In the early-fifteenth century, the Peloponnesos (Morea) continued to be a zone of Greek-Latin confrontation, which started when the Fourth
In the early-fifteenth century, the Peloponnesos (Morea) continued to be a zone of Greek-Latin confrontation, which started when the Fourth Crusade participants conquered Byzantine territories. By the period under study, the balance of power on the peninsula radically changed, so the Romaioi of the Despotate of the Morea, led by the despotai of the Palaiologos dynasty (1383–1460), were pursuing the policy of conquest against the Latins of the Principality of Achaea. This article examines the impact of the Byzantine “Reconquista” in the Morea on the peninsula’s Latin population: the inhabitants of the Principality of Achaea, as well as the Venetian territories, which suffered collateral damage from regular clashes between their neighbours. The author uses Venetian documentary material and Byzantine narrative sources (historical works by George Sphrantzes, Laonikos Chalkokondyles, and Doukas, rhetorical works by Manuel II Palaiologos and George Gemistos Plethon) as the background to analyse how the Palaiologoi’s expansion changed the life of the Latin population and the Greeks’ attitude towards the latter. The conclusion is that the period in question was critical for the Latin population from not only political but also psychological and economic points of view. Extremely alarming feelings of the Latins were associated with the colossal economic damage from military actions and uncertainty about the future due to the small number of the Latin population in the Morea. Nevertheless, after the annexation of the Principality of Achaea by the Despotate of the Morea (1430), the Latins still found their place in the changed realities, but solely on Byzantine terms.
