Chronicle of Monemvasia

[Soldier of Macedon]

Anybody have the text?

Monemvasia was a town founded in the 6th century by refugees from the Peloponnese, that had escaped the invaders.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Anybody have the text?

Monemvasia was a town founded in the 6th century by refugees from the Peloponnese, that had escaped the invaders.

Now that we have several more members, it would be a good time to ask this question again, hopefully somebody can assist.

[Bill77]

i am sure some people have googled it like i just did, and came up with JSTOR link. http://www.jstor.org/pss/1291076

Prehaps someone that has access to this site can help. Sory if it's no help SOM.

[Bill77]

I would also like to add that acording to Dr. Kenneth M. Setton one of the foremost interpreters of medieval Europe and the Crusades,
"The Chronicle was no more than ‘a medley of some fact and some fiction’ that historians should use ‘with caution’."

[Soldier of Macedon]

I would also like to add that acording to Dr. Kenneth M. Setton one of the foremost interpreters of medieval Europe and the Crusades,
"The Chronicle was no more than ‘a medley of some fact and some fiction’ that historians should use ‘with caution’."

Thanks Bill, let's see if we can take a look at it and form our own opinion. The JSTOR article is written by a Greek, and the topic relates to Slavonic settlements in Greece, hardly a beacon of objectivity, but probably worth looking into the article nonetheless. Would still like to get my hands on the actual translation of the chronicle itself.

[Bill77]

Thanks Bill, let's see if we can take a look at it and form our own opinion. The JSTOR article is written by a Greek, and the topic relates to Slavonic settlements in Greece, hardly a beacon of objectivity, but probably worth looking into the article nonetheless. Would still like to get my hands on the actual translation of the chronicle itself.

Now that you mentioned it, Peter Charanis who is the writer of that JSTOR article, Kenneth Setton reacts against some of Peter's works regarding the "Chronicle of Monemvasia".


To get our hands on the actual translation of the chronlcle itself and form our own opinion would be ideal.

[Spartan]

SoM,

I have also read of the questioning of its reliability

My father actually owns a book which may have excerpts from the original text.
I will see if I can find it.

On a different note, I have been to Monemvasia more than afew times.
It is in immaculate shape for something so old, they have truly done a great job maintaining it.
Quite the town/fort.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Thanks Spartan, I would however like to determine how reliable it is for myself, and what basis is used to define it 'unreliable' by some others. Some people claim that authors from Herodotus to Simocatta are unreliable, but that doesn't mean the whole content should be dismissed or ingored, as the 'unreliable' label could only be in reference to a particular point or theme in the larger texts.

If you have anything in relation to the book and you are willing to share, please do so, as it must hold some interesting information regarding the early incursions into the Peloponnese and adjacent areas during the 6th century or thereabouts.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Not much on the net about it, it seems that Charanis is one of the few from the Balkans that has taken an interest and initiative to summarise some of the points. Here's one link from a Bulgar website:

http://www.kroraina.com/bulgar/charanis.html 

The other is the Greek chronicle, known as the Chronicle of Monemvasia, written not later than the second half of the eleventh century and based on some work composed in 932 or earlier, probably at the beginning of the ninth century. [25] Both Michael Syrus and the Chronicle of Monemvasia describe the Avaro-Slav invasions of the Balkan peninsula and Greece which took place in the years 578-588. The Slavs, says Michael, took many prisoners and carried away many objects from the churches, as, for example, the ciborium of the church of Corinth which their king used as a throne to sit on. The Chronicle of Monemvasia says that as a result of the invasions of the Peloponnesus by the Avars, many of the Peloponnesians emigrated, the Corinthians going to the island of Aegina, which, of course, is not very far from Corinth. Neither the one nor the other of these reports can be seriously doubted. Michael Syrus took his information from John of Ephesus who was a contemporary of the event; the Chronicle of Monemvasia has been shown to be based on a good historical tradition. Professor Setton, to be sure, using arguments advanced by Kyriakides, has tried to discredit the validity of the Chronicle of Monemvasia, but none of his arguments has a concrete basis. They are all suppositions which cannot be verified.

It is not even contemporary, written several centuries after the fact.

[Spartan]

Thanks Spartan, I would however like to determine how reliable it is for myself, and what basis is used to define it 'unreliable' by some others. Some people claim that authors from Herodotus to Simocatta are unreliable, but that doesn't mean the whole content should be dismissed or ingored, as the 'unreliable' label could only be in reference to a particular point or theme in the larger texts.

Fully agree...was just pointing out what i had read

If you have anything in relation to the book and you are willing to share, please do so, as it must hold some interesting information regarding the early incursions into the Peloponnese and adjacent areas during the 6th century or thereabouts.

My dad has many books about lakonian history, if I can find anything about these chronicles I will definitely post it.
From what I know of the chronicles, it has much to do with the slavic settlements of the Peloponnese. I also believe it includes text concerning an alliance between the Ezeteri/Mellingi(sp?) and the peoples of Mani and Exo Lakonia, against the crusaders or Franks (cant remember) sometime in the 1200s.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Thanks Spartan.

Here is another link related to the previous, from Setton:

http://www.kroraina.com/bulgar/setton.html

[Pelister]

SoM, Just sent it to you via email. If all else fails I will send you a hard copy or just post it page by page.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Thanks Pelister!

[indigen]

"..John of Amida also known as John of Ephesus records that in 581

"…an accursed people, called Slavonians, overran the whole of Greece……and captured the cities, and took numerous forts, and devastated and burnt, and reduced the people to slavery, and made themselves masters of the whole country, and settled in it by main force, and dwelt in it as though it had been their own. ... And even to this day [584 AD], they still encamp and dwell there, and live in peace in the Roman territories, free from anxiety and fear, and lead captive and slay and burn..."

Another source, the so-called Chronicle of Monembasia, states that in the year 587—8 the Turkic Avars (with whom the Slavs were usually allied)

"…..captured all of Thessaly and all of Greece, Old Epirus, Attica and Euboea. Indeed, they attacked the Peloponnese and took it by war; and after expelling and destroying the native Hellenic peoples, they dwelt there. Those who were able to escape their murderous hands were scattered here and there. Thus, the citizens of Patras moved to the district of Reggio in Calabria, the Argives to the island called Orobe, the Corinthians to the island of Aegina.... Only the eastern part of the Peloponnese, from Corinth to Cape Maleas, was untouched by the Slavonians because of the rough and inaccessible nature of the country... "
[Cyril Mango, BYZANTIUM: THE EMPIRE OF NEW ROME]

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Giving a little bit of meat to the topic title.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Only the eastern part of the Peloponnese, from Corinth to Cape Maleas, was untouched by the Slavonians because of the rough and inaccessible nature of the country.......

There is one fact that needs to be remembered about the people of Corinth, which was recorded in the 2nd century AD by the writer Pausanias:

Corinth is no longer inhabited by any of the old Corinthians, but by colonists sent out by the Romans……(2.1.2).

http://www.macedoniantruth.org/forum...inth#post14102