine culture, the ''Chronicle of Morea'' did not become part of popular culture and history after the Franks left the Peloponnese. Numerous administrative laws and practices of the Principality of Achaia are mentioned in the Chronicle, making it a significant source on the Frankish period in Greece.

Language of the ''Chronicle''

Since the year of the Fall of Constantinople, 1453, marks the symbolic boundary between

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and

Modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...

, the ''Chronicle of the Morea'' is generally classified under Medieval Greek.H. Tonnet ''Histoire du grec modèrne'', chapter “la langue médievale” ) However, the ''Chronicle of the Morea'', along with the Ptochoprodromic poems and acritic songs are considered as the beginnings of

modern Greek literature Modern Greek literature is literature written in Modern Greek, starting in the late Byzantine era in the 11th century AD. It includes work not only from within the borders of the modern Greek state, but also from other areas where Greek was widel ...

. They are classified as part of both "Byzantine / medieval vernacular" and "(early) modern Greek" literature.

The first editions in print

The first printed edition of the ''Chronicle'' was published in 1840 by J.A. Buchon. It contained the Greek text from Paris. Buchon named the book ''Βιβλίον της κουγκέστας του Μωραίως'' (Book of the conquest of Morea), a different title than the text. The second printed edition of the Chronicle was that of the Greek text from Copenhagen, published by Buchon in 1845. In 1889 John Schmitt published both texts of the Copenhagen and Paris manuscripts side by side. John Schmitt, ''The Chronicle of Morea, o Chronikon Tou MoreōsA history in political verse, relating the establishment of feudalism in Greece by the Franks in the thirteenth century'', Methuen & Co., London, 1904

Translations

A 1964 translation of the Greek text by Harold E. Lurier.

The first text

The book begins with a prologue of 1302 verses. The first three verses are: :I will tell a tale to thee rehearse, a tale of import mighty :And if attention you do lend, I hope the tale will please you :T'is how the Frank by arms did gain the realm of fair Morea

Notes

References

The original Greek text of the Chronicle of Morea
* *''Crusaders as Conquerors: the Chronicle of Morea'' translated from the Greek with notes and introduction by Harold E. Lurier, Columbia University Press, 1964. . *Peter Topping, Review of H.E. Lurier, ''Crusaders as Conquerors: the Chronicle of Morea'', in '' Speculum'', Vol. 40, No. 4 (Oct 1965), pp. 737–742. * Shawcross, C. Teresa, ''The Chronicle of Morea: Historiography in Crusader Greec''e (Oxford, OUP, 2009) (Oxford Studies in Byzantium).