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Medieval Greece to Ottoman Rule
From the division (A.D. 395) of the Roman Empire into East and West until the conquest (15th cent.) of Greece by the Ottoman Turks, Greece shared the fortunes and vicissitudes of the Byzantine Empire. The victory (378) of the Visigoths over Emperor Valens at Adrianople marked the beginning of the frequent and devastating barbarian invasions of Greece; the Huns, Avars, Slavs, and Bulgars followed.
Greek power and prestige were restored by the Macedonian dynasty of Byzantine emperors (867–1025); however, the center of the Greek world was Constantinople, not Greece proper. In the 11th cent. the Seljuk Turks began making inroads into the empire, the Normans attacked Epirus, and the Crusades commenced. The Fourth Crusade led in 1204 to the temporary disintegration of the Byzantine Empire and the creation of a feudal state (see Constantinople, Latin Empire of) under the rule of French, Flemish, and Italian nobles and of Venice.
The restored Byzantine Empire (1261–1453) recovered only parts of Greece, most of which continued under the rule of French and Italian princes until conquered by the Ottoman Turks (completed in 1456). Genoa held KhIos until 1566; Venice retained Crete until 1669 and the Ionian Islands until 1797. In its numerous wars with the Ottomans, Venice also held Athens, Evvoia, and several other ports and islands for brief intermittent periods prior to 1718.
Under the Ottoman Empire, Greece was merely one of many exploited territories. The Turks practiced religious tolerance, but otherwise their regime was grasping and oppressive. Many Greek families (notably the Phanariots; see under Phanar) were important in the administration of the empire, and the Greek merchants living in Constantinople and in the ports of Asia Minor, notably Izmir (Smyrna), were very prosperous; but Greece itself languished in obscurity and poverty.
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