Cephallenia (theme)
Substate | Defunct
775 CE to 1185 CE
The Theme of Cephallenia or Cephalonia is an East Roman (Byzantine) theme (a military-civilian province) located in western Greece, comprising the Ionian Islands, and extant from the eighth century until partially conquered by the Kingdom of Sicily in 1185.
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The Middle of The Earth
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A Venetian fleet has recaptured Durazzo and …
…Corfu by the end of 1083, …
…limiting the Norman invaders to only a few islands.
Because of the help given to the Empire, the Republic of Venice is awarded a Golden Bull: a decree by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos granting Venice many privileges, including a tax exemption for Venetian merchants, that will be crucial for the future economic and political expansion of Venice in the eastern Mediterranean.
Roger II of Sicily never goes himself on an expedition against Constantinople, handing over the command to the skillful George of Antioch, who has set sail from Otranto with seventy galleys to assault Corfu.
The island according to Nicetas Choniates capitulates thanks to George's bribes (and the tax burden of the imperial government), welcoming the Normans as their liberators.
George, leaving a garrison on Corfu, sails on to the Peloponnesus, ravaging Neápolis, and, …
…sacking Athens, quickly moves on to …
…the Ionian Islands, ravaging the coast all along Euboea and the Gulf of Corinth and penetrates as far as Thebes, where he pillages the silk factories and carries off the Jewish damask, brocade, and silk weavers, taking them back to Palermo where they will form the basis for the Sicilian silk industry.
George caps the expedition with a sack of Corinth, in which the relics of Saint Theodore are stolen, and then returns to Sicily.