152 Coureas
bishops”.20 As will be seen below, by the 14th century Greek clerics in lands
under Latin rule such as Rhodes and Crete were travelling to Byzantine ter-
ritories to be ordained, a practice that the papacy and the Latin lay powers
expressly prohibited.21
In the Peloponnese, the conquest of which was a protracted affair compared
with that of Cyprus and Constantinople, considerable changes to the episcopal
structure occurred. In Byzantine times the archbishopric of Patras had ranked
below that of Corinth, but this order was reversed after the Latin conquest. The
Byzantine archbishopric of Patras had exercised jurisdiction over the suffra-
gan bishoprics of Lacedaemon, Olena, Amyclae (Nikli), Coron, Modon, Helos
and Kernitsa. Most Greek bishops in the Peloponnese fled before the Latin
invaders, and Archbishop Antelm reported this to Pope Innocent iii sometime
before 19 April 1207, on which date the pope instructed him in writing to recall
them several times but to have them deposed by Cardinal Benedict of Santa
Susanna and replaced by “suitable persons” if their sees remained vacant for
over six months, although whether such persons were to be Latin or Greeks is
not specified.22 The pope likewise instructed the Latin archbishop of Athens
and the bishops of Thermopylae and Zeitouni in 1210 to induce the Greek arch-
bishop of Corinth to submit to Rome if he were found within the city, under
siege and expected to fall soon to the Latins, otherwise to remove him and
appoint a Latin in his stead, as would also be done if he were not found in
residence. A new bishop for Lacedaemon (Sparta) was appointed under Pope
Honorius iii, who also appointed Peter directly to the bishopric of Olena,
despite its subjection to the archdiocese of Patras.23
The Greek bishop of the Ionian Island of Zakynthos who remained fol-
lowing the Latin conquest was allegedly disobedient to Rome and dissolute
in his lifestyle. In a letter Pope Innocent iii wrote on 19 September 1207 to
Archbishop Antelm he told him to warn the bishop to reform, failing which he
was to be replaced. The see of Zakynthos had been under the jurisdiction of
the archbishopric of Corinth in Byzantine times, although whether it was now
transferred to that of Patras is unclear. Sometime before August 1213 the bishop
20 Richard, “Latin Church in Constantinople,” p. 48.
21 Zacharias N. Tsirpanlis, ed., Ανέκδοτα έγγραφα για τη Ρόδο και τις Νότιες Σποράδες από το Αρχείο
των Ιωαννιτών Ιπποτών, 1 (1421–1453): εισαγωγή, διπλωματική έκδοση, σχόλια [Unpublished
Documents on Rhodes and the Southern Sporades from the Hospitaller Archive, 1 (1421–1453):
Introduction, Diplomatic Edition, Commentary] (Rhodes, 1995), p. 206; Hussey, Orthodox
Church, p. 199.
22 Schabel, “Antelm the Nasty,” pp. 101–02.
23 Wolff, “Organization,” pp. 34–35; Claverie, Honorius iii, p. 148.