Maniots

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The Maniots or Maniates (Greek: Μανιάτες) are an ethnic Greek subgroup that traditionally inhabit the Mani Peninsula; located in western Laconia and eastern Messenia, in the southern Peloponnese, Greece. They were also formerly known as Mainotes, and the peninsula as Maina.

The Maniots claim to be the descendants of the ancient

The surnames of the Maniots uniformly end in "eas" in what is now the Messenian ("outer" or northwestern) part of Mani, "akis" or "-akos" in what is now the Laconian ("inner" or southwestern and eastern) part of Mani and the occasional "-oggonas".^[3]

Ancient Mani

Mycenaean Mani

While the Spartans ruled Mani, Tenaron became an important gathering place for mercenaries.^[8] Gythium became a major port under the Spartans as it was only 27 km (17 mi) away from Sparta. In 455 BC, during the First Peloponnesian War, it was besieged and captured by the Athenian admiral Tolmides along with 50 triremes and 4,000 hoplites.^[7] The city and the dockyards were rebuilt and by the late Peloponnesian War, Gythium was the main building place for the new Spartan fleet.^[9] The Spartan leadership of the Peloponnese lasted until 371 BC, when the Thebans under Epaminondas defeated them at Leuctra. The Thebans began a campaign against Laconia and captured Gythium after a three-day siege. The Thebans only briefly managed to hold Gythium, which was captured by 100 elite warriors posing as athletes.^[8]

Hellenistic Mani

During the

Mani flourished under the Romans, because of its respectful obedience to Rome. The Koinon consisted of 24 cities (later 18), of which Gythium remained the most prominent. However, many parts of Mani remained under the also semi-independent (autonomous under Roman sovereignty) Sparta, the most notable being Asine and Kardamyli.[15] Mani became a center for purple dye, which was popular in Rome, as well as being well known for its rose antique marble and porphyry.^[7] Las is recorded to have been a comfortable city with Roman baths and a gymnasium.^[17]

Pausanias has left us a description of Gythium as it existed during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (reigned 161–180). The agora, the Acropolis, the island of Cranae (Marathonisi) where Paris on his way to Troy celebrated his nuptials with Beautiful Helen after taking her from Sparta, the Migonium or precinct of Aphrodite Migonitis (occupied by the modern town), and the hill Larysium (Koumaro) rising above it. Nowadays, the most noteworthy remains of the theatre and the buildings partially submerged by the sea all belong to the Roman period.^[18]

The Koinon remained semi-independent (autonomous under Roman sovereignty) until the provincial reforms of

On January 17, 395,

In 468, Gaiseric of the Vandals attempted to conquer Mani with the purpose of using it as a base to raid and then conquer the Peloponnese. Gaiseric tried to land his fleet at Kenipolis (near modern village of Kyparissos in Cape Tenaron), but as his army disembarked, the inhabitants of the town attacked the Vandals and made them retreat after heavy casualties.^[19]

Decades later, the famed Byzantine general Belisarius, on the way to his victorious campaign against the Vandals, stopped at Kenipolis to get supplies, honor the Kenipolitans for their victory, and recruit some soldiers.^[20] According to Greenhalgh and Eliopoulos, the Eurasian Avars (along with the Slavs) attacked and occupied most of the western Peloponnese in 590.^[21] However, there is no archaeological evidence for a Slavic (or Avar) penetration of imperial Byzantine territory before the end of the 6th century. Overall, traces of Slavic culture in Greece are very rare.^[22]

During the Macedonian dynasty

There is a description of Mani and its inhabitants in Constantine VII's De Administrando Imperio:^[21]

Be it known that the inhabitants of

Slavs (Melingoi and Ezeritai dwelling on the Taygetus) but from the older Romaioi, who up to the present time are termed Hellenes by the local inhabitants on account of their being in olden times idolatres and worshippers of idols like the ancient Greeks, and who were baptized and became Christians in the reign of the glorious Basil

. The place in which they live is waterless and inaccessible, but has olives from which they gain some consolation.

The area inhabited by the Maniates (or Maniots) was first called by the name 'Maina' and was associated probably with the castle of Tigani (situated in the small peninsula of Tigani in Mezapos bay in northwestern Mani Peninsula). The Maniots at that time were called 'Hellenes'—that is, pagans (see Names of the Greeks)—and were only Christianized fully in the 9th century AD, though some church ruins from the 4th century AD indicate that Christianity was practiced by some Maniots in the region at an earlier time. The Maniots were the last inhabitants of Greece to openly follow the pagan Hellenic religion. This can be explained by the mountainous nature of Mani's terrain, which enabled them to escape the attempts of the Eastern Roman Empire to Christianize Greece.^[21]

Under the Principality of Achaea

During the

Krokodeilos Kladas, a Greek from Laconia, was granted lordship by Mehmet over Elos and Vardounia in 1461. Mehmet hoped that Kladas would defend Laconia from the Maniots.^[25] During that time, Mani's population grew as a result of an influx of refugees who came from other areas of Greece.^{[29][Note 2]} In 1463, Kladas joined the Venetians in their ongoing war against the Ottomans. He led the Maniots against the Ottomans with Venetian aid until 1479, when the Venetians made peace with the Ottomans and gave the Ottomans the right to rule the Brazzo di Maina. Kladas refused to accept the conditions, and so the Venetians put a price on his head.^[25]

After the end of the Turko-Venetian War, the Venetians left the Maniots to fend for themselves. Many of the Greeks who had revolted alongside the Venetians were massacred by the Ottomans, but many of them fled to find refuge in Mani. The Maniots continued to resist, and Mehmet dispatched an army of 2,000 infantry and 300 cavalry under the command of Ale Boumico.^[31] The Venetians, trying to gain favor with the Porte, handed over some Maniot rebels. The Ottomans reached Oitylo before Kladas, and the Maniots attacked and massacred them.^{[citation needed]} Only a few escaped; amongst them was Ale Boumico. Kladas invaded the Laconian plain with 14,000 Maniots and killed the Turkish inhabitants.^[32]

A month later, a larger force under the command of Ahmed Bey invaded Mani and drove Kladas to Porto Kagio.^[33] There, he was picked up by three galleys of King Ferdinand I of Naples.^[33] To delay the Turks long enough for Kladas to escape, the Maniot rear guard attacked the Turkish army.^[33] Kladas reached the Kingdom of Naples, whence he became a mercenary leader. He returned to Mani in 1490 and was killed in a battle at Monemvasia.^[33]

16th century

From 1500 to 1570, Mani kept its autonomy without any invasion from the Ottomans.^[32] The Ottomans were busy driving the Venetians out of the Peloponnese and succeeded in 1540, when they conquered Monemvasia and Nafplio. The Ottomans under Selim II, preparing to invade the Venetian island of Cyprus, built a fortress in Mani, at Porto Kagio, and they also garrisoned Passavas. The aim of this was to disrupt the Venetians' communication lines and to keep the Maniots at bay. Alarmed, the Maniots called upon Venetian assistance, and the Venetian navy in combination with the Maniot army captured the castle.^[34]

Cyprus fell later that year, but the fleet of the

In 1603, the Maniots approached

In 1645, a new Turkish-Venetian War, the so-called "Cretan War" began, during which the Republic of Venice was attempting to defend Crete, one of their provinces since 1204, from the Ottoman Empire, initially under Ibrahim I. The Maniots supported the Venetians by offering them ships. In 1659, Admiral Francesco Morosini, with 13,000 Maniots as his allies, occupied Kalamata, a large city near Mani. In 1667, during the Siege of Candia, some Maniot pirate ships sneaked into the Ottoman fleet and managed to loot and burn some ships. However, Candia fell in 1669, and Crete became part of the Ottoman Empire.^{[35][36][Note 3]} The piracy of Maniots was also observed by Evliya Çelebi, who visited Mani with the Ottoman expedition and recorded numerous villages, castles and churches; he described the Maniots with the following words: "They capture the Frank and sell him to us, they capture us and sell us to the Franks."^[39]

With Crete captured, the Ottomans turned their attention to Mani. The

In the Bagnio of Constantinople, there was a notorious twenty-five-year-old Maniot pirate named Limberakis Gerakaris. At the age of fifteen, he was in the Venetian galleys as a rower. After being released by the Venetians, he continued piracy and was captured by the Turks in 1667. The Grand Vizier decided to give him amnesty if he cooperated with the Turks and helped them conquer Mani. Gerakaris agreed and in 1670 became the bey of Mani. One of Gerakis' first acts was to exile his clan's enemies, the Iatriani family and the Stephanopoulos family from Oitylo. The Iatriani fled in 1670 and settled in Livorno, Tuscany. The Stephanopoulos clan was forced to leave Oitylo in 1676, and after having gained permission from the Republic of Genoa, went to Corsica. The Stephanopoulos family first lived in the town of Paomia before moving to Cargèse, and to this day consider themselves Greeks.^{[41] [Note 4]}

Limberakis soon fell out of favor with the Turks since he joined his fellow Maniots in piracy and was captured in 1682.^[43] With Ottoman forces preoccupied with the Austrians, the Venetians under Morosini saw their opportunity to take over Turkish-held territories in the Peloponnese, beginning the Morean War. The Turkish general in the Peloponnese, Ismael, discovered this plan and attacked Mani with 10,000 men. The Turks ravaged the plains, but during the night the Maniots attacked and killed 1,800 Turks. The other Turks retreated to the castles of Kelefa and Zarnatas, where they were besieged by the Maniots. After brief sieges, the Maniots managed to capture both Koroni and Kelefa. However, Ismael returned with 10,000 infantry and 2,500 artillery and started besieging the Maniots at Kelefa. The Turks nearly succeeded in breaching the walls before 4,500 Venetians under the command of Morosini arrived and forced the Turks to retreat to Kastania with the Maniots in pursuit.^[38][44]

The Venetians, with assistance of the Greeks, conquered the rest of the Peloponnese and then besieged Athens. During the siege of Athens, the Ottomans used the Parthenon as an ammunition depot. When artillery fire from the Venetians struck the depot, the resulting explosion damaged large portions of the Parthenon.^[38] The desperate Ottomans freed Limberakis and gave him the title "His Highness, the Ruler of Mani". Limberakis immediately launched several raids into Venetian-held territories of the Peloponnese. However, when the Ottomans attempted to poison Limberakis, he defected to the Venetian side.^[45][46] The Venetians made Limberakis a Knight of St. Mark and recognized him as ruler of Roumeli. Limberakis first attacked the city of Arta, when the Ottomans destroyed his estates at Karpenisi. He captured and plundered the city before going back to Mani. The Arteans sent a committee to Venice and reported everything to the Doge. Ultimately, Limberakis moved to Italy where he died fourteen years later.^[46]

18th century

In 1715, the

Meanwhile, the Russian fleet was besieging Koroni with assistance from the Western Legion. The siege proved to be difficult, and soon Orlov got into a dispute with John the Dog. Mavromichalis stated to Orlov that if they wanted to start a real war, they had to occupy Koroni, and that if they did not, they should not excite the Greeks in vain. Orlov replied by calling the Maniots "ragged" and "rude booty men".^[47] To this, Mavromichalis replied, "The last of these ragged booty men keeps his freedom with his own sword and deserves more than you, slave of a whore!"^[48] The Russians left and conducted their own operations until the end of the year, when they ultimately sailed back to Russia.^[45]

The Eastern Legion met with success when it defeated an army of 3,500 Turks.^[47] The Ottomans responded to this by sending an army of 8,000 to invade the Peloponnese. The Ottoman army first plundered Attica before entering the Peloponnese. At Rizomylos in Messenia, they were blocked by John Mavromichalis and 400 of his followers. The Maniots held them off for a while, but the Ottoman forces eventually did not lose due to their superior numbers. They captured John Mavromichalis, who was not only seriously wounded but also the last survivor of the battle. He was ultimately tortured to death. They then invaded Mani and began ravaging the land near Almiros (near the modern village of Kyparissos). During the night, an army of 5,000 Maniot men and women attacked the enemy camp. The Ottoman forces lost 1,700, while the Maniots only suffered thirty-nine casualties.^[48]

Ottoman invasion of Mani (1770)

Around 1770, the Ottoman commander Hasan Ghazi with 16,000 men besieged the two fighting towers (pyrgoi) of Venetsanakis clan in Kastania. The defenders were Constantine Kolokotronis and Panagiotis Venetsanakis with 150 men and women. The fight lasted for twelve days: most of the defenders were killed, and all prisoners of war were tortured and dismembered. The wife of Constantine Kolokotronis was dressed like a warrior and fought her way out carrying her baby, Theodoros Kolokotronis, the future commander of the Greek War of Independence.^[49]

From Kastania, Hasan Ghazi advanced towards

Six Maniot envoys were sent to Hasan and, without bowing, asked him what he wanted. Hasan's demands entailed the children of ten captains as hostages, all Maniot-held arms, and an annual head-tax to be paid as punishment for supporting the Russians. The Maniots answered Hasan's demands saying, "We prefer to die rather than give to you our guns and children. We don't pay taxes, because our land is poor." Hasan became furious and had the six men decapitated and impaled on stakes so that the Maniots could see them.[50]

After the envoys were killed, the remaining Maniots attacked the Ottomans. The fighting was fierce, and only 6,000 Turks managed to reach Mystras. No one knew exactly how many casualties the Maniots suffered, but the Turks definitively lost 10,000 men.^[50] In 1780, Hasan Ghazi, the Bey of the Peloponnese, tried to weaken the Grigorakis family by arranging the assassination of Exarchos Grigorakis. He invited him to Tripolitsa and treated him as an honored guest but then had him hanged.^[51] On Easter Sunday, Exarchos' mother incited the men of Skoutari to take revenge for the death of her son.^[52] Commanded by Zanetos Grigorakis, the men of Skoutari dressed as priests and were allowed into Passavas. Once inside, the Skoutariotes took out their concealed weapons and killed all the Turkish inhabitants of Passavas.^[53]

In 1782, the Ottomans lured Michalis Troupakis, Bey of Mani, onto a ship and sent him to Lesbos, where he was executed for piracy. The Porte tried to get Zanetos Grigorakis to replace him, but Zanetos refused until he was lured onto a ship and forced to become bey.^[54]

Soon after the Orlov Expedition, a number of Maniots entered Russian military service. Remnants of the two legions joined Russian sea forces as marines, participating in operations in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean. Two leaders of these volunteers, Stephanos Mavromichalis and Dimitrios Grigorakis, were scions of the main Maniot clans, each rising to the rank of major.

Lambros Katsonis

During Zanetos' rule, Mani became a base for many

Pierros Grigorakis, a son of Zanetos, entered Russian service on Zante and commanded a force of some 500 Maniots known as the Spartan Legion. This was part of the Legion of Light Riflemen, a force made up of mainland refugees that defended the Ionian Islands and participated in Russian operations in the Mediterranean in the years 1805–1807. Many veterans of this unit later joined the secret society Filiki Eteria ("Friendly Company") and participated with the Greek Revolution, including Elias Chrisospathis, who initiated the Maniots into the secret society, as well as Pierros and his brothers Giorgos and Zanetakos.

Petros Mavromichalis was John the Dog's nephew. He was the first Maniot bey from Mesa Mani (Inner Mani).

"Declaration of War" and Contributions to the Greek Revolution

Maniots, known for their martial traditions, were the very first to join the Greek liberation movement (a claim shared with many other Greek areas) and their contribution proved to be pivotal. The society called the Filiki Eteria sent their representatives Perrevos and Chrisospathis to organize the Maniots.^{[59][broken footnote]} On March 17, 1821, 12,000 Maniots gathered in the church of the Taxiarchs (Archangels) of the town of Areopoli and declared war against the Ottoman Empire, preceding the rest of Greece by about a week.^[60] Their flag was white with a blue cross in the center. Atop the flag was the motto "Victory or death". The Maniots were responsible for writing "Victory" and not "Freedom" on their banner, since Mani was always free. At the bottom of the flag was an ancient Spartan inscription, "With the shield or on the shield."^[61]

On March 21, an army of 2,000 Maniots under the command of Petros Mavromichalis, Theodoros Kolokotronis, and Papaflessas marched towards Kalamata. On March 23, they captured the city.^[61] From Kalamata, Mavromichalis wrote letters to the states of Europe, informing them of what the Greeks were doing and signing them as "Commander in Chief of the Spartan Forces". The Messenian Senate was also held in Kalamata. Kolokotronis wanted to attack Tripolitsa and capture the main Turkish city in the Peloponnese. However, Mavromichalis wanted to capture the smaller towns first and then take Tripolitsa. The Senate agreed with Mavromichalis, and the Maniots attacked the Turks of Messenia and Laconia.^{[62][broken footnote]}

Kolokotronis, convinced that he was correct, moved into

Mahmud II became desperate and during 1824 called on his Viceroy, Muhammad Ali of Egypt, to aid him to attack Mani. Ali promised to aid him in return for the islands of Crete and Cyprus, as well as making his eldest son, Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt, pasha of the Peloponnese. Mahmud II accepted the offer and Ali sent his son in command of the expedition. Meanwhile, the Greeks were in disarray because of political rivalries, which caused a civil war. Kolokotronis was arrested, his son Panos was killed, and his nephew Nikitaras fled.^{[63][broken footnote]}

Ibrahim made good use of this turmoil and landed with his army (25-30,000 infantry, cavalry and artillery supported by the Ottoman-Egyptian fleet) at

Ibrahim then decided to head for Mani. He sent an envoy to the Maniots demanding that they surrender or else he would ravage their land. Instead of surrendering, the Maniots replied:[61]

From the few Greeks of Mani and the rest of Greeks who live there to Ibrahim Pasha. We received your letter in which you try to frighten us saying that if we don't surrender, you'll kill the Maniots and plunder Mani. That's why we are waiting for you and your army. We, the inhabitants of Mani, sign and await you.

Enraged by the Spartan reply, Ibrahim, commanding an army of 7,000 men, attacked Mani on June 21, 1826.^[65] He was stopped at the walls of Almiros and Verga, which ran for around 500 meters.^[66] Defending the walls were 2,000 Maniots under the command of Ilias Mavromichalis (Katsakos) and 500 Greek refugees.^[65][67] As Ibrahim moved his infantry and cavalry against the Maniot position, he also ordered two of his ships, including the one he was on, to attack the Maniot fortifications from the sea with their artillery. The Egyptian army attacked the Maniot position eight times and was thrown back.^[65] The fighting continued for a few more days before the Egyptians retreated when rumors that Kolokotronis was approaching their rear with 2,000 men proved true.^[68] The Maniots pursued the Egyptians all the way to Kalamata before returning to Verga. This battle not only was costly for Ibrahim, who suffered 2,500 casualties, but also ruined his plan to invade Mani from the north.^[61][65]

While Ibrahim was beginning his attack on the Maniot position at Verga, he decided to launch a small fleet and attack Areopoli. This plan was described by Greenhalgh and Eliopoulos as "excellent" because it would catch Areopoli by surprise since it was ill defended. By capturing Areopoli, Ibrahim could disrupt the Maniot communication lines and control the mountain passes that led to Gytheio. This would also allow the Egyptians to attack the Maniots at Verga from the rear.^[67]

On June 24, Ibrahim sent a small fleet carrying 1,500 troops to land at the Bay of Diros and capture Areopoli.^[67] As the Egyptians landed on the beach, the alarm bells rang.^[65] Soon, 300 women and old men who had been harvesting the crops gathered and, armed only with their scythes and cudgels, charged at the Egyptians. The Egyptians, not expecting any resistance, were caught by surprise at this sudden attack and were forced to retreat to a fortified position on the beach where they could receive support from their ships. Eventually, 300 Maniots arrived from other towns, and the Egyptians were forced to either swim to their ships or be slain.^[67] Not only was Ibrahim's defeat costly, as he lost 1,000 men, but his plan to invade and conquer Mani was utterly ruined. Later on, the women of Diros were dubbed the 'Amazons of Diros'.^[69]

Ibrahim, annoyed by his defeats at Verga and Diros, plundered the Peloponnese for a month before turning his attention back to Mani. He sent an army of 6,000 Arabs to advance to the Taygetus and capture Gytheio and Laconian Mani. In command of the army was a Greek traitor from the village of Vordonia, called Bosinas. As he advanced towards Polytsaravos (nowadays a deserted place in the southern part of Taygetus), he was stopped by Theodoros Stathakos, who together with his family of thirteen people was waiting in their tower. Bosinas tried to make Stathakos surrender, and when the latter feigned surrender, Bosinas came towards the tower. However, once Bosinas was within range, Stathakos and his small band killed him. In retaliation, Bosinas' army shot at the tower with their cannons and destroyed it.^[70]

The Egyptians then proceeded towards the town of Polytsaravos and reached it on August 28. The inhabitants of the town had sent the women and children to take refuge in the mountains before improving the fortifications they had there. The town militia was reinforced by other Maniots, and soon the defenders numbered 2,500 men.

Petros Mavromichalis (left) by Ioannis Kapodistrias

(right) led to the assassination of Kapodistrias.

In 1831,

high treason. His brother Konstantinos, the defender of Nafplio, and Petros' son, Georgios Mavromichalis, were put under house arrest in the capital.^{[73][broken footnote}

]

On September 27, 1831 (October 9 in the Gregorian calendar), Kapodistrias went to attend a church service at the Church of Saint Spyridon. He noticed that Konstantinos and Georgios were waiting at the church doors. As he passed them, he briefly stopped before proceeding into the church. As he was about to step into the church, Konstantinos used his gun and the bullet hit Kapodistrias at the back of the head while at the same time Georgios stabbed him through the heart. Kapodistrias collapsed into the arms of his attendants. Kapodistrias' bodyguard shot Konstantinos as he was running, and Konstantinos was hit by several more bullets before he died. Kostantinos' body was then dragged by an angry mob, who threw it into the sea. Georgios was captured and executed on the island of Bourzi, off the coast of Nafplio, while his father watched.^[73]

In 1833,

Great Powers. Since he was underage, he had a Council of Regency headed by Josef Ludwig von Armansperg governing the country for him.^[60] One of the Council's first acts was to try to subdue the unruly Maniots and pull down their towers; another was to free Petros and Tzanis from their prisons.^[74] The council sent an army of Bavarians in order to tame Mesa Mani.^[75] They made it to Areopoli, but during the night the Maniots surrounded and captured them, forcing them to leave the area.^[76]

On May 14, 1834, four companies of Bavarian troops, assisted by four cannons, besieged the town of Petrovouni. Ultimately, 800 Maniots from the surrounding towns attacked the Bavarians. The Bavarians were massacred as most of them were either slain by the Maniots or fell into a ravine near the town while escaping. Later that year, an army of 6,000 men with five cannons under the command of General Christian von Schmaltz, assisted by five squadrons of royalist Maniots, once again besieged Petrovouni. When news of an army of 1,000 Maniots was approaching, they retreated to Gytheio.^[76]

The Council decided that they could not subdue the Maniots by force, so they decided to send a diplomat, Max Feder, with the intention of subduing Mani by playing the love of money against the love of independence. He went to different Maniot families and offered them positions if they supported the king. Many of the Achamnomeri (see note α below) and some Megalogenites were convinced by his offers and submitted. However, several of the older families and the poorer Achamnomeri rejected the offer, because the former did not want to be dependent on a king and the latter did not want governors with superior rights. In Koita, this division caused bloodshed when the king's supporters started fighting the other Maniots under the command of Giorgaros Skylakakos.^[76] Feder soon arrived with his new allies and exploded Skylakakos and all his allies in his towers. Thus the Bavarians managed to annex the whole peninsula to the Greek kingdom.^[77]

Late 19th century

During Otto's rule, blood was spilled in Mani because of the

vendettas, which have plagued the area for centuries.^[77] The vendettas continued until 1870, when a Maniot vendetta was halted by the efforts of a regular army with artillery support.^[78] In 1841, Crete revolted against the Ottomans. The Maniots, described as cousins of the Cretans,^{[citation needed]} rushed to Crete to support them. The Cretans, together with the Maniots, forced the Turks into a fortress, where they besieged them. A combined Ottoman-British fleet managed to subdue the Cretans, but the undefeated Maniots chose to go back to Mani. In 1866, a new revolution sparked in Crete, and 2,000 Maniots under the command of Petropoulakos went to assist their cousins. However, the Cretans were defeated, and the undefeated Maniots again returned to Mani.^[77]

20th century

At the start of the 20th century, Greece was involved with the

Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922). The participation of troops from Mani in these wars under Constantine I of Greece, created strong royalist feelings amongst Maniots. That is why most Maniots remained loyal to Constantine during the Greek National Schism.^[79]

During

Battle of Greece. A Maniot named Colonel Konstantinos Davakis was among the leaders of the armed forces.^[79] Davakis, in command of the Pindus Detachment, defeated the elite Italian SOF brigade "Julia" at the Battle of Pindus

(October 28-November 13, 1940), despite the Italians having more advanced weaponry.

Later, Maniots won another victory when the

Italian and German occupation.^[80]

During the occupation, Mani became a stronghold of the

DSE, fought against the Hellenic Army and the royalists.^[81] Mani never recovered from both wars, and soon many of the young people of Mani left for Athens, the United States, and Australia.^[82]

Nowadays, Mani is divided between two regional units: Laconia and Messenia. Mani has around 18,000 inhabitants, with the most important and populous town being Gytheio. Mani's main source of income is tourism. The most famous of the tourist attractions are the Caves of Diros, which are two caves that have underwater rivers flowing through them.

Maniot dialect

The Maniot dialect of Modern Greek has several archaic properties that distinguishes it from most mainstream varieties. One of them, shared with the highly divergent Tsakonian as well as with the old dialects spoken around Athens until the 19th century, is the divergent treatment of historical /y/ (written <υ>). Although this sound merged to /i/ everywhere else, these dialects have /u/ instead (e.g. [ˈksulo] versus standard [ˈksilo] 'wood').^[83] These varieties are thought to be relic areas of a previously larger areal dialect group that used to share these features and was later divided by the penetration of Arvanitika settlement in much of its area in the late Middle Ages.

Other features of the Maniot dialect include the palatalization of velar consonants, i.e. the realization of /k, ɡ, x, ɣ/ as ([tɕ, dʑ] or [ɕ, ʑ] before /i, e, j/. This feature is shared with many southern dialects of Greek, especially Cretan.

Economy

There is little information on the economy of Mani during the early stages of Ottoman dominance of Greece, and what is known of the economy in the 17th and 18th centuries is from foreign observers. In Exo Mani ('outer Mani'),

olives were grown in great numbers but it was not until the 18th century that olives were widely spread in Mesa Mani ('inner Mani'). Exports from Exo Mani also included pine for masts as well turpentine, hides as well as a tanning agent and prinokoki, a crimson-colored dye. The north-west parts of Mesa Mani were rich in mulberries and silk. Honey is also of superior quality. Another important part of the Maniot economy was piracy. Nowadays the main industries in Mani are agriculture and tourism.^[84]

Culture

Dances

Two dances come from Mani: Palio Maniatiko (Παλιό Μανιάτικο, lit. 'Old Maniot') and the Modern Maniatiko. The Palio Maniatiko is only found in Mani and is described as an ancient dance.

Kalamatiano dance in it. Like the Palio Maniatiko, it is only performed in Mani.^[85]

Piracy

"If any ship come to anchor on their coast, many arm themselves and go to the place, over against where the ship doth ride; some of them will be in priests habits, walking by the sea side, with their wallets, in which they will have some wine and bread. Their companions lye hid behind the bushes at some convenient post. When any strangers come ashore, who do not understand their language, the feigned priests make signes to them, shewing them their bread and wine, which they offer to them for money, by which the strangers being enticed from the sea side (and it may be to sit down and taste their wine) the hidden Manjotts come and make their prey. The priests will seem to be sorry, and endeavor to make the strangers to believe they were altogether ignorant of any such design. So a white flagg is put out, and a treaty held with the ship for their ransome. The priests endeavor to moderate the price, shewing a great deal of respect to their companions, who are clothed in Turkish habits. Many ships have been thus served."

Bernard Randolph, Present State of the Morea.[86]

Part of Maniot culture involved piracy. The Maniots were famous and fearsome pirates whose ships dominated the Maniot coastline. The Maniots became pirates because Mani was not a very fertile land and the Maniots did not have many natural resources. The Maniots considered piracy a legitimate response to the fact that their land was poor, and it became their main source of income.^[87] The pirate raids were not stopped by the local priests of the Eastern Orthodox Church, who in fact blessed the ships before they left and sometimes accompanied them on raids. Most of the Maniot pirates came from Mesa Mani (Μέσα Μάνη, 'Inner Mani').^[88] The main victims of Maniot pirates were the Ottomans, but the ships of powerful European nations were targeted as well.^[29]

Superstition

There is a strong history of superstition and folklore in Maniot culture; most common stories revolve around witches, demons, vampires, and ghosts. When Henry Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon, was touring Mani in 1839, he found a fresh egg by the side of the road and offered it to a Maniot soldier who escorted him, who declined the offer explaining that if a hag had enchanted it he would have to marry her. The Maniots thought that certain areas were haunted by demons.^[89]

Vendettas

Another important aspect of Maniot culture were the

vendettas which frequently plagued Mani. Usually, the decision to start a vendetta was made at a family gathering. The main aim of a vendetta was usually to wipe out the other family. The families involved locked themselves in their towers and whenever they got the chance murdered members of the opposing family. The other families in the village normally locked themselves in their towers in order not to get in the way of the fighting.^[90]

Vendettas could go on for months, sometimes years, and usually ended when one family was exterminated or left the town. In some cases (like the

Greek Navy sailors to stop.^[91]

Cuisine

Local specialities:

• Hilopites
• Kolokythokorfades
• Paspalas
• Regali, lamb soup
• Tsouchtí, pasta with egg dish
• Syglino (pork meat, coldcut)
• Dakos
• Lalagides or Lalagia (Λαλαγγίδες)
• Diples (dessert)

Ethnology

The inhabitants of Mani claim to be direct descendants of the ancient

Lycurgus decided to go to the Spartan mountains of Mani with the rest of the Spartans rather than be in Achaean or, later, Roman service.^[92] Kyriakos Kassis claims that Maniots rarely mated with non-Maniots until the 20th century.^[93]

Mani became a refuge during the 4th century when the

David Armine Howarth states: "The only Greeks that have had an unbroken descent were the clans like the Maniotes who were so fierce, and lived so far up the mountain, that invaders left them alone."^[94]

Genetic studies

The paper "Genetics of the peloponnesean populations and the theory of extinction of the medieval peloponnesean Greeks" (2017), published in the European Journal of Human Genetics, showed that Maniot individuals share on average 0.25% of their genome (or 35–36 cM) identical by descent, with 95% of pairs of individuals sharing at least one IBD segment. The Maniots differ from all other Peloponnesians by PCA and ADMIXTURE analysis. They also differ from mainland, island and Asia Minor Greek populations who have been compared by PCA analysis, but they "partially" overlap with Sicilians and southern Italians. This can be explained by the fact that Maniots (along with Tsakonians) inherited the lowest amounts of Slavic autosomal ancestry throughout the Peloponnese, especially the ones from Deep Mani. Namely, in the case of Deep Mani or Mesa/Inner Mani (22 samples) it amounts to 0.7%–1.6%, while in the cases of Maniots from West Taygetos or Exo/Outer Mani (24 samples) to 4.9%–8.6% and of East Taygetos or Kato/Lower Mani (23 samples) to 5.7%–10.9% of common ancestry with Slavs (Belarusians, Russians, Polish, and Ukrainians) respectively. The Slavic ancestry possessed by the latter two is five to eight times higher than that of Deep Mani but lower to the ancestry the other Peloponnesians (148 samples - excluding the Tsakonians) share with the Slavs, which even though low, it's still relatively higher than Maniots (and Tsakonians) at 4.8%–14.4%. Even though Tsakonians, divided between Southerners (15 samples) and Northerners (9 samples) also possess low levels of common ancestry with the Slavs at 0.2%–0.9% and 3.9%–8.2% respectively, they remain a distinct population from both the Maniots and the rest of the Peloponnesians, something that is attributed to isolation by distance and the possibility that Tsakonia in antiquity was inhabited by Doric-speaking Ionians (per Herodotus), while similarly conservative Mani by actual Dorians.^[95]

Notable Maniots

• Georgios Antonakos, Chief of Staff of Greek Air Force under the King. Five star general.
• Stephen Antonakos, sculptor, in major international collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, all in New York City, The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens
• Heptanese School
• Konstantinos Davakis, Colonel
• Limberakis Gerakaris, First Bey of Mani and one of the most feared Maniot Pirates
• Elias Koteas, actor
• Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis, hero of the Greek War of Independence
• Areopagus
  and Prime Minister (1963)
• Demetrios Mavromichalis, politician, major general and aide to King Otto of Greece
• Kyriakoulis P. Mavromichalis, Prime Minister of Greece (1909–10).
• Lieutenant General
  and President of the Executive (1823)
• Michail Anagnostakos, military officer and army leader of the Macedonian Struggle
• George Tsimbidaros-Fteris, poet and journalist
• Member of the Hellenic Parliament, Prime Minister of Greece (1989) and Minister for Foreign Affairs

Notes

1. serfs. They had no property and they have been sometimes confused with the Achamnomeri by modern historians. They could be subject to emancipation and become Achamnomeri.^[28]
2. ^ In 1453, Mani's population grew drastically as a large number of refugees arrived from other parts of Greece, after the Fall of Constantinople.^[29] Around that time, towns like Skoutari were founded by people who had escaped from Constantinople.^[30] Kassis tells us that the population of Mani at that time was between 40,000 and 80,000.^[29] Count Chateau-Reneau says that at the beginning of the 17th century, there were 700 cities and many villages in Mani which was thought to be an exaggerated number. In 1700, 14,773 people were recorded in the census despite the constant migrations in Mani. In 1805, William Martin Leake recorded that there were 30,000 people living in Mani. Twelve years later, K. Koumas writes in his geography that Mani had 100,000 inhabitants which was deemed a wildly exaggerated number. In 1820, Anagnostras composition for the Filiki Eteria says that Mani had 8,000 fighting men. Kassis comes to the conclusion that Mani had around 45,000 inhabitants in 1820.^[29]
3. vendettas began in Mani and it seemed that only a new Ottoman invasion could save the country from a civil war. Many Maniot people began to serve as mercenaries in the army of the Doge of Venice while some others became pirates to fulfill their patriotic duties. In fact, the Ottoman fleet near Chania, Crete was destroyed by Maniot pirates.^[38]
4. King of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, had an army corps named the Mainoti.^[31]

References

Citations

1. ^ The Bureau: Or Repository of Literature, Politics, and Intelligence. S.C. Carpenter. 1812. p. 36. In this work, the author, giving an account of the conquest made in Greece by the Russians, and of the gallant defence made by the Maniotes (the descendants of the ancient Spartans) against the Turks, describes their invincible spirit with the eloquence of a Demosthenes or a Burke.
2. ISBN 978-0-19-926545-9. Above all, the Maniots, who are said to be the true heirs of the Spartans and 'have always preserved their liberty' (Pococke, 1743, i. 178) serve as an illustration of this continuity. According to Lord Sandwich
   (1799, 31), '[these] descendants of the ancient Lacedemonians...still preserve their love for liberty so great a degree, as never to have debased themselves under the yoke of the Turkish empire'.
3. ^ Form and evolution of Maniot surnames, Centre for Research of Greek Folklore of the Academy of Athens (in Greek)
4. ^ Homer. The Iliad, 2.581.
5. ^ Kassis 1979, p. 7.
6. ^ Saitas 1990, p. 13.
7. ^ ^{a b c} Fermor 1984, p. 302.
8. ^ ^{a b c d} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 20.
9. ^ Xenophon. Hellenica, 1.4.11 Archived 2012-09-30 at the Wayback Machine.
10. ^ Green 1990, p. 302.
11. Ab urbe condita libri, 34.29 Archived 2006-09-07 at the Wayback Machine
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12. ^ ^{a b} Smith 1873, Nabis Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine.
13. Ab urbe condita libri, 35.35 Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
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14. ^ Cartledge & Spawforth 2002, p. 78.
15. ^ ^{a b c} Kassis 1979, p. 16.
16. ^ ^{a b c} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 21.
17. ^ ^{a b} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 49.
18. ^ Pausanias. Description of Greece, 3.21.8.
19. ^ Fermor 1984, p. 120.
20. ^ Kassis 1979, p. 19.
21. ^ ^{a b c d} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 22.
22. ^ Kazhdan 1991, pp. 1916–1919 under SLAVS
23. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 23.
24. ^ Kassis 1979, p. 23.
25. ^ ^{a b c d e} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 24.
26. ^ ^{a b c} Kassis 1979, p. 24.
27. ^ Fermor 1984, p. 86.
28. ^ ^{a b} Kassis 1979, p. 25.
29. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Kassis 1979, p. 38.
30. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 54.
31. ^ ^{a b} Kassis 1979, p. 28.
32. ^ ^{a b c} Kassis 1979, p. 29.
33. ^ ^{a b c d} John Chapman. "Turkokratia: Kladas Revolt". Mani: A Guide and a History. Archived from the original on 2006-10-15. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
34. ^ ^{a b} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 25.
35. ^ ^{a b c d e} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 26.
36. ^ ^{a b c d} Kassis 1979, p. 30.
37. ^ Fermor 1984, p. 150.
38. ^ ^{a b c} Kassis 1979, p. 32.
39. ISBN 978-2-36245-044-0
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41. ^ Kassis 1979, p. 31. See also Nicholas, 2006.
42. ^ Kassis 1979, p. 27.
43. ^ ^{a b} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 27.
44. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 28.
45. ^ ^{a b c} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 29.
46. ^ ^{a b} Kassis 1979, p. 33.
47. ^ ^{a b c d e} Kassis 1979, p. 34.
48. ^ ^{a b c} Kassis 1979, p. 35.
49. ^ Roumeliōtēs 2002, p. 31.
50. ^ ^{a b} Kassis 1979, p. 36.
51. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 30.
52. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 51.
53. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 52.
54. ^ ^{a b c d} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 31.
55. ^ ^{a b c d e} Kassis 1979, p. 37.
56. ^ ^{a b} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 140.
57. ^ ^{a b c} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 32.
58. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 33.
59. ^ Paroulakis 1984, p. 40.
60. ^ ^{a b} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 58.
61. ^ ^{a b c d e} Kassis 1979, p. 39.
62. ^ Paroulakis 1984, p. 58.
63. ^ Paroulakis 1984, p. 113.
64. ^ Paroulakis 1984, p. 125.
65. ^ ^{a b c d e} Kassis 1979, p. 40.
66. ^ Saitas 1990, p. 12.
67. ^ ^{a b c d} Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 62.
68. ^ Barrow 2000, p. 21.
69. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 63.
70. ^ ^{a b c d} Kassis 1979, p. 41.
71. ^ Barrow 2000, p. 102.
72. ^ Paroulakis 1984, p. 165.
73. ^ ^{a b} Paroulakis 1984, p. 168.
74. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 35.
75. ^ Kassis 1979, p. 43.
76. ^ ^{a b c} Kassis 1979, p. 44.
77. ^ ^{a b c} Kassis 1979, p. 45.
78. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 36.
79. ^ ^{a b} Kassis 1979, p. 46.
80. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 141.
81. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 38.
82. ^ Greenhalgh & Eliopoulos 1985, p. 39.
83. ^ Trudgill 2003, pp. 54–59.
84. ^ John Chapman. "The Economy". Archived from the original on 2008-01-05. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
85. ^ ^{a b} "Types of Dances". PMDG: Types of Dances. Archived from the original on 2006-08-20. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
86. ^ Eisner 1993, p. 60.
87. ^ Barrow 2000, p. 16.
88. ^ Barrow 2000, p. 17.
89. ^ Barrow 2000, p. 18.
90. ^ ^{a b} Venizeleas. "Vendetta". Mani.org.gr. Archived from the original on 2006-12-30. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
91. ^ 1906: Η αιματηρή βεντέτα ανάμεσα σε Μανιάτες και Κρητικούς [1906: The bloody feud between Maniots and Cretans]. cretapost.gr (in Greek). 2018-09-14. Archived from the original on 2018-07-02. Retrieved 2020-05-01. Την επομένη, στην κηδεία των θυμάτων, τα επεισόδια απλώθηκαν σ' όλο τον Πειραιά, με νέα θύματα... ενώ κινητοποιήθηκαν, η αστυνομία, χίλιοι στρατιώτες και διακόσιοι ναύτες για να σταματήσουν το αιματοκύλισμα.
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External links

• Media related to Maniots at Wikimedia Commons
• "Maina and Mainotes" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.