The Despotate of Epirus: the Archaeology of a Late Byzantine State

This thesis is an attempt at a first comprehensive study of the archaeology of the entire region of medieval Epirus, i.e., including areas on either side of the Albanian-Greek border. The period under investigation is the thirteenth century Despotate rule, a time of fragmentation and decentralisation in the history of the Byzantine Empire, following the capture of Byzantium’s capital, Constantinople, by the Latin crusaders in 1204. Against this historical panorama, the study aims to contribute to our understanding of the socio-cultural developments that characterized the region under autonomous governance and within a complex East-West Mediterranean context. Drawing from all forms of available material remains (excavated and above ground) and in conjunction with other sources (topographic, environmental and historical), the thesis sheds light on the patterns of human occupation in the urban and rural contexts, exploring aspects such as fortification chronology, building methods and practices, defence policies and patronage, urban topography and fabric, medieval Byzantine urban planning, rural churches and monasteries, material culture and the economy, and cultural interaction with neighbouring Mediterranean regions. The study shows that a continuation of the concept of centralised governance in the region of Epirus in the broad sense, and specifically of centralised governance of public works is suggested by the evidence on fortification construction. The churches and monasteries built or refurbished throughout the thirteenth century reflect the economic wealth and the political and cultural dynamics of the Despotate in the thirteenth century. It can be surmised that Epirote urban and rural settlements at this time were in essence a further development of processes that I think were rooted in the developments of the ninth-eleventh centuries of the so-called Byzantine revival.