Great Maina
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Great Maina
Grand Ma ne (French for "Great Maina", in ) or Vieux Ma ne ("Old Maina", in ) was a Frankish castle in the Mani Peninsula, Greece. It was built, according to the ''Chronicle of the Morea'', ca. 1248–1250 AD by William II Villehardouin, the Prince of Achaea in order to control the Slavic tribe of the Melingoi, living on Mount Taygetos. He was captured by the Byzantines in 1259 at the Battle of Pelagonia, and had to give up the castle as part of his ransom. The location of the castle is not clear. Modern usage refers to the castle of Porto Kagio as "Mani", but medieval portolans place the castle of Grand Magne on the western shore of the peninsula and its fortification was not mentioned by portolans or travelers before about 1568. Another candidate is the settlement of Tigani, but although a sizeable medieval town it shows no traces of having been the site of a Crusader fortress. Antoine Bon preferred the nearby site of Cavo Grosso (Cape Thyrides), known as Kastro tis Orias, where ...
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French Language
French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French (Francien language, Francien) largely supplanted. It was also substratum (linguistics), influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul and by the Germanic languages, Germanic Frankish language of the post-Roman Franks, Frankish invaders. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, it was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, and numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole, were established. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Fra ...
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Battle Of Pelagonia
The Battle of Pelagonia or Battle of Kastoriae.g. ; . took place in early summer or autumn 1259, between the Empire of Nicaea and an anti-Nicaean alliance comprising Despotate of Epirus, Kingdom of Sicily and the Principality of Achaea. It was a decisive event in the history of the Eastern Mediterranean, ensuring the eventual reconquest of Constantinople and the end of the Latin Empire in 1261. The rising power of Nicaea in the southern Balkans, and the ambitions of its ruler, Michael VIII Palaiologos, to recover Constantinople, led the formation of a coalition between the Epirote Greeks, under Michael II Komnenos Doukas, and the chief Latin rulers of the time, the Prince of Achaea, William of Villehardouin, and Manfred of Sicily. The details of the battle, including its precise date and location, are disputed as the primary sources give contradictory information; modern scholars usually place it either in July or in September, somewhere in the plain of Pelagonia or near Kasto ...
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Medieval Laconia
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early Middle Ages, Early, High Middle Ages, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralised authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the ...
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Castles And Fortifications Of The Principality Of Achaea
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a mansion, palace, and villa, whose main purpose was exclusively for ''pleasance'' and are not primarily fortresses but may be fortified. Use of the term has varied over time and, sometimes, has also been applied to structures such as hill forts and 19th- and 20th-century homes built to resemble castles. Over the Middle Ages, when genuine castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, were commonplace. European-style castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries after the fall of the Carolingian Empire, which resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. These nobles built castles ...
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Kelefa
Kelefa () is a castle and village in Mani, Laconia, Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of Oitylo. History The castle of Kelefa is located about half-way between the current village of Kelefa and the Bay of Oitylo. It was built in 1679 by the Ottomans, in order to contain the Inner Mani region. Some years later, in 1685, the Maniots besieged the castle. They sent messengers to Venice so the Doge could send a fleet to help them capture the castle. The Venetians were currently at war with the Ottomans so they agreed and sent a fleet under Francesco Morosini. As soon the fleets bearing the Lion of Saint Mark the Ottoman garrison surrendered. A year later the Ottomans returned with a strong force and laid siege to the castle but were driven back. Along with the rest of the Peloponnese, the castle remained in Venetian hands for about 30 years, but in 1715 the Ottomans recaptured the Peloponnese. Around 1780 the Ottomans abandoned the castle, which became derelict. Now Kelefa i ...
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Expédition Scientifique De Morée
The Morea expedition () is the name given to the land intervention of the French Army in the Peloponnese between 1828 and 1833, at the time of the Greek War of Independence, with the aim of expelling the Ottoman-Egyptian occupation forces from the region. It was also accompanied by a Science, scientific expedition mandated by the Institut de France, French Academy. After the Siege of Messolonghi (1825), fall of Messolonghi in 1826, the Western European powers decided to intervene in favour of revolutionary Greece. Their primary objective was to force Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt, Ibrahim Pasha, the Ottoman Empire's Egypt under Muhammad Ali and his successors, Egyptian ally, to evacuate the occupied regions and the Peloponnese. The intervention began when a Bourbon Restoration in France, Franco-Russian Empire, Russo-United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British fleet was sent to the region and won the Battle of Navarino in October 1827, destroying the entire Turkish-Egyptian fl ...
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Kastro Tis Orias, Mani
Dryalos (Δρύαλος) or Dry (Δρυ) is a village in the municipal unit of Oitylo, Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. A nearby hilltop, high, is named "Kastro tis Orias" ("Castle of the Fair Maiden"), and is sometimes given as the site of the medieval castle the Grand Magne Grand Ma ne ( French for "Great Maina", in ) or Vieux Ma ne ("Old Maina", in ) was a Frankish castle in the Mani Peninsula, Greece. It was built, according to the ''Chronicle of the Morea'', ca. 1248–1250 AD by William II Villehardouin, the Princ ..., but it has no remains of a castle.J. M. Wagstaff, "Further Observations on the Location of Grand Magne", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'' 45:141-148 (1991) , p. 143-144. Notes External links Official site Populated places in Laconia East Mani Populated places in the Mani Peninsula {{Peloponnese-geo-stub ...
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Tigani
Tigani (Τηγάνι) is a small peninsula in the landscape of Mani in southern Greece. The name is Greek for "frying pan". Tigani is surrounded by the sea except for a narrow strip of land that connects to the mainland. The ruins of a probable medieval castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ... can be found there. Its position and its walls made it extremely hard to capture. Megali Maina Many historians believe that Tigani is the location of the castle ''Megali Maina'' (also called ''Grande Magne'') because Tigani fits elements of historic descriptions of ''Megali Maina''. External links Where is the castle of the Grand Magne?Exploring mysterious Tigani (in German) {{coord, 36.54484, N, 22.36584, E, type:landmark_region:GR_dim:2500, display=title Peninsulas of G ...
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Portolan
Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian ''portolano'', meaning "related to ports or harbors", and which since at least the 17th century designates "a collection of sailing directions". Definition The term "portolan chart" was coined in the 1890s because at the time it was assumed that these maps were related to portolani, medieval or early modern books of sailing directions. Other names that have been proposed include rhumb line charts, compass charts or loxodromic charts whereas modern French scholars prefer to call them nautical charts to avoid any relationship with portolani. Several definitions of portolan chart coexist in the literature. A narrow definition includes only medieval or, at the latest, early modern sea charts (i.e. maps that primarily cover maritime rather than inland regions) that include a network of rhumb line ...
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Porto Kagio
Porto Kagio or Porto Káyio () is a seaside village in the East Mani municipality on the eastern side of the Mani Peninsula, Greece. It faces a small bay off the Laconian Gulf and is about three miles north of Cape Matapan, the southernmost tip of the Mani Peninsula and of mainland Greece. History The site was that of the ancient port of Psamathous, mentioned by Pausanias. The modern name comes from the Venetian ''Porto Quaglio'' and the French (Frankish) ''Port des Cailles'' (Quail Port). Some 17th- and 18th-century maps called it "Maina", so some authors consider it to be a possible location for the castle of Grand Magne, but medieval portolans mention no such castle here. The Ottomans built a castle here in about 1568, to protect the port, which was used for galleys patrolling the Kythera Channel. The Venetians attacked the castle in 1570, and the Ottomans surrendered and abandoned it.J. M. Wagstaff, "Further Observations on the Location of Grand Magne", ''Dumbarton ...
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Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th centuryAD, it endured until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'. During the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the western provinces were Romanization (cultural), Latinised, but the eastern parts kept their Hellenistic culture. Constantine the Great, Constantine I () legalised Christianity and moved the capital to Constantinople. Theodosius I, Theodosius I () made Christianity the state religion and Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. The empire adopted a defensive strategy and, throughout its remaining history, expe ...
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Mani Peninsula
The Mani Peninsula (), also long known by its medieval name Maina or Maïna (), is a geographical and cultural region in the Peloponnese of Southern Greece and home to the Maniots (), who claim descent from the ancient Spartans. The capital city of Mani is Areopoli. Mani is the central of three peninsulas which extend southwards from the Peloponnese. To the east is the Laconian Gulf, to the west the Messenian Gulf. The Mani peninsula forms a continuation of the Taygetos mountain range, the western spine of the Peloponnese. Etymology There are many theories regarding the etymology of the word Mani. The most accepted one is that it represents the natural evolution of the medieval name of the region, which was Maini, of uncertain origin. The name "Mani" may come from the name of the Frankish castle ''le Grand Magne''. Geography The terrain is mountainous and inaccessible. Until recent years many Mani villages could be reached only by sea. Today a narrow and winding road ...
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