Editing Peloponnese (section)

====Frankish rule and Byzantine reconquest====
{{main|Frankokratia|Principality of Achaea|Despotate of Morea}}
[[File:Castello Chlemoutsi.jpg|thumb|right|The Frankish castle of Clairmont ([[Chlemoutsi]])]]
[[File:Mystras palace.JPG|thumb|right|The court of the Byzantine despots in [[Mystras]], now a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]]]

In 1205, following the destruction of the Byzantine Empire by the forces of the [[Fourth Crusade]], the Crusaders under [[William of Champlitte]] and [[Geoffrey I of Villehardouin|Geoffrey of Villehardouin]] marched south through mainland Greece and conquered the Peloponnese against [[Battle of the Olive Grove of Koundouros|sporadic local Greek resistance]]. The [[Frangokratia|Franks]] then founded the [[Principality of Achaea]], nominally a [[vassal]] of the [[Latin Empire]], while the [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]] occupied several strategically important ports around the coast such as [[Pylos|Navarino]] and [[Koroni|Coron]], which they retained into the 15th century.<ref>Kazhdan (1991), pp. 11, 1621, 2158</ref> The Franks popularized the name ''[[Morea]]'' for the peninsula, which first appears as the name of a small bishopric in [[Ancient Elis|Elis]] during the 10th century. Its etymology is disputed, but it is most commonly held to be derived from the mulberry tree (''morea''), whose leaves are similar in shape to the peninsula.<ref>Kazhdan (1991), p. 1409</ref>

In 1208, William I founded a commission at [[Andravida]] consisted of Latin bishops, two [[banneret]]s and five Greek magnates and chaired by himself, to assess the land and divide it, according to Latin practice, in [[fief]]s. The result was divide the country into twelve [[feudal barony|baronies]], mostly centred around a newly constructed castle—a testament to the fact that the Franks were a military elite amidst a potentially hostile Greek population.<ref>Setton (1976), p. 30</ref><ref>Miller (1921), p. 71</ref> The twelve temporal barons were joined by seven ecclesiastic lords, headed by the [[Latin Archbishop of Patras]]. Each of the latter was granted a number of estates as [[knight]]ly fiefs, with the Archbishop receiving eight, the other bishops four each, and likewise four granted to each of the [[Military order (society)|military order]]s: the [[Templars]], [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospitallers]] and the [[Teutonic Knights]].<ref>Miller (1921), pp. 72–73</ref> Shortly after 1260, a thirteenth barony, that of [[Barony of Arcadia|Arcadia]] (modern [[Kyparissia]]) was established, which was also a personal fief of the Villehardouins.<ref name="Setton31">Setton (1976), p. 31</ref> The barons retained considerable powers and privileges, so that the Prince was not an absolute sovereign but rather a "first among equals" among them. Thus they had the right to construct a castle without the Prince's permission, or to decree [[capital punishment]]. Since [[Salic Law]] was not adopted in Achaea, women could also inherit the fiefs.<ref>Miller (1921), p. 74</ref>