Greece

   By Greece (Hellas) medieval writers usually refer to central Greece and the Peloponnesos (q.v.), in other words to regions south of Thermopylae (q.v.). The territorial extent of the late-seventh century theme of Hellas (qq.v.) is debated, but certainly it included the Peloponnesos and the eastern part of central Greece, which is to say Boeotia, and perhaps Thessaly (qq.v.). Byzantium (q.v.) twice lost control of much of Greece. The first time was when the Slavs (q.v.) settled throughout much of Greece in the late sixth century. Nikephoros I (q.v.) took the first significant steps toward restoration of Byzantine control. By the 11th century, urban and agricultural prosperity was restored. The second time was in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (q.v.), when Greece became divided into competing minor states that included the principality of Achaia (q.v.), the despotate of Epiros (q.v.), and the despotate of Morea (q.v.). The last part of Byzantium to fall was not Constantinople in 1453, but Mistra (q.v.) in 1460.