410 Kalopissi-Verti
the Miracles of the Archangels to whom the church is dedicated ( first half of the
14th century).100
In contrast to the plethora of painted ensembles in Attica during the
13th century, the few extant fresco fragments preserved in churches in
Mesogaia and on Mount Parnes that can be dated to the 14th century—all
provincial in style—bear testimony to the paucity of monuments decorated
in the time of the Catalan rule.101 Excavations at Panakton, in the Skourta
plain in south Boeotia, brought to light a late medieval towered stronghold
and a small (about 30 families) agricultural settlement. It was built around the
mid-14th century under Catalan rule and survived until the first decades of
the 15th century when the Acciaiuoli ruled the Duchy of Athens and Thebes.
Fragments of painted plaster, mainly with ornamental patterns, were uncov-
ered in the central church of the settlement which also served as a burial place.102
As has been noted, in contrast to the time of the de la Roche rule, the extant
painted monuments of the Catalan era are fewer in number and generally of
inferior quality with very few exceptions. Paradoxically, the evidence of the
inscriptions shows that all dated ensembles were painted between 1330 and
1333 which does not seem to be a coincidence since the decade 1330–40 was
relatively peaceful. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the
only two Greek manuscripts known to have been copied in Athens during
the Catalan rule go back to the fourth decade of the century as well (1337 and
1339).103 In the first half of the 14th century, despite the agreements with Venice
in 1319, 1321, and 1331 preventing the use of the port of Piraeus, trade activities
in the Catalan duchy are documented. The relative wealth allowed the local
population to continue founding and decorating churches. After the middle of
the century, however, the evidence of painted churches becomes scarce. The
plague of the mid-14th century, the Turkish invasions, and the impoverishment
100 Mitsani, “Οι τοιχογραφίες του Αγίου Νικολάου Μαύρικα,” p. 377; Pennas, Η Βυζαντινή Αίγινα,
pp. 28–40; Papamastorakis, Ο διάκοσμος του τρούλου, p. 18.
101 For example, Palaiopanagia in Kantza and St George at Koropi in Mesogaia, Ghini-
Tsofopoulou, “Τα ‘Μεσόγεια’,” pp. 184–85; St Marina on Mt Parnes, Mouzakis, Βυζαντινές–
Μεταβυζαντινές Εκκλησίες Βόρειας Αττικής, pp. 303–08.
102 Sharon E.J. Gerstel, Mark Munn et al., “A Late Medieval Settlement at Panakton,” Hesperia
72 (2003), 147–234, esp. 174–80.
103 Spyridon P. Lampros, Αθηναίοι βιβλιογράφοι και κτήτορες κωδίκων κατά τους μέσους αιώνας και
επί Τουρκοκρατίας [Athenian Scribes and Manuscript Owners in the Middle Ages and the
Period of Turkish Rule] (Athens, 1902), pp. 15–18, nos. 3 and 4; Setton, “Catalan Society in
Greece,” p. 280. The content of the manuscripts shows the interests of the commissioners
for ancient literature and medicine.