Barbarian Invasions in Central Greece During the Byzantine Era

Barbarian invasions in Greece during the Byzantine era were common, with mostly Albanian and Slav tribes settling in the fertile plains of Thessaly.

The years 324 to 610 were marked by the division of the Roman Empire to Western and Eastern after Constantine the Great named Constantinople the new capital of the Roman Empire. The city was then placed at the center of Hellenism.

The impact of Constantine the Great and Justinian was tremendous, assimilating the Roman tradition and reforming the empire by establishing the Byzantine Empire.

However, the transition was very difficult. The expanse of the empire bordered with barbarian tribes that needed cities and fertile lands to loot and conquer.

From the fourth to the thirteenth centuries, the important Thessalian cities of Larissa, Farsala, and Dimitrias as well as the surrounding plains and fields (now Central Greece) were raided by barbarian tribes. These included the Normans, Albanians, Visigoths, and Huns from the West and Slavic tribes from the North. The existing Roman fortifications were not enough to stop them.

According to leading Byzantine scholar Alexios Savvidis, a history professor emeritus of history at the University of Peloponnese, from the fourth century on, Visigoths and Huns raided and looted these areas causing significant damage to the economy and demography of the Byzantine Empire. The raids were followed by Slav tribes that settled sparsely in the area.

Historian Dionysios Zakynthinos wrote: “In Thessaly, Slavic settlements give the impression of islands scattered in the midst of solid populations. After all, the settled tribes had no or occasional rudimentary political organization.”

Invasions Cease During Justinian Reign

The barbarian invasions in Central Greece ceased during the reign of Emperor Justinian (527-565). That lasted for four centuries, as the empire had solidified and was better organized.

In the late tenth century, during the reign of Basil II Porphyrogenitus (976-1025), Bulgarian tribes from the North, led by the powerful leader Samuel, invaded Central Greece. However, the Byzantine army, led by Nikephoros Ouranos, a great general, met the Bulgarians at Spercheios River in 997 and crushed them.

The success of Basil II in repelling the Bulgarian invaders earned him the nickname Boulgaroktonos, meaning the Bulgar Slayer in Greek.

In the eleventh century, Vlachs from the North settled peacefully in Central Greece. At the time, Thessaly was suffering raids from the Normans. The raids stopped after the Byzantine-Norman treaty of 1156. After that, and for over a century, Thessaly enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity.

Sea commerce was thriving at the ports of Pagasitikos Gulf while export trade was flourishing. Jews, Venetians, and Genoese formed communities involved in trade. However, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, Thessaly was raided by the Catalan Company.

The Catalan Company was a large army of mercenaries led by Roger de Flor. They were hired by the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos to fight the Anatolian beyliks. However, the lack of discipline and character of a foreign army in the heart of the empire were seen as a growing danger. The emperor ordered the murder of Roger de Flor and the extermination of the Catalan mercenaries in Constantinople. 

Many Catalans were killed, but a large part of the army which was in Galipoli heard the news and started a killing spree against the Byzantine population in retaliation. They moved further West to Macedonia and destroyed many monasteries of Mount Athos. By 1309, they were in Thessaly. 

The Catalan Company were aided by Christianized Ottoman-speaking mercenaries. They continued to fight against the Byzantine army until the early 1330s, occupying substantial parts of Thessaly. Against them, Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II sent the very competent General Chandrinos, who managed to displace them to the southern parts of Thessaly.

Eastern Thessaly, Phthiotis, Phocis, Locris, Boeotia, and Attica down to the Isthmus of Corinth submitted to the Catalan Company, which formed the Ducat of Athens and New Patras. The Byzantines ceded the surrounding areas to the Venetians so that they would not fall into the hands of the Catalans, historian Nikolaos Giannopoulos wrote. 

Albanians Settle in Greece

The first waves of Albanian barbarian nomads entered Central Greece via Epirus. Albanian chiefs and their tribes settled in Durres, Arta, and other towns in the beginning of the fourteenth century. Albanian groups had begun to infiltrate areas of Thessaly during a period of presence there of several semi-independent Byzantine lords.

Andronikos III Paleologos dealt with the Albanian nomads from the beginning of his reign in 1328. The Albanians pledged to be obedient and law-abiding, while working hard to integrate.

The date of the peaceful Albanian descent to Central Greece is debatable. Greek historian  Apostolos E. Vakalopoulos places it before the end of the thirteenth century. In 1950, the researcher-editor of the Historical Dictionary of the Academy of Athens, Ioannis Poulos, dated the initial Albanian settlements in Thessaly between 1290 and 1315.

Another twentieth century historian, Sarantos Kargakos adopted the same view, arguing that Albanian nomads coexisted with the Greeks in Epirus as early as the thirteenth century.

The Albanian tribes settled in Thessaly due to the great destruction caused by the Catalan Company and by order of the Byzantine emperors, contrary to the will of the local population. German historian Ferdinand Gregorovius called the Albanians “a people of shepherds and warriors.”

He further wrote, “A Venetian friend of Marinos Sanoudos considered it a great fortune that at that time Albanian robbers settled in Thessaly and harassed with incessant attacks the Catalan Company, otherwise they would have grown rich and strong.”

American historian Kenneth Setton, an expert on medieval Europe, wrote that the Albanians who had moved south during the fourteenth century constituted a sizeable element of the Greek area population. They first appeared as mercenaries, then as invaders, and finally as settlers, primarily in Epirus and Thessaly. The effect of their presence surpassed the corresponding effects of either the Catalans or the Florentines.

Hence, the Albanians, according to leading foreign historians, come from areas north of Dyrrachium, the ancient Epidamnos. They have no historical connection with Epirus, where they probably arrived in the thirteenth century.

Their origins and the origin of their language are unclear. They descended on Thessaly and the rest of Central and Eastern Greece at the beginning of the fourteenth century after they were welcomed by the Byzantines to meet the needs generated by the destructively corrupt Catalans.