Abstract
The Peloponnese, a province of the Byzantine Empire in the 11th and 12th centuries, was divided into three distinct political entities after 1204: the Frankish Principality of Achaia, the Venetian colonies of Modon and Coron, and the Byzantine lands in the southeast. The number and size of cities in the Peloponnese during the 11th and 12th centuries expanded, and the establishment of the new political entities of the 13th century did not hinder the development of its urban centers. New urban centers appeared, and the dynamics of the old urban centers witnessed a major shift. The focus of this paper is on port towns, since the majority of the available data derive from them, and aims to investigate the economic centrality of the port towns in the Peloponnese in the context of their environs, economic activities, and their position in the eastern Mediterranean exchange system. The theoretical framework is based on concepts of network theory, centrality, and economic complexity, as well as on a thorough evaluation of the material and textual evidence. In doing so, the economic profile of each central place is reconstructed, as well as a comparison between them.
Highlights
The late 11th and mid-14th centuries in the medieval Eastern Mediterranean are marked by the cultural and economic transformation of the societies living on its shores
The port towns of the Peloponnese diachronically linked the peninsula with regions within the Byzantine Empire and beyond
They were located in strategic locations, since they could reach distant markets and obtain objects and goods from regions outside the peninsula, but they were connected with the resources of their hinterlands
Summary
The late 11th and mid-14th centuries in the medieval Eastern Mediterranean are marked by the cultural and economic transformation of the societies living on its shores. 740) but, by the late 13th century, the same region ( including the restored Byzantine Empire and Latin States) had become a large importer of manufactured products from the West [6] The aim of this paper is to analyze the economic profile of each town and examine, empirically, their hierarchy, and the degree of their centrality between the late 11th and mid-14th century. This is the first time that the economic evolution of the medieval urban centers in the Peloponnese is approached, based on aspects of central place theory, network analysis, and economic complexity. Concepts of network theory will provide the tools to visualize relationships between settlements, and concepts of centrality will emphasize the economic and sociopolitical dynamics of each town, and reconstruct their hierarchy in the economic topography of the Peloponnese, while the concept of economic complexity will illustrate the variety
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