Editing Thessaly (section)

===Late Medieval period===
{{further|Great Vlachia|Duchy of Neopatria|Ottoman Greece}}
[[File:Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Neopatria.svg|thumb|left|100px|Coat of arms of the [[Duchy of Neopatras]].]]

In 977 Byzantine Thessaly was raided by the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]]. In 1066 dissatisfaction with the taxation policy led the Aromanian and Bulgarian population of Thessaly to revolt against the Byzantine Empire under the leadership of a local lord, [[Nikoulitzas Delphinas]]. The revolt, which began in [[Larissa]], soon expanded to [[Trikala]] and later northwards to the Byzantine-Bulgarian border.{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=216}} In 1199–1201 another unsuccessful revolt was led by [[Manuel Kamytzes]], son-in-law of Byzantine emperor [[Alexios III Angelos]], with the support of [[Dobromir Chrysos]], the autonomous ruler of [[Prosek, North Macedonia|Prosek]]. Kamytzes managed to establish a short-lived principality in northern Thessaly, before he was overcome by an imperial expedition.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=32}}

[[File:Dodwell Pherae.jpg|thumb|"The Hyperian Fountain at [[Pherae]]", during the Ottoman era, by [[Edward Dodwell]].]]

Following the [[Siege of Constantinople (1204)|siege of Constantinople]] and the dissolution of the [[Byzantine Empire]] by the [[Fourth Crusade]] in April 1204, Thessaly passed to [[Boniface of Montferrat]]'s [[Kingdom of Thessalonica]] in the wider context of the ''[[Frankokratia]]''. With his Greek ties, Boniface won the support of the Greek population and of various important Greek families.{{sfn|Fine|1994|pp=63}}{{sfn|Fine|1994|pp=64}} In 1212, [[Michael I Komnenos Doukas]], ruler of [[Despotate of Epirus|Epirus]], led his troops into Thessaly. Larissa and much of central Thessaly came under Epirote rule, thereby separating Thessalonica from the Crusader principalities in southern Greece.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=68}} Michael's work was completed by his half-brother and successor, [[Theodore Komnenos Doukas]], who by 1220 completed the recovery of the entire region, and assigned [[pronoia|''pronoiai'']] to aristocratic Greek families.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=114}}

[[File:Thessalia-flag.jpg|thumb|160px|One of the flags used in Thessaly during the [[Greek War of Independence]] (designed by [[Anthimos Gazis]]).]]

The [[Vlachs]] (Aromanians) of Thessaly (originally a chiefly [[transhumant]] [[Romance languages|Romance-speaking]] population){{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=2183}}{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=2184}} first appear in Byzantine sources in the 11th century, in the ''[[Strategikon of Kekaumenos]]'' and [[Anna Komnene]]'s ''[[Alexiad]]'').{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=2183}}{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=2184}} In the 12th century, the Jewish traveller [[Benjamin of Tudela]] records the existence of the district of "Vlachia" near [[Halmyros]] in eastern Thessaly, while the Byzantine historian [[Niketas Choniates]] places "[[Great Vlachia]]" ({{langx|rup|Vlãhia Mari|link=no}}) near [[Meteora]]. The term is also used by the 13th-century scholar [[George Pachymeres]], and it appears as a distinct administrative unit in 1276, when the ''[[pinkernes]]'' [[Manuel Komnenos Raoul|Raoul Komnenos]] was its governor (''[[kephale (Byzantine Empire)|kephale]]'').{{sfn|Kazhdan|1991|p=2183}}

From 1271 to 1318 Thessaly was an independent despotate that extended to [[Acarnania]] and [[Aetolia]], run by the dynasty founded by [[John I Doukas]]. John ruled from 1271 until his death in 1289 and was succeeded by his sons Constantine and Theodore. At this time, Thessaly came under Byzantine suzerainty, though it largely retained its independence.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=235}} After Constatine's death in 1303, it was ruled by [[John II Doukas]] until his death in 1318. From 1306 to 1310, the [[Almogavars]] or [[Catalan Company]] of the East (''Societas Catalanorum Magna''), plundered Thessaly.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=241}} In 1310, they occupied a series of forts in the south.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=241}} From there they departed to the [[Duchy of Athens]], called by the duke [[Gautier V, Count of Brienne|Walter I]], whom they eventually killed in battle and took over the [[Duchy of Athens]].{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=242}} In 1318, with the death of John II, Thessalian independence came to an end, and the Almogavars occupied Siderokastron and southern Thessaly (1319) and formed the [[Duchy of Neopatria]]. The other parts of Thessaly either came under Byzantine rule or were ruled by their own nobility.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=243}} These local magnates eventually started fighting amongst themselves. Those in the south, such as the Melissenos family of Volos, sought the help of the Catalans, while those in the north, such as the Gavrilopoulos family of Trikala, turned towards Byzantium.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=243}} At this time, some of Thessaly's ports came under Venetian rule.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=247}} In 1332, most of Thessaly was taken by the Byzantines following a campaign by [[Andronikos III Paleologos]].{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=253}} He left its administration to [[Michael Monomachos]], who governed  it for the next 10 years.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=253}}

Groups of Albanians moved into Thessaly as early as 1268 as mercenaries of [[Michael II Komnenos Doukas|Michael Doukas]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lopasic|first1=Alexander|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BDywCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA90|title=Perspectives On Albania|date=1992|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-349-22050-2|editor1-last=Winnifrith|editor1-first=Tom|pages=90|chapter=Cultural Values of the Albanians in the Diaspora}}</ref> The [[Albanians|Albanian]] tribes of [[Bua (tribe)|Bua]], [[Malakasioi]] and Mazaraki were described as "unruly" nomads living in the mountains of Thessaly in the early 14th century in [[John VI Kantakouzenos|Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos’]] ‘History’. They numbered approximately 12,000. Kantakouzenos describes a pact they made to serve the Byzantine Emperor and pay tribute to him ca. 1332 in exchange for using the lowland areas of Thessaly in the summer months.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Elsie|first=Robert|title=Texts and Documents of Albanian History|url=http://albanianhistory.net/1328_Cantacuzene/index.html|access-date=2021-10-09|website=albanianhistory.net}}</ref> Albanian groups were given military holdings [[Fanari, Karditsa|Fanari]] in the 1330s and by the end of the 14th century and the Ottoman takeover of the region, they were an integral part of the military structures of Thessaly. Two of their military leaders known in Byzantine sources as Peter and John Sebastopoulos controlled the small towns of [[Pharsala]] and [[Domokos]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Magdalino |first1=Paul |editor1-last=Arbel |editor1-first=Benjamin |editor2-last=Hamilton |editor2-first=Bernard |editor3-last=Jacoby |editor3-first=David |title=Latins and Greeks in the Eastern Mediterranean After 1204 |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1136289163 |page=103 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUzFBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA103 |chapter=Between Romaniae: Thessaly and Epirus in the Later Middle Ages}}</ref>

In 1348, Thessaly was invaded and occupied by the [[Serbian Empire]] of [[Stefan Dušan]], under the general [[Preljub]]. After the latter's death in 1356, the region was conquered by [[Nikephoros II Orsini|Nikephoros Orsini]] after he won the support of the local Greek population.{{sfn|Fine|1994|p=347}} After his death three years later, it was taken over by the self-proclaimed Serbian emperor [[Simeon Uroš]]. Simeon's son [[John Uroš]] succeeded in 1370 but abdicated in 1373, and Thessaly was administered by the Greek Angeloi-Philanthropenoi clan until the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] conquest c.&nbsp;1393.