International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Katerina Ragkou
Universität zu Köln, Archäologisches Institut, Cologne, Germany; 
[e-mail]
Modelling Networks of Interaction and Exchange 
in the Late Byzantine Peloponnese, Greece (12
th
-14
th
Centuries)
From a socio-political perspective, the 12
th
and the 13
th
centuries saw the flourishing and the 
collapse of the Byzantine Empire, as well as the reorganization of societies in the Late Byzantine 
Period. The literary sources and the limited archaeological records from the Greek peninsula certify 
that the 11
th
, and in particular, the 12
th
century was a period of remarkable economic and demographic 
advancement, which affected the urban centres and he countryside of medieval Greece. A period 
of transformation in interaction and exchange followed the Sack of Constantinople in 1204 and the 
dissolution of the Byzantine Empire, as well as the subsequent establishment of various Latin States 
across the eastern Mediterranean.
This paper focuses on the Peloponnesian peninsula and presents the current state of research 
on its economic developments from the 12
th
up to the 14
th
century, a period characterized by the 

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transition from Byzantine to Latin rule. In doing so, certain aspects of network theory are applied 
in order to investigate interaction and socio-economic differentiation in the Peloponnese during 
this period. This will provide a well-defined framework for modeling and interpreting the changes 
that the transition from Byzantine to Latin Rule brought to the settlements of the Peloponnese. 
In particular, emphasis is placed on the inter-relationship of socio-economic networks on local, 
regional and inter-regional scale throughout the period in question; this multi-scalar interaction 
triggered and greatly influenced the social, political and economic transformation that occurred 
during these two centuries.
This research is based on the archaeological record and a reconsideration of literary sources 
within the afore-described framework. This synthesis of data and the use of network theory provide 
an integrated approach to the dynamics of human settlement and socio-economic structures, 
especially regarding complex economic interactions and changes in social relations.