Late Medieval Epiros: A Spatial Analysis

In the frame of the “spatial turn”, the chapter will offer a synthesis about the question of space in the study of Late Medieval Epirus, through the examination of various topics and with a resolute multiscalar approach. A first part will be dedicated to territorial definitions. Of course, it will address the question of the name of the territory that we call Epirus and of its delimitation as a region, but it will also consider its division in four subregions around Ioannina, Arta, Angelokastron and Argyrokastron and, reversely, its potential inclusion in larger areas such as the Byzantine world, the Balkans, central Greece, etc. A second axis will be dedicated to the notions of center and periphery. It will consider, first, Epirus mostly as a periphery of various centers, but also, for a short time, as a center itself, and, second, it will examine the question of centers and peripheries inside Epirus itself, including the question of the capitals, the dichotomy between the countryside and the town, the various spaces inside the towns and the control of the space. Last, in connection with the “mobilities turn”, a third development will be dedicated to the various types of mobilities, both internal and external, first by presenting the communication networks by land and sea and second by studying the various types of movements, be it of populations, armies, commercial goods, information, languages and ideas.