History of Thessaly
[2] A distinct Thessalian tribal identity and culture first began to form from the 9th century BC on as a mixture of the local population and immigrants from Epirus, first in the region of the Pelasgiotis, with Pherae as its main centre.
[2] As a result of the First Sacred War (595–585 BC), the Thessalians briefly extended their sway over Phocis as well, but the Boeotians drove them back after the battles of Hyampolis and Ceressus in the mid-6th century.
[2] It was Aleuas Pyrrhos ("the Red") who cemented the aristocracy's predominance by reforming the Thessalian League on the basis of the "tetrads" (quadripartite division), linking it with the noble-controlled kleroi ("land lots") obliged to supply 40 horsemen and 80 infantrymen each.
[4] Being far from the Empire's frontiers, and of little strategic importance, Greece lacked any serious fortifications or permanently stationed garrisons, a situation that lasted until the 6th century and led to much devastation by barbarian raids.
[4][5] The Vandals under Geiseric raided the coasts of Greece in the period 466–475, and in 473 the Ostrogoths under Theodemir advanced into Thessaly and captured Larissa before Emperor Leo I gave in and allowed him and his people to settle in Macedonia.
Byzantium, confronted by long and bloody wars with Sassanid Persia in the east, and with the Avar Khaganate in the north, was largely unable to stop these raids.
[10] The Slavic settlement that followed the raids in the late 6th and early 7th centuries affected the Peloponnese in the south and Macedonia in the north far more than Thessaly or Central Greece, with the fortified towns largely remaining in the hands of the native Greek population.
[1] Emperor Constans II (r. 641–668) undertook in 658 the first attempt to restore imperial rule, and although his campaign was mostly carried out in the northern Aegean coast, it seems to have led to a relative pacification of the Slavic tribes in southern Greece as well, at least for a few years.
[13] Thus during the great Slavic siege of Thessalonica in c. 676–678 the tribe of the Belegezitai, who according to the Miracles of Saint Demetrius were settled around Demetrias and Phthiotic Thebes, provided the besieged city with grain.
[19] In 783, however, the eunuch minister Staurakios led a large-scale campaign across Greece from Thessalonica to the Peloponnese, subduing the local Slavs and forcing them to acknowledge imperial overlordship.
[26] The threat from Bulgaria remained, however, and in 986, during his wars with Basil II (r. 976–1025), the Bulgarian tsar Samuel sacked the city of Larissa and occupied Thessaly.
[26] The region enjoyed a long period of peace at this time, interrupted only by raids during the uprising of Petar Delyan (1040–1041), plundering by the Uzès in 1064, and the brief Norman attack into Thessaly in 1082–1083, which was beaten back by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118).
Coupled with the corruption and autocratic behaviour of officials, this led to a decline in industry and the impoverishment of the peasantry, eloquently lamented by the Metropolitan of Athens, Michael Choniates.
[34] In 1199–1201 Manuel Kamytzes, the rebellious son-in-law of Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos (r. 1195–1203), with the support of Dobromir Chrysos, the autonomous ruler of Prosek, established a short-lived principality in northern Thessaly, before he was overcome by an imperial expedition.
These documents mention the episkepseis (domains of the imperial family) of Platamon, Demetrias, the "two Halmyroi", Krevennika and Pharsalus, Domokos and Vesaina, the horion of Larissa and the "provinces" of Vlachia, Servia, and Velechativa, and the chartoularata of Dobrochouvista and Ezeros (Sthlanitsa in the Partitio), the latter evidently Slavic settlements.
[37] Following the sack of Constantinople and the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire by the Fourth Crusade in April 1204, Leo Sgouros, the Greek ruler of Nauplia, marched into central Greece.
[36][38] Boniface divided the captured lands among his followers: Platamon went to Rolando Piscia, Larissa and Halmyros to the Lombard Guglielmo, and Velestino to Berthold of Katzenellenbogen, while further south in Central Greece Bodonitza went to Guido Pallavicini, Gravia to Jacques de Saint Omer, Salona to Thomas d'Autremencourt, Thebes to the brothers Albertino and Rolando Canossa, Athens to Othon de la Roche, and Euboea (Negroponte) to Jacques d'Avesnes.
[39] The boundaries of the actual Kingdom of Thessalonica seem to have extended only up to Domokos, Pharsalus, and Velestino: the Spercheios valley in southern Thessaly, with the towns of Zetounion and Ravennika, was under governors appointed by the Latin Emperor.
[40] In 1212, however, Michael I Komnenos Doukas (r. 1205–1214/5), ruler of the independent Greek state of Epirus, led his troops into Thessaly, overrunning the resistance of the local Lombard nobles.
[52][a] Although he recognized the suzerainty of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282), receiving the title of sebastokrator in exchange, John I Doukas maintained a consistent anti-Palaiologan stance.
[58][60][61] In exchange for this aid, however, John gave his daughter Helena to the future Duke of Athens William de la Roche (r. 1280–1287), with the towns of Zetounion, Gardiki, Gravia, and Siderokastron as a dowry.
[65] Nevertheless, after John's death, his widow was compelled to recognize the suzerainty of Michael VIII's successor, Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328) to safeguard the position of her underage sons Constantine and Theodore.
[66][67] John II continued his grandfather's pro-Latin policy, maintaining particularly close relations with the Venetians, who imported agricultural produce from Thessaly.
Turning back, the Catalans captured Zetounion, Halmyros, Domokos and some thirty other fortresses, and plundered the rich plain of Thessaly, forcing the John Doukas to come to terms with Walter.
As a result, probably c. 1315, John too was forced to formalize his relations with the Byzantines, recognizing the Empire's suzerainty and marrying Irene Palaiologina, the illegitimate daughter of Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos.
The north came under control of the Byzantines from Thessalonica, while in the centre three rival magnates, Stephen Gabrielopoulos of Trikala, a certain Signorinos, and the Melissenos, or rather Maliasenos, family in the east around Volos, emerged.
[77] When Gabrielopoulos died in c. 1333, the Epirote ruler John II Orsini (r. 1323–1335) tried to take advantage of the situation and seize his lands, but the Byzantines under Andronikos III Palaiologos (r. 1328–1341) moved in and established direct control over the northern and western part of the region.
[83] In 1350, Kantakouzenos, now emperor, launched an attempt to reconquer Thessaly, but after capturing the towns of Lykostomion and Kastrion, he faltered before Servia, which was defended by Preljub himself.
[93] The area was generally peaceful, but banditry was endemic, and led to the creation of the first state-sanctioned Christian autonomies known as armatoliks, the earliest and most notable of which was that of Agrafa.
The early decades of Greek rule in Thessaly were dominated by the agricultural issue, as the area retained its Ottoman-era large landholdings (chifliks), and the landlords enjoyed great influence, essentially reducing their tenant farmers to serfdom.
