1.
Biblioteca Estense
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The Biblioteca Estense, was the family library of the dukes of Este. Dating at least to 14th century, it was largely enriched during Ferraras Renaissance and it is one of the most important libraries in Italy. The library is located in the Palazzo del Musei, Largo SantAgostino 337, today the Librarys collection contains more than 500000 printed works, about 11000 codexes, more than 100000 manuscript leaves, and 1662 incunabula. Among the manuscripts, the most famous is the 1 200-page Bible of Borso dEste, the library holds many medieval manuscripts, among them biblical manuscripts, Codex Mutinensis, Minuscule 358,359,585,586,618, ℓ111. Also known worldwide is its collection of manuscripts and printed books. Biblia Borsi Estensis Codex Mutinensis Codex de sphaera Mutinensis Gr. di storia e letteratura,2002 Biblioteca Estense official website
2.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
3.
Coronation
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The ceremony can also be conducted for the monarchs consort, either simultaneously with the monarch or as a separate event. A ceremony without the placement of a crown on the head is known as an enthronement. Coronations are still observed in the United Kingdom, Tonga, in addition to investing the monarch with symbols of state, Western-style coronations have often traditionally involve anointing with holy oil, or chrism as it is often called. Wherever a ruler is anointed in this way, as in Great Britain and Tonga, some other lands use bathing or cleansing rites, the drinking of a sacred beverage, or other religious practices to achieve a comparable effect. Such acts symbolise the granting of divine favour to the monarch within the relevant spiritual-religious paradigm of the country, in the past, concepts of royalty, coronation and deity were often inexorably linked. Rome promulgated the practice of worship, in Medieval Europe. Coronations were once a direct expression of these alleged connections. Thus, coronations have often been discarded altogether or altered to reflect the nature of the states in which they are held. However, some monarchies still choose to retain an overtly religious dimension to their accession rituals, others have adopted simpler enthronement or inauguration ceremonies, or even no ceremony at all. In non-Christian states, coronation rites evolved from a variety of sources, buddhism, for instance, influenced the coronation rituals of Thailand, Cambodia and Bhutan, while Hindu elements played a significant role in Nepalese rites. The ceremonies used in modern Egypt, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran were shaped by Islam, Coronations, in one form or another, have existed since ancient times. Egyptian records show coronation scenes, such as that of Seti I in 1290 BC, judeo-Christian scriptures testify to particular rites associated with the conferring of kingship, the most detailed accounts of which are found in II Kings 11,12 and II Chronicles 23,11. Following the assumption of the diadem by Constantine, Roman and Byzantine emperors continued to wear it as the symbol of their authority. Although no specific coronation ceremony was observed at first, one gradually evolved over the following century, the emperor Julian was hoisted upon a shield and crowned with a gold necklace provided by one of his standard-bearers, he later wore a jewel-studded diadem. Later emperors were crowned and acclaimed in a manner, until the momentous decision was taken to permit the Patriarch of Constantinople to physically place the crown on the emperors head. Historians debate when exactly this first took place, but the precedent was established by the reign of Leo II. This ritual included recitation of prayers by the Byzantine prelate over the crown, after this event, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the ecclesiastical element in the coronation ceremonial rapidly develop. This was usually performed three times, following this, the king was given a spear, and a diadem wrought of silk or linen was bound around his forehead as a token of regal authority
4.
John VIII Palaiologos
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John VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus was the penultimate reigning Byzantine Emperor, ruling from 1425 to 1448. John VIII Palaiologos was the eldest son of Manuel II Palaiologos and Helena Dragaš and he was associated as co-emperor with his father before 1416 and became sole emperor in 1425. To secure protection against the Ottomans, he visited Pope Eugene IV and consented to the union of the Greek, the Union failed due to opposition in Constantinople, but through his prudent conduct towards the Ottoman Empire he succeeded in holding possession of the city. John VIII Palaiologos named his brother Constantine XI, who had served as regent in Constantinople in 1437–1439, despite the machinations of his younger brother Demetrios Palaiologos his mother Helena was able to secure Constantine XIs succession in 1448. John VIII died at Constantinople in 1448, John VIII Palaiologos was married three times. His first marriage was in 1414 to Anna of Moscow, daughter of Grand Prince Basil I of Moscow and she died in August 1417 of plague. The second marriage, arranged by his father Manuel II and Pope Martin V, was to Sophia of Montferrat in 1421 and she was a daughter of Theodore II, Marquess of Montferrat, and his second wife Joanna of Bar. Joanna was a daughter of Robert I, Duke of Bar and her maternal grandparents were John II of France and Bonne of Bohemia. His third marriage, arranged by the cardinal, Bessarion, was to Maria of Trebizond in 1427. She was a daughter of Alexios IV of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzene and she died in the winter of 1439, also from plague. None of the marriages produced any children, John VIII Palaiologos was famously depicted by several painters on the occasion of his visit to Italy. Perhaps the most famous of his portraits is the one by Benozzo Gozzoli, on the wall of the Magi Chapel, at the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. According to some interpretations, John VIII would be portrayed in Piero della Francescas Flagellation. A portrait of John appears in a manuscript at the Saint Catherines Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula, list of Byzantine emperors Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium,1991. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Harris, Jonathan, The End of Byzantium, new Haven and London, Yale University Press,2010. ISBN 978-0-300-11786-8 Kolditz, Sebastian, Johannes VIII, Palaiologos und das Konzil von Ferrara-Florenz. 2 Vol. Stuttgart, Anton Hiersemann Verlag 2013-2014, ISBN 978-3-7772-1319-4, lazaris, Stavros, L’empereur Jean VIII Paléologue vu par Pisanello lors du concile de Ferrare – Florence, Byzantinische Forschungen,29,2007, p. 293-324 Nicol, Donald M
5.
Third Rome
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Third Rome was the idea that some city, state, or country is the successor to the legacy of ancient Rome. Within decades after the capture of Constantinople by Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453, some Eastern Orthodox people were nominating Moscow as the Third Rome, stirrings of this sentiment began during the reign of Ivan III of Russia who had married Sophia Paleologue. Sophia was a niece of Constantine XI, the last Byzantine emperor, a stronger claim was based on religion. The Orthodox faith was central to Byzantine notions of their identity, vladimir the Great had converted Kievan Rus to Orthodoxy in 988, in return for which he became the first barbarian to ever get an Imperial princess as a wife. And there will be no fourth, no one shall replace your Christian Tsardom. Somewhat notably, Moscow is placed on seven hills, as were Rome, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD, Mehmed II declared himself Kayser-i Rum, literally Caesar of Rome. The claim was recognized by the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, mehmeds claim rested with the concept that Constantinople was the seat of the Roman Empire, after the transfer of its capital to Constantinople in 330 AD and the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Mehmed also had a lineage to the Byzantine Imperial family, his predecessor, Sultan Orhan I had married a Byzantine princess. During that period the Ottoman Empire also destroyed Otranto and its people, the title fell into disuse after his death, but the imperial bodies created by Mehmed II lived on for centuries to come. The Carolingian Empire has been claimed to have sought to revive the Roman Empire in the West. According to early German nationalism, the Carolingian Empire transformed into the Holy Roman Empire as a continuation of the Western Roman Empire, in 800, the title of Holy Roman Emperor was granted to Charlemagne by Pope Leo III. After the Holy Roman Empire was dismantled in 1806, the Austrian Empire sought to lay claim as the heir of the Holy Roman Empire as Austrias Habsburgs attempted to unite Germany under their rule. Later the German Empire in 1871 also claimed to be the Third Rome, the title for emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Empire and the German Empire was Kaiser, the German word for Emperor. In Italy, the concept of a Third Rome is related to the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, giuseppe Mazzini, Italian nationalist and patriot promoted the notion of the Third Rome. He said, After the Rome of the emperors, after the Rome of the Popes, there come the Rome of the people, addressing Italian unification. After the unification of Italy into the Kingdom of Italy, the state was referred to as the Third Rome by Italian figures, after the unification, Mazzini spoke of the need of Italy as a Third Rome to have imperial aspirations. In his speeches, Italian leader Benito Mussolini referred to his Fascist Italy as a Third Rome or as a New Roman Empire, terza Roma was also a name for Mussolinis plan to expand Rome towards Ostia and the sea. The EUR neighbourhood was the first step in that direction, the concept of a Third Rome figures greatly in the second memoir of Whittaker Chambers
6.
Constantinople
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Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
7.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
8.
Palaiologos
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Founded by the 11th-century general Nikephoros Palaiologos and his son George, the family rose to the highest aristocratic circles through its marriage into the Doukas and Komnenos dynasties. A branch of the Palaiologos became the lords of Montferrat. This inheritance was eventually incorporated by marriage to the Gonzaga family, rulers of the Duchy of Mantua, the origins of the Palaiologoi are unknown. Later traditions sometimes tied them to the Italian city of Viterbo or to the Romans who immigrated east with Constantine the Great during the founding of his new capital, both were probably fabrications created to help legitimize the dynasty. The family are first attested as local lords in Asia Minor, particularly Anatolikon and he supported the revolt of Nikephoros Botaneiates, while his son George married Anna Doukaina and therefore supported his sister-in-laws husband Alexios Komnenos during his rise to power. As commander of Dyrrhachium, George faced the Norman Duke Robert Guiscard in battle, the Palaiologoi held military offices and further united their family to the Doukai and Komnenoi during the 12th century. They followed Theodore Laskaris to Nicaea and began to assume high-ranking political offices as well, Alexios Palaiologos, whose wife was a granddaughter of Zoe Doukaina and her husband Adrianos Komnenos. Another Alexios Palaiologos married Irene Angelina, eldest daughter of Alexios III Angelos, the latter couples daughter Theodora Palaiologina married her cousin Andronikos Palaiologos, who was descended from Zoe. The couple were the progenitors of the imperial dynasty and their son was Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. Michael VIIIs son Andronikos II Palaiologos married Anne of Hungary and fathered Michael Palaiologos, Michael IX married Rita of Armenia. Their son, the grandson of Andronikos II, was Andronikos III Palaiologos, Andronikos III married Anna of Savoy. Their son was John V Palaiologos, John V married Helena Kantakouzene, a daughter of his co-ruler John VI Kantakuzenos. Their sons included Andronikos IV Palaiologos and Manuel II Palaiologos and they were the parents of John VIII Palaiologos and Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor, as well as the despots of Morea Demetrios Palaiologos and Thomas Palaiologos. Demetrios, after giving Mehmed II a pretext to invade Morea, was kept from his throne and his daughter Helen was a member of the sultans harem for a time. Thomas, in exile in Venice, sold the title to Charles VIII of France. Thomas daughter Zoe married Ivan III of Russia and, on rejoining the Orthodox faith and her influence on the court curtailed the power of the boyars and eventually led to the proclamation of the Grand Prince of Muscovy as the Tsar of all the Russias. Though Thomass male-line descendants soon became extinct, his descent lives on through a daughter, one such female descendant, Princess dArenberg, married at the beginning of the 19th century a Pfalzgraf of Zweibrücken, whereby the Dukes of Bavaria descend from Byzantine emperors. Also Queen Anne, consort of former king Michael of Romania descends from these Arenbergs, reportedly Herina, the first wife of Emperor Isaac II Angelos who reigned from 1185 to 1195, was of the Palaiologos family
9.
Manuel II Palaiologos
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Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus was Byzantine Emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the name Matthew and he is commemorated on July 21. Manuel II Palaiologos was the son of Emperor John V Palaiologos. His maternal grandparents were Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and Irene Asanina, granted the title of despotēs by his father, the future Manuel II traveled west to seek support for the Byzantine Empire in 1365 and in 1370, serving as governor in Thessalonica from 1369. The failed attempt at usurpation by his older brother Andronikos IV Palaiologos in 1373 led to Manuels being proclaimed heir and co-emperor of his father. In 1376–1379 and again in 1390 they were supplanted by Andronikos IV and then his son John VII, although John V had been restored, Manuel was forced to go as an honorary hostage to the court of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I at Prousa. During his stay, Manuel was forced to participate in the Ottoman campaign that reduced Philadelpheia, hearing of his fathers death in February 1391, Manuel II Palaiologos fled the Ottoman court and secured the capital against any potential claim by his nephew John VII. Although relations with John VII improved, Sultan Bayezid I besieged Constantinople from 1394 to 1402, Manuel II had sent 10 ships to help in the Crusade of Nicopolis. When Manuel II returned home in 1403, his nephew duly surrendered control of Constantinople, Manuel also regained from the Ottomans Nesebar, Varna, and the Marmara coast from Scutari to Nicomedia between 1403–1421. Here Manuel supervised the building of the Hexamilion across the Isthmus of Corinth, sigismund never rejected the possibility of fighting against the Ottoman Empire. However, with the Hussite wars in Bohemia, it was impossible to count on the Czech or German armies, Manuel II died on 21 July 1425. This mirror of prince has special value, because it is the last sample of this literary genre bequeathed to us by Byzantines, by his wife Helena Dragas, the daughter of the Serbian prince Constantine Dragas, Manuel II Palaiologos had several children, including, A daughter. Mentioned as the eldest daughter but not named, possibly confused with Isabella Palaiologina, an illegitimate daughter of Manuel II known to have married Ilario Doria. 1393/8, died before 1405 in Monemvasia, also not named in the text. Theodore II Palaiologos, Lord of Morea, born 1406/7, died 1409/10 of the plague. Despotēs in the Morea and subsequently the last Byzantine emperor, 1448–1453, many Muslims were offended by this denigration of Muhammad, and many protested against it. For others it may simply have been false indignation or the assumption of offence by non-Muslims, in his book, Manuel II then continues, claiming that, God is not pleased by blood – and not acting reasonably is contrary to Gods nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body, whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats
10.
Latinisation of names
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Latinisation is the practice of rendering a non-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly found with personal names, with toponyms. It goes further than romanisation, which is the transliteration of a word to the Latin alphabet from another script and this was often done in the classical era for much the same reason as English-speaking cultures produce English versions of some foreign names. In the case of names in the post-Roman era this may be done to emulate Latin authors. In a scientific context, the purpose of Latinisation may be to produce a name which is internationally consistent. Humanist names, assumed by Renaissance humanists, were very largely Latinised names, Latinisation in humanist names may consist of translation from vernacular European languages, sometimes involving a playful element of punning. Such names could be a cover for social origins. Latinisation is a practice for scientific names. For example, Livistona, the name of a genus of trees, is a Latinisation of Livingstone. In English, place names appear in Latinised form. This is a result of many text books mentioning the places being written in Latin. Because of this, the English language often uses Latinised forms of place names instead of anglicised forms or the original names. Examples of Latinised names for countries or regions are, Estonia Ingria Livonia During the age of the Roman Empire, additionally, Latinised versions of Greek substantives, particularly proper nouns, could easily be declined by Latin speakers with minimal modification of the original word. During the medieval period, following the collapse of the Empire in Western Europe, in the early medieval period, most European scholars were priests and most educated people spoke Latin, and as a result, Latin became firmly established as the scholarly language for the West. Though during modern times Europe has largely abandoned Latin as a scholarly language, by tradition, it is still common in some fields to name new discoveries in Latin. Romanization, conversion of a text in Latin letters Nicolson, Dan H, orthography of Names and Epithets, Latinization of Personal Names
11.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
12.
Fall of Constantinople
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The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453. The Ottomans were commanded by the then 21-year-old Mehmed the Conqueror, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The conquest of Constantinople followed a 53-day siege that had begun on 6 April 1453, the capture of Constantinople marked the end of the Roman Empire, an imperial state that had lasted for nearly 1,500 years. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople also dealt a blow to Christendom. After the conquest, Sultan Mehmed II transferred the capital of the Ottoman Empire from Edirne to Constantinople. The conquest of the city of Constantinople and the end of the Byzantine Empire was a key event in the Late Middle Ages, which also marks, for some historians, Constantinople had been an imperial capital since its consecration in 330 under Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great. In the following centuries, the city had been besieged many times but was captured only once. The crusaders established an unstable Latin state in and around Constantinople while the remaining empire splintered into a number of Byzantine successor states, notably Nicaea, Epirus and they fought as allies against the Latin establishments, but also fought among themselves for the Byzantine throne. The Nicaeans eventually reconquered Constantinople from the Latins in 1261, thereafter there was little peace for the much-weakened empire as it fended off successive attacks by the Latins, the Serbians, the Bulgarians, and, most importantly, the Ottoman Turks. The Black Plague between 1346 and 1349 killed almost half of the inhabitants of Constantinople, the Empire of Trebizond, an independent successor state that formed in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, also survived on the coast of the Black Sea. This optimism was reinforced by friendly assurances made by Mehmed to envoys sent to his new court, but Mehmeds actions spoke far louder than his mild words. Since the mutual excommunications of 1054, the Pope in Rome was committed to establishing authority over the eastern church, nominal union had been negotiated in 1274, at the Second Council of Lyon, and indeed, some Palaiologoi emperors had since been received into the Latin church. Emperor John VIII Palaiologos had also recently negotiated union with Pope Eugene IV, finally, the attempted Union failed, greatly annoying Pope Nicholas V and the hierarchy of the Roman church. Although some troops did arrive from the city states in the north of Italy. Some Western individuals, however, came to defend the city on their own account. One of these was a soldier from Genoa, Giovanni Giustiniani. A specialist in defending walled cities, he was given the overall command of the defense of the land walls by the emperor. In Venice, meanwhile, deliberations were taking place concerning the kind of assistance the Republic would lend to Constantinople
13.
Demetrios Palaiologos
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Demetrios Palaiologos or Demetrius Palaeologus was a Byzantine prince and Despot. He ruled over Mesembria and Lemnos, before becoming Despot in the Morea in 1449 and he remained co-ruler of the Morea along with his brother Thomas Palaiologos until he surrendered Mistras to the Ottomans in 1460. He was given lands in Thrace as an appanage by Sultan Mehmed II, shortly after he was allowed to retire to Adrianople with his wife. He became a monk with the monastic name David after the death of his daughter Helena Palaiologina in 1469, Demetrios Palaiologos was born in ca.1407 as the fifth son of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos and his wife Helena Dragaš. His maternal grandfather was Constantine Dragaš, as a younger son Demetrios was not expected to rule, but was granted the court title of despot in accordance with standard practice. His ambition apparently led to conflict in the imperial family and he returned to Constantinople by 1427. He returned to Constantinople in January 1440, via Venice, forced to surrender Lemnos as penalty for returning home without the Emperors consent, Demetrios was compensated with a more distant appanage at Mesembria on the Black Sea in 1441. On 23 April 1442 he launched an attack on Constantinople with the support of the Ottomans, but it failed, the appanage of Selymbria, which he had sought, was turned over first to Constantine Palaiologos and then to Theodore II Palaiologos. On 31 October 1448 John VIII died, while his designated heir Constantine was in the Morea, exploiting his location nearer Constantinople, Demetrios tried to stage a coup détat and secure the throne for himself. His attempt failed, mostly due to the intervention of their mother, in 1449, the new emperor, Constantine XI, gave Demetrios half of the Morea in order to remove him from the vicinity of Constantinople. The following year the forces of the Palaiologos brothers, with Ottoman aid, not long after this victory, civil war erupted between Demetrios and his younger brother Thomas, who had ruled in the Morea alongside Constantine from 1428. As Thomas was threatening to dislodge Demetrios, the latter called on the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II for support, irritated by the brothers antics, in mid-May 1460, Mehmed arrived at Corinth and demanded that Demetrios, his vassal, come and meet him. The latter was afraid, and sent his brother-in-law Matthew Palaiologos Asen instead, the Sultan was known to respect Matthew, but Demetrios failure to appear enraged him, and he was not mollified by the sumptuous gifts that Matthew brought with him. Matthew was placed under arrest, and Mehmed marched against Mistras, Demetrios surrendered the city on 29 May. On the Sultans demand, he brought his wife and daughter from their refuge in Monemvasia, in recompense, Demetrios was given the town of Ainos in Thrace, as well as parts of the islands of Thasos and Samothrace, as an appanage. Along with his wife and her brother, Demetrios spent the seven years at Ainos. At that point, they fell from the Sultans favour and were dispossessed. According to Sphrantzes, admittedly a hostile source, that was because Matthew, Demetrios, Theodora, and Matthew left Ainos for Didymoteicho, where they lived in great poverty, and where Matthew died
14.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
15.
Mehmed the Conqueror
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Mehmed II, commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror, was an Ottoman sultan who ruled first for a short time from August 1444 to September 1446, and later from February 1451 to May 1481. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople and brought an end to the Eastern Roman Empire, Mehmed continued his conquests in Anatolia with its reunification and in Southeast Europe as far west as Bosnia. Mehmed is considered a hero in modern-day Turkey and parts of the wider Muslim world, among other things, Istanbuls Fatih district, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and Fatih Mosque are named after him. Mehmed II was born on 30 March 1432, in Edirne and his father was Sultan Murad II and his mother Hüma Valide Hatun, born in the town of Devrekani, Kastamonu. When Mehmed II was eleven years old he was sent to Amasya to govern and thus gain experience, Sultan Murad II also sent a number of teachers for him to study under. This Islamic education had an impact in molding Mehmeds mindset. He was influenced in his practice of Islamic epistemology by practitioners of science - particularly by his mentor, Molla Gürani -, after Murad II made peace with the Karamanids in Anatolia in August 1444, he abdicated the throne to his 12-year-old son Mehmed II. In Mehmed IIs first reign, he defeated the crusade led by János Hunyadi after the Hungarian incursions into his country broke the conditions of the truce Peace of Szeged. Cardinal Julian Cesarini, the representative of the pope, had convinced the king of Hungary that breaking the truce with Muslims was not a betrayal, at this time Mehmed II asked his father Murad II to reclaim the throne, but Murad II refused. Angry at his father, who had long retired to a contemplative life in southwestern Anatolia, Mehmed II wrote, If you are the Sultan, come. If I am the Sultan I hereby order you to come and it was only after receiving this letter that Murad II led the Ottoman army and won the Battle of Varna in 1444. When Mehmed II ascended the throne again in 1451 he devoted himself to strengthening the Ottoman navy, having completed his fortresses, Mehmed proceeded to levy a toll on ships passing within reach of their cannon. Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the companion and standard bearer of Muhammad, had died during the first Siege of Constantinople, as Mehmed IIs army approached Constantinople, Mehmeds sheikh Akshamsaddin discovered the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. After the conquest, Mehmed built Eyüp Sultan Mosque at the site to emphasize the importance of the conquest to the Islamic world, in early April, the Siege of Constantinople began. At first, the walls held off the Turks, even though Mehmeds army used the new bombard designed by Orban. The harbor of the Golden Horn was blocked by a boom chain, thus the Byzantines stretched their troops over a longer portion of the walls. About a month later, Constantinople fell, on 29 May, after this conquest, Mehmed moved the Ottoman capital from Adrianople to Constantinople. The contemporary scholar George of Trebizond supported his claim, the claim was recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church, but not by the Catholic Church and most of, if not all, Western Europe
16.
Walls of Constantinople
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With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built. Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, as the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian Walls was built in the 5th century. Ultimately the city fell from sheer weight of numbers of the Ottoman forces on 29 May 1453 after a six-week siege. The walls were largely maintained intact during most of the Ottoman period, until sections began to be dismantled in the 19th century, despite the subsequent lack of maintenance, many parts of the walls survived and are still standing today. A large-scale restoration program has been under way since the 1980s, according to tradition, the city was founded as Byzantium by Greek colonists from Megara, led by the eponymous Byzas, around 658 BC. At the time the city consisted of a region around an acropolis. This wall was protected by 27 towers, and had at least two gates, one which survived to become known as the Arch of Urbicius. On the seaward side, the wall was much lower and this wall is known to have been repaired, utilising tomb stones, under the leadership of a certain Leo in 340 BC, against an attack by Philip II of Macedon. Byzantium was relatively unimportant during the early Roman period, contemporaries described it as wealthy, well peopled and well fortified, but this affluence came to an end due to its support for Pescennius Niger in his war against Septimius Severus. Severus punished the city harshly, the walls were demolished. The Patria also mention the existence of another wall during the siege of Byzantium by Constantine the Great during the conflict with Licinius. Like Severus before him, Constantine began to punish the city for siding with his defeated rival, during 324–336 the city was thoroughly rebuilt and inaugurated on 11 May 330 under the name of Second Rome. The name that prevailed in common usage however was Constantinople. The city of Constantine was protected by a new wall about 2.8 km west of the Severan wall, constantines fortification consisted of a single wall, reinforced with towers at regular distances, which began to be constructed in 324 and was completed under his son Constantius II. Only the approximate course of the wall is known, it began at the Church of St. Aemilianus, already by the early 5th century however, Constantinople had expanded outside the Constantinian Wall, in the extramural area known as the Exokionion or Exakionion. The wall survived during much of the Byzantine period, even though it was replaced by the Theodosian Walls as the primary defence. Only traces of the wall appear to have survived in later ages, the recent construction of Yenikapı Transfer Center has unearthed a section of the foundation of the wall of Constantine. The names of a number of gates of the Constantinian Wall survive, the gate stood somewhere on the southern slopes of the Seventh Hill
17.
King in the mountain
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A king in the mountain, king under the mountain, or sleeping hero is a prominent motif in folklore and mythology that is found in many folktales and legends. The Aarne-Thompson classification system for folktale motifs classifies these stories as number 766, the hero is frequently a historical figure of some military consequence in the history of the nation where the mountain is located. The stories gathered by the Brothers Grimm concerning Frederick Barbarossa and Charlemagne are typical of the stories told, the presence of the hero is unsuspected, until some herdsman wanders into the cave, typically looking for a lost animal, and sees the hero. The stories almost always mention the detail that the hero has grown a long beard, in the Brothers Grimm version, the hero speaks with the herdsman. Their conversation typically involves the hero asking, Do the eagles still circle the mountaintop, the herdsman, or a mysterious voice, replies, Yes, they still circle the mountaintop. My time has not yet come, the herdsman in this story was then supernaturally harmed by the experience, he ages rapidly, he emerges with his hair turned white, and often he dies after repeating the tale. The story goes on to say that the king sleeps in the mountain, awaiting a summons to arise with his knights, the omen that presages his rising will be the extinction of the birds that trigger his awakening. A number of kings, rulers, fictional characters and religious figures have become attached to this story. They include the following, St. John the Evangelist - according to the Golden Legend, he is sleeping in his grave at Ephesus until the coming of Antichrist. Muhammad al-Mahdi Kōbō-Daishi, founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism and he is said to be in deep meditation in a temple on Mount Koya, Wakayama Prefecture, awaiting the coming of the next Buddha. Bernardo Carpio, the King of the Tagalogs, is said to be trapped in the mountains of Rodriguez, Rizal, Legend has it that Carpio, a man of superhuman strength, causes earthquakes as he struggles to break free of his chains. Lāčplēsis, the hero of the Latvian epic poem. It is said that he will rise out of the Daugava River when his country needs him to take on her attackers and invaders. Alternatively, he will rise out of the Daugava at the end of the world, vytautas the Great It is believed he will rise from his grave when the worst danger threatens Lithuania in order to defend the motherland at the last battle. King Arthur, perhaps most famous of the king under the mountain examples, in a variation on this, sometimes the exploring herdsman finds instead just Arthurs knights, or Sir Lancelot, Guinevere and the knights sleeping in wait on the return of the Once and Future King. Merlin of the Arthurian legend, who is imprisoned in an oak tree by Nimue, thomas the Rhymer is found under a hill with a retinue of knights in a tale from Anglo-Scottish border. Likewise, Harry Hotspur was said to have been hunting in the Cheviots when he and he was never captured or betrayed and refused all Royal pardons. An unnamed giant is supposed to sleep in Plynlimon in Wales, Fionn mac Cumhaill, is said to sleep in a cave/mountain surrounded by the Fianna
18.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
19.
Historiography
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Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians have studied that topic using particular sources, techniques, beginning in the nineteenth century, with the ascent of academic history, there developed a body of historiographic literature. The extent to which historians are influenced by their own groups, in 2007, of 5,723 faculty in the departments of history at British universities,1,644 identified themselves with social history and 1,425 identified themselves with political history. In the early period, the term historiography meant the writing of history. In that sense certain official historians were given the title Historiographer Royal in Sweden, England, the Scottish post is still in existence. Understanding the past appears to be a human need. What constitutes history is a philosophical question, the earliest chronologies date back to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, though no historical writers in these early civilizations were known by name. For the purposes of article, history is taken to mean written history recorded in a narrative format for the purpose of informing future generations about events. Before writing, there was only oral history or oral tradition, in China, the earliest history was recorded in oracle bone script which was deciphered and may date back to around late 2nd millennium BCE. The Zuo Zhuan, attributed to Zuo Qiuming in the 5th century BCE, is the earliest written of narrative history in the world, the Classic of History is one of the Five Classics of Chinese classic texts and one of the earliest narratives of China. It is traditionally attributed to Confucius, zhan Guo Ce was a renowned ancient Chinese historical compilation of sporadic materials on the Warring States period compiled between the 3rd and 1st centuries BCE. Sima Qian was the first in China to lay the groundwork for professional historical writing and his written work was the Shiji, a monumental lifelong achievement in literature. His work influenced every subsequent author of history in China, including the prestigious Ban family of the Eastern Han Dynasty era, traditional Chinese historiography describes history in terms of dynastic cycles. In this view, each new dynasty is founded by a morally righteous founder, over time, the dynasty becomes morally corrupt and dissolute. Eventually, the dynasty becomes so weak as to allow its replacement by a new dynasty, the tradition of Korean historiography was established with the Samguk Sagi, a history of Korea from its allegedly earliest times. It was compiled by Goryeo court historian Kim Busik after its commission by King Injong of Goryeo. It was completed in 1145 and relied not only on earlier Chinese histories for source material, the latter work is now lost. The earliest works of history produced in Japan were the Rikkokushi, the first of these works were the Nihon Shoki, compiled by Prince Toneri in 720
20.
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
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The Fall of the Western Roman Empire was the process of decline in the Western Roman Empire in which it failed to enforce its rule, and its vast territory was divided into several successor polities. Increasing pressure from barbarians outside Roman culture also contributed greatly to the collapse, the reasons for the collapse are major subjects of the historiography of the ancient world and they inform much modern discourse on state failure. Relevant dates include 117 CE, when the Empire was at its greatest territorial extent, irreversible major territorial loss, however, began in 376 with a large-scale irruption of Goths and others. In 395, after winning two destructive civil wars, Theodosius I died, leaving a field army and the Empire, still plagued by Goths. Invading barbarians had established their own power in most of the area of the Western Empire, while its legitimacy lasted for centuries longer and its cultural influence remains today, the Western Empire never had the strength to rise again. The Fall is not the only unifying concept for these events, the Fall of the Western Roman Empire was the process of decline in the Western Roman Empire in which it failed to enforce its rule. The Fall is not the only unifying concept for these events, for Dio Cassius, the accession of the emperor Commodus in 180 CE marked the descent from a kingdom of gold to one of rust and iron. Gibbon started his story in 98 and Theodor Mommsen regarded the whole of the period as unworthy of inclusion in his Nobel Prize-winning History of Rome. Arnold J. Toynbee and James Burke argue that the entire Imperial era was one of decay of institutions founded in republican times. Gibbon gave a formulation of reasons why the Fall happened. He began a controversy about the role of Christianity, but he gave great weight to other causes of internal decline. The story of its ruin is simple and obvious, and, instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. The victorious legions, who, in distant wars, acquired the vices of strangers and mercenaries, first oppressed the freedom of the republic, alexander Demandt enumerated 210 different theories on why Rome fell, and new ideas have emerged since. Historians still try to analyze the reasons for loss of control over a vast territory. Comparison has also made with the Han Empire in China. At least from the time of Henri Pirenne, scholars have described continuity of culture and of political legitimacy, Pirenne postponed the demise of classical civilization to the 8th century. The more recent formulation of a period characterized as Late Antiquity emphasizes the transformations of ancient to medieval worlds within a cultural continuity. In recent decades archaeologically-based argument even extends the continuity in material culture, observing the political reality of lost control, but also the cultural and archaeological continuities, the process has been described as a complex cultural transformation, rather than a fall
21.
Western Roman Empire
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Theodosius I divided the Empire upon his death between his two sons. As the Roman Republic expanded, it reached a point where the government in Rome could not effectively rule the distant provinces. Communications and transportation were especially problematic given the vast extent of the Empire, for this reason, provincial governors had de facto rule in the name of the Roman Republic. Antony received the provinces in the East, Achaea, Macedonia and Epirus, Bithynia, Pontus and Asia, Syria, Cyprus and these lands had previously been conquered by Alexander the Great, thus, much of the aristocracy was of Greek origin. The whole region, especially the cities, had been largely assimilated into Greek culture. Octavian obtained the Roman provinces of the West, Italia, Gaul, Gallia Belgica and these lands also included Greek and Carthaginian colonies in the coastal areas, though Celtic tribes such as Gauls and Celtiberians were culturally dominant. Lepidus received the province of Africa. Octavian soon took Africa from Lepidus, while adding Sicilia to his holdings, upon the defeat of Mark Antony, a victorious Octavian controlled a united Roman Empire. While the Roman Empire featured many distinct cultures, all were often said to experience gradual Romanization, minor rebellions and uprisings were fairly common events throughout the Empire. Conquered tribes or cities would revolt, and the legions would be detached to crush the rebellion, while this process was simple in peacetime, it could be considerably more complicated in wartime, as for example in the Great Jewish Revolt. In a full-blown military campaign, the legions, under such as Vespasian, were far more numerous. To ensure a commanders loyalty, an emperor might hold some members of the generals family hostage. To this end, Nero effectively held Domitian and Quintus Petillius Cerialis, governor of Ostia, the rule of Nero ended only with the revolt of the Praetorian Guard, who had been bribed in the name of Galba. The Praetorian Guard, a sword of Damocles, were often perceived as being of dubious loyalty. Following their example, the legions at the increased participation in the civil wars. The main enemy in the West was arguably the Germanic tribes behind the rivers Rhine, Augustus had tried to conquer them but ultimately pulled back after the Teutoburg reversal. The Parthian Empire, in the East, on the hand, was too remote. Those distant territories were forsaken to prevent unrest and also to ensure a more healthy, the Parthians were followed by the Sasanian Empire, which continued hostilities with the Roman Empire
22.
Augustus
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Augustus was the founder of the Roman Principate and considered the first Roman emperor, controlling the Roman Empire from 27 BC until his death in AD14. He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia and his maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and Octavius was named in Caesars will as his adopted son and heir, then known as Octavianus. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar, following their victory at the Battle of Philippi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators. The Triumvate was eventually torn apart by the ambitions of its members. Lepidus was driven into exile and stripped of his position, in reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and it took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis, the resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the Roman Empire. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of peace known as the Pax Romana. Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanding possessions in Africa, expanding into Germania, beyond the frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. Augustus died in AD14 at the age of 75 and he probably died from natural causes, although there were unconfirmed rumors that his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as Emperor by his adopted son Tiberius, Augustus was known by many names throughout his life, At birth, he was named Gaius Octavius after his biological father. Historians typically refer to him simply as Octavius between his birth in 63 until his adoption by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, upon his adoption, he took Caesars name and became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in accordance with Roman adoption naming standards. He quickly dropped Octavianus from his name, and his contemporaries referred to him as Caesar during this period, historians. In 27 BC, following his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra and it is the events of 27 BC from which he obtained his traditional name of Augustus, which historians use in reference to him from 27 BC until his death in AD14. While his paternal family was from the town of Velletri, approximately 40 kilometres from Rome and he was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill, very close to the Roman Forum. He was given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his cognomen possibly commemorating his fathers victory at Thurii over a band of slaves. Due to the nature of Rome at the time, Octavius was taken to his fathers home village at Velletri to be raised. Octavius only mentions his fathers equestrian family briefly in his memoirs and his paternal great-grandfather Gaius Octavius was a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War
23.
Serbs
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The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group that formed in the Balkans. The majority of Serbs inhabit the state of Serbia, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina. They form significant minorities in Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia, there is a large Serb diaspora in Western Europe, and outside Europe there are significant communities in North America and Australia. The Serbs share many traits with the rest of the peoples of Southeast Europe. They are predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christians by religion, the Serbian language is official in Serbia, co-official in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is spoken by the majority in Montenegro. The modern identity of Serbs is rooted in Eastern Orthodoxy and traditions, in the 19th century, the Serbian national identity was manifested, with awareness of history and tradition, medieval heritage, cultural unity, despite living under different empires. When the Principality of Serbia gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, Orthodoxy became crucial in defining the national identity, instead of language which was shared by other South Slavs. The tradition of slava, the family saint feast day, is an important ethnic marker of Serb identity, the origin of the ethnonym is unclear. Serbia has among the tallest people in the world, after Montenegro and Netherlands, Slavs invaded and settled the Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries. Up until the late 560s their activity was raiding, crossing from the Danube, the Danube and Sava frontier was overwhelmed by large-scale Slavic settlement in the late 6th and early 7th century. What is today central Serbia was an important geo-strategical province, through which the Via Militaris crossed and this area was frequently intruded by barbarians in the 5th and 6th centuries. The numerous Slavs mixed with and assimilated the descendants of the indigenous population, numerous small Serbian states were created, located in modern Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia. With the decline of the Serbian state of Duklja in the late 11th century, Raška separated from it, prince Stefan Nemanja conquered the neighbouring territories of Kosovo, Duklja and Zachlumia. The Nemanjić dynasty ruled over Serbia until the 14th century, over the next 140 years, Serbia expanded its borders. Its cultural model remained Byzantine, despite political ambitions directed against the empire, the medieval power and influence of Serbia culminated in the reign of Stefan Dušan, who ruled the state from 1331 until his death in 1355. Ruling as Emperor from 1346, his territory included Macedonia, northern Greece, Montenegro, when Dušan died, his son Stephen Uroš V became Emperor. With the death of two important Serb leaders in the battle, and with the death of Stephen Uroš that same year, hrebeljanović was subsequently accepted as the titular leader of the Serbs because he was married to a member of the Nemanjić dynasty. In 1389, the Serbs faced the Ottomans at the Battle of Kosovo on the plain of Kosovo Polje, both Lazar and Sultan Murad I were killed in the fighting
24.
Serbian nobility
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Notable are also Serbian families that gained nobility in Russian Empire. With the independence of Serbia in the 19th century, a new aristocracy arose, in the medieval Serbian states, the privileged class consisted of nobility and clergy, distinguished from commoners, part of the feudal society. The nobility were roughly grouped into magnates and the lesser nobility, after the Ottoman conquest in the 15th and 16th centuries, large migrations of Serbs followed into the Pannonian Plain. The community in the Kingdom of Hungary, and subsequently Habsburg Monarchy, were known as Rascians, Serbs distinguished themselves as warriors and diplomats, and enrolled in Austrian, Transylvanian or Wallachian services. After the fall of Vienna in 1683, Serbian warriors left for Austria and Russia where they obtained high ranks and honors in the armies, and once again a new level of nobility emerged. Similarly, towards the Adriatic, the Frontier Serbs, outlaw hajduks and Uskoks waged war against the Ottomans, and were bestowed noble titles by the Republic of Venice
25.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
26.
Golden bull
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A golden bull or chrysobull was a decree issued by Byzantine Emperors and later by monarchs in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, most notably by the Holy Roman Emperors. The term was coined for the golden seal, attached to the decree. Such decrees were known as golden bulls in western Europe and chrysobullos logos, or chrysobulls, for nearly eight hundred years, they were issued unilaterally, without obligations on the part of the other party or parties. However, this eventually proved disadvantageous as the Byzantines sought to restrain the efforts of foreign powers to undermine the empire, during the 12th century, the Byzantines began to insert into golden bulls sworn statements of the obligations of their negotiating partners. The Golden Bull of 1136, issued by Pope Innocent II, the Golden Bull of Sicily, issued in 1212 by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. The Golden Bull of 1213, issued by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, the Golden Bull of 1213, issued by the papacy to recognize its agreement with John Lackland. The Golden Bull of 1214, issued by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor to cede all German territories north of the rivers Elbe, the Golden Bull of Berne, supposedly issued by Frederick II in 1218, but now considered a forgery. The Golden Bull of 1222, issued by King Andrew II of Hungary to confirm the rights of nobility, the Golden Bull of 1224 issued by Andrew to grant certain rights to the Saxon inhabitants of Transylvania. The Golden Bull of Rimini, issued by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, the Golden Bull of 1242 issued by King Béla IV to proclaim a free royal Borough for the inhabitants of Gradec and Samobor in Croatia, during the Mongol invasion of Europe. The Golden Bull of 1267, issued by King Bela IV of Hungary, the Golden Bull of 1356, issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV for promulgation at the Diet of Nuremberg, to define the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire. The Golden Bull of 1702, issued by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor to establish the Akademia Leopoldina in the Silesian capital of Breslau, the future University of Breslau
27.
Silivri
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Silivri is a city and a district in Istanbul Province along the Sea of Marmara in Turkey, outside metropolitan Istanbul, containing many holiday and weekend homes for residents of the city. The largest city in the district is also named Silivri, Silivri is located bordering Büyükçekmece to the east, Çatalca to the north, Çorlu and Marmara Ereğli to the west, Çerkezköy to the north-west and with the Sea of Marmara to the south. It is with an area of 760 km2 the second largest district of Istanbul Province after Çatalca, the seat of the district is the city of Silivri. The district consists of 8 towns and 18 villages, and its population is 155,923,75,702 in the city of Silivri, the remaining in the surrounding towns and villages – listed below. Established in 2008, Turkeys most modern and Europes largest prison complex is located 9 km west of Silivri, Silivri, the ancient Greek Selymbria or Selybria, preserved its importance in every era of history thanks to its natural harbor and its position on the major commercial roads. It was a colony of Megara founded on a steep 56 m high hill east of the bay, but excavations show that it was a Thracian settlement before it was a Greek colony. According to Strabo, the name is a combination of the name of the mythological founder of the city, Selus. This, however, did not mean polis, and had another meaning, Silivri is the birthplace of the physician Herodicus, and was an ally of the Athenians in 351 BC. The settlement shrank into a village under the governance of the Roman Empire, in the early 5th century, the town was officially renamed Eudoxiopolis in Greek, during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Arcadius, after his wife Aelia Eudoxia, though this name did not survive. In 805 AD, the Bulgarian Khan Kroum pillaged the town, in 1346, the Ottomans became an ally of the pretender for the Emperor John VI Cantacuzenus, and helped him against his rival John V Palaeologus. The same year, Sultan Orhan I married Theodora, the daughter of John VI in Selymbria, in 1399, Selymbria fell to the Ottomans, marking their complete encirclement of Constantinople by land in Europe. Many contemporary observers believed from then on it was a matter of time before the Ottomans took the Byzantine capital. However, after their disastrous defeat at the hands of Timur the Ottomans returned Selymbria and it was sometimes attacked by the Ottomans in later years, but was not captured. During the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, Silivri, along with Epibatos, stood up against the Ottoman armies, while the non-Muslims were engaged mostly in growing grapes, vinification and silk production, the Turks earned their life by fishing and making yogurt. The town remained a summer resort during the Ottoman time, as it was during the Byzantine era, on the order of Suleiman the Magnificent, architect Mimar Sinan built 1562 a stone bridge with 33 arches just west of Silivri. The historical bridge, called Uzunköprü, is still in use today, prior to World War I, some Silivrian Jews immigrated to the town of Camagüey, Cuba. Russians occupied Silivri on February 5,1878 for 1 month until 3 March 1878, bulgarians occupied it on November 16,1912 for 9 months until May 30,1913. During the war, many more Sephardim in the city left as conditions worsened due to the war, many of these Turkish Jews emigrated to the United States settling primarily in New York and Seattle
28.
Theodore II Palaiologos
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Theodore II Palaiologos or Palaeologus was Despot in the Morea from 1407 to 1443 and in Selymbria from then until his death. Theodore II Palaiologos was a son of the Eastern Roman Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos and his maternal grandfather was the Serb prince Constantine Dragaš. When Theodore was a little over ten years old, his father proclaimed him a despot, the nobleman Nicholas Eudaimonoioannes was appointed as his tutor and regent until he came of age. The first period of his rule was a time of war against the Latin states in Greece for the unification of Morea, Theodore IIs enemies in that period included the Republic of Venice, which sent troops to impede his attempt to conquer Patras. During Theodores minority, his father Emperor Manuel II stayed in Morea and supervised its administration and defense, rebuilding the Hexamilion wall across the Isthmus of Corinth. A moment of change in policy was his marriage to the Latin noblewoman Cleofa Malatesta, arranged with the help of her uncle Pope Martin V. In a letter from around the time of Manuel IIs death, Pope Martin V called Theodore II emperor of Constantinople but the crown actually passed to his older brother John VIII. The war in Morea had started to go against the Byzantines and, under pressure from Carlo I Tocco, the Count of Kefalonia and ruler of Epirus, the Despot demanded help from his brother John VIII. That help came in the form of reinforcements led by their brother Constantine, the united efforts of the brothers contributed to the naval victory at the Echinades in 1427 and the conquest of Patras in 1430. The next several years were marred by disputes with Constantine over the succession to the childless John VIII, by his marriage to Cleofa Malatesta, an Italian aristocrat, Theodore II Palaiologos had at least one daughter, Helena Palaiologina. She married King John II of Cyprus, by a wet nurse, Theodore II Palaiologos had at least one illegitimate and protect son, Thomas Emanuele Pietro Palaiologos, migrated with his sister Helena Palaiologina to Cyprus. Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press,1991, joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches Edward Gibbon The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire George Sphrantzes, The Fall of the Byzantine Empire
29.
Council of Florence
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At stake was the greater conflict between the Conciliar movement and the principle of papal supremacy. The Council entered a second phase after Emperor Sigismunds death in 1437, Pope Eugene IV convoked a rival Council of Ferrara on 8 January 1438 and succeeded in drawing the Byzantine ambassadors to Italy. The Council of Basel first suspended him, declared him a heretic, the rival Council of Florence concluded in 1445 after negotiating unions with the various eastern churches. This bridging of the Great Schism proved fleeting, but was a coup for the papacy. In 1447, Sigismunds successor Frederick III commanded the city of Basel to expel the Council of Basel, ambrogio Traversari attended the Council of Basel as legate of Pope Eugene IV. Under pressure for reform, Pope Martin V sanctioned a decree of the Council of Constance obliging the papacy to summon general councils periodically. At the expiration of the first term fixed by this decree, due to an epidemic the location transferred almost at once to Siena and disbande, in circumstances still imperfectly known, just as it had begun to discuss the subject of reform. Martin himself, however, died before the opening of the synod, the Council was seated on December 14,1431, at a period when the conciliar movement was strong and the authority of the papacy weak. The Council at Basel opened with only a few bishops and abbots attending and it adopted an anti-papal attitude, proclaimed the superiority of the Council over the Pope and prescribed an oath to be taken by every Pope on his election. On December 18 Martins successor, Pope Eugene IV, tried to dissolve it and open a new council on Italian soil at Bologna, but he was overruled. Sigismund, King of Hungary and titular King of Bohemia, had defeated at the Battle of Domažlice in the fifth crusade against the Hussites in August 1431. Under his sponsorship, the Council negotiated a peace with Calixtine faction of the Hussites in January 1433, Pope Eugene acknowledged the council in May and crowned Sigismund Holy Roman Emperor on May 31,1433. The divided Hussites were defeated in May 1434, in June 1434, the pope had to flee a revolt in Rome and began a ten-year exile in Florence. When the Council was moved from Basel to Ferrara in 1438, some remained at Basel and they elected Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy, as Antipope. Driven out of Basel in 1448, they moved to Lausanne, where Felix V, the pope they had elected, the next year, they decreed the closure of what for them was still the Council of Basel. The new council was transferred to Florence in 1439 because of the danger of plague at Ferrara and because Florence had agreed, against future payment, some, perhaps feeling political pressure from the Byzantine Emperor, accepted the decrees of the Council. Others did so by sincere conviction, such as Isidore of Kiev, only Bishop Mark of Ephesus, however, refused to accept the union and became the leader of opposition back home. The Russians, upon learning of the union, angrily rejected it, despite the religious union, Western military assistance to Byzantium was meager, and the fall of Constantinople occurred in May 1453
30.
Despotate of the Morea
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The Despotate of the Morea or Despotate of Mystras was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centuries. The territory was ruled by one or more sons of the current Byzantine emperor. Its capital was the city of Mystras, near ancient Sparta. The Despotate of the Morea was created out of territory seized from the Frankish Principality of Achaea and this had been organized from former Byzantine territory after the Fourth Crusade. In 1259, the Principalitys ruler William II Villehardouin lost the Battle of Pelagonia against the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus, William was forced to ransom himself by surrendering most of the eastern part of Morea and his newly built strongholds. The surrendered territory became the nucleus of the Despotate of Morea, a later Byzantine emperor, John VI Kantakouzenos, reorganized the territory during the mid-14th century to establish it as an appanage for his son, the Despot Manuel Kantakouzenos. The rival Palaiologos dynasty seized the Morea after Manuels death in 1380, 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. He also sought to reinvigorate the economy by inviting Albanians to settle in the territory. Subsequent despots were the sons of the Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, brother of the despot Theodore, Constantine, Demetrios, however, in 1446 the Ottoman Sultan Murad II destroyed the Byzantine defences—the Hexamilion wall at the Isthmus of Corinth. His attack opened the peninsula to invasion, though Murad died before he could exploit this and his successor Mehmed II the Conqueror captured the Byzantine capital Constantinople in 1453. The despots, Demetrios Palaiologos and Thomas Palaiologos, brothers of the last emperor, failed to send him any aid and their own incompetence resulted in an Albanian–Greek revolt against them, during which they invited in Ottoman troops to help them put down the revolt. At this time, a number of influential Moreote Greeks and Albanians made private peace with Mehmed, Demetrios ended up a prisoner of the Ottomans and his younger brother Thomas fled. By the end of the summer the Ottomans had achieved the submission of all cities possessed by the Greeks. A few holdouts remained for a time, the rocky peninsula of Monemvasia refused to surrender and it was first ruled for a brief time by a Catalan corsair. When the population drove him out they obtained the consent of Thomas to submit to the Popes protection before the end of 1460, the Mani Peninsula, on the Moreas south end, resisted under a loose coalition of the local clans and then that area came under Venices rule. The very last holdout was Salmeniko, in the Moreas northwest, Graitzas Palaiologos was the military commander there, stationed at Salmeniko Castle. While the town surrendered, Graitzas and his garrison and some town residents held out in the castle until July 1461. Thus ended the last of the Byzantine Empire proper, after 1461 the only non-Ottoman territories were possessed by Venice, the port cities of Modon and Koroni at the southern end of the Morea, the Argolid with Argos, and the port of Nafplion
31.
Peloponnese
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The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is separated from the part of the country by the Gulf of Corinth. During the late Middle Ages and the Ottoman era, the peninsula was known as the Morea, the peninsula is divided among three administrative regions, most belongs to the Peloponnese region, with smaller parts belonging to the West Greece and Attica regions. In 2016, Lonely Planet voted the Peloponnese the top spot of their Best in Europe list, the Peloponnese is a peninsula that covers an area of some 21,549.6 square kilometres and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland Greece. It has two connections with the rest of Greece, a natural one at the Isthmus of Corinth. The peninsula has an interior and deeply indented coasts. The Peloponnese possesses four south-pointing peninsulas, the Messenian, the Mani, the Cape Malea, mount Taygetus in the south is the highest mountain in the Peloponnese, at 2,407 metres. Οther important mountains include Cyllene in the northeast, Aroania in the north, Erymanthos and Panachaikon in the northwest, Mainalon in the center, the entire peninsula is earthquake prone and has been the site of many earthquakes in the past. The longest river is the Alfeios in the west, followed by the Evrotas in the south, extensive lowlands are found only in the west, with the exception of the Evrotas valley in the south and in the Argolid in the northeast. The Peloponnese is home to spectacular beaches, which are a major tourist draw. Two groups of islands lie off the Peloponnesian coast, the Argo-Saronic Islands to the east, the island of Kythera, off the Epidaurus Limera peninsula to the south of the Peloponnese, is considered to be part of the Ionian Islands. The island of Elafonissos used to be part of the peninsula but was separated following the quake of 365 AD. Since antiquity, and continuing to the present day, the Peloponnese has been divided into seven regions, Achaia, Corinthia, Argolid, Arcadia, Laconia, Messinia. Each of these regions is headed by a city, the largest city is Patras in Achaia, followed by Kalamata in Messinia. The peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times and its modern name derives from ancient Greek mythology, specifically the legend of the hero Pelops, who was said to have conquered the entire region. The name Peloponnesos means Island of Pelops, the Mycenaean civilization, mainland Greeces first major civilization, dominated the Peloponnese in the Bronze Age from its stronghold at Mycenae in the north-east of the peninsula. The Mycenean civilization collapsed suddenly at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, archeological research has found that many of its cities and palaces show signs of destruction. The subsequent period, known as the Greek Dark Ages, is marked by an absence of written records
32.
Mystras
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Mystras or Mistras, also known as Myzithras in the Chronicle of the Morea, is a fortified town and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. The site remained inhabited throughout the Ottoman period, when it was mistaken by Western travellers for ancient Sparta, in the 1830s, it was abandoned and the new town of Sparti was built, approximately eight kilometres to the east. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Sparti, the municipal unit has an area of 131.948 km2. In late 1248, William II of Villehardouin, ruler of the Frankish Principality of Achaea, captured Monemvasia, the last remaining Byzantine outpost on the Morea. In September 1259, William of Villehardouin was defeated and captured, along many of his nobles, at the Battle of Pelagonia. Two years later, the Nicaeans recaptured Constantinople, putting an end to the Latin Empire, the handover was effected in 1262, and henceforth Mystras was the seat of the governor of the Byzantine territories in the Morea. Initially this governor 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 the Principality of Achaea were beaten back in the battles of Prinitsa and Makryplagi, warfare became endemic, and the Byzantines slowly pushed the Franks back. From 1348 until its surrender to the Ottoman Turks on 31 May 1460, Mystras was the residence of a Despot who ruled over the Byzantine Morea, known as the Despotate of the Morea. The frescos in the Peribleptos Monastery Church, dating between 1348 and 1380, are a rare surviving late Byzantine cycle, crucial for the understanding of Byzantine art. Mystras was also the last centre of Byzantine scholarship, the Neoplatonist philosopher George Gemistos Plethon lived there until his death in 1452 and he and other scholars based in Mystras influenced 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, demetrius Palaeologus the last despot of Morea, surrendered the city to the Ottoman emperor Mehmed II in 1460. As Mezistre, it was the seat of a Turkish sanjak, the Venetians occupied it from 1687 to 1715, but otherwise the Ottomans held it until 1821 and the beginning of the Greek War of Independence. It was abandoned under King Otto for the rebuilt town of Sparta. In 1989 the ruins, including the fortress, palace, churches, Mystras is situated on the slopes of Taygetos Mountain. The archaeological site stands above the village of Mystras and the city of Sparta. The greenery surrounding the area is composed mainly by trees and cypresses. Some small rivers and lakes are found in the region, Gemistus Pletho, philosopher and scholar Manuel Kantakouzenos, first Despot of Morea John VI Kantakouzenos Manuel Kantakouzenos Gemistus Pletho Theodora Tocco Cleofe Malatesta 1
33.
Sparta
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Sparta was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece. In antiquity the city-state was known as Lacedaemon, while the name Sparta referred to its settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece, given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars. Between 431 and 404 BC, Sparta was the enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War, from which it emerged victorious. Spartas defeat by Thebes in the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended Spartas prominent role in Greece, however, it maintained its political independence until the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BC. It then underwent a period of decline, especially in the Middle Ages. Modern Sparta is the capital of the Greek regional unit of Laconia, Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which completely focused on military training and excellence. Its inhabitants were classified as Spartiates, mothakes, perioikoi, Spartiates underwent the rigorous agoge training and education regimen, and Spartan phalanges were widely considered to be among the best in battle. Spartan women enjoyed more rights and equality to men than elsewhere in the classical world. Sparta was the subject of fascination in its own day, as well as in the West following the revival of classical learning and this love or admiration of Sparta is known as Laconism or Laconophilia. At its peak around 500 BC the size of the city would have been some 20,000 –35,000 free residents, plus numerous helots, olliers theory of the Spartan mirage has been widely accepted by scholars. The ancient Greeks used one of three words to refer to the location of the Spartans. The first refers primarily to the cluster of settlements in the valley of the Eurotas River. The second word was Lacedaemon, this was used sometimes as an adjective and is the name commonly used in the works of Homer. Herodotus seems to denote by it the Mycenaean Greek citadel at Therapne and it could be used synonymously with Sparta, but typically it was not. It denoted the terrain on which Sparta was situated, in Homer it is typically combined with epithets of the countryside, wide, lovely, shining and most often hollow and broken. The hollow suggests the Eurotas Valley, Sparta on the other hand is the country of lovely women, a people epithet. The name of the population was used for the state of Lacedaemon
34.
Principality of Achaea
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The Principality of Achaea or of the Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, along with the Duchy of Athens, until Thessalonica was captured by Theodore, after this, Achaea became for a while the dominant power in Greece. Achaea was founded in 1205 by William of Champlitte and Geoffrey I of Villehardouin, the victory was decisive, and after the battle all resistance from the locals was limited to a few forts, that continued to hold out. The fort of Araklovon in Elis, was defended by Doxapatres Boutsaras and withstood the attacks until 1213, the fort of Monemvasia, and the castles of Argos, Nauplia and Corinth under Leo Sgouros held out until his suicide in 1208. By 1212, these too had conquered, and organized as the lordship of Argos and Nauplia. William of Champlitte ruled Achaea until he departed for France to assume an inheritance and he was succeeded by Geoffrey I of Villehardouin, who ruled until his own death in 1219. Achaea was rather small, consisting of the Peloponnese peninsula, but it was fairly wealthy, exporting wine, raisins, wax, honey, oil, the capital of the principality was originally at Andravida. It was bordered on the north by Epirus and the Duchy of Athens and surrounded by Venetian-held territories in the Aegean Sea, the twelve temporal barons were joined by seven ecclesiastic lords, headed by the Latin Archbishop of Patras. The twelve secular baronies were, Shortly after 1260, a barony, that of Arcadia was established. When Tsakonia and the mountainous regions of the southeast were subdued in the late 1240s. The twelve barons retained considerable powers and privileges, so that the Prince was not an absolute sovereign, thus they had the right to construct a castle without the Princes permission, or to decree capital punishment. Since Salic Law was not adopted in Achaea, women could inherit the fiefs. In addition, a Lower Court is mentioned, which abjudicated in matters of common law. On the other hand, all vassals owed the Prince four months service in the field and four months garrison duty every year, retiring after the age of sixty and this put the principality on constant war footing. Indeed, the knights of Achaea enjoyed a reputation both in the Levant and in Western Europe. The most important secular and ecclesiastical lords participated in the council of the Grand Court, the council had great authority, and its decisions were binding for the Prince. The Principality also produced a set of laws, the Assizes of Romania, which combined aspects of Byzantine and French law. Several Byzantine titles such as logothetes and protovestarius continued in use, the Frankish barons were subjected to heavy military obligations
35.
Methoni, Messenia
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Methoni is a village and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Pylos-Nestoras, the municipal unit has an area of 97.202 km2. Its name may be derived from Mothona, a mythical rock and it is located 11 km south of Pylos and 11 km west of Foinikounta. The municipal unit of Methoni includes the villages of Grizokampos, Finikouda, Foiniki, Lachanada, Varakes, Kainourgio Chorio, Kamaria, Evangelismos. The islands are Sapientza, Schiza and Santa Marina, they form a protection for Methoni harbour. The town is known by the Italian name Modone, which it was called by the Venetians. Its economy is dominated by tourism, attracted by its beaches, pausanias knew the city as Mothone, named either after the daughter of Oeneus or after the rock Mothon, which protects the harbour, and mentioned a temple to Athena Anemotis there. The Oinoussai complex of islands protected the port of Methoni from the turbulent sea, along with the rest of Messenia, the town gained its independence from the Spartans in 369 BC. During the 4th century BC, Methoni was elaborately fortified, and it remained well into the Imperial Roman era. Like other Mediterranean coastal settlements, Methoni was probably affected by the tsunami that followed the earthquake in AD365. During the Byzantine years Methoni retained its a remarkable harbor and remained one of the most important cities of the Peloponnese, the Republic of Venice had its eye on Methoni since the 12th century, due to its location on the route from Venice to the Eastern markets. In 1125, they launched an attack against pirates based at Methoni, in the mid-12th century, the Muslim traveller and geographer al-Idrisi mentioned Methoni as a fortified town with a citadel. At the time of the fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade, one of the Crusaders, Geoffrey of Villehardouin, was shipwrecked near Methoni, and he spent the winter of 1204/5 there. He came into contact with a local Greek magnate—identified by some scholars with a certain John Kantakouzenos—and aided him in subduing much of the region. It was not until 1206 or 1207 that a Venetian fleet under Premarini and the son of the Doge Enrico Dandolo arrived in the Peloponnese, Venice and the Principality of Achaea quickly came to terms, recognizing each others possessions in the Treaty of Sapienza. Koroni was fortified, but Methoni was, for the time being, under Venetian rule, the town experienced its zenith, becoming an important center for trade with the Levant and enjoying great prosperity. Methoni became an important staging point on the route between Venice and the Holy Lands, and many descriptions of it survive in pilgrims accounts, in 1499–1500, Ottoman ships raided the town from the sea, while Sultan Bayezid II in person arrived to supervise its siege. After 28 days, on 9 August 1500, Methoni fell, the populace was either massacred or sold off as slaves
36.
Koroni
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Koroni or Corone is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, known as Corone by the Venetians and Ottomans, the town of Koroni sits on the southwest peninsula of the Peloponnese on the Gulf of Messinia in southern Greece 45 minutes southwest of Kalamata. The town is nestled on a hill below an impressive Venetian castle, the town was the seat of the former municipality of Koróni, which has a land area of 105.163 km² and a population of 4,366. The municipal unit consists of the communities Akritochori, Charakopio, Chrysokellaria, Falanthi, Kaplani, Kompoi, Koroni, Vasilitsi and it also includes the uninhabited island of Venétiko. The town was founded in ancient times, the 2nd century Greek geographer Pausanias in his book Messeniaka reports the original location of Koroni at modern Petalidi, a town a few kilometers north of Koroni. He also reports many temples of Greek gods and a statue of Zeus. In the centuries that followed the town of Koroni moved to its current location, in the 6th and 7th centuries AD, the Byzantines built a fortress there. The town appears for the first time as a bishopric in the Notitiae Episcopatuum of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise, surviving seals give the names of some of its Greek bishops. The Greek eparchy was suppressed in the 19th century as part of a reorganization after Greece gained its independence. The fortress of Koroni was initially given to Champlittes chief lieutenant and it was not until 1206 or 1207, that a Venetian fleet under Premarini and the son of Doge Enrico Dandolo took the Messenian peninsula and Koroni with its neighbouring Methoni from Champlittes men. Venetian possession of the two fortresses was recognized by Geoffrey of Villehardouin, by now Prince of Achaea, in the Treaty of Sapienza in June 1209, the town flourished as an waystation of merchants and pilgrims to the Holy Land. During this period Koroni became the seat of bishops of the Latin Church, as the Catholics imitated the pre-existing Byzantine ecclesiastical structure, the Latin bishop of Koroni remained a suffragan of the Latin Archbishop of Patras. One of its bishops, Angelo Correr, later became Pope Gregory XII, no longer a residential Catholic bishopric, Corone is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. The first seaborne Ottoman attack on Koroni took place in 1428, and after the Ottoman conquest of the Despotate of the Morea in 1460, the Venetian domains shared a border with Ottoman territory. Koroni fell to the Ottomans in 1500, during the Second Ottoman–Venetian War, Sultan Bayezid II stormed Methoni, after which Koroni, the town was retaken by admiral Andrea Doria in 1532, but in the spring of 1533 the Ottomans laid siege to it. Doria was able to relieve the town, prompting Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent to call upon the services of the corsair captain Hayreddin Barbarossa. Barbarossa was aided by the outbreak of plague among the garrison and a harsh winter. In the first half of the 16th century, Koroni was initially a kaza within the sub-province of Methoni, the fortress itself and the surrounding territory were an imperial fief
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Nafplio
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Nafplio is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf. The town was the capital of the First Hellenic Republic and of the Kingdom of Greece, Nafplio is now the capital of the regional unit of Argolis. The name of the town changed several times over the centuries, the modern Greek name of the town is Nafplio. In modern English, the most frequently used forms are Nauplia, during the Classical Antiquity, it was known as Nauplia in Attic Greek and Naupliē in Ionian Greek. In Latin, it was called Nauplia, during the Middle Ages, several variants were used in Byzantine Greek, including Náfplion, Anáplion, and Anáplia. The Ottomans also called it Anabolı, in the 19th century and early 20th century, the town was called indiscriminately Náfplion and Nafplio in modern Greek. Both forms were used in documents and travel guides. This explains why the old form Náfplion still occasionally survives up to this day, Nafplio is situated on the Argolic Gulf in the northeast Peloponnese. Most of the old town is on a peninsula jutting into the gulf, originally almost isolated by marshes, deliberate landfill projects, primarily since the 1970s, have nearly doubled the land area of the city.241 km2, the municipal unit 33.619 km2. The area surrounding Nafplio has been inhabited since ancient times, but few signs of this, aside from the walls of the Acronauplia, the town has been a stronghold on several occasions during Classical Antiquity. It seems to be mentioned on an Egyptian funerary inscription of Amenophis III as Nuplija, the Acronauplia has walls dating from pre-classical times. Subsequently, Byzantines, Franks, Venetians, and Turks added to the fortifications, Nafplio was taken in 1212 by the French crusaders of the Principality of Achaea. It became part of the lordship of Argos and Nauplia, which in 1388 was sold to the Republic of Venice, during the subsequent 150 years, the lower city was expanded and fortified, and new fortifications added to Acronauplia. The city surrendered to the Ottomans in 1540, who renamed it Mora Yenişehri, at that period, Nafplio looked very much like the 16th century image shown below to the right. The Venetians retook Nafplio in 1685 and made it the capital of their Kingdom of the Morea, the Venetians strengthened the city by building the castle of Palamidi, which was in fact the last major construction of the Venetian empire overseas. However, only 80 soldiers were assigned to defend the city, Palamidi is located on a hill north of the old town. During the Greek War of Independence, it played a major role and it was captured by Staikos Staikopoulos in November 1822. During the Greek War of Independence, Nafplio was a major Ottoman stronghold and was besieged for more than a year, the town finally surrendered because of starvation
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Isthmus of Corinth
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The Isthmus of Corinth is the narrow land bridge which connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of the mainland of Greece, near the city of Corinth. The word isthmus comes from the Ancient Greek word for neck, the Isthmus was known in the ancient world as the landmark separating the Peloponnese from mainland Greece. In the first century CE the geographer Strabo noted a stele on the Isthmus of Corinth, to the west of the Isthmus is the Gulf of Corinth, to the east the Saronic Gulf. Since 1893 the Corinth Canal has run through the 6.3 km wide isthmus, today, two road bridges, two railway bridges and two submersible bridges at both ends of the canal connect the mainland side of the isthmus with the Peloponnese side. Also a military emergency bridge is located at the west end of the canal, the idea for a shortcut to save boats sailing all round the Peloponnese was long considered by the Ancient Greeks. The first attempt to build a canal there was carried out by the tyrant Periander in the 7th century BC and he abandoned the project owing to technical difficulties, and instead constructed a simpler and less costly overland stone ramp, named Diolkos, as a portage road. Remnants of Diolkos still exist today next to the modern canal, when the Romans took control of Greece, a number of different solutions were tried. Julius Caesar foresaw the advantages of a link for his newly built Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis, by the reign of Tiberius, engineers tried to dig a canal, but were defeated by lack of modern equipment. Instead they built an Ancient Egyptian device, boats were rolled across the isthmus on logs and this was in use by AD32. In AD67, the philhellene Roman emperor Nero ordered 6,000 slaves to dig a canal with spades, historian Flavius Josephus writes that the 6000 slaves were Jewish pirates, taken captive by Vespasian during the Jewish wars. According to Pliny the Elder, the work advanced four stadia, the following year Nero died, and his successor Galba abandoned the project as being too expensive. In the modern era, the idea was first seriously proposed in 1830, soon after Greeces independence from the Ottoman Empire, near the canal runs an ancient stone trackway, the Diolkos, once used for dragging ships overland. There are major concerns about preservation of this path, Greek campaigners are calling for greater effort by the Greek government to protect this archaeological site. The Hexamilion wall is a Roman defensive wall constructed across the Isthmus of Corinth guarding the land route into the Peloponnese peninsula from mainland Greece
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Hexamilion wall
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The Hexamilion wall is a defensive wall constructed across the Isthmus of Corinth guarding the only land route into the Peloponnese peninsula from mainland Greece. The Hexamilion stands at the end of a series of attempts to fortify the Isthmus stretching back to perhaps the Mycenean period. Many of the Peloponnesian cities wanted to back and fortify the Isthmus instead of making a stand at Thermopylae when Xerxes invaded in 480 BC. The issue arose again before the Battle of Salamis, although the concept of a fortress Peloponnese was repeatedly appealing, fortification of the Isthmus was of no utility without control of the ocean, as Herodotos notes. The wall was constructed in the period between 408 AD and 450 AD, in the reign of Theodosius II during the time of the great Barbarian invasions into the Roman Empire. The attack of Alaric on Greece in 396 AD or the sack of Rome in 410 AD by the Visigoths may have motivated the construction, which included towers, sea bastions, and at minimum one fortress. The one known fortress contained two gates, of which the northern gate functioned as the entrance to the Peloponessos. The wall was constructed with a rubble and mortar core faced with squared stones and it is not certain how long it took to complete, but the importance given to the task is apparent from the scale of the construction, the Hexamilion is the largest archaeological structure in Greece. In the reign of Justinian, the wall was fortified with additional towers, military use appears to have fallen off after the 7th century AD, and by the 11th AD domestic structures were being built into the wall. In 1415, the Byzantine emperor Manuel II personally supervised repairs over a period of forty days, the high cost of this effort caused unrest among the local elite. The wall was breached in 1423 and again in 1431 by the Ottomans under the command of Turahan Bey, despot Constantine Palaiologos restored the wall again in 1444, but the Turks breached it again in 1446 and in October 1452. After the Ottoman conquest of the Peloponnese in 1460, the wall was abandoned, during its history, the wall never succeeded in fulfilling the function for which it was constructed, unless it acted as a deterrent. Elements of the wall are preserved south of the Corinth Canal, official website Excavations on the Hexamilion, by the Ohio State University
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Gemistus Pletho
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Georgius Gemistus, later called Plethon or Pletho, was a Greek scholar of Neoplatonic philosophy. He was one of the pioneers of the revival of Greek learning in Western Europe. In the dying years of the Byzantine Empire, he advocated a return to the Olympian gods of the ancient world and he re-introduced Platos thoughts to Western Europe during the 1438–1439 Council of Florence, a failed attempt to reconcile the East-West schism. George Gemistos was born some time after 1355, probably in Constantinople, as a young man he went to study at Adrianopolis, by now the Ottoman capital following its capture by the Ottoman Sultan Murad I in 1365. Adrianopolis was now a centre of learning modelled by Murat on the caliphates of Cairo and he admired Plato so much that late in life he took the similar-meaning name Plethon. In c1407 Gemistos left Adrianopolis and travelled through Cyprus, Palestine and other places, finally settling in Mistra, in Mistra he taught and wrote philosophy, astronomy, history and geography, and compiled digests of many classical writers. His pupils included Basilios Bessarion and George Scholarius and he was made chief magistrate by Theodore II. Plethon was the author of De Differentiis, a comparison between Plato and Aristotles conceptions of God. Scholarios later defended Aristotle and convinced the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos that Plethons support for Plato amounted to heresy, Manuel had Plethon confined in Mistra, though he remained something of a celebrity. He also wrote a Summary of the Doctrines of Zoroaster and Plato and these works did not help to clear him of the charge of heresy. He also wrote about the condition of the Peloponnesus, compiled several volumes of excerpts from ancient authors, and wrote a number of works on geography, music, and other subjects. In 1428 Gemistos was consulted by Emperor John VIII on the issue of unifying the Greek and Latin churches, despite being a secular philosopher, Plethon was chosen to accompany John VIII on the basis of his renowned wisdom and morality. Other delegates included Plethons former students Bessarion, Mark Eugenikos and Scholarios, as a secular scholar, Plethon was often not needed at the council. Instead, at the invitation of some Florentine humanists he set up a school to lecture on the difference between Plato and Aristotle. Cosimo de Medici attended these lectures and was inspired to found the Accademia Platonica in Florence, because of this, Plethon is considered one of the most important influences on the Italian Renaissance. Plethon may also have been the source for Ficinos Orphic system of natural magic, while still in Florence, Plethon summarised his lectures in a volume titled On the Differences of Aristotle from Plato, commonly called De Differentiis. George Scholarius responded with a Defence of Aristotle, which elicited Plethons subsequent Reply, expatriate Byzantine scholars and later Italian humanists continued the argument. After his return to the Peloponnese, Gemistos founded a school and he taught polytheism as opposed to monotheism, and some of his students prayed to statues of the pagan deities
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Duchy of Athens
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The first duke of Athens was Otto de la Roche, a minor Burgundian knight of the Fourth Crusade. Although he was known as the Duke of Athens from the foundation of the duchy in 1205, instead, Otto proclaimed himself Lord of Athens. The local Greeks called the dukes Megas Kyris, from which the shortened form Megaskyr, like the rest of Latin Greece, however, the Duchy recognized the suzerainty of Charles I of Sicily after the Treaties of Viterbo in 1267. The Duchy occupied the Attic peninsula as well as Boeotia and extended partially into Thessaly, sharing a border with Thessalonica. It did not hold the islands of the Aegean Sea, which were Venetian territories, the buildings of the Acropolis in Athens served as the palace for the dukes. The Duchy was held by the family of la Roche until 1308, walters son Walter VI of Brienne retained only the lordship of Argos and Nauplia, where his claims to the Duchy were still recognized. In 1312, the Catalans recognized the suzerainty of King Frederick III of Sicily, the ducal title remained in the hands of the Crown of Aragon until 1388, but actual authority was exercised by a series of vicars-general. In 1318/19 the Catalans conquered Siderokastron and the south of Thessaly as well, part of Thessaly was conquered from the Catalans by the Serbs in the 1340s. The principal towns and villages were represented by the síndic, which had their own councils, judges and notaries were elected for life or even as inherited offices. In 1379 the Navarrese Company, in the service of the Latin emperor James of Baux, conquered Thebes, meanwhile, the Aragonese kept another part of Neopatras and Attica. After 1381 the Duchy was ruled by the Kings of Sicily until 1388 when the Acciaioli family of Florence captured Athens, from 1395 to 1402 the Venetians briefly controlled the Duchy. In 1444 Athens became a tributary of Constantine Palaeologus, the despot of Morea, in 1456, after the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey conquered the remnants of the Duchy. Despite the Ottoman conquest, the title of Duke of Athens and Neopatras continued in use by the kings of Aragon, Athens was the seat of a metropolitan archdiocese within the Patriarchate of Constantinople when it was conquered by the Franks. The see, however, was not of importance, being the twenty-eighth in precedence in the Byzantine Empire, nonetheless, it had produced the prominent clergyman Michael Choniates. It was a metropolitan see with eleven suffragans at the time of conquest, Euripus, Daulia, Coronea, Andros, Oreos, Scyrus, Karystos, Porthmus, Aulon, Syra and Seriphus, and Ceos and Thermiae. The customs of the church of Paris were imported to Athens, antonio Ballester, however, an educated Catalan, had a successful career in Greece as archbishop. The Parthenon, which had been the Orthodox church of the Theotokos Atheniotissa, the Greek Orthodox church survived as an underground institution without official sanction by the governing Latin authorities. The Greek clergy had not typically been literate in the century and their education certainly worsened under Latin domination
