CONTENTS. § 1. Conquest of Achaia, by William de Champlitte. Feudal organisation of the 2. Acquisition of the principality by Geffrey de Villehardoin. Geffrey L. 3. William Villehardoin completes the conquest of the Morea. Cedes Monemvasia, Misithra, and Maina, to the Emperor Michael VIII., 4. Alliance and feudal connection of Achaia with the kingdom of Naples, 5. Isabella de Villehardoin. Florenz of Hainault. Philip of Savoy, 6. Maud of Hainault and Louis of Burgundy, 7. Achaia under the Neapolitan princes. Ruin of the principality, § 1. Early state of the Byzantine province. Government of the despot Theo- 268 3. Division of the Morea among the brothers of the emperor John VI., viz., Theodore II., Constantine, and Thomas. War of Constantine and CONTENTS. xiii III. Despots of Epirus. Emperors of Thessalonica. Princes of Vallachian Thessaly, ib. MEDIEVAL GREECE CHAPTER I. CHANGES OF THE POPULATION AFTER THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. A. D. 540-1460 SECT. I.-OBSERVATIONS ON THE EARLY POPULATION OF GREECE THE fate of the Greeks, after the loss of their liberty, continues to supply us with lessons of political experience that are to be found in no other portion of the annals of the human race. The Roman conquest first compressed the Hellenic race into a distinct nation. That union was effected by the destruction of the local patriotism that gives its greatest charm to ancient history. Fortunately, it had been fully accomplished before Greece was invaded by the northern nations; for though the Greeks repulsed the Goths and Huns, they could not prevent the Sclavonians from creeping silently into the most secluded valleys of their primeval seats. Two leading facts form the basis of Greek history at the commencement of the Byzantine empire: the diminution in the numbers of the Hellenic race, and the A |