A. D. 1085. 1. 11. c. 9. Crusades, we find the Turks ravaging the Archipelago and all the western coasts. In an engagement between the Pisans and the Ann. Comn. Greeks, a count, a native of the Peloponnese, distinguished himself by his valour about the year 1085; so that this country had not yet received the name of the Morea. A. D. 1085. ct. seq. Ann. Comu, lib. 4. 5. &c. Glycus. A. D. 1130. A. D. 1130. Bald. c. 1. A. D. 1140. Epire and Thessaly were the theatre of the wars of Alexis Commenus, Robert and Bohemond; and their history throws no light on that of Greece, properly so called. The first crusaders also passed through Constantinople without penetrating into Achaia. But, during the reign of Manuel Comnenus, who succeeded Alexis, the kings of Sicily, the Venetians, the Pisans, and other western nations, invaded Attica and the Peloponnese. Roger I, king of Sicily, removed Athenian artisans, skilled in the cultivation of silk, to Palermo. It was about this time that the Peloponnese changed its name for that of the Morea; at least I find the latter made use of by Nicetas, the historian. It is probable that as silk-worms began to multiply in the east, a more extensive cultivation of the mulberry was found necessary. The Peloponnese derived its new appellation from the tree which furnished it with a new source of wealth. Roger made himself master of Corfu, Thebes, and Comn.l.2.c.1. Corinth, and had the boldness, says Nicetas, to attack towns situated farther up the country. But according to the historians of Venice, those republicans assisted Coron. p. 17. the emperor of the East, defeated Roger and prevented him from taking Corinth. It was on account of this service, that two centuries afterwards, they asserted a claim to Corinth and the Peloponnese. A. D. 1170. Tudel. The travels of Benjamin of Tudela, in Greece, must Itiner. Benj. be placed about the year 1070. He visited Patras, Corinth and Thebes. In the latter city he found two thousand Jews engaged in the manufacture of silks and the dying of purple. Eustathius was then bishop of Thessalonica. Letters must consequently have been still cultivated with success in their native land, since this Eustathius is the celebrated commentator on Homer. Nicet. in 11 Ville c. 136, et seq The French, headed by Boniface marquis of Mont- A. D. 1204. ferrat, and Baldwin count of Flanders, and the Vene- Bald tians under the conduct of Dandolo, drove Alexis hard. from Constantinople, and re-placed Isaac Angelus on the throne. It was not long before they seized the crown for themselves. Baldwin obtained the empire and the marquis of Montferrat was declared king of Thessalonica. About this time a petty tyrant of the Morea, named Sgure, a native of Napoli di Romania, laid siege to Athens, but was repulsed by the archbishop Michael Choniates, brother to Nicetas, the historian. This prelate composed a poem, in which he compared the Athens of Pericles with the Athens of the twelfth century. Some verses of this manuscript poem are yet extant in the Imperial Library at Paris. A. D. 1204. Nicet. in Bald. e. 8. Sometime afterwards, Athens opened her gates to Nicet. in the marquis of Montferrat, who conferred the investi- Bald. c. 4. ture of the lordship of Thebes and Athens on Otho de la Roche. Otho's successors assumed the title of dukes of Athens and grand-sires of Thebes. According to Nicetas, the marquis of Montferrat extended his conquests to the farthest extremity of the Morea, and made himself master of Argos and Corinth, but was unable to reduce the castle of the latter city, defended by Leo Sgure. 173. et seq. While Boniface was following up his successes, a Ville-Hard. c. squall drove some more Frenchmen into Modon, Ducang. Hist. Geoffrey de Ville Hardouin, who commanded them,and Const. lib. 1. was on his return from the Holy Land, joined the marquis de Montferrat, then engaged in the siege of Napoli, and being well received by Boniface, undertook, with William de Champlite, the conquest of the Morea. Their success was equal to their hopes; all the towns surrendered to the two knights, except Lacedæ Nicet. in Coronel. A. D. 1210. A. D. 1214. mon, where reigned a tyrant named Leo Chamaretus. Soon afterwards, the Morea was given up to the Venetians, to whom it was ceded by the terms of a general treaty, concluded at Constantinople, between the crusaders. The Genoese pirate, Leo Scu. trano, made himself master for a moment of Coron and Modon, but was soon driven out of those places by the Venetians. William de Champlite assumed the title of prince of Achaia. At his death, William de Ville Hardouin inherited the possessions of his friend, and became prince of Achaia and the Morea. The origin of the Ottoman empire dates from Hist of the about the time of which we are treating. Solyman Oth.Emp.b.1, Shah, issued about the year 1214 from the deserts of the Oguzian Tartars, and advanced towards Asia MiDemetrius Cantemir, who has given us a history of the Turks, from the original authors is more worthy of credit than Paul Jovius and the Greek writers, who often confound the Saracens with the Turks. nor. The marquis of Montferrat having been killed, his widow was declared regent of the kingdom of Thessalonica. Athens, apparently weary of the dominion of Otho de la Roche, or his descendants, determined to submit to the Venetians; but this design was frustrated by Magaducius, tyrant of the Morea, so that this country had probably shaken off the yoke of Ville Hardouin, or of Venice. This new tyrant, Magaducias, had under him other tyrants; for besides Leo Sgure, already mentioned, we find one Stephen a fisherman, Signore di molti stati nella Morea, says Giacomo Diedo. Theodore Lascaris re-conquered part of the Morea from the Franks. The struggle between the Latin emperors of the East, and the Greek emperors who had retired into Asia, lasted fifty-seven years. William de Ville Hardouin, successor of Geoffrey, had Hist. Const. become prince of Achaia. He fell into the hands of A. D. 1259. Pachy. Michael Palæologus, the Greek emperor, who return- lib. 1.3, 5. ed to Constantinople in August, 1261. To regain his Ducange. liberty, William ceded to Michael the places which he lib. 5. possessed in the Morea, and which he had conquered from the Venetians and the petty princes who alternately started up and disappeared. These places were Monembasia, Maina, Hierace, and Misitra. Pachymeres writes without reflection, without astonishment, and almost without thought; as if this Misitra, the insignificant lordship of a French gentleman were not the heir of the renowned Lacedæmon. We have not long since seen Lacedæmon making its appearance under its ancient name, when it was governed by Leo Chamaretus. Misitra must therefore have been for sometime contemporary with Lacedæmon. William ceded Anaplion and Argos also to the emperor Michael: but the country of Ciusterne remained an object of dispute. William is the same prince of the Morea mentioned by the Sire de Join- Joiny. Hist. de ville: Lorst vint ... Avec mainte armure dorée, Celui qui prince est de la Morée. St. Louis Duchange. An not. Diedo calls him William Ville, thus retrenching half Died. Stor. his name. del. Rep. de. Ven. lib. 6. Pachymeres mentions about this period, a certain Pachym.lib.2. Theodosius, a monk of Morea, " sprung from the race of the princes of that country." We also find that one of the sisters of John, heir apparent to the throne of Constantinople, married Matthew de Valincourt "a Frenchman from the Morea." Michael equipped a fleet, and retook the islands of A. D. 1265. Naxos, Paros, Ceos, Carystes, and Oreo; at the same Pachym. I. 3. time he reduced Lacedæmon, a distinct place of course from Misitra, ceded to the emperor as part of the ransom of the prince of Achaia. We find the Lacedæmonians serving in Michael's fleet; they had, ac Pachym. 1. 3. cording to the historians, been transferred from their own country to Constantinople in consideration of their valour. A. D. 1269. A. D. 1275. A. D. 1295. A. D. 1300. The emperor then made war on John Ducas Sebastocrator, who had rebelled against him. This John Ducas was the natural son of Michael, despot of the West. The emperor besieged him in the town of Durazzo. John found means to escape to Thebes, where reigned a prince, Sire John, styled by Pachymeres grand-signior of Thebes, and who was perhaps descended from Otho de la Roche. This Sire John caused his brother William to marry the daughter of John Ducas. Six years after this, a prince "of the illustrious family of the princes of the Morea" was engaged in a contest with Veceus for the patriarchate of Constantinople. John, prince of Thebes, died, and left his brother William his heir. In right of his wife, grand-daughter to the despot of the West, William also became prince of part of the Morea; for the despot of the West, had, in spite of the Venetians and the prince of Achaia, made himself master of that fine province. Andronicus, on the death of his father Michael, asscended the throne of the East. Nicephorus, despot of the West, and son of that Michael, the despot who had conquered the Morea, followed the emperor Michael to the tomb, leaving a son and heir, Thomas, and a daughter, named Itamar. The latter married Philip, grandson of Charles, king of Naples: she brought him for her portion, several towns and a considerable extent of country. It is therefore probable, that the Sicilians had then some possessions in the Morea. About this time I find a princess of Achaia, a Pachym. 1. 11. widow, and very far advanced in years, to whom Andronicus was desirous of marrying his son John, the despot. This princess was perhaps the daughter, or even the relict of William, prince of Achaia, who, as |