Editing Epirus (section)

====Epirus from the Slavic invasions until 1204====
In the late 6th century Epirus proper fell under the control of the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]] and their Slavic allies. This is placed by the ''[[Chronicle of Monemvasia]]'' in the year 587, and is further corroborated by evidence that several sees were abandoned by their bishops by 591. Thus in {{circa|590}} the bishop, clergy and people of Euroea fled their city, carrying with them the relics of their patron saint, [[Donatus of Evorea|St. Donatus]], to Cassiope in Corfu.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=51}}

Of the various Slavic tribes, only the [[Baiounitai]], first attested {{circa|615}}, are known by name, giving their name to their region of settlement: "[[Vagenetia]]".{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=51}} Based on the density of the Slavic toponyms in Epirus, the Slavs must have settled in the region, although the extent of this settlement is unclear.<ref name="EllisKlusakova2007">{{harvnb|Osswald|2007|p=128}}.</ref> Slavic toponyms occur mainly in the mountainous areas of the interior and the coasts of the [[Gulf of Corinth]], indicative of the fact that this was the avenue used by most of the Slavs who crossed the Gulf into the [[Peloponnese]]. With the exception of some few toponyms on Corfu, the Ionian Islands seem to not have been affected by Slavic settlement. The linguistic analysis of the toponyms reveals that they date mostly to the early wave of Slavic settlement at the turn of the 6th/7th centuries. Due to scarcity of textual evidence, it is unclear how much the area was affected by the second wave of Slavic migration, which began in the middle of the 8th century due to [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgar]] pressure in the northern Balkans.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|pp=51–52}} Slavic toponyms are nearly lacking in the mountains of [[Labëria]] (on the [[Kurvelesh (region)|Kurvelesh plateau]]), in the [[Albanian Ionian Sea Coast|Ionian coast]] where today [[Lab Albanian dialect|Lab Albanian]] villages neighbour with the [[Greek language|Greek-speaking]] ones, therefore it can be assumed that the expansion of the Slavs had not reached this region.{{sfn|Desnickaja|1973|p=48}} A number of Slavic toponyms in Epirus proper were acquired by Albanian in the earliest phase of contacts between the two languages ([[Early Middle Ages]]), reflecting some of the more archaic phonetic features of Slavic as well as early Albanian phonology.{{sfn|Ylli|1997|p=317}}{{sfn|Ylli|2000|pp=103, 106, 136, 174, 175, 183, 197, 267, 269}}

As in eastern Greece, the restoration of Byzantine rule seems to have proceeded from the islands, chiefly Cephallonia, which was certainly under firm Imperial control in {{circa|702}}, when [[Philippicus Bardanes]] was banished there. The gradual restoration of Imperial rule is evidenced further from the participation of local bishops in councils in [[Constantinople]]: whereas only the bishop of Dyrrhachium participated in the Ecumenical Councils of [[Third Council of Constantinople|680/1]] and [[Quinisext Council|692]], a century later the bishops of Dyrrhachium, Nicopolis, Corfu, Cephallonia, and Zakynthos are attested in the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] in 787.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=52}} In about the middle of the 8th century, the [[Theme of Cephallenia]] was established, but at least initially it was more oriented towards restoring Byzantine control over the Ionian and Adriatic seas, combating Saracen piracy, and securing communications with the remaining Byzantine possessions in Italy, rather than any systematic effort at subduing the Epirote mainland.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=52}} Nevertheless, following the onset of the [[Muslim conquest of Sicily]] in 827, the Ionian became particularly exposed to Arab raids.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=53}}

[[File:Byzantine Greece ca 900 AD.svg|thumb|right|Map of the southern Balkans and western Anatolia in ca. 900 AD, with the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[Theme (Byzantine district)|themes]] and major settlements.]]
The 9th century saw great progress in the restoration of Imperial control in the mainland, as evidenced by the participation of the bishops of Ioannina, [[Naupaktos]], Hadrianopolis, and Vagenetia (evidently by now organized as a ''[[Sklavinia]]'' under imperial rule) in the Ecumenical Councils of [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Roman Catholic)|869/70]] and [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Eastern Orthodox)|879/80]].{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=53}} The Byzantine recovery resulted in an influx of Greeks from southern Italy and [[Asia Minor]] into the Greek interior, while remaining Slavs were Christianized and [[Hellenization|Hellenized]].{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=64}} The eventual success of the Hellenization campaign also suggests a continuity of the original Greek population, and that the Slavs had settled among many Greeks, in contrast to areas further north, in what is now Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia, as those areas could not be Hellenized when they were recovered by the Byzantines in the early 11th century.{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=64}} Following the [[Battle of Cephalonia|great naval victory]] of admiral [[Nasar]] in 880, and the beginning of the Byzantine offensive against the Arabs in southern Italy in the 880s, the security situation improved and the [[Theme of Nicopolis]] was established, most likely after 886.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=53}}{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=1485}} As the ancient capital of Epirus had been laid waste by the Slavs, the capital of the new theme became Naupaktos further south. The extent of the new province is unclear, but probably matched the extent of the [[Metropolis of Naupaktos]], established at about the same time, encompassing the sees of Vonditsa, Aetos, Acheloos, [[Rogoi]], Ioannina, Hadrianopolis, Photike, and Buthrotum. Vagenetia notably no longer appears as a bishopric. As the authors of the ''[[Tabula Imperii Byzantini]]'' comment, it appears that "the Byzantine administration had brought the strongly Slavic-settled areas in the mainland somewhat under its control, and a certain Re-Hellenization had set in".{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|pp=53–54}} Further north, the region around [[Dyrrhachium]] existed as the [[Dyrrhachium (theme)|homonymous theme]] possibly as early as the 9th century.{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=668}}

During the early 10th century, the themes of Cephallenia and Nicopolis appear mostly as bases for expeditions against southern Italy and Sicily, while [[Mardaites]] from both themes are listed in the large but unsuccessful expedition of 949 against the [[Emirate of Crete]].{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=54}} In {{circa|930}}, the Theme of Nicopolis was raided by the Bulgarians, who even occupied some parts until driven out or subjugated by the Byzantines years later.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=54}} Only the extreme north of Epirus seems to have remained consistently under Bulgarian rule in the period, but under Tsar [[Samuel of Bulgaria|Samuel]], who moved the centre of Bulgarian power south and west to [[Ohrid]], probably all of Epirus down to the [[Ambracian Gulf]] came under Bulgarian rule.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=55}} This is evidenced from the fact that the territories that were under Bulgarian rule formed part of the [[autocephalous]] [[Archbishopric of Ohrid]] after the [[Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria]] by Emperor [[Basil II]] in 1018: thus in Epirus the sees of [[Chimara]], Hadrianopolis, Bela, Buthrotum, Ioannina, Kozyle, and Rogoi passed under the jurisdiction of Ohrid, while the Metropolitan of Naupaktos retained only the sees of Bonditza, Aetos, and Acheloos.{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=55}} Basil II also established new, smaller themes in the region: [[Kolonje|Koloneia]], and [[Dryinopolis]] (Hadrianopolis).{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|p=55}}

The region joined the [[uprising of Petar Delyan]] in 1040, and suffered in the [[First Norman invasion of the Balkans]]: Dyrrhachium was [[Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081)|occupied]] by the [[Normans]] in 1081–1084, [[Arta, Greece|Arta]] was unsuccessfully besieged, and Ioannina was captured by [[Robert Guiscard]].{{sfn|Soustal|Koder|1981|pp=55–56}} An [[Aromanians|Aromanian]] presence in Epirus is first mentioned in the late 11th century, while Jewish communities are attested throughout the medieval period in Arta and Ioannina.{{sfn|Osswald|2007|p=129}}