GBEECE. 212 GBEECE. appanage of the Kingdom of Aragon. In 1385 it was acquired by the Florentine fainily of Aecia- juoli, under wliom it remained until the Turkish conquest in 1450. During this period the Court of Athens was one of the most brilliant of the feudal courts of Europe. Soon after the capture of Constantinople in 1453. Mohammed 11. turned his attention to the Morea and Attica, and liy 1400 they had been completely subjugated. The Turkish conquest, sending thousands of Greeks into exile, spread the intellectual influence of the race through the West, and promoted the revival of learning in Europe. (See Renais- sance.) The Venetians still held many places in the Grecian islands, and defended them obsti- nately in an almost constant series of wars until" 1718; but gradually the islands, like the mainland, fell into the hands of the Turks. The great naval battle of Lepanto (Xaupactus), won by the allied Papal. Spanish, and Venetian fleets, October 7, 1571, gave the Christian powers a temporary advantage - which they failed to follow up. Venice lost Crete in 1GC9." but in 1684 the Venetian Admiral JFornsini opened a vigorous campaign, ^^•hich resulted in 1087 in the conquest of the Jlorea and of Attica, During the siege of Athens (1087) the Parthenon was ruined by the Venetian bombardment. The peace of Carlo- witz in 1699 left the Morea alone in the posses- sion of Venice; and in 1715 this was again con- quered by the Turks, after a feeble defense, and by the Peace of Passarowitz (1718) the Ottoman Empire remained in full possession of Cireece. The country was administered in the usual Turk- ish fashion. It was divided into pashalics. ■within which the pashas ruled autocratically, being held accountable only for a certain amount of revenue, which they wrung from the unfortu- nate people. The same was true of officials of lesser rank, beys and agas. within the districts intrusted to them. Prostrated under an alien and irresponsible tyranny, the country lapsed into anarchy and poverty. All over Greece many of the more vigorous and independent of the peo- ple adopted the wild, free life of klephts or brig- ands, having their lairs in the mountains, and waging unceasing warfare against the Turks. Among them the spirit of independence was kept alive, although with a total disregard for author- ity. Terrible as was the rule of the Turks, they allowed two institutions to exist which acted as powerful forces toward maintaining intact the nationality of the Greeks. One was the Cireek Church, the other the system of local self-goveni- ment. In the eighteenth century Eussia sought to extend a heljiing hand to the Greeks, her core- ligionists, but little of moment was achieved. Large numbers of Greeks found a field for their activity in commerce and navigation, and this preseired the national life from stagnation and kept the people in touch with the outside world. Those who resided in foreign countries under freer governments, many of whom acquired wealth and influence, remained devoted to the fatherland and fostered the spirit of independ- ence by helping to establish national institu- tions of learning. At the close of the eighteenth century the trade of the ports of Greece and of the Grecian islands assumed great proportions, and the merchant marine became a school whence was to issue a large array of naval heroes. The War for IxnEPExnENCE. At the beginning of the nineteenth centurv the Greeks everyivhere began to plan for a national revival, the chief agent being a great secret association, the Hctaria, which extended wherever in the world Greeks were to be tound loyal to the national cause. The way for such a movement had been prepared by the labors of the patriot scholar Coray (q.v. ), who had devoted himself to the task of restoring the classic language of ancient Hellas, with the conscious purpose of effecting thereby a resur- rection also of the old national spirit. In JIarch, 1821, at -lassy, the capital of Moldavia, Alexan- der Ypsilauti, head of the Hctin-io. raised the standard of revolt, proclaiming the independenci- of the Greek people, and the ten years' struggle was opened. Ypsilanti's daring deed soon ended in disaster, but it was the signal for a great uprising, which at once began in the Morea. The Porte sought to cheek the revolt by wholesale massacres and executions, but the rebellion giew in spite of constant defeat. The people revived the memories of the ancient Cireeks by their heroic deeds, on land and sea. under the lead of such men as Ciermanos. Kolokotronis. ilavro- michalis, Demetrius, Ypsilanti. ilavrokordatos, Bozzaris, Odysseus, Miaulis, and Kanaris. Tripo- litza, in the Morea, the capital of that pashalic, was captured by the Greeks, October 17, 1821. At Epidaurus in January, 1822. the first Na- tional Assembly framed a constitution. In March occurred the terrible massacres perpetrated by the Turks on the island of Scio (Chios), when about 25,000 people were slain within a month, and thousands more were sold into slavery. In spite of these atrocities, however, the members of the Holy Alliance, at the Congress of Verona in the last months of 1822, called upon the rebel- lious Greeks to return to their obedience. Among the deeds of the patriots in the year 1822 was the destruction of the Admiral's ship of the Turks at Chios (night of June 18-191. and of another vessel of the line (in JCovember) by the fire-ships of Kanaris. and the victories of Kolo- tronis over the invading Turkish army in the Morea. In August, 1823. occurred the brilliant exploit of Marco Bozzaris (q.v.) at Karpenisi near Missolonghi. Funds to aid the patriots were obtainable only on exorbitant terms, but the generous contributions of wealthy Greeks and of sympathetic foreigners (see PiiiLnELLEXES) maintained the long struggle against fearful odds. Among those who stirred up Europe in the cause of Greek independence was Byron. The Sultan at last called in Mehemet Ali (q.v.), who had already made a sinister reputation in Egypt, to suppress the rebellion. An Egyptian army of 17.(iflO men under Ibrahim Pasha landed in the Morea in February (1825). Navarino was taken in JIay. Tripolitza in .Tune, and within half a year the entire peninsula had been subjugated. In April. 1820. the Turks took Missolonghi. after an heroic defense on the part of the Greeks, and on Au- gust 15th Athens was taken by storm. The mis- fortunes of the Greeks during this period of the war were due in great measure to the dissensions bet^^■een the Constitutional Party, headed by Mav- rokordatos and Kunduriotis, and the supporters of a military dictatorship, of whom the most prominent were Kolokotronis and Ypsilanti. A temporary reconciliation between the two par- ties was effected in 1827, and in March the National Assembly at Tro?zen amended the Con- stitution so as to provide for a single executive. Count Capo d'Istria (q.v.) was chosen Presi-
