Acrosticon: annual land tax of Byzantine origin that the farmers paid to their lord.
Articles or Statutes (Els Capitols de la Companyia): legal code based on the Usages of Barcelona that was put into practice in the Catalan duchy of Athens.
Assizes of Romania: legal code that was in force in the Frankish-occupied regions and regulated the feudal relations.

 

B

Baili: a) representatives of Charles I of Anjou in the principality of Achaia after the death of William II de Villehardouin.
b) Venetian governor in Euboea.

Burgensis, bourgeois: originally, the term signified the inhabitant of the fort (burgus). Later, it referred to the inhabitants of the cities.
Buticularius: officer, responsible for the royal vineyards in the West. Important official in Latin Constantinople, with military jurisdiction.
Battle of Pelagonia: in 1259 at the battle of Pelagonia, near the city of Kastoria, the victory of Michael VIII Palaiologos against the army of Michael of Epirus brought about the conclusive prevalence of the empire of Nicaea. This victory led to the recapture of Constantinople by Michael VIII Palaiologos. William II de Villehardouin also participated in this battle with other Frankish rulers, who were captured.

 

C

Cancellarius: s. chancellor.
Corveé: obligatory provision of services by the peasants to their lord with no exchange
Cittadini: the inhabitants of the cities.
Collachium: the northern part of the city of Rhodes, where dwelled knights exclusively.
Constabularius, comestabulus, connetable (constable): high official with military jurisdictions in the Latin Empire of Constantinople and the principality of Achaia. Initially he was responsible for the imperial stables.
Contadini: the inhabitants of the countryside.
Curia: s. court.
Chlemoutsi (Clermont, Castel Tornese): fort in the Peloponnese built by Geoffrey II de Villehardouin with money that belonged to the Latin Church, thus engendering its reaction, according to the Chronicle of the Morea.
Chronicle of Marino Sanudo (Istoria del Regno di Romania): the story of the Frankish states of Romania, written in the period 1326-1333 by the Venetian Marino Sanudo Torsello.
Chronicle of the Morea: a chronicle by an anonymous author, possibly a gasmoulos, of the 14th century. It survives in four language versions (Greek, Aragonese, Italian and French) and constitutes an important source about the feudal organization in the principality of Achaia.
Chronicle of Ramon Muntaner: Catalan chronicle referring to the campaign of the Catalans in Romania in the early 14th century.
Chronicle of the Tocchi: a chronicle by an anonymous author constituting an important source about Carlo I Tocco and his time.
Crusades: expansionist moves of the papal Church with a view to delivering the Holy Places from the Seljuk Turks. The crusades had a social, economic and intellectual character and prevailed in the West from the end of the 11th century until the 14th century.
Chancellor (cancellarius): chief secretary and counsellor of the ruler in the Latin acquisitions. In the Chronicle of the Morea he was referred to as logothetes.
Castellan (castle-keeper, castellanus): governor of the castle and responsible for its maintenance. In addition, he had the prisoners in his guard.
Catalan Company (almugavares, compagnia): mercenary group of Catalans that conquered the Burgundian duchy of Athens, after the battle of Orchomenos in Copais, in 1311.
Court (curia, cour): the council of the prince vested with judiciary jurisdiction. The big court consisted of the prince, the barons and the vassals of the dependent regions. The jurisdiction of the big court was to administer "high justice", whereas the small court, headed by the baron, functioned within each barony and administered "low justice".

 

D

Despotate of Epirus: the independent hegemony founded by Michael I Angelos and seated at Arta (1205), after the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the crusaders.
Despot of Romania: title borne by Philip of Taranto and inherited by his son Robert of Taranto.
Douaire: half the property of the feudal lord that was transferred to his wife after his death.

 

E

Empire of Nicaea: the Byzantine state "in exile" that was founded in Asia Minor and seated in Nicaea, after the conquest of Constantinople by the crusaders.

 

F

Fief: the nucleus of the feudal organization. Originally, fiefs were granted in return for military service for life and later the transfer became hereditary. The fief (annual income) determined the wealth, the power and the social status of the feudal lord.
Fiefs of the conquest: privileged fiefs in the principality of Achaia that could be transferred to collateral relatives as well. Also called gonika.
Flamburar: according to the Chronicle of the Morea he was the owner of four fiefs and had to provide to the prince of Achaia a horseman and twelve sergeants.

 

G

Gavalades: Byzantine family that ruled Rhodes during the period 1204-1250 as independent rulers and had the right to mint coins.
Gasmouloi: a) children of mixed parentage (Latin men and Greek women).
b) category of the rural population in the duchy of the Aegean.

Goniko: s. fiefs of the conquest.
Grand Master (Grand Maitre): head of the Order of the Knights Hospitallers, supreme administrative ruler in Rhodes elected for life.

 

H

Hyperpyron: Byzantine golden coin.
Homage, anthropea: feudal terms mentioned in the Chronicle of the Morea, in order to signify the homage (homagium), namely the relation between the seigneur and the vassal.

 

Ι

Investir: the term occurs in the Chronicle of the Morea. It referred to the investitura, a ceremony during which the seigneur granted the fief to his favoured.

 

K

Knights Hospitallers: ecclesiastical military order that was founded in the 11th century, to meet the religious and military needs of the Latin states of the East. In 1309 they conquered Rhodes and stayed there until 1522. That year the island fell to the Turks.

 

L

Licario: Latin knight of Euboea, who fought in the service of Michael VIII Palaiologos and conquered Karystos and many islands of the Aegean (1264-1280).
Liege (lige): feudal term that referred to the feudal lords who occupied the highest position in the hierarchy.

 

Μ

Major cocus: official in the West, who was responsible for food supply. In the Latin Empire of Constantinople he was an important official with military jurisdictions.
Marshal (marescalus): high military official having also judiciary jurisdiction in the Latin acquisitions. In the Chronicle of the Morea he is called protostratoras.
Massarius, magister massariarum: office in the Angevin rule vested with financial jurisdictions.
Michael VIII Palaiologos (+1282): founder of the last Byzantine dynasty of the Palaiologoi. As emperor of Nicaea, he defeated the Latin coalition in 1259 at the battle of Pelagonia and in 1261 he recovered Constantinople from the Franks.

 

Ν

Navarrese (Navarrese Company): group of mercenaries who were used in the late 14th century for the claims in the Frankish-occupied regions and who had acquired a dominant position for a period, mainly in the principality of Achaia.
Neo doma: term that occurs in the Chronicle of the Morea signifying the fiefs that were transferred only to first-degree relatives.
Notary (notarius): Profession that was usually exercised by the Greeks in the Frankish-occupied regions.

 

Ο

Officiales: higher officials of the Frankish administration.

 

P

Panetarius: significant official in the West, responsible for keeping and distributing the bread (panis) in the palace. The office was transferred to Latin Constantinople vested with military powers.
Parlama (parlement): assembly, convention, court. It is mentioned in the Chronicle of the Morea, in order to define the assembly of the feudal lords.
Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae: the treaty of partition of the Byzantine Empire among the crusaders and the Venetians after the conquest of Constantinople in 1204.
Parlement des Dames at Nikli: in 1262 the wives of the Latin feudal lords, who had been captured at the battle of Pelagonia (1259), gathered and decided to surrender to Michael VIII Palaiologos the castles of Monemvasia, Mistra, Maina, Geraki and Kinsterna.
People of plain vassalage (homines plani homagii): feudal term referring to the feudal lords who occupied the lowest position in the hierarchy. This category included also the Byzantine lords.
Podesta: a) governor of the Venetian sector of the Latin Empire of Constantinople.
b) governor in the Genoese acquisitions of Romania (Galatas and Chios).
c) Lombard judge in Euboea.

Prince (princeps): ruler of the principality.
Primus inter pares (first among equals): designation for the prince of Achaia, the power of whom was circumscribed by his equal barons.
Pourveur des chastiaux: responsible for the supervision and the replenishing of the castles in the principality of Achaia. The term occurs in the Chronicle of the Morea.
Pronoia: grant by the Byzantine emperor of imperial land to a military officer in return for services.
Protovestiarios (protoficier, protovestiarius): the term occurs in the Chronicle of the Morea. Originally, he was responsible for the wardrobe and later for the management of the income of the prince of Achaia.
Protopapas: Orthodox priest who leaded the Orthodox congregation in the Frankish-occupied regions and was elected by it with the necessary approval of the Latins.

 

R

Ravennika: valley west of Lamia, which lent its name to the two assemblies that took place there. The first one took place in 1209 for determining the issue of the rebellion of the Lombard lords in the Latin kingdom of Thessalonika. During that first parliament, Geoffrey I de Villehardouin was recognized as the vassal of the Latin emperor and received the title of senescalus Romaniae. The second assembly took place the following year (1210) with a view to settling the ecclesiastical differences in the Frankish states.
Rector: Venetian official vested with political and military duties.
Romania: term used by the Westerners in order to signify the territories of the former Byzantine Empire.

 

S

Sergeant: a) the term occurs in the Chronicle of the Morea and refers to lower officials who had a fief but were not noble.
b) the third group of the Order of the Knights Hospitallers that consisted of descendants of free people.

"Sicilian Vespers": the insurrection of the inhabitants of Sicily (1282) against the Angevin rule. The result was that the Anjou lost Sicily, Charles I was enfeebled and the campaign against Michael VIII Palaiologos was cancelled.
Sire d' Athenes or Dominus Athenarum: title given to the rulers of Athens by Otho de la Roche until 1260. Later they were referred to as dukes.
Seigneur: feudal term that refers to the person (ruler, feudal lord) to whom the vassal owed homage.
Seneschal (Senescalus): important official in the West with vast jurisdictions. In Latin Constantinople he had military jurisdictions. The prince of Achaia bore the title of seneschal of the Latin Empire of Constantinople.
Sestiere: the owner of 1/6 of Euboea after 1216, when the Venetian bailo divided the island into sestieri (six districts)
Suzerainty tax: a tax that mesne lords paid to their suzerain.

 

T

Territorial principality (principaute territoriale): institution of the medieval West that was established after the splitting of the Carolingian empire, in the second half of the 9th century. The prince had public powers (regalia), such as the legislative, the administrative, the military and the economic power. The principality is also known as duchy, marquisate or county.
Titular: a person that maintained the title of an office, but did not have the possibility to exercise power.
Theodore I Laskaris: founder of the empire of Nicaea. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the crusaders in 1204, he was declared emperor.
Treaty of Sapienza: treaty that regulated the relations between Geoffrey I de Villehardouin and Venice in 1209. According to the treaty: a) the prince of Achaia became vassal to Venice, which granted him the Peloponnese as a fief, with the exception of Modon and Coron b) the Venetians acquired the right to practise free trade in the territories of the principality.
Tornesi (tournois, derniers): coin of small value that was minted in the mint of Glarenza (mod. Kyllene) corresponding to the French coin.
Tongue (lingua): that was the name of the divisions of the Knights Hospitallers on the basis of their national origin.
Triarchs (terzieri): a term that refers to the three rulers of Euboea, after the division of the island into three triarchies (1205).
Treasurer (thesaurarius): responsible of the royal treasury and the payment of salaries in the principality of Achaia. The term occurs in the Chronicle of the Morea.

 

U

Usages of Barcelona: the law of Aragon, which had been put into effect under the form of "Articles" or "Statutes" in the Catalan duchy of Athens.
Uniatism (Unia): term that has been used by the Roman Catholic Church, in order to indicate the Orthodox Christians, who, after the Schism of 1054, recognized the primacy of the pope, having maintained the traditional Orthodox worship and organization.

 

V

Vassals (vassalli): feudal term for the subjects.
Villeins (villani): western term designating the peasants that were bound to the land and dependent on their seigneur. The term was transferred to the Frankish-occupied regions and signified the Greeks peasant farmers.