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A map showing Mani.

The Maniots (or Maniates; Greek: Μανιάτες) are the Greek inhabitants of the Mani Peninsula (the middle leg of the Peloponnese) located in the southern Peloponnese in the Greek prefecture of Laconia and prefecture of Messinia. They were also formerly known as Mainotes in English and the peninsula as Maina. Etymologically, the name "Maniot" means "one who comes from Mani". Geographically, the peninsula itself is an extension of the Taygetus mountain range. Modern Maniots claim descent from the ancient Lacedaemonians (Spartans).^{[citation needed]} Throughout history, the Maniots have been known by their neighbors and their enemies as fearless warriors who practice blood feuds.

As early as Byzantine times, the Maniots were also known as pirates, as a result of lack of raw materials and resources, and insufficient capital for trade.^{[citation needed]} For the most part, the Maniots lived in fortified villages (and "house-towers") where they defended their lands against the Ottomans and even against the armies of William II Villehardouin.

[edit] History

[edit] Ancient Mani

A map showing Classical Mani and Laconia.

[edit] Mycenaean Mani

Homer's "Catalogue of ships" in the Iliad mentions the cities of Mani: Messi (Mezapos), Oetylus (Oitylo), Kardamili (or Skardamoula), Gerenia, Teuthone (Kotronas) and Las (Passavas).^[1] Under the Mycenaeans, Mani flourished and a temple dedicated to the Greek god Apollo was built at Cape Tenaro. The temple was of such importance that it rivaled Delphi which was then a temple dedicated to Poseidon. Eventually, the temple of Tenaro was dedicated to Poseidon and the temple at Delphi was dedicated to Apollo. According to other legends, there is a cave near Tenaro that leads to Hades. Mani was also featured in other mythological tales such as the one where Helen of Troy and Paris spent their first night together on the island of Cranae, off the coast of Gytheio.^[2]

In the 12th century BC, the Dorians invaded Laconia. The Dorians originally settled at Sparta, but they soon started to expand their territory and by around 800 BC they had taken over Mani and the rest of Laconia. Mani's inhabitants were given the social caste of Perioeci.^[3] During that time, the Phoenicians came to Mani and were thought to have established a colony at Gythium. The Phoenicians built the colony at Gythium in order to collect murex, a sea shell that was used to make purple dye and was plentiful in the Laconian Gulf.^[4]

[edit] Classical Mani

While the Spartans ruled Mani, Tenaro became an important gathering place for mercenaries.^[5] Gythium became a major port under the Spartans as it was only 27 kilometres away from Sparta. In 455 BC, during the First Peloponnesian War, it was besieged and captured by the Athenian admiral, Tolmides, along with 50 triremes and 4,000 hoplites.^[4] The city and the dockyards were rebuilt and by the late Peloponnesian War, Gythium was the main building place for the new Spartan fleet.^[6] The Spartan leadership of the Peloponnese lasted until 371 BC, when the Thebans under Epaminondas defeated them at Leuctra. The Thebans launched a campaign against Laconia and managed to capture Gythium after a three day siege. The Thebans only briefly managed to hold Gythium, which was captured by 100 elite warriors posing as athletes.^[5]

[edit] Hellenistic Mani

During the Hellenistic period of Greece, Mani remained under Spartan control. The Macedonians under the command of Philip V of Macedon invaded Mani and Laconia (219 BC - 218 BC) and unsuccessfully besieged the cities of Gythium, Las and Asine.^[5] When Nabis took over the Spartan throne in 207 BC, he implemented some reforms. One of these reforms entailed making Gythium into a major port and naval arsenal.^[7] In 195 BC, during the Roman-Spartan War, the Roman Republic and the Achean League with assistance from a combined Pergamese and Rhodian captured Gythium after a lengthy siege.^[8]

The allies went on to besiege Sparta and forced Nabis to surrender. As part of the terms of the peace treaty, the coastal cities of Mani were liberated. The cities formed the Koinon of Free Laconians with Gythium as the capitol under Achean protection.^[5] Nabis not content with losing his land in Mani, built a fleet and strengthened his army and advanced upon Gythium in 192 BC.^[9] The Achean League's army and navy under Philopoemen, tried to relieve the city but the Achean navy was defeated off Gythium and the army was forced to retreat to Tegea.^[10] A Roman fleet under Atilius managed to re-capture Gythium later that year. Nabis was murdered later that year and Sparta was made part of the Achean League.^[11] However, the Spartans, while searching for a port, attacked Las and captured it. The Acheans responded by seizing Sparta and forcing their laws on it.^[12]

[edit] Roman Mani

The Maniots lived in peace until 146 BC with the advent of the Battle of Corinth. The conflict resulted in the destruction of Corinth by the forces of Lucius Mummius Achaicus and the annexation of the Achaean League by the Roman Republic. Even though the Romans conquered the Peloponnese, the Koinon was allowed to retain its independence. The Maniots suffered from pirate raids by Cretan and Cilicians who plundered Mani and pillaged the temple of Poseidon. The Maniots were delivered from the pirates when Pompey the Great defeated them. Most probably in gratitude, the Maniots supplied Pompey with archers in his battles against Julius Caesar during Caesar's civil war (49 BC - 45 BC).^[13]

During the Civil war between Antony and Octavian (32 BC - 30 BC), the Maniots and Laconians assisted Augustus by sending him men to join his navy. Augustus defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII of Egypt at the Battle of Actium (September 2, 31 BC) and in gratitude, he officially recognized the Koinon and visited Psamathous and it became a semi-independent state. This signified the beginning of the Golden Age of the Koinon.^[14][13]

Mani flourished under the Romans. The Koinon consisted of 24 cities (later 18), of which Gythium remained the prominent. However, some parts of Mani remained under the also semi-independent Sparta, the most notable being Asine and Karymili.^[13] The Mani became the center of the purple dye, which was popular in Rome as well as being well known for it's rose antique marble and porphyry.^[4] Las is recorded to have been a comfortable city with Roman baths and a gymnasium.^[15]

Pausanias the geographer left us a description of the town as it existed during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (reigned 161 - 180). The agora, the Acropolis, the island of Cranae (Marathonisi) where Paris celebrated his nuptials with Helen of Troy, the Migonium or precinct of Aphrodite Migonitis (occupied by the modern town), and the hill Larysium (Koumaro) rising above it. Nowadays, the most noteworthy remains of the theatre and the buildings partially submerged by the sea all belong to the Roman period.^[16]

The Koinon remained semi-independent until the provincial reforms of Roman Emperor Diocletian in 297. With the barbarian invasion affecting the Roman Empire, Mani became a haven for refugees. In 375, a massive earthquake in the area took its toll on Gythium which was severely devastated.^[14][15]

[edit] Medieval Mani

A map of the Byzantine Empire showing Mani and the eastern Peloponnese as part of the Empire (the rest of the Peloponnese was occupied by Avars), c. 717.

[edit] From Theodosius I to the Avar invasion

On January 17, 395, Theodosius I who had managed to unite the Roman Empire under his control died. His eldest son Arcadius succeeded him in the Eastern Roman Empire while his younger son Honorius received the Western Roman Empire. The Roman Empire had split for the last time and Mani became part of the Eastern or Byzantine Empire. Between 395 and 397, Alaric I and his Visigoths plundered the Peloponnese and destroyed what was left of Gythium. Alaric captured the most famous cities, Corinth, Argos, and Sparta, selling many of their inhabitants into slavery. He was at last defeated by Stilicho and then crossed the Gulf of Corinth towards the north.^[14]

In 468, Genseric of the Vandals, trying to conquer Mani, with the purpose of using it as a base to raid the Peloponnese and then conquer the Peloponnese. Genseric tried to land his fleet at Kenipolis but as his army disembarked the inhabitants of the town attacked the Vandlas and made them retreat after they suffered heavy casualties.^[17] Byzantine general Belisarius on the way to his campaign against the Vandals, stopped at Kenipolis to get supplies, honor the Kenipolians, for their victory and to recruit some soldiers.^[18] According to Greenhalgh and Eliopoulos, the Eurasian Avars (along with the Slavs) attacked and occupied most of western Peloponnese in 590.^[19] However, there is no archaeological evidence for any Slavic (or Avaric) penetration of imperial Byzantine territory before the end of the 6th century. Overall, traces of Slavic culture in Greece are very rare.^[20]

[edit] During the Macedonian dynasty

There is a description of Mani and its inhabitants in Constantine VII's De Administrando Imperio:

The area inhabited by the Maniates was first called by the name "Maina" and was associated with the castle of Tigani. The Maniots at that time were called "Hellenes", that is, pagans (see Names of the Greeks), and were only Christianized fully in the 9th century AD, though some church ruins from the 4th century AD indicate that Christianity was practiced by some Maniots in the region at an earlier time. The Maniots were the last inhabitants of Greece to openly follow the pagan Hellenic religion. This can be explained by the mountainous nature of Mani's terrain, which enabled them to escape the attempts of the Eastern Roman Empire to Christianize Greece by force.^[19]

[edit] Under the Principality of Achaea

During the Fourth Crusade (1201 - 1204), the Crusaders captured Constantinople. The Eastern Roman Empire was partitioned between several Greek and Latin successor states, notably including (from west to east) the Despotate of Epirus, the Latin Empire, the Empire of Nicaea and the Empire of Trebizond. These four empires produced rival emperors, struggling for control over each other and the rest of the semi-independent states emerging in the area. William of Champlitte and Geoffrey I Villehardouin defeated the Peloponnesian Greeks at the Battle of the Olive Grove of Koundouros (1205) and the Peloponnese became the Principality of Achaea. In 1210, Mani was given to Baron Jean de Neuilly as Hereditary Marshal and he built the castle of Passavas on the ruins of Las. The castle occupied a significant position as it controlled an important pass from Gythium to Oitylo and contained the Maniots.^[21][22]

The Maniots, however, were not easily contained and they were not the only threat to the Frankish occupation of the Peloponnese. The Melengi, a Slavic tribe in the Taygetus mountain range, raided Laconia from the west and the Tsakonians also resisted the Franks. In 1249, the new prince, William II of Villehardouin, acted against the raiders. He used the newly captured fortress of Monemvasia to keep the Tsakones at bay and he built the castle at Mystras in the Tayegatus mountains overlooking Sparta in order to contain the Melengi. To stop the Maniot raids, he built the castle of Megali Maini which is most probably Tigani. It is described as at a fearful cliff with a headland above. A Latin bishop was appointed for Mani during the 1250s. In 1259, the bishop was captured during the Battle of Pelagonia by the renewed Byzantine Empire under the leadership of Nicaea.^[23]

[edit] Under the Despotate of Morea

Map showing the Byzantine Empire in 1265.

On July 25, 1261, the Byzantines under Michael VIII Palaiologos recaptured Constantinople. Prince William was set free on the condition that he had to surrender the fortresses of Megali Maina, Mystras and Monemvasia, as well as surrender hostages including Lady Maragret, Baroness of Passavas. With the Franks gone from Laconia, the Maniots lived in peace under the Despotate of Morea, whose successive Despotes governed the province. Mani seemed to have been dominated by the Nikliani family who were refugees. However, the peace was terminated when the Ottoman Turks started their attacks on the Peloponnese.^{[23]Social Castes of Mani[›]}

[edit] Ottoman times

Map of the Ottoman Empire.

[edit] 15th century

After the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Mehmet II took Constantinople in May 1453, Mani remained under the control of the Despotate of Morea. In May 1460, Mehmed occupied the Peloponnese. The Despotate of Morea had been ruled by the two brothers of Constantine XI who had died defending Constantinople. However neither Demetrios Palaiologos nor Thomas Palaiologos chose to follow his example and defend the Peloponnese. Instead, Thomas fled to Italy while Demetrios sought refuge with Mehmed. Helena Palaiologina, a daughter of Demetrios and Theodora Asanina, was given in marriage to Mehmed II.^[23]

Kladas, a Greek from Laconia, was granted lordship by Mehmed over Elos and Varvounia in 1461. Mehmed hoped that Kladas would defend Laconia from the Maniots.^[23] During that time, Mani's population grew as a result of the refugees that came from other areas of Greece.^{[24]Population of Mani[›]} In 1463, Kladas turned against the Ottomans and joined the Venetians. He led the Maniots against the Ottomans with Venetian aid until 1479 when the Venetians made peace with the Ottomans and gave the Ottomans the right to rule Brazzo di Maina. Kladas refused to accept the conditions so the Venetians put a price on his head.^[23]

After the end of the Turco-Venetian War, the Venetians left the Maniots to fend for themselves. Many of the Greeks who had revolted alongside the Venetians were massacred by the Ottomans, but many of them fled to find refuge in Mani. The Maniots continued to resist and Mehmed sent an army of 2,000 infantry and 300 cavalry against Mani under the command of Ale Boumico.^[25] The Venetians trying to gain favor with the Porte handed over some Maniot rebels. The Ottomans reached Oitylo before Kladas and the Maniots attacked the them and massacred them. Only a few escaped amongst them was Ale Boumico. Kladas invaded the Laconian plain with 14,000 Maniots and killed the Turkish inhabitants of the Laconian plain.^[26]

A month later, a larger force under the command of Ahmed Bey invaded Mani and drove Kladas to Porto Kagio.^[27] There, he was picked up by three galleys of King Ferdinand I of Naples.^[28] To delay the Turks long enough for Kladas to escape, the Maniot rear guard attacked the Turkish army delayed them long enough for Kladas to escape.^[29] Kladas reached the Kingdom of Naples and from there he became a mercenary leader. He returned to Mani in 1490 and was killed in a battle at Monemvasia.^[30]

[edit] 16th century

From 1500 to 1570, Mani kept its autonomy without any invasion from the Ottomans.^[26] The Ottomans were busy driving the Venetians out of the Peloponnese and succeeded in 1540, when they conquered Monemvasia and Nauplio. The Ottomans under Selim II, preparing to invade the Venetian island of Cyprus, built a fortress in Mani, at Porto Kaigo, and their also garrisoned Passavas. The aim of this was to cut off the Venetian's communication lines and to keep the Maniots at bay. Alarmed, the Maniots called upon Venetian assistance and the Venetian navy in combination with the Maniot army captured the castle.^[31]

Cyprus fell later that year, but the combined fleets of the Holy League defeated the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto (1571). The Greeks assumed that John of Austria would champion their revolt under the command of the Bishop of Monemvasia.^[31] The promised army never arrived and by 1572, the Bishop was forced to retreat to Mani. The Maniots failed when they appealed to Pope Gregory VIII to convince Philip II of Spain in providing military support.^[32]

[edit] 17th century

In 1603, the Maniot approached Pope Clement VIII, who had recently taken the cross. Clement died two years later and the Maniots began to seek a new champion and they centerd their attention on the King of Spain, Philip III.^[32] They said to him to land his army at Porto Kaiyo and the Maniots would join him with 15,000 armed men as well as 80,000 other Peloponnesians.^[26] The Maniots also sent envoys to some major powers of the Mediterranean, like the Republic of Venice, the Kingdom of France, the Republic of Genoa, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and once again Spain. These states were interested and sent several expeditionary forces to Mani, but they all failed to achieve anything with the exception of a Spanish expedition that sacked Passavas.^[32]

The Maniots found a champion in 1612, Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Nevers. Charles was a descendant of the Byzantine Emperor, Andronicus II Palaeologus through his grandmother who was of the line of Theodore I of Montferrat, Andronicus' son.^[33] Through this he claimed the throne of Constantinople. He began plotting with the Maniots who addressed him as King Constantine Palaeologus. When the Porte heard about this, they sent Arslan in command of an army of 20,000 men and 70 ships to invade Mani. He succeeded in ravaging Mani and impossing taxes on the Maniots (which they did not pay). This caused Nevers to move more actively for his crusade. Nevers sent envoys to the courts of Europe looking for support. In 1619, he recruited six ships and a number men but he was forced to abort the mission because of the beginning of the Thirty Year War.^[33]</ref> The idea of the crusade faded and Nevers died in 1637.^[33]

In 1645, the Turkish-Venetian War or "Cretan War" began. The Republic of Venice was attempting to defend Crete, one of their provinces since 1204, from an attempt to expand the Ottoman Empire, initially under Ibrahim I. The Maniots supported the Venetians by offering them ships. In 1659, Admiral Francesco Morosini, with 13,000 Maniots as his allies, occupied Kalamata, a large city near Mani. In 1667, during the Siege of Candia, some Maniot pirate ship sneak into the Ottoman fleet and managed to looted a burn some ships. However, Candia fell in 1669 and Crete became part of the Ottoman Empire.^{[32][33]Refugees[›]}

With Crete captured, the Ottomans turned their attention to Mani. The Grand Vizier, Köprülü Fazıl Ahmet Pasha, sent the pirate, Hasan Baba, to subdue Mani. Baba arrived in Mani demanding the Maniots to surrender hostages but instead he was answered with bullets. During the night, ten Maniots went and cut the hawsers of Hasan's ships. This caused some of Baba's ships to anchor on some rocks and the Maniots taking advantage of the situation attacked and killed the Turks and occupied the ships. Baba managed to escape with only one ship.^[34]

In the prisons of Bagno, there was a notorious twenty-five year old Maniot pirate named Liberakis Gerakis. At the age of fifteen, he was in the Venetian galleys as a rower. After being released by the Venetians, he continued piracy and was captured by the Turks in 1667. The Grand Vizier decided to give him amnesty if he cooperated with the Turks and helped them conquer Mani. Gerakis agreed and in 1670, he became the bey of Mani. One of Gerakis' first acts was to exile his clan's enemies, the Iatriani family and the Stephanopoulos family from Oitylo. The Iatriani fled in 1670 and settled in Livorno, Tuscany. The Stephanopoulos clan was forced to leave Oitylo in 1676 and after having gained permission from the Republic of Genoa, the clan went to Corsica. The Stephanopoulos family first lived in the town of Paomia before moving to Cargese and to this day consider themselves Greeks.^{[35]Immigration from Mani[›]}

Liberakis soon fell out of favor with the Turks since he joined his fellow Maniots in piracy and was captured in 1682.^[36] With Ottoman forces preoccupied with the Austrians, the Venetians under Morosini saw their opportunity to take over Turkish-held territories in the Peloponnese. The Turkish general in the Peloponnese, Ismael, discovered this plan and attacked Mani with 10,000 men. The Turks ravaged the plains but during the night the Maniots attacked and killed 1,800 Turks. The other Turks retreated to the castles of Kelefa and Zarnatas where they were besieged by the Maniots. After brief sieges, the Maniots managed to capture both Koroni and Kelefa. However, Ismael returned with 10,000 infantry and 2,500 artillery and started besieging the Maniots at Kelefa. The Turks nearly succeeded in breaching the walls before 4,500 Ventians under the command of Morosini arrived and forced the Turks to retreat to Kastania with the Maniots in pursuit.^[37][38]

The Venetians, with assistance of the Greeks, conquered the rest of the Peloponnese and then besieged Athens. During the siege of Athens, the Ottomans were using the Parthenon as an ammunition depot. When artillery fire from the Venetians struck the depot, the resulting explosion damaged large portions of the Parthenon.^[38] The desperate Ottomans liberated Liberakis and gave him the position His Highness, the Ruler of Mani. Liberakis immediately launched several raids into Venetian-held territories of the Peloponnese. However, when the Ottomans attempted to poison Liberakis, he defected to the Venetian side.^[39][40] The Venetians made Liberakis a 'Knight of St. Mark' and recognized him as ruler of Roumeli. Liberakis first attacked the city of Arta where the Ottomans destroyed his estates at Karpenisi. He captured and plundered the city before going back to Mani. The Aretans sent a committee to Venice and reported everything to the Doge. Ultimately, Liberakis moved to Italy where he died fourteen years later. Meanwhile, Manos Maneas, a Maniot trader, told German traders of a rising power in the Balkans and of a golden race that would defeat the Ottomans. In these conversations, Maneas was specifically referring to the Russian Empire under the leadership of Peter the Great.^[40]

[edit] 18th century

In 1715, the Ottomans attacked the Peloponnese and managed to drive out the Venetians within seventy days. The Venetians won some minor naval battles off Mani but they abandoned the Greeks in 1716. The next year, the Treaty of Passarowitz was signed and the Venetians abandoned their claim to the Peloponnese.^[41]

[edit] Orlov Revolt

Main article: Orlov Revolt

Papazolis, a Greek living in Russia, was a friend of the Orlovs and had them convince Catherine the Great to send an army to Mani and liberate Greece.^[41] A Russian fleet of five ships and 500 soldiers under the command of Aleksey Grigoryevich Orlov sailed from the Baltic Sea in 1769 and reached Mani in 1770.^[39] The fleet landed at Oitylo were they were met by the Maniots. They decided to split the army into two groups, the Western Legion and the Eastern Legion. The Eastern Legion under the command of Barkof, Grigorakis and Psaros consisted of 500 Maniots and six Russians. The Western Legion under the command of John Mavromichalis (nicknamed the Dog), Dolgorougoph and Komoundouros consisted of 200 Maniots and twelve Russians.^[41]

Meanwhile, the Russian fleet was besieging Koroni with assistance from the Western Legion. The siege proved to be difficult and soon Orlov got into a dispute with John the Dog. Mavromichalis stated to Orlov that if they wanted to start a real war, they had to occupy Koroni and if they did not, they should not excite the Greeks in vain. Orlov replied by calling the Maniots ragged and rude booty men.^[41] To this, Mavromichalis replied, ...and the last of these ragged booty men keeps his freedom with his own sword and deserves more than you, slave of a whore!^[42] The Russians left and conducted their own operations until the end of the year when they ultimately sailed back to Russia.^[39]

The Eastern Legion met with success when they defeated an army of 3,500 Turks.^[41] The Ottomans responded to this by sending 8,000 Turk-Albanians to invade the Peloponnese. The Turk-Albanians first plundered Attica before entering the Peloponnese. Upon ravaging the Peloponnese, the Turk-Albanians reached Rizomylo in Messenia where they were blocked by John Mavromichalis and 400 of his followers. The Maniots held them off for a while, but the Turk-Albanians eventually won due to their superior numbers. They captured John Mavromichalis who was not only seriously wounded, but also the last survivor of the battle. He was ultimately tortured to death. The Turk-Albanians then invaded Mani and began ravaging the land near Almiro. During the night, an army of 5,000 Maniot men and women attacked the Turk-Albanians while they slept and routed them. The Turko-Albanians lost 1,700 while the Maniots only suffered thirty-nine casualties.^[42]

In 1776, the Ottomans appointed a Maniot, Zanetos Koutifaris, as bey of Mani.^{[43]Beys of Mani[›]} They also tried to impose a tax of 15,000 piasters on the Maniots, which the Maniots did not pay. The Porte no longer tolerated the Turk-Albanians because of the way they looted the Peloponnese. Hassán Ghazi, the Turkish bey of the Peloponnese, in collaboration with the Greek klephts under the command of Constantinos Kolokotronis (father of Theodoros Kolokotronis) killed most of the Turk-Albanians in the Peloponnese and made a pyramid out of their heads.^[44] In 1779, the Ottomans had enough of Koutifaris who was attempting to extend his beydom into the Laconian plain and they had him executed. He was replaced by Michalis Troupakis.^[43]

[edit] Ottoman Invasion of Mani (1780)

Main article: Ottoman Invasion of Mani (1780)

At around 1780, Hassán Ghazi with 16,000 men besieged the two towers in Kastania. The defenders were Constantinos Kolokotronis and Panagiotes Venetsanakis with 150 men and women. The fight lasted for twelve days where most of the defenders were killed, and all prisoners of war were tortured and dismembered. The wife of Constantine Kolokotronis was dressed like a warrior and fought her way carrying her baby who was Theodoros Kolokotronis, the future leader of the Greek War of Independence.^[45]

Maniot towers like the one that held off the Turks at Skoutari.

From Kastania, Hassán Ghazi advanced towards Skoutari and laid siege to the tower of the powerful Grigorakis clan. The tower contained fifteen men and the defenders held out for three days until the Turks placed gunpowder in the mine and blew up the overall garrison. By this time, the main Maniot army of 5,000 men and 2,000 women established a defensive position at Trikefalia, which was on mountainous terrain above the town of Parasyros. The entire army was under the command of Exarchos Grigorakis and his nephew Zanetos Grigorakis. The Ottoman army advanced to the plain of Agiopidada (Greek: 'Holy Wells'). They sent envoys to the Maniots telling them that Hássan wanted to negotiate. The Maniots knew that if they sent envoys to the Turks, they would be executed by Hássan if the negotiations failed. The Maniots sent six men to discuss the terms.^[42]

Six Maniot envoys were sent to Hássan and, without bowing, asked him what he wanted. Hássan's demands entailed the children of ten captains as hostages, all Maniot-held arms, and an annual head-tax to be paid as punishment for supporting the Russians. The Maniots answered to Hássan's demands by saying, We prefer to die than give to you our guns and children. We don't pay taxes because our land is poor. Hássan became furious and had the six men decapitated and impaled on stakes so the Maniots could see them.^[44]

After the envoys were killed, the remaining Maniots attacked the Ottomans. The fighting was fierce and only 6,000 Turks managed to reach Mystras. No one knew exactly how many casualties the Maniots suffered, but the Turks definitively lost 10,000 men.^[44] Hássan tried to weaken the Grigorakis family by inviting Exarchos to Tripoli. He treated him as an honored guest but then had him hung.^[43] On Easter Sunday, Exarchos' mother, incited the men of Skoutari to take revenge for the death of her son.^[46] Under the command of Zanetos, the men of Skoutari dressed as priests and were allowed into Passavas. Once inside, the Skoutariotes took out their concealed weapons and killed all the inhabitants of Passavas.^[47]

In 1782, the Ottomans lured Michalis Troupakis onto a ship and sent him to Mytilini, were he was executed for piracy. The Porte tried to get Zanetos to replace him but Zanetos refused until he was lured onto a ship and forced to become a bey.^[48]

[edit] Katsonis

During Zanet's rule over Mani, Mani became a base for many klephts and other Greek bandits. Among them was the famous Greek pirate, Lambros Katsonis, who helped the Russians in their wars against the Ottomans, Andreas Androutsos (father of Odysseas), and Zacharias.^[49] On January 9, 1792, Catherine II of Russia had her representative Alexander Bezborodko sign the Treaty of Jassy with Grand Vizier Koca Yusuf Pasha of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ended the Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792, recognized Russia's 1783 annexation of the Crimean Khanate, and transferred Yedisan to Russia making the Dniester the Russo-Turkish frontier in Europe while leaving the Asiatic frontier (Kuban River) unchanged.^[50] Lambros Katsonis said, Aikaterini (Greek: Catherine) did her treaty but Katsonis didn't do his treaty with the enemy.^[49]

Katsonis, together with Androutsos and Zacharias, built a gun battery at Porto Kagio. He gathered a small army and a navy of eleven ships and he attacked Ottoman ships in the area. However, not being able to maintain his ships, he started attacking ships from other countries. Later that year, he sunk two French ships which was the beginning of the end for Katsonis. An Ottoman fleet of thirty ships and a French destroyer attacked Katsonis at Porto Kagio. Katsonis' men fled to land except for Katsonis who escaped to Odessa, Russia on one of the ships.^[50]

Androutsos with 500 men tried to cross the Peloponnese and enter Roumeli. Zacharias in a rear guard action managed to help fight his way through the Peloponnese and into Roumeli.^[49] In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte, at the time a general serving in the French Revolutionary Wars under the orders of the French Directory, sent two members of the Stephanopoulos family to Mani in order to convince the Maniots to attack the Ottomans from the Peloponnese while he attacked from Egypt. Zacharias and Zanetbey accepted the offer and Napoleon sent them weapons. When the Turks discovered this, they had him replaced as bey with Panagiotis Koumoundourakis.^[48]

[edit] Modern Mani

[edit] Early 19th century

In 1803, the Ottomans deposed of Koumoundourakis because he was not capable of subduing Zanetbey who was still receiving weapons from the French at his castle at Cranae. The Ottomans replaced him with Antony or Antonbey, Zanetbey's cousin.^[48] The Turkish fleet under the command of the admiral, Seremet.^[49] The Ottoman fleet was not able to capture Cranae and they were soon forced to retreat.^[48]

In 1805, Seremet attacked Zacharias at his fortress in the Taygetus mountains and managed to kill him.^[49] In 1807, the Ottomans attacked Antonbey at Gytheio because he was unwilling to suppress his cousin who was still attacking the Turks. The Turks were once again forced to retreat. Three years later, Antonbey resigned in favor of his son-in-law, Konstantis Zervakos, who was favorable to the bey of the Peloponnese. However, the Maniots did not agree with the Ottomans' choice and deposed Zervakos.^[51]

Later that year, the Maniots leaders gathered at Gytheio and elected Theodoros Zanerakis or Theodorobey, Zanetbey's nephew as bey. In 1815, the Ottomans attacked Mani but they were driven back.^[24] Theodorobey was removed from power later that year and was replaced by Petros Mavromichalis or Petrobey.^[51]

Petros Mavromichalis was John the Dog's nephew. He was the first Maniot bey from Messa Mani.^[51] In 1798, he had also been approached by Napoleon to join the war on the Ottomans but after the failure of the French invasion of Egypt, Petros joined the French army for a while and fought in the Ionian Islands. It was rumored at the time that he was appointed bey only because his uncle was not killed, had converted to Islam, and had become an officer in the Ottoman army. In 1819, he joined the Filiki Eteria and by 1821 they were prepared to revolt.^[52]

[edit] Contributions to the Greek Revolution

Petros Mavromichalis (1765-1848)

Maniot flag with the motto « Victory or Death »

Theodoros Kolokotronis, a leader of the Revolution.

Maniots, known for their martial qualities, were the first to join the Greek liberation movement. The society called the Filiki Eteria ("Company of Friends") sent their representatives Perrevos and Chrisospathis to organize the Maniots.^[53] On March 17, 1821, 12,000 Maniots gathered in the church of Taxiarchs (Archangels) of Areopoli and declared war against the Ottoman Empire.^[54] The flag of the revolution was white with a blue cross in the center. On top of the flag there was a sign, "Victory or death". The Maniots were responsible for writing "Victory" and not "Freedom" on their banner since Mani was always free. On the bottom of the flag lied an ancient inscription, "With the shield or on the shield."^[55]

On the March 21, an army of 2,000 Maniots under the command of Petros Mavromichalis, Theodoros Kolokotronis, and Papaflessas marched towards Kalamata. On March 23, they captured the city.^[55] From Kalamata, Mavromichalis wrote letters to the states of Europe, informing them of what the Greeks were doing. The Messenian Senate was also held in Kalamata. Kolokotronis wanted to attack Tripolis and capture the main Turkish city in the Peloponnese. However, Mavromichalis wanted to capture the smaller towns first and then take Tripolis. The Senate agreed with Mavromichalis and the Maniots attacked the Turks of Messenia and Laconia.^[56]

Kolokotronis, convinced that he was correct, moved into Arcadia with 300 Maniots. When he entered Arcadia his band of 300 fought a Turkish force of 1,300 men and defeated them.^[55] On the April 28, a few thousand Maniot soldiers under the command of Mavromichalis' sons joined Kolokotronis' camp outside Tripolis. On September 12, 1821, the Turkish capital in the Peloponnese fell. On the July 4, Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis was killed near the Souliote fortress of Kaiapha.

Mahmud II became desperate and in 1824 he called on his Viceroy, Muhammad Ali of Egypt to aid him. Ali promised to aid him in return for the islands of Crete and Cyprus, as well as making his eldest son Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt pasha of the Peloponnese. Ali accepted the offer and sent his son in command of the expedition. Meanwhile, the Greeks were in disarray because of political rivalries which caused a civil war. Kolokotronis was arrested, his son Panos was killed and his nephew Nikitaras fled.^[57]

Ibrahim made good use of this turmoil and landed with his army at Methoni. Ibrahim soon had re-captured the Peloponnese except for Nauplio and Mani. When he tried to capture Nauplio, he was repelled by Dimitrios Ypsilantis and Konstantinos Mavromichalis, Petros' brother.^[58]

Ibrahim then decided to head for Mani. Ibrahim sent an envoy to the Maniots demanding that they surrender or else he would ravage their land. Instead of surrendering ,the Maniots gave replied:

From the few Greeks of Mani and the rest of Greeks who live there to Ibrahim Pasha. We received your letter in which you try to frighten us saying that if we don't surrender, you'll kill the Maniots and plunder Mani. That's why we are waiting for you and your army. We, the inhabitants of Mani, sign and wait for you.^[55]

Enraged by the reply, Ibrahim, commanding an army of 7,000 men, attacked Mani on the June 21, 1826.^[59] He was stopped at the walls of Almiro and Vergas which ran for around 500 meters.^[60] Defending the walls were 2,000 Maniots under the command of Illias Mavromichalis and 500 Greek refugees.^[59][61] As Ibrahim launched his infantry and cavalry against the Maniot position, he also made two of his ships, including the one he was on, to attack the Maniot fortifications from the sea with their artillery. The Egyptian army attacked the Maniot position eight times and they were thrown back.^[59] The fighting continued for a few more days before the Egyptians retreated when rumors that Kolokotronis was approaching their rear with 2,000 men came true.^[62] The Maniots pursued the Egyptians all the way to Kalamata before returning to Vergas. This battle was costly for Ibrahim not only because he suffered 2,500 casualties but also ruined his plan to invade Mani from the north.^[55][59]

While Ibrahim was launching his attack on the Maniot position at Vergas, he decided to launch a small fleet and attack Areopolis. This plan was described by Greenhalgh and Eliopoulos as excellent because of the fact that it would catch Areopolis by surprise since it was ill-defended. By capturing Areopolis, Ibrahim could cut off the Maniot communication lines and control the mountain passes that led to Gytheio. It would also allow the Egyptians to attack the Maniots at Vergas from the rear.^[61]

On June 24, Ibrahim sent a small fleet carrying 1,500 troops to land at the Bay of Diros and capture Areopolis.^[61] As the Egyptians landed on the beach, the alarm bells rang.^[59] Soon, 300 women and old men who had been harvesting the crops gathered and armed only with their scythes and cudgels, they charged at the Egyptians. The Egyptians, not expecting any resistance, were caught by surprise at this sudden attack and were forced to retreat to a fortified position on the beach were they could receive support from their ships. Eventually, 300 Maniots arrived from other towns and the Egyptians were forced to either swim to their ships or be slain.^[61] Ibrahim's defeat was costly not only because he lost 1,000 men, but his plan to invade and conquer Mani were utterly ruined. Later on, the women of Diro were dubbed the 'Amazons of Diro'.^[63]

Ibrahim, annoyed by his defeats at Vergas and Diro, plundered the Peloponnese for a month before turning his attention back to Mani. He sent an army of 6,000 Arabs to advance to the Taygetus and capture Gytheio and Laconian Mani. In command of the army was a Greek from Vordonia, Bosinas. As he advanced towards Polytsaravo, he was stopped by Theodoros Stathakos, who together with his family of thirteen people was waiting in their tower. Bosinas tried to make Stathakos surrender and when the latter feigned surrender, Bosinas came towards the tower. However, once Bosinas was within range, Stathakos and his army killed him. In retaliation, Bosinas' army shot at the tower with their cannons and destroyed it.^[64]

The Egyptians then proceeded towards the town of Polytsaravos and reached it on August 28. The inhabitants of the town had sent the women and children to take refuge in the mountains before improving the fortifications they had there. The town militia was reinforced by other Maniots and soon the defenders numbered 2,500 men.^[64] The Egyptians had trouble advancing to Polytsaravos because it was surrounded by rocks situated on high ground.^[65] As soon as the Arabs arrived, the Maniots rallied around their fortifications and attacked the Arabs. The Arabs retreated from Polytsaravos after sustaining 400 casualties while the Maniots only suffered nine.^[64] This was the last invasion of Mani by the Egyptians or the Ottomans as the Peloponnese, central Greece and some of the Aegean islands were liberated in 1828 after the naval forces of Bourbon Restoration France under Henri de Rigny, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under Edward Codrington, and the Russian Empire under Login Geiden defeated Ibrahim at the Navarino in 1827.

[edit] Republic and Regency

Map of the boundaries of the Greek Kingdom after the Treaty of Constantinople.

In 1831, Ioannis Capodistrias became governor of Greece.^[64] Capodistrias quarreled with the Mavromichalis clan because the Maniots refused to pay taxes to the government.^[66] Capodistrias requested that Tzanis, Petros' brother, go to Nauplio, then capital of Greece, and negotiate. As soon as Tzanis arrived, he was arrested and imprisoned. Capodistrias then sent soldiers to Mani and had Petros arrested, imprisoned, and charged with high treason. His brother Konstantinos, the defender of Nauplio and Petros' son, Georgios Mavromichalis, were put under house arrest in the capital.^[67]

Ioannis Kapodistrias (1776-1831); oil painting by D. Tsokos.

On September 27, 1831, (October 9 on the Gregorian calendar), Capodistrias went to attend a church service at the Church of St Spyridon. He noticed that Konstantinos and Georgios were waiting at the church doors. As he passed them, he briefly stopped before proceeding into the church. As he was about to step into the church, Konstantinos fired his gun and the bullet hit Capodistrias at the back of the head while at the same time Georgios stabbed him through the heart. Capodistrias collapsed into the arms of his attendants. Capodistrias' bodyguard shot Konstantinos as he was running and Konstantinos was hit by several more bullets before he died. Kostantinos' body was then dragged by an angry mob who threw it into the sea. Georgios was captured and executed on the island of Bourzi, off the shore of Nauplio, while his father looked on.^[67]

King Otto, the first king of Greece.

In 1833, Otto von Wittelsbach, a son of Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, became King of Greece after he was appointed by the Great Powers. Since he was underage, he had a Council of Regency headed by Josef Ludwig von Armansperg governing the country for him.^[54] One of the Council's first acts was to try and subdue the unruly Maniots and pull down their towers while another was to free Petros and Tzanis from their prisons.^[68] The council sent an army of Bavarians in order to tame Messa Mani.^[69] They made it to Areopoli but during the night, the Maniots surrounded and captured them, forcing them to leave the area.^[70]

On May 14, 1834, four companies of Bavarian troops assisted by four cannons laid siege to the town of Petrovouni. Ultimately, 800 Maniots from the surrounding towns attacked the Bavarians. The Bavarians were massacred as most of them were either slain by the Maniots or fell into a ravine near the town while escaping. Later that year, an army of 6,000 men with five cannons under the command of General Schmaltz assisted by five squadrons of royalist-Maniots once again besieged Petrovouni. When news of an army of 1,000 Maniots was approaching, they retreated to Gytheio.^[70]

The Council decided that they could not subdue the Maniots by force, so they decided to send a diplomat, Max Feder, with the intention of subduing Mani. He went to different Maniot families and offered them positions if they supported the king. Many of the achamnomeri and some megalogenites were convinced by his offers and complied. However, several of the older families and the poorer achamnomeri rejected the offer because the former did not want to be dependent on a king and the latter did not want governors with superior rights. In Kitta, this division caused bloodshed when the king's supporters started fighting the other Maniots under the command of Giorgaros Skylakakis.^[70] Feder soon arrived with his new allies and blew up Skylakakis and all his allies in his towers. Thus was Mani finally subdued.^[71]

[edit] Late 19th century

During Otto's rule, blood was spilled in Mani because of the vendettas, which have plagued the area for centuries.^[71] The vendettas continued until 1870, when a Maniot vendetta was halted by the efforts of a regular army with artillery support.^[72] In 1841, Crete revolted against the Ottomans. The Maniots, described as cousins of the Cretans, rushed to Crete to support them. The Cretans, together with the Maniots, forced the Turks into a fortress where they besieged them. A combined Ottoman-English fleet managed to subdue the Cretans and make the Maniots go back to Mani. In 1866, a new revolution sparked in Crete and 2,000 Maniots under the command of Petropoulakis went and assisted their cousins. However, the Cretans were defeated and the Maniots were again forced to retreat to Mani.^[71]

[edit] 20th century

At the start of the 20th century, Greece was involved with the Macedonian Struggle, military conflicts against the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, and Turkish forces in Ottoman occupied Macedonia. Many volunteers from Mani took part in the war. The Maniots also took part in the series of wars that followed including the Balkan Wars, World War I, and the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922).^[73]

During World War II, the Maniots significantly contributed to the Hellenic Army. During the Battle of Greece, a Maniot named Colonel Konstantinos Davakis was among the leaders of the armed forces.^[73] Davakis, in command of the Pindus Detachment, defeated the Italians at the Battle of Pindus (October 28 - November 13, 1940) despite the Italians having more advanced weaponry.

Later, the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom defeated the Regia Marina of Italy in the Battle of Cape Matapan (March 27 - March 29, 1941) on Cape Tenaro. However, Nazi Germany attacked Greece in order to support the Italians. The Greeks were forced to retreat and soon Mani received its forgotten role as a center for refugees. In April 1941, the British started evacuating their troops from Porto Kagio. By the end of that month, Mani and the rest of Greece were under Italian and German occupation.^[74]

The Germans and Italians were forced out of Greece in 1944 but as soon as they left the Greek Civil War began. The armies of the Communist Party of Greece, ELAS and DSE, fought against the Hellenic Army and the royalists.^[75] Mani never recovered from both wars and soon the young people of Mani left for Athens, the United States, and Australia.^[76]

Today, Mani is divided into two regions, Laconia and Messenia. Mani has around 18,000 inhabitants with the most important and populous town being Gytheio. Mani's main source of income is tourism. The most famous of the tourist attractions are the Caves of Diro, which are two caves that have underwater rivers flowing through them.

[edit] Culture

[edit] Dances

Two dances come from Mani: Palio Maniatiko (Greek: Old Maniot) and the Modern Maniatiko. The Palio Maniatiko is only found in Mani and it is described as an ancient dance.^[77] The Modern Maniatiko is the modern version of the Palio Maniatiko dance and it also includes certain aspects of the Kalamatiano dance in it. Like the Palio Maniatiko it is only danced in Mani.^[78]

[edit] Piracy

Part of Maniot culture entailed piracy. The Maniots were famous and feared pirates and their ships dominated the Maniot coastline. The Maniots became pirates because Mani was not a very fertile land and the Maniots did not have many natural resources. The Maniots considered piracy as a legitimate response to the fact that their land was poor and it became their main source of income.^[79] The pirate raids were not stopped by the local priests of the Eastern Orthodox Church who in fact blessed the ships before they left and sometimes accompanied them on raids. Most of the Maniot pirates came from Messa Mani.^[80] The main victims of Maniot pirates were the Ottomans but the Maniots also targeted ships of powerful European countries.^[24]

[edit] Superstition

The Maniots are also a very superstitious people.^[81] The Maniots mainly believed in witches, demons, vampires and ghosts.^[82] When Henry Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon was touring Mani in 1839, he found a fresh egg by the side of the road and offered it to a Maniot soldier who escorted him, who declined the offer claiming that if a hag had enchanted it he would have to marry her.^[83] The Maniots thought that certain areas were haunted by demons.^[84]

[edit] Vendettas

Another important aspect of Maniot culture were the vendettas which frequently plagued Mani. Usually, the decision to start a vendetta was made at a family gathering. The main aim of a vendetta was usually to wipe out the other family.^[85] The families involved locked themselves in their towers and when they got the chance murder members of the opposing family.^[86] The other families in the village normally locked themselves in their towers in order to not get in the way of the fighting.^[87]

Some vendettas went on for months and sometimes years. In vendettas, the families could have a truce or treva, if one family needed to attend a religious ceremony or when it was time to harvest the crops.^[88]As soon as the treva end, the killing could resume. Vendettas usually end when one family was exterminated or when the defeated family left the town. Sometimes families came to terms and vendettas stopped when the Turks invaded.^[89] The longest treva was when the Mavromichalis' declared war on the Turks in 1821. Vendettas continued after the liberation of Greece even though the Regency tried to demolish the towers.^[90]

[edit] Ethnology

The inhabitants of Mani consider themselves as direct descendants of the ancient Spartans. After the Romans took over Laconia, many of the citizens that were loyal to the laws of Lycurgus, decided to flee to the mountains of Mani rather than be in Achean or later Roman service.^[91] Even though it seems highly unlike, Kassis claims that Maniots rarely mated with non-Maniots until the 20th century.^[92]

Mani became a refuge during the 4th century when the barbarian invasions started in Europe. When the Avars and Slavs invaded the Peloponnese, many Greek refugees fled to Mani since the invaders could not infiltrate the mountainous terrain. According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the Maniots were not conquered by the Slavs, Be it known that the inhabitants of Castle Maina are not from the race of aforesaid Slavs but from the older Romaioi, who up to the present time are termed Hellenes...^[19]

[edit] Notes

Vathia, a typical Maniot village famous for its towers.

[edit] Inline citations

[edit] References

[edit] Primary sources

• Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, (1974). The Iliad. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283405-3
• Livy, translated by Henry Bettison, (1976). Rome and the Mediterranean. London: Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044318-5.
• Pausanias, translated by W.H.S Jones, (1918). Pausanias Description of Greece. London: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-14-044362-2.
• Polybius, translated by Frank W. Walbank, (1979). The Rise of the Roman Empire. New York: Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044362-2.

[edit] Secondary sources

• Bob Barrow, (1998). The Mani. Stoupa: Thomeas Travel Services.
• Paul Cartledge and Antony Spawforth, (2002). Hellenistic and Roman Sparta: A tale of two cities. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26277-1
• Patrick Leigh Fermor, (1984). Mani: Tavels in the Southern Peloponnese. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-011511-0
• Peter Greenhalgh and Edward Eliopoulos, (1985). Deep into Mani:Journey to the southern tip of Greece. London: Trinity Press ISBN 0-571-13524-2
• Peter Green, (1990). Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age, (2nd edition). Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-500-01485-X.
• Rosemary Hall, Paul Hellander, Corinne Simcock and David Willet. Lonely Planet: Greece. Singapore: SNP Printing Pte Ltd. ISBN 0-86442-527-9
• Kyriakos Kassis, (1979). Mani's History. Athens: Presoft
• William Leake, Travels in the Morea, i. 244 foll.
• Maria Mavromataki, (2001). 8,500 Years of Civilization: Greece: Between Legend and History. Athens: Haïtalis. ISBN960-8284-01-5
• Peter Parouakis, (1984). The Greeks: Their Struggle for Independence. Darwin: Hellenic International Press. ISBN 0-9590894-0-3
• Γιαννη Χ. Ρουμελιωτη. Ηρωίδες της Λακωνίας και της Μάνης Όλης (1453-1944). ΙSBN 960-87030-1-8
• Yiannis Saĭtas, translated by Philip Ramp, (1990). Greek Traditional Architecture: Mani. Athens: Melissa Publishing House
• William Smith, (1873). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: John Murray.

[edit] External links

• Mani
• The Pan Maniot Youth Union of Australia
• Maniots at the Struggle for Macedonia
• A Guide to Mani