The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos (1449–1453), a former Morean despot, was, installed at Mystras rather than Constantinople, his predecessors. Mystras maintained its dominance in the Morea, notwithstanding this agreement. The Despotate of the Morea was divided between two or three despots in its closing decades. In 1423 CE, the raid reached Mystras proper. In 13 CE invasions, the Ottomans managed to breach the wall. This optimism quickly turned out to be unfounded. They hoped the Hexamilion wall would keep the Ottoman Turks at bay while allowing the Morea to prosper and preserve Byzantine culture under Mystras’ direction. The younger sons of the ruling Byzantine dynasty of Palaiologos-Theodore I, Theodore II, Constantine, and lastly, Thomas and Demetrios-ruled as despots after Manuel, followed by his brother Matthew Kantakouzenos. The Morea capital city, Mystras, benefited from this prosperity and expanded to become a major metropolis. Mystras was the provincial capital from this point on, but it was not until the first tyrant was selected to administer the Morea in 1349 CE that it became the kingdom’s capital.Īlthough Mystras and the surrounding province were still firmly under Byzantine rule, Manuel essentially ruled an area on his own, following his policies and taking over his father’s administration because of the distance to Constantinople. Still, the Principality of Achaea steadily deteriorated until, by the middle of the fourteenth century CE, it was no longer a significant danger to the Byzantine territories in the Peloponnese. The kings of Naples and the princes of Achaea made threats and engaged in border skirmishes. Restoration of the Byzantine The Laconian plain as a whole was ruled by the Byzantines throughout the next ten years. Since the Greek population had relocated to Mystras, Lacedemonia was mainly uninhabited at the time and was abandoned after the Franks withdrew. The following year, a Byzantine force attempted to retake the surrounding territory but was repelled by the Franks.Īn Achaean army even attacked Mystras, but driving out the Byzantine garrison was difficult. The Greek inhabitants of Lacedomonia quickly migrated to Mystras, where they could be treated equally with other residents rather than as social outcasts, as the city was still under Frankish control.Īdditionally, the insurgents Milengi and Mystras came to terms with recognising Byzantine rule.
Mystras was a remote Byzantine outpost in the middle of Frankish Achaean territory when it was initially settled. Mystras Castle became Byzantine in 1262 CE. Michael VIII Palaiologos (1259–1282 CE), the emperor of Nicaea (soon to be the emperor of the reconstituted Byzantine Empire after the seizure of Constantinople in 1261 CE), defeated William in the Battle of Pelagonia in 1259 CE, and William was captured. The hill’s original name was Mizithra, but it eventually changed to Mystras. William II of Villehardouin, Prince of Achaea (reigned 1246–1278 CE), erected a massive castle atop one of the Taygetus Mountains’ foothills in 1249 CE. Mystras - 10 Impressive Facts, History and More 7 History of Mystras It now belongs to the Sparti municipality due to the local government reform in 2011. It was abandoned in the 1830s, and a new town called Sparti was established about eight kilometres to the east. The location was still inhabited during the Ottoman era when it was mistaken for ancient Sparta by Western travellers. High-calibre architects and artists were also drawn to the city. The Palaeologan Renaissance, which included the teachings of Gemistos Plethon, brought prosperity and cultural flowering to the region. Located on Mount Taygetos, close to the ancient city of Sparta, it served as the seat of the Byzantine Despotate of Morea in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In Greece’s Laconia region of the Peloponnese, there lies a fortified town called Mystras.
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