Settlements and countryside of Messenia during the late Middle Ages: the testimony of the fortifications

Abstract

agrarian population that dwelled either in cities and villages of varying size or in small dispersed settlements. 3 Excavation data from middle Byzantine Nichoria 4 or late Byzantine Vasilitsi, 5 combined with the examination of the existing limited archival material, 6 revealed such permanent or temporary settlements. Inhabitants belonged to a handful of extended families engaged in the farming of the surrounding lands. They lived in humble dwellings of the typical 'monospito' (single-housed) type that were located around a small church which served their religious needs. 7 Conditions seem to have remained unaltered during the subsequent period of Ottoman rule and the early modern times, as manifested by the recent publications of Ottoman archival sources associated with the area of Pylos, 8 or the examination of nineteenth-century villages. 9 In the period between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, usually termed as late Byzantine or late middle ages, the function of defence prevailed. By and large, this came as the practical result of the need for self-preservation in the face of the constant dangers and invading enemies. Furthermore, an essential feature of medieval mentality was the distinction between defined and circumscribed areas of habitation and the countryside. 10 In this sense, walls not only protected their users but also acted to separate the walled cities from the dispersed settlements. This paper will not primarily ponder the relations and social structuring of the populations in the countryside and the cities of Messenia. Rather, its main aim is to examine the form, size and defensive features of fortifications. Subsequently, the paper will use these as pointers in order to shed more light on the significance of the populations under protection. In so doing, the fortifications in question may additionally provide an insight into the ways that populations were organised and transferred during this period.

The Economic Centrality of Urban Centers in the Medieval Peloponnese: Late 11th–Mid-14th Centuries

“…All of the port towns for the period in question are either fortified, e.g., Glarentza [81] (p. 26), or they are connected with a castle, e.g., Corinth and Acrocorinth, etc., [12] (pp. [21][22][23][24], [111] (p. 136), [112]. Therefore, all of them possess the safety service.…”

“…115,[121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][130][131][132]. Modon and Coron came under the control of the Republic of Venice, and they function as key links and important centers of trade in the overseas dominions of Venice in the eastern Mediterranean [21] (pp. 6-9).…”

“…In the battle of Pelagonia (1259), the princeps of Achaea, William II Villehardouin (1246-1278), was captured, and subsequently released in 1262, after the concession of the castles of Mystras, Monemvasia, and Maina in Laconia to the Byzantines [16] (p. 83), [22] (pp. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25], [23] (pp. 122-125), [24] (pp.…”