The castle
The
castle of Mystras
or Myzithra was
founded in
1249 by
the Frankish
Prince
William II
de Villehardouin .
It lies on the top of a
mound in the foothills of Mt. Taygetus,
a few miles to the north-west
of Lacedaemon, as Sparta
was known
in the Byzantine era.
The hill is
naturally
fortified; it is completely inaccessible from the south and
southeast,
as the rock
rises almost
vertically
to
an incredible height.
However,
the view of the
Eurotas river
valley
is
not
blocked
by
anything
to
the north, east and
south -
the
site is
crucial
to controlling
the area. The
name Mystras
is
probably derived
from
some
landowner
in the area
whose surname
or profession
was
Myzithras (a
cheese maker).
The
Franks
built
a strong
castle
for the
effective control
of
the south
Peloponnese.
However,
in order to free
William after the
Battle
of
Pelagonia
in
1259, three years later they were forced to surrender
the fortresses
of Monemvasia,
Mani and Mystras
to the Byzantines.
Over the
next
few
years,
the security provided
by the
hill
prompted the
people of Lacedaemon
and
the surrounding
villages to settle on
the hillside
below
the castle.
There
they built houses,
using
marble
and
other
building
material from the
ruins
of ancient
Sparta
and their former
properties.
The Diocese of Lacedaemon
moved
its headquarters
to Mystras in
1264, followed in 1289 by the annually elected general at the head of the military
in the Morea. The cathedral
dedicated
to Agios
Demetrios
was built
in the
last third
of the 13th
century,
possibly
by Bishop
Eugene,
and was renovated
by Nicephorus
Moschopoulos
from Constantinople.
Outstanding figures in
Mystras must have included Daniel
and
chancellor
Pachomius, who founded
Agioi Theodoroi (before 1296) and Aphentiko (1310), the two successive
catholica
at Vrontochi
Monastery. From
1308 onwards the annually elected commander was replaced by a permanently appointed
official.
In
1348 Mystras became capital of the Despotate of the Morea , first governed by Manuel
Cantcuzenus (1348-1380), second son of Emperor John VI. Manuel wedded Princess Isabella,
the daughter of Guy de Lusignan, King of Armenia Minor. To Greeks she is better
known as Isabeau, from a widely read fictional biography. In around 1350 Manuel
founded the Monastery of the Zoodochos Christos (the Life-giving Christ), which
has been identified as the present day church of Agia Sophia.
Isabella appears to have founded Peribleptos Monastery at about the same time.
In
1383 the command of Mystras passed from the Cantacuzenus family to the
Palaeologus family, which then held the throne in Constantinople.
Theodore I Palaeologus, son of Emperor John V, put a stop to the separatist
aspirations of Demetrios, last of the Cantacuzeni. The administration of
Mystras always depended on the delicate balance between enemies and friends. On
the one hand, the city’s inhabitants had high morale and a strong sense of
national consciousness, as a result of years of war and forced cohabitation
with the Franks, Venetians and Albanians, who had begun to arrive in the
Peloponnese in waves from the 13th century onwards, as well as with Jews, who had
settled on the outskirts of the city. The inhabitants reacted vigorously when
Theodore attempted to lease Mystras to the Knights Hospitaller in 1402, thus cancelling
the settlement. On the other hand, there were continuous conflicts between the
rulers and the population over high taxation and other burdens. In 1423 the
Ottomans pillaged the Peloponnese, but in
1429, after the successes of Theodore II Palaeologus and the new emperor John
VIII, a new Despotate was created with Glarentza as its capital, followed in
1430 by a third based at Kalavryta. It was then, in this period of final
triumph, that the monasteries of the Annunciation and Pantanassa were built at Mystras. However, of
the three Palaeologus brothers who laid claim to rule of the Morea and even of
Constantinople itself - Theodore, Thomas and Constantine - only the latter
remained in Mystras until 1449. He then left for the capital to ascend the
throne, without having been officially crowned. After 1453 the Ottomans had the
upper hand in the Peloponnese, and it was only
a matter of time before they conquered the last Byzantine strongholds. In 1460
Demetrios Palaeologus surrendered Mystras to Mehmet II, when threatened by his
mighty army, while Thomas left to Italy from Patras.
Mystras
was
a
large
city
for
its time,
and
the
heart
of the Peloponnese
for close on
two
centuries.
Major
figures
of the time
walked
its narrow
streets -
laymen
and clergy who
determined not
only the
fate
of the city,
but possibly
also that of Europe.
The most famous of all was the
philosopher
Georgius
Gemistus
Plethon,
who held high
government office.
Indeed, at the
synod on the Union of the Churches, it was
Plethon
who
led to the revival of
interest in
classical
culture
in
Florence.
In 1464,
during the unsuccessful
Venetian siege
of Mystras,
Lord Sigismondo
Malatesta
managed to
enter the city
and
loot
the corpse
of
Plethon, which
he deposited
alongside
those of
other
wise men
at
his court
in
Rimini.
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