page_title: Glarentza
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Glarentza / History
caption_attribution_description: Crusaders, Frankish Possessions in Greece, Principality of Achaea. Isabelle de Villehardouin. 1297-1301. BI Denier Tournois (18mm, 0.84 g, 2h). Type 1. Cross pattée; B and lis flanking initial cross Châtel tournois; I to left of initial cross. Metcalf, Crusades 962-965; CCS 15a var. (no I). Principality of Achaea: de, en, fr, hu, it, ja, pl, sk
context_page_description: Glarentza was a medieval town located near the site of modern Kyllini in Elis, at the westernmost point of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. Founded in the mid-13th century by William II of Villehardouin, the town served as the main port and mint of the Frankish Principality of Achaea, being located next to the Principality's capital, Andravida. Commerce with Italy brought great prosperity, but the town began to decline in the early 15th century as the Principality itself declined. In 1428, Glarentza was ceded to the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea, and served as its co-capital, being the residence of one of the Palaiologos despots, until the Ottoman conquest in 1460. Under Ottoman rule, Glarentza declined rapidly as the commercial links with Italy were broken, and by the 16th century was abandoned and falling into ruin. Little remains of the town today: traces of the city wall, of a church and a few other buildings, as well as the silted-up harbour.
context_section_description: Glarentza was founded in the mid-13th century by William II of Villehardouin (ruled 1246–78), the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, a Frankish state established after the Fourth Crusade and encompassing the Peloponnese or Morea peninsula in southern Greece. Its Frankish foundation is evident in its name, Clarence or Clairence in French, Chiarenza or Clarenza in Italian, Clarentia or Clarencia in Latin, rendered Κλαρέντσα (Klarentsa), Κλαρίντζα (Klarintza), or Γλαρέντζα (Glarentza) in contemporary Greek documents.
  The medieval town was located a bit further west of the modern village of Kyllini, on the northern tip of a headland  that forms the westernmost point of the Peloponnese. This was a site known since Antiquity as the best anchorage in all of Elis, and was likely the site of the ancient city of Cyllene. Glarentza was established as the haven for the Principality's capital, located inland at Andravida, some 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) away. Along with Andravida and the fortress of Clermont or Chlemoutsi, some 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the port, Glarentza formed the administrative heart of the Principality of Achaea.
  Glarentza profited from its location and became the main port for communication and traffic between the Morea and Italy. As described in the town's Greek Ministry of Culture website, Glarentza "rapidly established itself as the most important financial and urban centre of the Crusader principality, with an international renown", while according to the medievalist Antoine Bon, it was "the agglomeration which should most resemble, by its activity, a city in the modern sense of the word". It was a cosmopolitan city, frequented by emissaries from Italy, soldiers and merchants, chiefly Venetians. Trade brought great prosperity, as evidenced by the fact that it used its own system of weights and measures in the 14th century. It featured a hospital as well as banks, lodgings for the mariners, and a Franciscan monastery. Based on a 1391 list of fiefs, the town counted ca. 300 hearths, making it among the largest in the Principality.
  The town was also the site of the princely mint, which from the 13th century until its cessation, in 1353, struck denier tournois or tornese coins, inscribed initially with [DE] CLARENTIA, and, from the reign of Florent of Hainaut (ruled 1289–97) onwards, with DE CLARENCIA. Although Andravida was the main residence of the princely court, Glarentza too was a location of political significance, and several parliaments and assemblies took place there, such as the adjudication on the inheritance of the Barony of Akova in 1276, or the parliament and oath of allegiance to Isabella of Villehardouin and Florent of Hainaut in 1289. Glarentza was surrounded by a set of walls, but scholars have long disputed exactly when this was done. The debate concerns the relation between Glarentza and the nearby fortress of Clermont/Chlemoutsi, which in the view of those who consider Glarentza to have originally been unfortified served as the town's citadel, in which case this was probably the original site of the mint, whence its alternative name of "Castel Tornese".
  In June 1315, Glarentza was captured by the Aragonese troops of the infante Ferdinand of Majorca, who claimed the princely title of Achaea for himself by virtue of his marriage to Isabella of Sabran, granddaughter of William II of Villehardouin. Ferdinand made Glarentza his residence, and soon seized all of Elis, aided by the defection of several Achaean barons dissatisfied with the Principality's rule by the Angevins of Naples. Ferdinand began minting coins with his name—the rarest issues of the Glarentza mint—but his reign was cut short with the arrival of the legitimate claimants, Matilda of Hainaut and Louis of Burgundy. In the Battle of Manolada, fought to the northeast of Glarentza on 5 July 1316, the Aragonese were defeated and Ferdinand was killed. The remainder of his army fled to Glarentza, and soon handed over the town and the other fortresses they had occupied and departed the Peloponnese, taking the corpse of Ferdinand with them.
caption: Denier tournois of Princess Isabella of Villehardouin, struck at Glarentza
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