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76-509: Mystras remained inhabited throughout the Ottoman period , when Western travellers mistook it for ancient Sparta. In the 1830s, it was abandoned and the new town of Sparta was built, approximately eight kilometres to the east. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Sparta municipality. As an exceptionally well-preserved example of a Byzantine city and because of its testimony to

152-457: A land tax and a heavy tax on trade, the latter taking advantage of the wealthy Greeks to fill the state coffers. Greeks, like other Christians, were also made to pay the jizya , or Islamic poll-tax which all non-Muslims in the empire were forced to pay instead of the Zakat that Muslims must pay as part of the 5 pillars of Islam. Failure to pay the jizya could result in the pledge of protection of

228-716: A large audience hall, and the lower levels used for apartments and storerooms. During the Palaeologan Renaissance , the churches of Mystras were covered in elaborate frescoes and were well known for their libraries. Some of these decorations can still be seen in the Hagia Sophia church in the archeological site. In addition to the Palace of the Despots and its famed late Byzantine churches, Mystras also has remains of several houses set on its hillside, such as

304-669: A sovereign state. Capodistria, who had been Greece's governor since 1828, had been assassinated by the Mavromichalis family in October 1831. To prevent further experiments with republican government, the Great Powers, especially Russia, insisted that Greece should be a monarchy, and the Bavarian Prince Otto was chosen to be its first King. Kephale (Byzantine Empire) In the late Byzantine Empire ,

380-532: A terrace is for the Palace of the Despots (#8 on the plan below), and markets seem to have been located outside of the city walls. The Palace of the Despots expanded over the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and was constituted by several independent, adjoining units. The final main building follows the form of the Tekfur saray in Constantinople/Istanbul: three stories with the topmost devoted to

456-803: The Chronicle of Galaxeidi ) and the Peloponnese, led by the Melissinos brothers and others. They were crushed by the following year. Short-term revolts of local level occurred throughout the region such as the ones led by metropolitan bishop Dionysius the Philosopher in Thessaly (1600) and Epirus (1611). During the Cretan War (1645–1669) , the Maniots would aid Francesco Morosini and

532-737: The Battle of Pelagonia , by the forces of the Nicaean emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos . Two years later, the Nicaeans recaptured Constantinople , putting an end to the Latin Empire and restoring the Byzantine Empire . At this point, the emperor concluded an agreement with the captive prince: William and his men would be set free in exchange for an oath of fealty, and for the cession of Monemvasia, Grand Magne, and Mystras. The handover

608-689: The Byzantine Empire suffered a tragic fate and was almost completely destroyed. The new leading class in Ottoman Greece were the prokritoi (πρόκριτοι in Greek), which were called kocabaşis by the Ottomans. They were essentially bureaucrats and tax collectors and gained a negative reputation for corruption and nepotism. On the other hand, the Phanariots became prominent in the imperial capital of Constantinople as businessmen and diplomats, and

684-731: The Constantinople massacre of 1821 and similar pogroms in Smyrna. Simultaneous risings were planned across Greece, including in Macedonia , Crete , and Cyprus . With the initial advantage of surprise, aided by Ottoman inefficiency and the Ottomans' fight against Ali Pasha of Tepelen , the Greeks succeeded in capturing the Peloponnese and some other areas. Some of the first Greek actions were taken against unarmed Ottoman settlements, with about 40% of Turkish and Albanian Muslim residents of

760-720: The Ecumenical Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church as the leader of all Orthodox, Greeks or not, within the empire. The Patriarch was accountable to the Sultan for the good behavior of the Orthodox population, and in exchange he was given wide powers over the Orthodox communities, including the non-Greek Slavic peoples. The Patriarch controlled the courts and the schools, as well as the Church, throughout

836-603: The Greek Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarch rose to great power under the Sultan's protection and gained religious control over the entire Orthodox population of the empire, whether it spoke Greek, Albanian, Latin or Slavic. After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, the Despotate of the Morea was the last remnant of the Byzantine Empire to hold out against the Ottomans. However, it fell to

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912-469: The Greek war of Independence when Egyptians under the rule of Ibrahim massacred the local population and destroyed the local area. The town was rebuilt 9 km away under the name Sparta in 1831. Most families moved to Sparta, but a few decided to move instead to New Mystras, a small village in the countryside. This process of relocation was completed in 1953 when the remaining properties were confiscated by

988-769: The Ionian islands and various temporary Venetian possessions of the Stato da Mar were not incorporated in the Ottoman Empire. The Mani Peninsula in Peloponnese was not fully integrated into the Ottoman Empire, but was under Ottoman suzerainty . The Eastern Roman Empire , the remnant of the Roman Empire , which ruled most of the Greek-speaking world for over 1100 years, had been fatally weakened since

1064-587: The Italian Renaissance , especially after he accompanied the emperor John VIII Palaiologos to Florence in 1439. The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos , was despot at Mystras before he came to the throne. Demetrios Palaiologos , the last despot of Morea, surrendered the city to Sultan Mehmed II in 30 May 1460. Under Ottoman rule it became part of the Sanjak of Mezistre . The Venetians occupied it from 1687 to 1715, but otherwise

1140-591: The London Conference of 1832 with the northern frontier running from Arta to Volos , and including only Euboia and the Cyclades among the islands. The Greeks were disappointed at these restricted frontiers, but were in no position to resist the will of Britain, France and Russia, who had contributed mightily to Greek independence. By the Convention of May 11, 1832, Greece was finally recognized as

1216-735: The Maniot Kladas brothers, Krokodelos and Epifani, were leading bands of stratioti on behalf of Venice against the Turks in Southern Peloponnese. They put Vardounia and their lands into Venetian possession, for which Epifani then acted as governor. Before and after the victory of the Holy League in 1571 at the Battle of Lepanto a series of conflicts broke out in the peninsula such as in Epirus, Phocis (recorded in

1292-603: The Phanar district of Constantinople, became increasingly powerful. Their travels to Western Europe as merchants or diplomats brought them into contact with advanced ideas of liberalism and nationalism , and it was among the Phanariotes that the modern Greek nationalist movement was born. Many Greek merchants and travelers were influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution and a new Age of Greek Enlightenment

1368-700: The United States . They also gained support from sympathizers in Western Europe, as well as covert assistance from Russia. The organization secured Capodistria, who became Russian Foreign Minister after leaving the Ionian Islands, as the leader of the planned revolt. On March 25 (now Greek Independence Day) 1821, the Orthodox Bishop Germanos of Patras proclaimed a national uprising. The Ottomans, in retaliation orchestrated

1444-526: The kephalē replaced the Komnenian-era doux as the civil and military governor of a territorial administrative unit, known as a katepanikion (κατεπανίκιον, katepaníkion ), but also termed a kephalatikion (κεφαλατίκιον, kephalatíkion ). In size, these provinces were small compared to the earlier themata , and could range from a few villages surrounding the kephale' s seat (a kastron , "fortress"), to an entire island. This arrangement

1520-663: The sacking of Constantinople by the Latin Crusaders in 1204. The Ottoman advance into Greece was preceded by victory over the Serbs to the north. The Ottomans first won the Battle of Maritsa in 1371. The Serbian forces were then led by the King Vukašin of Serbia , the father of Prince Marko and the co-ruler of the last emperor from the Serbian Nemanjic dynasty. That was followed by an Ottoman victory during

1596-602: The 1389 Battle of Kosovo . With no further threats, the Ottomans besieged and took Constantinople in 1453, then advanced southwards into Greece and captured Athens in 1456 and the Peloponnese in 1460. The Greeks held out in the Peloponnese until 1460, and Venetians and Genoese clung to some of the islands, but by the early 16th century, all of mainland Greece and most of the Aegean Islands were in Ottoman hands, excluding several port cities that were still held by

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1672-633: The 15th and the 16th centuries rendered the Mediterranean safe for Greek shipping, and Greek shipowners became the empire's maritime carriers and made tremendous profits. After the Ottoman defeat at the Battle of Lepanto , however, Greek ships often became the target of vicious attacks by Catholic (especially Spanish and Maltese ) pirates. The five century period of Ottoman rule had a profound impact in Greek society, as new elites emerged. The Greek land-owning aristocracy that traditionally dominated

1748-459: The Christian's life and property becoming void, facing the alternatives of conversion, enslavement, or death. Like in the rest of the Ottoman Empire, Greeks had to carry a receipt certifying their payment of jizya at all times or be subject to imprisonment. Most Greeks did not have to serve in the Sultan's army, but the young boys that were taken away and converted to Islam were made to serve in

1824-610: The Frangopoulos House and the Laskaris House, both of which are early fifteenth-century buildings that use vaulted substructures for cisterns and stables to create a platform for the main residence. That consisted of a large room fronted by a balcony and with a fireplace in the rear. In late 1248, William II of Villehardouin , ruler of the Frankish Principality of Achaea , captured Monemvasia ,

1900-510: The Great Powers to intervene. In October 1827, the British, French and Russian fleets, on the initiative of local commanders, but with the tacit approval of their governments, destroyed the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Navarino . This was the decisive moment in the war of independence. In October 1828, the French landed troops in the Peloponnese to evacuate it from Ibrahim's army, while Russia

1976-579: The Greek communities of the empire. This made Orthodox priests, together with the local magnates, called Prokritoi or Dimogerontes, the effective rulers of Greek towns and cities. Some Greek towns, such as Athens and Rhodes , retained municipal self-government, while others were put under Ottoman governors. Several areas, such as the Mani Peninsula in the Peloponnese, and parts of Crete (Sfakia) and Epirus , remained virtually independent. The Patriarchate of Constantinople in general remained loyal to

2052-465: The Greeks did not rebel, disillusioning their Russian patrons. The Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji (1774) gave Russia the right to make "representations" to the Sultan in defense of his Orthodox subjects, and the Russians began to interfere regularly in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire. This, combined with the new ideas let loose by the French Revolution of 1789, began to reconnect the Greeks with

2128-467: The Monastery of Peribleptos. The Palace of the Despots has undergone substantial restorations in the past decade, making it a significant attraction. Visitors can reach the ruins via the modern city of Sparta, which is only a few miles from Mystras. The municipal unit Mystras is subdivided into the following communities: Ottoman Greece The vast majority of the territory of present-day Greece

2204-504: The Morea after Manuel's death in 1380, with Theodore I Palaiologos becoming despot in 1383. Theodore ruled until 1407, consolidating Byzantine rule and coming to terms with his more powerful neighbours—particularly the expansionist Ottoman Empire , whose suzerainty he recognised. This was the city's golden age; according to the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium , Mystras "witnessed a remarkable cultural renaissance, including

2280-906: The Neo-Martyr or Saint Demetrios the Neo-martyr while others became Crypto-Christians (Greek Muslims who were secret practitioners of the Greek Orthodox faith) in order to avoid heavy taxes and at the same time express their identity by maintaining their secret ties to the Greek Orthodox Church. Crypto-Christians officially ran the risk of being killed if they were caught practicing a non-Muslim religion once they converted to Islam. There were also instances of Greeks from theocratic or Byzantine nobility embracing Islam such as John Tzelepes Komnenos and Misac Palaeologos Pasha . Treatment of Christian subjects varied greatly under

2356-417: The Ottoman military. In addition, girls were taken in order to serve as odalisques in harems. These practices are called the "tribute of children" ( devshirmeh ) (in Greek παιδομάζωμα paidomazoma , meaning "child gathering"), whereby every Christian community was required to give one son in five to be raised as a Muslim and enrolled in the corps of Janissaries , elite units of the Ottoman army. There

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2432-531: The Ottoman state to feed the ranks of the Janissary corps. Violent persecutions of Christians did nevertheless take place under the reign of Selim I (1512-1520), known as Selim the Grim, who attempted to stamp out Christianity from the Ottoman Empire. Selim ordered the confiscation of all Christian churches, and while this order was later rescinded, Christians were heavily persecuted during his era. Greeks paid

2508-456: The Ottoman system of millets did not correspond to the contemporary notion of multiculturalism . The Greeks were given some privileges and freedom, but they also suffered from the malpractices of its administrative personnel over which the central government had only remote and incomplete control. Despite losing their political independence, the Greeks remained dominant in the fields of commerce and business. The consolidation of Ottoman power in

2584-627: The Ottomans in 1460, completing the conquest of mainland Greece. While most of mainland Greece and the Aegean islands was under Ottoman control by the end of the 15th century, Cyprus and Crete remained Venetian territory and did not fall to the Ottomans until 1571 and 1670. The only part of the Greek-speaking world that was never under Ottoman rule is the Ionian Islands , which remained Venetian until 1797. Corfu withstood three major sieges in 1537 , 1571 and 1716 all of which resulted in

2660-484: The Ottomans against the western threats (as for example during the Dionysios Skylosophos revolt, etc.) The Orthodox Church assisted greatly in the preservation of the Greek heritage, and adherence to the Greek Orthodox faith became increasingly a mark of Greek nationality. As a rule, the Ottomans did not require the Greeks to become Muslims , although many did so on a superficial level in order to avert

2736-592: The Ottomans held it until 1821. The city joined the Orlov revolt in 1770. It was looted by Ottoman Albanians and the metropolitan bishop Ananias executed, despite having saved several Albanian lives in the uprising. A great number of local Greeks were also killed by the Albanian groups, while several children were sold into slavery. Mystras was left in ruins and this event was a significant factor leading up to its abandonment. The final straw to Mystras came in 1825 during

2812-455: The Ottomans to establish either military or administrative presence. The Sultan sat at the apex of the government of the Ottoman Empire. Although he had the trappings of an absolute ruler, he was actually bound by tradition and convention. Ottoman rule of the provinces was characterized by two main functions. The local administrators within the provinces were to maintain a military establishment and to collect taxes. The military establishment

2888-571: The Peloponnese killed outright, and the rest fleeing the area or being deported. The Ottomans recovered, and retaliated in turn with savagery, massacring the Greek population of Chios and other towns. This worked to their disadvantage by provoking further sympathy for the Greeks in Britain and France. The Greeks were unable to establish a strong government in the areas they controlled, and fell to fighting amongst themselves . Inconclusive fighting between Greeks and Ottomans continued until 1825 when

2964-632: The Principality of Achaea were beaten back in the battles of Prinitsa and Makryplagi , but the Byzantines were firmly ensconced in Laconia. Warfare became endemic, and the Byzantines slowly pushed the Franks back. The insecurity engendered by the raids and counter-raids caused the inhabitants of Lacedaemon to abandon their exposed city and settle at Mystras, in a new town built under the shadow of

3040-445: The Sultan sent a powerful fleet and army who were mainly Bedouin and some Sudanese from Egypt under Ibrahim Pasha to suppress the revolution, promising to him the rule of Peloponnese, however they were eventually defeated in the Battle of Navarino in 1827. The atrocities that accompanied this expedition, together with sympathy aroused by the death of the poet and leading philhellene Lord Byron at Messolongi in 1824, eventually led

3116-409: The Turkish squadrons in the Aegean Sea , captured the island of Kastelorizo and engaged the Turkish fleet in naval battles until 1790. A secret Greek nationalist organization called the "Friendly Society" or "Company of Friends" ( Filiki Eteria ) was formed in Odessa in 1814. The members of the organization planned a rebellion with the support of wealthy Greek exile communities in Britain and

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3192-408: The Venetians (notably Nafplio , Monemvasia , Parga and Methone ). The mountains of Greece were largely untouched and were a refuge for Greeks who desired to flee Ottoman rule and engage in guerrilla warfare . The Cyclades islands, in the middle of the Aegean, were officially annexed by the Ottomans in 1579 although they had been under vassal status since the 1530s. Cyprus fell in 1571 , and

3268-461: The Venetians in the Peloponnese. Greek irregulars also aided the Venetians through the Morean War in their operations on the Ionian Sea and Peloponnese. A major uprising during that period was the Orlov Revolt (Greek: Ορλωφικά) which took place during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) and triggered armed unrest in both the Greek mainland and the islands . In 1778, a Greek fleet of seventy vessels assembled by Lambros Katsonis which harassed

3344-421: The Venetians retained Crete until 1669 . The Ionian Islands were never ruled by the Ottomans, with the exception of Kefalonia (from 1479 to 1481 and from 1485 to 1500), but remained under the rule of the Republic of Venice . It was in the Ionian Islands that modern Greek statehood was born, with the creation of the Republic of the Seven Islands in 1800. Ottoman Greece was a multiethnic society . However,

3420-435: The advent of the Renaissance (though the large scale migration of Greeks to other parts of Europe, most notably Italian university cities, began far earlier, following the Crusader capture of Constantinople ). This trend had also effect on the creation of the modern Greek diaspora . The second entailed Greeks leaving the plains of the Greek peninsula and resettling in the mountains, where the rugged landscape made it hard for

3496-444: The corps of Janissaries for military training in the Sultan's army. Such recruitment was sporadic, and the proportion of children conscripted varied from region to region. The practice largely came to an end by the middle of the seventeenth century. Under the Ottoman system of government, Greek society was at the same time fostered and restricted. With one hand the Turkish regime gave privileges and freedom to its subject people; with

3572-434: The country, and wealthy Europeans began to collect Greek antiquities. These " philhellenes " were to play an important role in mobilizing support for Greek independence. Greeks in various places of the Greek peninsula would at times rise up against Ottoman rule, mainly while taking advantage of wars the Ottoman Empire would engage in. Those uprisings were of mixed scale and impact. During the Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479) ,

3648-400: The development of Late Byzantine and Post-byzantine art, Mystras was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1989. Mystras is situated on the slopes of Taygetos Mountain. The archaeological site stands above the modern village of Mystras and the city of Sparta. The greenery surrounding the area is composed mainly by pine trees and cypresses. Some small rivers and lakes are found in

3724-441: The families bribed the officers to ensure that their children got a better life as a government officer. After the 16th century, many Greek folk songs ( dimotika ) were produced and inspired from the way of life of the Greek people, brigands and the armed conflicts during the centuries of Ottoman rule. Klephtic songs (Greek: Κλέφτικα τραγούδια), or ballads, are a subgenre of the Greek folk music genre and are thematically oriented on

3800-417: The fortress. While Mystras served as the provincial capital from this time, it became a royal capital in 1349 CE, when the first despot was appointed to rule over the Morea. The Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos , reorganized the territory in 1349 to establish it as an appanage for his son, the Despot Manuel Kantakouzenos . From 1349 until its surrender to the Ottoman Turks on 31 May 1460, Mystras

3876-418: The hitherto free Greek peasants to serfdom , leading to further poverty and depopulation in the plains. On the other hand, the position of educated and privileged Greeks within the Ottoman Empire improved greatly in the 17th and 18th centuries. From the late 1600s Greeks began to fill some of the highest and most important offices of the Ottoman state. The Phanariotes , a class of wealthy Greeks who lived in

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3952-414: The last remaining Byzantine outpost on the Morea . This success was soon followed by the submission of the restive Tsakones on Mount Parnon , the Slavic Melingoi tribe of Mount Taygetos , and the inhabitants of the Mani peninsula , thereby extending his sway over all of Laconia and completing the conquest of the peninsula, which had begun in 1205, in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade . Laconia

4028-458: The life of the klephts. Prominent conflicts were immortalised in several folk tales and songs, such as the epic ballad To tragoudi tou Daskalogianni of 1786, about the resistance warfare under Daskalogiannis . Over the course of the eighteenth century Ottoman landholdings, previously fiefs held directly from the Sultan, became hereditary estates ( chifliks ), which could be sold or bequeathed to heirs. The new class of Ottoman landlords reduced

4104-419: The municipality. In 1989 the ruins, including the fortress, palace, churches, and monasteries, were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site and features a museum and the partially restored ruins of the city. The only inhabitants today are a group of nuns who reside in the Pantanassa Monastery. The majority of the most important churches are still standing, including St. Demetrios, the Hagia Sophia , St. George, and

4180-402: The other it imposed a tyranny deriving from the malpractices of its administrative personnel over which it exercised only remote and incomplete control. In fact the "rayahs" were downtrodden and exposed to the vagaries of Turkish administration and sometimes to the Greek landlords. The term rayah came to denote an underprivileged, tax-ridden and socially inferior population. The Sultan regarded

4256-443: The outside world and led to the development of an active nationalist movement, one of the most progressive of the time. Greece was peripherally involved in the Napoleonic Wars , but one episode had important consequences. When the French under Napoleon Bonaparte seized Venice in 1797, they also acquired the Ionian Islands , thus ending the four hundredth year of Venetian rule over the Ionian Islands . The islands were elevated to

4332-552: The pre-Ottoman Christian nobility, and shifted their allegiance to the Ottomans following the conquest of the Balkans. Conversion to Islam was not a requirement, and as late as the fifteenth century many timariots were known to be Christian, although their numbers gradually decreased over time. The Ottomans basically installed this feudal system right over the top of the existing system of peasant tenure. The peasantry remained in possession of their own land and their tenure over their plot of land remained hereditary and inalienable. Nor

4408-429: The region. The city's architecture was influenced by the "Helladic" school of Byzantine architecture, and many structures were informed by the architecture of Constantinople. Its overall urban planning though was shaped by the steeply sloping topography, with a distinct upper and lower city zone. Because of the slope making wheeled vehicles impractical, many of the streets are best characterized as footpaths. The main use of

4484-549: The repulsion of the Ottomans. Other areas that remained part of the Venetian Stato da Màr include Nafplio and Monemvasia until 1540, the Duchy of the Archipelago , centered on the islands of Naxos and Paros until 1579, Sifnos until 1617 and Tinos until 1715. The consolidation of Ottoman rule was followed by two distinct trends of Greek migration. The first entailed Greek intellectuals, such as Basilios Bessarion , Georgius Plethon Gemistos and Marcos Mousouros , migrating to other parts of Western Europe and influencing

4560-410: The rule of the Ottoman Sultans. Bayezid I , according to a Byzantine historian, freely admitted Christians into his society while trying to grow his empire, in the early Ottoman period. Later, although the Turkish ruler attempted to pacify the local population with a restoration of peacetime rule of law, the Christian population also became subject to special taxes and the tribute of Christian children to

4636-658: The socioeconomic hardships of Ottoman rule or because of the alleged corruption of the Greek clergy. The regions of Greece which had the largest concentrations of Ottoman Greek Muslims were Macedonia , notably the Vallaades , neighboring Epirus , and Crete (see Cretan Muslims ). Under the millet logic, Greek Muslims , despite often retaining elements of their Greek culture and language, were classified simply as "Muslim", although most Greek Orthodox Christians deemed them to have "turned-Turk" and therefore saw them as traitors to their original ethno-religious communities. Some Greeks either became New Martyrs , such as Saint Efraim

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4712-474: The status of a French dependency called the Septinsular Republic , which possessed local autonomy. This was the first time Greeks had governed themselves since the fall of Trebizond in 1461. Among those who held office in the islands was John Capodistria , destined to become independent Greece's first head of state. By the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, Greece had re-emerged from its centuries of isolation. British and French writers and artists began to visit

4788-404: The teaching of Plethon , and attracted artists and architects of the highest quality" Mystras was the last centre of Byzantine learning and culture; the famous Neoplatonist philosopher Gemistos Plethon lived there until he died in 1452. While there, Plethon served as a tutor and advisor to the young despot Theodore II until his death in 1452. He and other scholars based in Mystras influenced

4864-407: The term kephale ( Greek : κεφαλή , romanized :  kephalē , lit.   'head') was used to denote local and provincial governors. It entered use in the second half of the 13th century, and was derived from the colloquial language. Consequently, it never became an established title or rank of the Byzantine imperial hierarchy , but remained a descriptive term. In essence,

4940-405: Was also adopted by the Second Bulgarian Empire (as Bulgarian : кефалия , kefaliya ) and Serbian Empire (as Serbian : кефалиja , kefalija ). In the 14th century, superior kephalai were appointed ( katholikai kephalai , "universal heads") overseeing a group of provinces under their respective [merikai] kephalai ("[partial] heads"). The former were usually kin of the emperor or members of

5016-449: Was any military service ever imposed on the peasant by the Ottoman government. All non-Muslims were in theory forbidden from carrying arms, but this was ignored. Indeed, in regions such as Crete, almost every man carried arms. Greek Christian families were, however, subject to a system of brutal forced conscription known as the devshirme . The Ottomans required that male children from Christian peasant villages be conscripted and enrolled in

5092-471: Was at some point incorporated within the Ottoman Empire . The period of Ottoman rule in Greece , lasting from the mid-15th century to the successful Greek War of Independence that broke out in 1821 and the First Hellenic Republic was proclaimed in 1822 (preceded by the creation of the autonomous Septinsular Republic in 1800), is known in Greek as Tourkokratia ( Greek : Τουρκοκρατία , "Turkish rule"; English: "Turkocracy" ). Some regions, however, like

5168-439: Was effected in 1262, and henceforth Mystras was the seat of the governor of the Byzantine territories in the Morea. Initially this governor ( kephale ) was changed every year, but after 1308 they started being appointed for longer terms. Almost immediately on his return to the Morea, William of Villehardouin renounced his oath to the emperor, and warfare broke out between Byzantines and Franks. The first Byzantine attempts to subdue

5244-428: Was feudal in character. The Sultan's cavalry were allotted land, either large allotments or small allotments based on the rank of the individual cavalryman. All non-Muslims were forbidden to ride a horse which made traveling more difficult. The Ottomans divided Greece into six sanjaks , each ruled by a Sanjakbey accountable to the Sultan , who established his capital in Constantinople in 1453. The conquered land

5320-454: Was incorporated into the princely domain, and the young prince passed the winter of 1248–49 there, touring the country and selecting sites for new fortifications such as Grand Magne and Leuktron ; finally, near his residence of Lacedaemon (ancient Sparta ), on a spur of Mount Taygetos, he built the fortress that came to be known as Mystras. In September 1259, William of Villehardouin was defeated and captured, along with many of his nobles, at

5396-413: Was initiated at the beginning of the 19th century in many Ottoman-ruled Greek cities and towns. Greek nationalism was also stimulated by agents of Catherine the Great , the Orthodox ruler of the Russian Empire , who hoped to acquire Ottoman territory, including Constantinople itself, by inciting a Christian rebellion against the Ottomans. However, during the Russian-Ottoman War which broke out in 1768,

5472-421: Was much resistance to this. For example, Greek folklore tells of mothers crippling their sons to avoid their abduction. Nevertheless, entrance into the corps (accompanied by conversion to Islam) offered Greek boys the opportunity to advance as high as governor or even Grand Vizier . Opposition of the Greek populace to taxing or paidomazoma resulted in grave consequences. For example, in 1705 an Ottoman official

5548-461: Was parceled out to Ottoman soldiers, who held it as feudal fiefs ( timars and ziamets ) directly under the Sultan's authority. This land could not be sold or inherited, but reverted to the Sultan's possession when the fief-holder ( timariot ) died. During their life-times they served as cavalrymen in the Sultan's army, living well on the proceeds of their estates with the land being tilled largely by peasants. Many Ottoman timariots were descended from

5624-436: Was sent from Naoussa in Macedonia to search and conscript new Janissaries and was killed by Greek rebels who resisted the burden of the devshirmeh . The rebels were subsequently beheaded and their severed heads were displayed in the city of Thessaloniki . In some cases, it was greatly feared as Greek families would often have to relinquish their own sons who would convert and return later as their oppressors. In other cases,

5700-577: Was since April at war against the Ottomans. Under their protection, the Greeks were able to reorganize, form a new government and defeat the Ottomans in the Battle of Petra , the final battle of the war. They then advanced to seize as much territory as possible before the Western powers imposed a ceasefire. A conference in London in 1830 proposed a fully independent Greek state (and not autonomous as previously proposed). The final borders were defined during

5776-560: Was the residence of a Despot who ruled over the Byzantine Morea, known as the " Despotate of the Morea ". For the larger portion of his reign, Manuel maintained peaceful relations with his Latin neighbors and secured a long period of prosperity for the area. Greco-Latin cooperation included an alliance to contain the raids of the Ottoman Sultan Murad I into Morea in the 1360s. The rival Palaiologos dynasty seized

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