Vostitsa - Venetians, Franks, and Normans

The 4th Crusade in 1204 dramatically changed the Byzantine Empire - including the Peloponnese and Vostitsa. To understand what happened in 1204, we look at some new characters in this story - the Venetians, Normans, and Franks - and the events that led up to the 4th Crusade.

Transcript

Jen: 0:01

The first who was listed was, Sir Gautier he held 24 knights' fees. He was given a holding in Mesarea. He built a castle there and named it Akova. Next, there was likewise given to Sir Hughes. A holding and the drongos of Skorta. he was given 22 knights fees. When he received his fiefs, he built a castle there and named it. Karytaina. Next was listed a third Barron, Sir Guillaume, he was called. Patra was listed for him to hold and to rule. Next was assigned the Barony of Sir Mathieu,. The castle of Veligosti, and four knights fees. He was to hold and he was to bear a banner. Next there was listed another Sir Guillaume To have the castle of Nikli with six fees. After him, another was listed in the book Sir Guy. He was called. He was given six fees to hold in Tsakonia. He built a castle there, which he named Geraki. Sir Othon de Tournay was enfoeffed also to hold Kalavryta with 12 fees. Next was likewise listed, Sir, Hughes de Lille to have eight knight's fees in Vostitsa. To Sir Luc were given only four fees to hold. The neighborhood of Gritsena, and the Lakkos valleys. To Sir Jean de Neuilly was given Passava and four fees to hold and he was to bear a banner to be Marshall. And to hold this as a hereditary office. Sir Robert de Tremolay was given four fees. He built Chalandritza And was called lord. To St. John of the hospital were given four fees. To the temple, were given another four and it was to raise a banner. And likewise, to the Germans were given four fees to hold in the territory of Kalamata. The metropolitan of Patra with his canons was given eight knights fees to hold. The Bishop of Olena was given four fees. And the bishops of Methoni and Korone with their canons were each given four as were those of Veligosti and Nikli. all had four each. As did the Bishop of Lakedaemonia. And this is an excerpt from Chronicle with Morea. Translated by Lurier in 1964. Pages 126 through 127. I'm Jen Glaubius, and this is the Helonaki Deep Dive, a podcast about mapping and analysis for historical and archeological research. In this episode, I'll discuss how the Peloponnese went from Byzantine control to feudal rule with fiefs given to knights with French names. Let's dive in. Where we left off in the last episode. The Byzantine empire was in control of the Peloponnese and Vostitsa in the year, 1000. That control, however was seemingly stable, but distant. With most interactions between the people of the Peloponnese and the Byzantine government related to collecting taxes. Wealthy landowners had been growing more and more powerful. And at that point were developing self-funded private armies. Now. The situation would remain for about two more centuries. But then there was upheaval. To understand why things changed in 1204 with the fourth crusade, I'm going to introduce two new players into this story. First is the Republic of Venice. Unlike many other cities in Italy, Venice was not a Roman city, but was founded by refugees. Settlement in the Venetian lagoon was at first temporary. People fled established cities attacked by Attila the Hun in the 450s, trying to reach safety. Once that danger had passed, most people then return to their homes. But by the 560s. When the Lombards were attacking cities in Northern Italy settlement in the lagoon became permanent. Since the Western Roman empire was gone by that time. The Venetians considered themselves loyal to the last part of the Roman empire, which we call the Byzantine empire. And at times they looked for leadership from Constantinople. But if you remember, from the last episode, the Byzantine empire went through problems in the seventh and eighth centuries contracted basically to just the surroundings around Constantinople. And so they really didn't have any help to give to the people of the Venetian lagoon. So instead, the Venetians developed a Republic with an elected leader who in their dialect is known as Doge. Based on the series of islands in the Venetian lagoon, the Venetian Republic looked towards the sea. So not towards land, which they had very little of, but towards the water. And they developed a Navy of merchants. They mostly traded in the Eastern Mediterranean. In the Byzantine empire. But despite close ties to the Byzantines after the Byzantine empire reestablished itself and expanded again by 992, the Venetian Republic was considered entirely separate from the Byzantine empire. So leaving the Venetians for now. Let's talk about two interrelated groups that were both living in modern, France around 1000 CE. And both groups would impact the Byzantine empire and the Vostitsa area. And I'm talking about the Normans and the Franks. Now Norman as a name comes from the word north man. Referring to their Viking ancestry. They came from the north. While living in Normandy, which was named for them. The Normans, intermarried and intermingled with the local Franks a local group. For whom France was later named. Sometimes these groups, the Normans and the Franks are also called Latins. Because they spoke Latin rather than Greek. So they're referred to the Latins in Greek areas. But I'm mostly going to stick to calling them Normans and Franks. Both Norman and Frank societies in contrast with the seafaring Venetians were based on control of land. The system of control of land is known as feudalism. So the amount of land a Lord controlled, determined how much food could be grown. Which in turn decided how many soldiers the Lord of that land could have under his control. So by around the year, 1000, this has been developing over the centuries and in this area, So by around the year, 1000. Due to the fairly new practice of primogeniture or inheritance by the eldest son and the fact that there really wasn't as much land to expand to. So there wasn't any extra land just laying around. Younger sons in Norman and Frankish areas had extensive military training, because that was a part of this feudal system you had to defend your land. So they have this extensive military training, but no land themselves. And so they were available for adventures elsewhere. So 20 years before the Norman conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. Norman and Frankish mercenaries participated in a campaign to reclaim Islamic Sicily for the Byzantine empire. The Byzantines had held it previously, but lost it to Islamic forces. So. This Byzantine campaign failed. They did not retake Sicily. But the Norman and Frankish mercenaries who had fought there would put their knowledge of the area to use for themselves Starting in the 1040s Roger Giscard a Norman would conquer both Southern Italy. And Islamic Sicily. Roger was helped by his brother, Robert. Who decided to expand his territory eastward into the Byzantine empire in the Balkans in 1081. So Robert Guiscard. Attacked the Byzantine city of Durrazzo, which is modern Durres in Albania. The Venetian Republic whose shipping would be threatened by Normans holding both Durrazzo, which they were attacking and they already held Bari in Italy. So they were threatened because the Normans would then hold both sides of the Adriatic sea. And could potentially cut them off from the wider Mediterranean. So the Venetian Republic decided to assist the Byzantine defense. The Byzantines helped by the Venetians prevailed over the Normans after Robert's death in 1085. In return for Venetian help in that year, 1085. Emperor Alexios the first issued a proclamation that gave the Venetian Republic, many benefits. To the civic and religious leaders of Venice, the Doge and the Patriarch of Grado they were granted annual stipends. The Byzantine empire would give annual tithes to Venetian churches. The Venetian Republic was given buildings and properties in Constantinople. And that later became known as the Venetian quarter. So they had a base in Constantinople. And perhaps most importantly, Venetian merchants were given the right to conduct, trade in Byzantine ports. Tax and duty free. So those Byzantine concessions, especially the release from taxes and duties. This helped make the Venetian merchants super wealthy. But because of that, the concession stirred up resentment. Since the Venetians had advantages over Byzantine merchants. They had an advantage because they weren't taxed. And this resentment would end up complicating the Byzantine Venetian relationship In 1095 Pope Urban the second launched the First Crusade. 20 years earlier, the Byzantine emperor Alexios the first had asked the west for help against the Seljuk Turks who had taken Asia Minor from Byzantine control. So it took 20 years, but then Normans Franks and others then set out for the Holy Land after the Pope, like said, Hey, go do this. And when they reached the Holy Land, they fight back the Seljuk Turks. And then proceed to carve out the so-called Crusader states. So they carved out territories for themselves. The Venetians participated in the first crusade. Although they came a bit later, it took them time to launch a large armada, which they did in 1099. So about four years later. But this Venetian participation, soured relations between the Venetian Republic and the Byzantine empire, because once the crusade actually happened, the Byzantines were like, okay, you're not really helping us. You're helping yourselves. And they weren't happy about the Venetians then like taking part in this crusade. But the relationship did not completely break at this point. So we're at about 1100. And the situation between the Byzantine empire, the Venetian Republic, the Norman kingdom of Sicily and Southern Italy. And then Frankish and other crusaders would be complicated throughout the next century. Many many different things happened in that time, including a number of crusades. I'm only going to describe a few of the events. There's a lot more going on between these, but I want to give you a few high or perhaps low points in the complex relationships between the Byzantine empire, the Venetian Republic and the Normans and Franks. So in 1120. The Venetian Republic responded to a request from king Baldwin the second of Jerusalem. Which was one of those Crusader states. Baldwin was looking for help to take the city of Tyre, which he was able to do with the Venetians assistance. For their help Baldwin gave Venice space for their commercial ventures in his territory. And he also gave them freedom from all tolls and customs in his kingdom. Now, this might sound familiar. This is very close to what the Byzantine empire had given to the Venetians 35 years earlier for their help against the Normans. So this is something the Venetians really needed to help their commercial ventures. And these benefits also reinforce trade relations between the Venetians and the Crusader states. So the Venetians are trading with the Crusader states. They're trading with the Byzantines. This is all going on. In 1146. So 25 years later around the time of the second crusade. The Norman king, Roger of Sicily invaded Byzantine Greece. And he plundered the cities of Thebes, which was the provincial capital and Corinth, which was right at the isthmus the connection between the Peloponnese and the rest of Greece. So the Byzantine emperor Manuel, the first called on Venice for help against the Normans as his predecessors had done. And after Manuel got Venetian help and they beat back the Normans. He, once again, confirmed Venice's commercial privileges in the Byzantine empire. So giving the money, the tithes, and also that they get to trade without taxes or duties. A few decades after that, however, the Venetian Republic refused to help the Byzantines invade the Norman kingdom in Southern Italy. So the Emperor Manuel, asked for help from the Venetians to invade the Norman kingdom. The Venetians were like, no, we have trade relations. We're not going to do this. In response, Emperor Manuel, punished the Venetians by providing quarters in Constantinople for Venice's shipping rivals the Pisans and Genoese. So this broke the monopoly of having commercial space for trade in Constantinople itself. The Venetians were not happy about this. And they behaved very badly to put it lightly. They raided the Genoese quarter. They killed many there. And this in turn led to a mass arrest of Venetians in Constantinople and other Byzantine ports on March 12th, 1171. The Venetians, of course, were not happy about that. And tried to retaliate against the Byzantine empire but were unsuccessful. And so there were Venetian hostages, like remaining in prison cells for a decade. Until the situation changed in 1182. In that year Andronicus who had seized control of the Byzantine empire. He allowed the murder of Catholics in Constantinople. So many of the Pisans and Genoese were killed. But not the Venetians because they were sitting in prison cells. This led to Pisa and Genoa declaring war on the Byzantines because their people had been just killed. And so Andronicus turned to Venice for help. And he's like, okay. Venetian hostages. They've been in prison cells for a decade. Here they are free. I'll even pay you. Just help me beat back the Pisans and Genoa. So you can see that the alliances were shifting. Constantly shifting alliances between the Byzantine empire, the Venetians and the Franks and Normans. And this would come to a head in 1204 with the Fourth Crusade. The Frankish leaders of the Fourth Crusade decided to go by sea since the land route to the Holy Land was increasingly difficult. So they contracted the Venetian Republic to provide transport for 20,000 foot soldiers, 9,000 Squires and 4,500 Knights and their horses. There was no down payment for this, but transport was to be paid in full as a lump sum before departing from Venice. The Venetians did not already have the ships available for this. So they spent the next year and a half focused on preparing the Crusaders fleet. This was a huge undertaking for them. They stopped all overseas trade and recalled the ships. So they could be part of the fleet. The Venetian Republic also built a number of ships so that they would have enough space to transport all of the crusaders that the crusades leaders had said would meet up in Venice. And then sail off on the crusade. But in June, 1202. When the crusaders met up with their fleet in Venice, they were fewer in number than expected. And they did not have all of the Venetians payments. So the Crusaders sat in Venice for a few months waiting to scrounge up the money. In August the Venetian doge proposed to lend the crusaders, the money they owed in exchange for all the loot that the crusaders would steal from whatever people along the way. And he also asked for help with pirates in Zara along the Dalmatian coast, The crusaders agreed. But while they were dealing with pirates over the winter, at Zara, the crusaders and Venetians got involved in Byzantine politics. Young Alexios the son of the deposed emperor, Isaac the second, asked the crusaders to help him overthrow his uncle, Alexios the third. So both named Alexios. Nephew and uncle. Young Alexious promised them 200,000 silver marks. 10,000 Byzantine soldiers to participate in their crusade. And that he would make the Orthodox church obedient to the Pope. And this is after the schism between Eastern and Western Christian churches. So this is kind of a big deal. The crusaders and Venetians agreed. And they reached Constantinople in late June 1203 and soon attack the city. So within a month, by the end of July. Alexios the third fled the city. But he took as much gold, precious stones and pearls as he could from the Imperial treasury. So he took a lot of money out of the treasury. Young Alexios was crowned as Alexios the fourth. But he only had enough money to pay the crusaders and Venetians half of what he owed them. So he didn't have enough money for the full payment. And so now the Venetians and crusaders are waiting around Constantinople. And while they're waiting for young Alexios to scrounge up the other half of the payments and he's like trying to get the money from people in Constantinople and churches, any place he can. But the crusaders and Venetians are just sitting there. And tensions between the Byzantines on the one hand and crusaders and Venetians boiled up. So there is fighting in the city. And then a large fire that destroyed hundreds of homes in Constantinople. And at that point, even though young Alexios owed the crusaders and he'd been very close with them. He refused to pay them because they'd caused this trouble and he thought his people would rise up against him. So the crusaders and Venetians were outside the city walls. During that winter, young Alexios was deposed and killed. So he's out of the picture. And he's replaced with another Alexios, but this one's unrelated. But this Alexios, was more anti Crusader. And so in April, 1204. The Venetians and crusaders attacked Constantinople finally getting in and they completely sacked the city. They massacred a large number of people in the city, people who couldn't get away and they looted the city. So many treasures ended up in Venice and in France that had previously been in Constantinople. So after sacking Constantinople and getting all the money, like looting it, stealing it from the people from Constantinople. Did they actually then leave for their crusade in the holy land? No. They did not. Instead. They stayed and divvied up the Byzantine empire. So also a Christian empire. But they divvied it up amongst themselves. One of the leaders, Baldwin of Flanders was crowned emperor of the Latin empire of Constantinople. While other crusaders ended up with other parts of the Byzantine empire, at least on paper. So they divvied it up on paper, but they would have to actually fight to get their territory. Venice was also given a big chunk of the Byzantine empire because they had participated in the attack and sacking, but instead of taking the large areas, they instead traded for the island of Crete. And they also got various islands and ports because remember they're very, merchant navel oriented. So they wanted ports and two of these ports were Coron and Modon, which are modern Koroni and Methoni, located at the southern tips of the Peloponnese. So that's what was happening with the fourth crusade, but let's now turn to what was going on in the Peloponnese at that time. Even before the crusaders reached Constantinople in 1202 trouble had been brewing in the Peloponnese. After the governor of the province of Smolena in Macedonia rebelled in 1201 against the Byzantine empire. And so after that, there are other uprisings in the Peloponnese that started up. So remember there were these large landowners, the elites. That had private armies and they decided they also wanted to grab some power. And land and territory. So Leo Chamaretos took power in Sparta. While three aristocratic families in Monemvasia were all fighting amongst themselves. For the power there. But those were small uprisings compared with Leo Sgouros. Leo Sgouros had been from Nauplia. And he seized power in the cities of Argos and Corinth. So he was taking the part of the Peloponnese that controlled access to the rest of Greece. So the north Eastern part of the Peloponnese. Not satisfied with that. Sgouros then went into central Greece and attacked Athens laying siege to the Acropolis. But the defenders of the Athenian Acropolis held out. And Sgouros, eventually left. He instead headed north capturing Thebes the provincial capital. And then he advanced into Thessaly in 1204. While the crusaders and Venetians were taking apart, the Byzantine empire. Sgouros was joined by Alexios III, who you remember had fled Constantinople with a large part of the Imperial treasury a few years earlier. Their partnership did not last long. When Sgouros and Alexios the thirds forces were about to be confronted by a Frankish army led by Boniface, Marquis of Montferrat. Alexios a third gave himself up. He's like not fighting. And Leo Sgouros headed back to the Peloponnese. So this Frankish army was not opposed by anyone. They took all the central Greece, including the cities of Thebes and Athens. And then they started for the Peloponnese. Leo Sgouros' forces did not meet Boniface's army head-on, but they retreated to the walls of the cities he held Argos, Nauplio and near the isthmus Corinth, which was really the Citadel of Acrocorinth. And Acrocorinth is where Sgouros himself remained until he died. Possibly of suicide in 1208. But the siege would continue after his death for a few years. Going back in early 1205. While Boniface was besieging Nauplio an unexpected person showed up. And that person was named Geoffrey Villehardouin. Now there was a Geoffrey Villehardouin among the crusaders at Constantinople. He was a historian who wrote an account of what happened on the fourth crusade called"On The Conquest of Constantinople." The Geoffrey Villehardouin who showed up Nauplio in 1205, was not the historian, but his nephew. Also of course, very helpfully named Geoffrey Villehardouin. And the nephew is the one that I'm going to talk about. He's the one who's important for the Peloponnese. The younger Villehardouin had also participated in the fourth crusade. But he was one of the crusaders who didn't meet up in Venice, but made his own way to the holy land. So he actually went to the holy land, unlike most of other crusaders. Once he heard about the sacking of Constantinople, it became obvious that the crusaders weren't actually going to come to crusade in the holy land. And so Villehardouin decided to head back towards the west, go back home. Due to bad weather, Villehardouin's ship landed at the Southern tip of the Peloponnese at Modon modern Methoni. While there Villehardouin decided to get in on the territory grabbing and so he started working his way north, along the Western coast of the Peloponnese heading up towards Patra. When he heard about Boniface's forces that they were located and besieging, the cities near the isthmus. Villehardouin went to join them. He was technically under their rule. Although Villehardouin had already started on the takeover of the Peloponnese Boniface, the leader of this Frankish force. appointed William of Champlitte to conquer the Peloponnese. And it was like, okay, Villehardouin you can support the effort and we'll give you some land afterwards. So while they're going about most of the elites, those big landowners in Ellis and Messenia, so along the Western coast of the Peloponnese, they put up no resistance, like Villehardouin had already pretty much been there and they were like, Nope, not putting up resistance. But in the Southern part, but further east in Arcadia and Laconia. So up through the middle, very mountainous area, part of the Peloponnese. The elites there teamed up with Slavic Melingi tribes to fight against the Franks. So remember from last episode, there were Slavic peoples that settled, and some of them did not completely Christianize some of them, especially in the mountainous areas were still distinctly Slavic. And so they decided to fight against the Franks. Although the Greek side was larger. Had more men, they were no match for the Frankish Knights. The battle at Koundouri in northeastern Messenia ended as a complete victory for the Franks, Champlitte and Villehardouin. Champlitte took the title Prince of Achaia. In this case, Achaia refers to the entire Peloponnese basically, and not just the northwestern area, which is what is commonly known as Achaia. The principality of Achaia refers to most of the Peloponnese. But not all of it because in early 1206, the Venetians seized the ports of Modon and Coron. The area where Villehardouin had first landed in the Peloponnese. The Venetians would keep those two ports and they'd also get the right to freely trade throughout the Peloponnese in exchange for territory they had been granted elsewhere in the area. Champlitte did not remain Prince of Achaia for long. He left the principality to claim an inheritance back in France around 1210. Geoffrey Villehardouin became the Prince of Achaia through some trickery to cheat Champlitte's family of their title. Corinth, Nauplio, and Argos, which were still under siege would not be captured by the Franks until 1212. By 1212, all of the Peloponnese was in Frankish hands, except for Modon and Coron, which were held by the Venetians and Monemvasia which was somehow still held by the Byzantines. Monemvasia was notoriously difficult to capture. And this will not be the only time in this series that you hear that Monemvasia holds out when all other parts of the Peloponnese have been captured. So notably feudalism, had come to the Peloponnese. And this is evident from the Chronicle of Morea. I read a passage in the intro about the rewarding of fiefs. The Chronicle itself was written much later after 1204. And it definitely gets some of the details wrong. And so, although it lists the number of fiefs given to different nights or barons, I don't think it's wise to really consider those numbers. as facts. They might give us some general indication, but I wouldn't use them for statistics or anything like that. So what can we get from that passage that lists the different fiefs. The Principality of Achaia was divided into a number of baronies and those baronies were given to Frankish Lords. And then those barons could give out those individual fiefs within their Barony to other people. And so Greek landowners, the elites, if they had not put up resistance would often be given fiefs in that way. So they remained in the aristocracy, but at a lower level. Specifically, we know that there was a Barony of Vostitsa, which was given to Sir Hughes de Lille. Many of the baronies either already had a castle which is listed or the new Baron would build a castle there. Vostitsa doesn't so it's a little unusual in that way. Especially since as feudal Lords, the Franks were very castle oriented. So the Greek elites who did not fight the Franks got to keep their lands. Instead of sending any money, any taxes to Constantinople and the Byzantine empire. After the Frankish conquest. People in the Peloponnese pay taxes to their new feudal Lords. Who in many cases use the money to build castles. Or to fortify castles.. And we'll talk more about castle building and the Frankish Principality of Achaia as well as the Byzantines who are down, but certainly not out in the next episode. And now let's talk about a few end notes. As always, if you want to see the sources for this episode of which there are many check out the show notes, either on the Helonaki website or on Patreon. There's one constant thing you'll see in almost every history of the fourth crusade and it's that they blame the Venetians entirely for sacking Constantinople instead of going to the holy lands. It's rather unfair. The Venetians played a part, but they were not the only decision makers about what happened with this crusade. And so keep that in mind, if you read about the fourth crusade, they're going to blame the Venetians. If you'd like to hear a slightly longer version of what was going on with the Fourth crusade, I had too much material for it and I ended up splitting that off and recording it for Patreon supporters. So if you become a supporter on Patreon, you can hear that as well as other bonuses about the series. So the other thing I want to mention here in the end notes is that the naming of Vostitsa in the Chronicle of Morea, was actually the first written use of that name for the ancient city of Aegio So, from the ancient Greek city state of Aegio, it was the city under Roman rule of Aegium and then you had all of the disruptions, Slavic peoples coming in. And suddenly the city is no longer known as Aegio but Vostitsa. And so we don't know exactly where that word comes from, but one possible source of the name is that it might've been Slavic. There's a Slavic word Ovostica and I'm sure I pronounced that very badly. But this word means a place with orchards which definitely checks out for that area as we'll discuss in future episodes. But from now until the establishment of the modern Greek state, the city, the area is going to be known as Vostitsa. Thanks for listening. Email questions or comments to deepdive@helonaki.com or ask them on the Helonaki Deep Dive Facebook page. Show notes with links to resources mentioned in this episode will be available at helonaki.com. That's H E L O N A K I.com. You can also find ways to support the show now, including merch such as t-shirts mugs and stickers with the Helonaki Deep Dive logo at helonaki.com/support. My thanks to Patreon supporters at the geospatial analyst level, Leah Varrell and Janice and Jerry Farrell. Your support keeps the Helonaki Deep Dive going. The Helonaki Deep Dive is written and produced by me, Jen Glaubius of the Helonaki. The theme music is Deep Ocean Instrumental by Dan-o of danosongs.com additional sounds from zapsplat.com. Thanks for listening.