The Morea

uring the unsettled years of the civil wars, the Byzantine Empire, as a result of the expansion of the Serbs and the Turks, was now limited to the area around the capital, to Thrace, a few islands in the Aegean, certain cities in Asia Minor, and Thessalonike. Only the Byzantine possessions in the Morea seem to have enjoyed a period of stability. In 1349, John VI sent to the Morea his second son, the despotes Manuel, as governor, a position which he held until his death in 1380. Manuel consolidated Byzantine domination there. Regarding the administration and institutions of the region we know little, but its internal development seems to have been quite independent, while its remoteness from the capital allowed the local Greek nobles to achieve a large measure of autonomy.