we have seen, was at war with Michael, the father of Andronicus.. Some years afterwards an earthquake shook Modon A. D. 1305. and other towns of the Morea. Pachym. 1. 11. Athens then witnessed the arrival of new masters A. D. 1812. from the West. A body of Catalans, seeking their Pachym. 1.11. fortunes under the conduct of Ximenes, Roger and Berenger offered their services to the emperor of the East; but soon growing dissatisfied with Andronicus, they turned their arms against the empire. ravaged Achaia and numbered Athens among conquests. It is now, and not before, that we Delves, a prince of the house of Arragon upon the Spon. tom. 1. 'throne. History does not record whether he found Chandl. vol. 2. the heirs of Otho de la Roche in possession of Attica and Boeotia. They Pacif. Notiz. del. duc. their d'Ath. Attic. The invasion of Amurat, son of Orcan must be Cant. Hist. of placed under the same date; we know not with what success it was attended.* the Othm. Emp. lib. 2. Cantac. 1. 3. c. The emperors John Palæologus and John Cantacu- A. D. 1336. zenus determined to carry their arms into Achaia. 11. To this they were invited by the bishop of Corone and John Sidere, governor of several towns. The grand- A. D. 1342, duke Apocaucus, who had revolted against the empe- 71. ror, pillaged the Morea and laid it waste with fire and sword. Cant. lib. 5. c. Pacif. Notiz. Fannell. Reiniere Acciajuoli, a Florentine, drove the Cata- A. D. 1570. lans from Athens. He governed that city for some del. duc. time, and having no legitimate heirs, left it by his will d'Att. to the republic of Venice: but his natural son Antho- Athen. Attic. ny, whom he had established in Thebes, took Athens Mart. Crus. 1. 2. Spon. and from the Venetians. Chandler. Anthony, prince of Attica and Boeotia, was succeed- A. D. 1390, ed by one of his relatives named Nerius, who was ex- Auc. sup. cit. pelled from his dominions by his brother Anthony II, and never returned to his principality till the death of the usurper. * Some traces of this invasion are to be seen in Cantacuzenus. lib. 1. c. 39. to 1400 A. D. 1390 to 1400. de Malt. La Guilletiere. Laced: anc. et moderne. Bajazet then struck terror into Europe and Asia; he threatened to invade Greece; but I no where find that he reduced Athens, as Spon and Chandler assert. They have besides confounded the order of time in making the arrival of the Catalans in Africa precede the supposed incursion of Bajazet. Be this as it may, the consternation with which this prince filled Europe, produced one of the most singular events recorded in history. Theodore Porphyrogenitus, despot of Sparta, was brother to AndroHist. de Chev. nicus and Manuel, successively emperors of Constantinople. Bajazet menaced the Morea with an invasion, and Theodore thinking himself unable to defend his principality offered to sell it to the knights of Rhodes. Philibert de Naillac, prior of Aquitaine and grand-master of Rhodes, purchased in the name of his Order, the despotship of Sparta. He sent thither two French knights, Raymond de Leytoure, prior of Toulouse, and Clie du Fossé, commander of St. Maixance, to take possession of the country of Lycurgus. The treaty was broken off, because Bajazet, being obliged to return to Asia, there fell into the hands of Tamerlane. The two knights, who had aldelivered ready established themselves at Corinth, that city, and Theodore paid back the money which he had received as the price of Lacedæmon. A. D. 1410. up Theodore's successor was another Theodore, his Turco-Græc. nephew, and son of the emperor Emanuel. This Theodore II, married an Italian lady of the house of Malatesta. On account of this alliance the princes of that illustrious house assumed in the sequel, the title of dukes of Sparta. 1. 2 Guil. Laced. anc. et moderne. A. D. 1420. Hist. Oth.lib.2. Theodore left the principality of Laconia to his brother Constantine, surnamed Dragazes. This Constantine, who ascended the throne of Constantinople. was the last emperor of the East. While he was yet only prince of Lacedæmon, Amurat II, invaded the Morea, and made himself master of Athens: but that city soon returned under the dominion of Reinier Acciajuoli. Cantem. Turco-Græc. The empire of the East was now no more, and the A. D. 1444. last relics of Roman greatness were swept away; Ma- Hist. Crus. homet II had entered Constantinople, Greece, though ib. 1. Fanell. threatened with impending slavery, was not yet bound Athen. Att. Pacif. Notiz. ¡ by those fetters which it speedily demanded of the del duc. d'Athen. Mussulmans. Francus, son of the second Anthony, Spon. summoned Mahomet II to Athens, to dispossess the Chandl. widow of Nerius.* The sultan who made these intestine broils subservient to the increase of his power, espoused the cause of Francus, and banished the widow of Nerius to Megara. Francus caused her to be poisoned. This unfortunate princess had a young son, who, in his turn, submitted his complaints to Mahomet. The latter, an interested avenger of guilt, took Attiga from Francus, and left him nothing but A. D. 1444. Boeotia. It was in 1455 that Athens passed under the yoke of the barbarians. It is said that Mahomet seemed enchanted with the city, that he spared it from plunder, and minutely examined the citadel. He exempted the convent of Cyriani, seated on Mount Hymettus, from all taxes, because the keys of Athens had been delivered to him by its abbot. Some time after, this Francus Acciajuoli was put to death for conspiring against the sultan. A. D. 1455. A. D. 1458. Chalcon. Hist. c 45. Let us now inquire what was the fate of Sparta, or A. D. 1460. gather of Misitra. I have related, that it was gov- Hist. Turc. erned by Constantine,surnamed Dragazes. This prince, 1. 10. Ducas. on his departure for Constantinople, to assume the Sansow Ann. erown which he lost with his life, divided the Morea Ture. Crus. Turo. Græc. between his two brothers, Demetrius and Thomas. 1. 1. Demetrius fixed his residence at Misitra, and Thomas at Corinth. The two brothers went to war, and had recourse to Mahomet, the murderer of their family and the destroyer of their empire. The Turks first drove Thomas from Corinth. He fled to Rome. Mahomet then went to Misitra, and prevailed on the The time when Nerius died is not known. D A.D. 1460, A. D. 1463. I aced anc. A. D. 1464. Trav. A. D. 1555. Cantem. Hist Oth. 1.3. Coron. Desc. de la Mor. A. D. 1688. Auct. sup. cit. A. D. 1770. Choiseul Voy. de la Grèece. governor, by a bribe, to surrender the citadel. This unfortunate man had no sooner put himself in the hands of the sultan than he ordered him to be sawed through the middle. Demetrius was exiled to Adrianople, and his daughter became Mahomet's wife. The conqueror esteemed and feared this young princess too much not to make her the partner of his bed. Three years after this event, Sigismond Malatesta prince of Rimini laid siege to Misitra. He took the town, but being unable to reduce the castle, he returned to Italy. The Venetians made a descent at Piræus in 1464, surprised Athens, plundered the city, and retreated with their booty to Euboea. During the reign of Solyman I, they ravaged the Morea and took Coron, but were soon afterwards dri ven out by the Turks. They once more conquered Athens and all the Morea in 1688; the former they again lost almost immediately, but the latter they retained till 1715, when it returned under the dominion of the Mussulmans. At the instigation of Catherine II, the wretched inhabitants of the Poloponnese were induced to make a last and unavailing effort in favor of liberty. I have abstained from intermixing the dates of tra vels in Greece with the historical events. I have men tioned only those of Benjamin of Tudela; his account is of such high antiquity, and gives us so little information, that it may be comprised without inconA. D. 1770. venience in the series of facts and annals. We now proceed to the chronology of travels and geographical works. No sooner had Athens, the slave of the Mussulmans disappeared in modern history, than she began to receive a new kind of illustration more worthy of her ancient renown. When she ceased to be the patrimony of obscure princes, she resumed, as it were, her ancient empire, and summoned all the arts to her venerable ruins. As early as 1465, Francesco Giam Franc. betti made drawings of some of the monuments of A. D. 1465. Athens. The manuscript of this architect was on vel- Giambetti. lum, and was preserved in the Barberini library at Rome. It contained, among other curious things, a view of the Tower of the Winds at Athens, and another of the ruins of Lacedæmon, four or five miles from Misitra. On this subject Spon observes, that Misitra does not stand on the site of Sparta, as had been asserted by Guillet, after Sophianus, Niger and Ortellius; and he adds, "I consider the manuscript of Giambetti as the more curious, because the drawings were taken before the Turks had made themselves masters of Greece, and laid in ruins several fine monuments, which were then entire. The observation is just respecting the monuments, but false in regard to the dates: the Turks were masters of Greece in 1465. In 1550, Nicholas Gerbel published at Basle, his A. D. 1550. Gerbel. work, intituled, Pro Declaratione Picturæ sive Descriptionis Græciæ Sophiani libri septem. This description, excellent for the time, is clear, concise, and yet substantial. Gerbel says very little concerning an cient Greece; of modern Athens, he observes: Æneas Sylvius Athenas hodiè parvi oppiduli speciem gerere dicit, cujus munitissimam adhuc arcem Florentinus quidam Mahometi tradiderit, ut nimis vere Ovidius dixerit: Quid Pandioniæ restat, nisi nomen Athenæe? O rerum humanarum miserabiles vices! O tragicam humanæ potentiæ permutationem; Civitas olim muris, navalibus, ædificiis, armis, opibus, viris, prudentiâ atque omni sapientiâ florentissima, in oppidulum seu potius vicum redacta est. Olim libera et suis legibus vivens; nunc immanissimis belluis servitutis jugo obstricta. Proficiscere Athenas, et pro magnificentissimis operibus videto rudera et lamenta. biles ruinas. Noli, noli nimium fidere viribus tuis; A. D. 1550. |