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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 January 2016
The various groups of fortifications that were in use in Messenia during the period of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries are examined. Five categories are distinguished based on their position, size and defensive features. It is concluded that the fortifications were directly linked to the new social and political reality that prevailed in the area between the dismantlement of the Byzantine empire in 1204 and the Ottoman conquest in the second half of the fifteenth century.
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2 For e.g., see Cooper, F. A. (ed.), Houses of the Morea: Vernacular Architecture of the Northwest Peloponnesos (1205-1955). Σπίτια του Μορέα: παραδοσιακή αρχιτεκτονική της Βορειοδυτικής Πελοποννήσου (1205-1955) (Athens 2002)Google Scholar; Jameson, M.H., Runnels, C.N., van Andel, T.H., A Greek Countryside: the Southern Argolid from Prehistory to the Present Day (Stanford 1994)Google Scholar; Mee, C., Forbes, H. (eds.), A Rough and Rocky place: the Landscape and Settlement History of the Methana Peninsula, Greece.-Results of the Methana Project (Liverpool 1997)Google Scholar. Also, Morrisson, C., ‘L’ouverture des marchés après 1204: un aspect positif de la IVe croisade?’, in Laiou, A. (ed.), Urbs Capta, the Fourth Crusade and its Consequences (Paris 2005) 229 Google Scholar.
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11 For a general historic account of the period, see Miller, W., The Latins in the Levant, a History of Frankish Greece (1204-1566) (London 1908) 36–40, 50-65, 86-90, 98-102, 113-8, 120-31, 145-8, 161-4, 177-8, etc.Google Scholar; Lock, P., The Franks in the Aegean, 1204-1500 (New York 1995) 73–95, 127-34Google Scholar.
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13 Hodgetts, C., Lock, P., ‘Some village fortifications in the Venetian Peloponnese’, in Lock, P., Sanders, G. D. R. (eds.), The Archaeology of Medieval Greece (Oxford 1996) 77-8Google Scholar; Thiriet, F., La Romanie Vénitienne au moyen âge, Le développement et l’exploitation du domaine colonial vénitien (Xll-Xve siècles) (Paris 1959) 86-7, n.l Google Scholar; Nanetti, , ‘Βενετία και Πελοπόννησος’, 38, 40-1Google Scholar. For the text of the treaty, see Fr.Tafel, G. L., Thomas, G.M., Urkunden zur älteren Handels— und Staatsgeschichte der Republik Yenedig (Vienna 1856) 96–100 Google Scholar; Nanetti, A., Il patto con Geoffroy de Villehardovin per il Peloponneso 1209 (Rome 2009)Google Scholar.
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16 The Chronicle of Morea, To Χρονικόν τον Μορέως, a history in political verse relating the establishment of feudalism in Greece by the Franks in the thirteenth century, ed. Schmitt, J. (London 1904), vv 1690-7Google Scholar.
17 For a short description and historic account of the city during the Ottoman period, see Papathanaso-poulos, G., Papathanasopoulos, Th., nòL•ç-TlOlia, Οδοιπορικό στοχώρο και στο χρόνο (Athens 2000) 48–62 Google Scholar; Bennet, J., Davis, J. L., Harlan, D.K., ‘The Fortress of Anavarin-i cedid’, in Zarinebaf, , Bennet, , Davis, , A Historical and Economic Geography of Ottoman Greece, 241-64Google Scholar.
18 For e.g., Sathas, K.N., Μνημεία Ελληνικής Ιστορίας. Monumenta Hellenicae Históriáé. Documents inédits relatives à l’histoire de la Grèce au moyen âge, 9 vols, (Venice and Paris 1880-96)Google Scholar; Thiriet, F., Régestes des Délibérations du Sénat de Venise concernant la Romanie, 3 vols, (Paris—The Hague 1958-61)Google Scholar; Hodgetts, Ch., The Colonies of Coron and Modon under Venetian Administration, 1204-1400 (London 1974)Google Scholar; Nanetti, A., Documenta Veneta Coroni & Methoni Rogata, I, pars prima (Athens 1999)Google Scholar; idem, Documenta Veneta Coroni & Methoni Rogata, I, pars secunda (Athens 2007).
19 Travellers’ accounts concerning the castle of Methoni are collected in Foutakis, P., Γροαπές και εικονογραφικές μαρτνρίες, μορφή ενετικής διοίκησης και εραλδική κωδικολογία του κάστρου της Μεθώνης (Paris 2000-2001)Google Scholar.
20 For the procedure of the diffusion of practices, techniques and technologies between the Venetian metropolis and the colonies, see Concina, E., ‘ “Apis argumentosa”: Venice, the Mediterranean and the techniques in the “Stato da Mar” ‘, in Τεχνογνωσία στη Λατινοκρατούμενη Ελλάδα, Ημερίδα, Αθήνα 8 Φεβρουαρίου 1997 (Athens 2000) 125-6Google Scholar.
21 Pepper, S., ‘Fortress and fleet: the defence of Venice’s mainland Greek colonies in the late fifteenth century’, in Chambers, D.S., Clough, C.H., Mallett, M.E. (eds.), War, Culture and Society in Renaissance Venice, Essays in Honour of John Hale (London 1993) 40 Google Scholar; Kontogiannis, , ‘Κάστρα και οχυρώσεις’, 524 Google Scholar.
22 Andrews, Castles of the Morea, 74-5; Kontogiannis, N. and Aggelopoulou, I., ‘The Venetian city of Modone in SW Peloponnese: the archaeological evidence’, in Guštin, M., Gelichi, S., Spindler, K. (eds.), The Heritage of the Serenissima, the Presentation of the Architectural and Archaeological Remains of the Venetian Republic, Proceedings of the International Conference, Izola-Venezia 4-9.11.2005 (Koper 2006) 224 Google Scholar.
23 Andrews, Castles of the Morea, 70-2; Pepper, , ‘Fortress and fleet’, 36, fig. iiiGoogle Scholar; Foutakis, P., ‘Χρονολόγηση ενετικών οχυρώσεων του κάστρου της Μεθώνης’, Αρχαιολογία και Τέχνες 87 (2003) 64-5Google Scholar; Ενετοί και Ιωαννίτες, 74 [catalogue entry: N. Kontogiannis]; Kontogiannis, and Aggelopoulou, , ‘The Venetian city of Modone’, 223-4Google Scholar.
24 Andrews, Castles of the Morea, 17-8, fig.4; Pepper, ‘Fortress and fleet’, 38-9; Ενετοί και Ιωαννίτες, 71 [catalogue entry: N. Kontogiannis].
25 The castle of Zamata will not be examined here, since without further research it is impossible to securely discern the form or the architectural remains of the medieval period. The castle, which was in use in the 15th century under Byzantine rule, underwent substantial repairs and additions in subsequent periods of Ottoman and Venetian rule, see Ενετοί και Ιωαννίτες, 62-3 [catalogue entry: N. Bouza]; Μανιάτικοι Οικισμοί [Δίκτυο Μουσείων Μάνης 1] (Athens 2004) 48-9 [catalogue entry: N. Bouza and N. Kontogiannis].
26 Miller, The Latins, 384-92; Lock, The Franks, 109-10, 132-4, 159-60.
27 Chronicle ofMorea, vv. 1679-1689, 1756-1790.
28 Bon, La Morée Franque, pi. 92, 99.
29 Müller-Wiener, W., Castles of the Crusaders, trans. Brownjohn, J. Maxwell (London 1966) 14 Google Scholar; Boase, T.S.R., ‘Military architecture in the crusader states in Palestine and Syria’, in Hazard, H.W. (ed.), A History of the Crusades, IV: The Art and Architecture of the Crusader States (Madison 1977) 144-5Google Scholar; Spiteri, S., Fortresses of the Cross, Hospitaller Military Architecture (1136-1798) (Malta 1994) 4–9 Google Scholar; Kennedy, H., Crusader Castles (Cambridge 1994) 187 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Smail, R.C., Crusading warfare (1097-1193) (Cambridge 1956) 226-30Google Scholar.
30 Dori, E., Velissariou, P., Michailidis, M., Κάτω Κάστρο, η πρώτη φάση των ανασκαφών στο Βενετικό Φρούριο της Χώρας Άνδρου[Ανδριακά Χρονικά 34] (Andros 2003) 196-7, 202Google Scholar.
31 Andrews, Castles of the Morea, 85-7; Bon, La Morée Franque, 669-70; Ενετοί και Ιωαννίτες, 84-5 [catalogue entry: N. Bouza].
32 The part of the castle which faces the modern city of Kyparissia was cleared of thick vegetation in 2005. A group of house complexes was revealed, obviously of early modern date, which must have been built in contact with the wall.
33 We could mention, e.g., the large cisterns from the 13th—15th centuries in the castles of Skyros (personal observation), Andros (Dori, Velissariou, Michailidis, Κάτω Κάστρο, 58-70), Leondari, Arkadia ( Sarantakis, P., Αρκαδία, ox aicponóL•iç, та κάστρα και οι πύργοι της, σιωττηλά ερείπια μιας δοξασμένης γης (Athens n.d.) 125-9)Google Scholar, Leuktron-Beaufort (Bon, La Morée Franque, 504; Mανιάτικοι Οικισμοί,46, fig.l8 [catalogue entry: N. Bouza and N. Kontogiannis]), Methoni (Andrews, Castles of the Morea, 82; N. Kontogiannis and I. Grigoropoulou, To Κάστρο τηςΜεθώνης, forthcoming), and Akrokorinthos ( Bon, A., ‘The medieval fortifications of Acrocorinth and vicinity’, in Carpenter, R., Bon, A. (eds.), The Defenses of Acrocorinth and the Lower Town [Corinth ΙΠ.2] (Harvard 1936) 257-9, figs. 212-3Google Scholar; Koumousi, A., Ακροκόρινθος (Athens 2001) 31-2)Google Scholar. Interesting examples from the lands of late Byzantine states are to be found in the castles of Berat, Albania ( Ćurčić, S., Chatzitryphonos, E. (eds.), Κοσμική μεσαιωνική αρχιτεκτονική στα Βαλκάνια 1300-1500 και η διατήρησή της (Thessaloniki 1999) 114 [catalogue entry: Gh. Karaiskaj]), and Gynaikokastro, , Macedonia, (Κοσμική μεσαιωνική αρχιτεκιονική, 112, figs. 6-8 [catalogue entry: A.Tourta])Google Scholar.
34 Andrews, Castles of the Morea, 87-8, fig. 95.
35 Bon and Andrews believed that the tower dated to before the 13th century, and was therefore not a Frankish construction. Their dating was probably based, on the one hand, on the fine masonry of ancient reused blocks (Bon, La Morée Franque, 670; Andrews, Castles of the Morea, 88), and, on the other, on the explicit mention of a central tower during the Frankish conquest (Chronicle of Morea, v. 1774). This is perhaps why they did not identify this building with a Frankish keep. In any case, it is a construction that stands out from the rest of the fortification by its size and commanding position; it can function as the main defence point, and therefore has been allotted all the features of a medieval keep.
36 Andrews, Castles of the Morea, 34–5, figs. 32-3; Ενετοί και Ιωαννίτες ϊππότες, 64—5 [catalogue entry: N. Bouza].
37 Bon, La Morée Franque, 666-8, pi. 93.
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40 Zias, N. and Kontogiannis, N., ‘Κάστρο Παλιού Ναβαρίνου: Εργασίες και πορίσματα της περιόδου 2001-2003',’, Εικοστό τέταρτο συμπόσιο βνζαντινής και μεταβνζαντινής αρχαιολογίας και τέχνης, πρόγραμμα και περιλήψεις εισηγήσεων και ανακοινώσεων (Athens 2004) 40-1Google Scholar
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50 For e.g. the Chronicle of Morea, the chronicle of George Sphrantzes (ed. Bekker, I. (Bonn 1838) 130-6)Google Scholar, or various documents listing fiefs and castles of Achaia ( Hopf, Ch. (ed.), Chroniques Gréco—romanes inédites ou peu connues (Berlin 1873) no. XI: 227–30Google Scholar; Longnon and Topping, Documents, 67-155).
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65 For e.g. the cave-castles of El Habis (early 12th century) and Tyron (mid-12th century): Deschamps, P., Le Crac des Chevaliers, étude historique et archéologique précédée d’une introduction général sur la Syrie Franque (Paris 1934) 77-8Google Scholar; Deschamps, P., La défense du royaume de Jérusalem, étude historique, géographique et monumentale (Paris 1939) 102-16, 210-20Google Scholar.
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68 This fortified cave is here presented for the first time. I would like to thank Vassilis Hatzos not only for indicating the location, but also for his immense help in climbing the abrupt rocky slope of the ravine.
69 In this respect they are essentially different from the towers in Euboia and Boiotia, which were regional centres, seats of local magnates, participating in the area’s system of agricultural exploitation. See Lock, P., ‘The Frankish towers of Central Greece’, ABSA 81 (1986) 107-11Google Scholar; idem, , ‘The towers of Euboea: Lombard or Venetian, agrarian or strategic’, in Lock, and Sanders, , Archaeology of Medieval Greece, 110-1Google Scholar.
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