496 Mistra
end of the Middle Ages the church had developed a
strong missionary program that it was to put to use
ardently during European expansion after 1500.
See alsoBONIFACE,SAINT;COLUMBA,SAINT;COLUM-
BAN,SAINT;CYRIL, SAINT, ANDMETHODIOS, SAINT, APOS-
TLES OF THESLAVS; JOHN OFPLANOCARPINI; LULL, RAMÓN,
ANDLULLISM;PATRICK,SAINT;TEUTONICKNIGHTS, ORDER
OF;WILLIAM OFRUBRUCK.
Further reading:J. N. Hillgarth, ed., Christianity and
Paganism, 350–750: The Conversion of Western Europe,rev.
ed. (1969; reprint, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylva-
nia Press, 1986); Eric Christiansen, The Northern Cru-
sades: The Baltic and the Catholic Frontier, 1100–1525
(1980; reprint, New York: Penguin Books, 1997); Richard
Fletcher, The Barbarian Conversion from Paganism to
Christianity(New York: Henry Holt, 1997).
Mistra (Misithra, Mystras) Not far from Sparta in the
Peloponnese, medieval Mistra was perched on a hill. It ini-
tially was clustered around a fortress built in 1249 by
William II de Villehardouin (d. 1278) that was lost by the
Franks to the Greeks in 1262. After that it became an
important Byzantine town and later the capital of the
Despotate of the MOREAfrom 1348 to 1460. After the fall of
CONSTANTINOPLE, it became one of the last strongholds of
the Byzantines against the Ottomans. It was one of the last
centers of Byzantine culture, under the rule of the Can-
tacuzeni family and then the PALAIOLOGIOSdynasty. As well
as texts, painting, inscriptions, and remains of palaces and
houses, there are churches at the site. It was captured by
the Ottomans in 1460 and began a long period of decline.
See alsoART AND ARCHITECTURE,BYZANTINE;LATIN
STATES INGREECE.
Further reading: Rodoniki Etseoglu, Mistras: A
Byzantine Capital, 2d ed. (Athens: Apollo Editions,
1977); Steven Runciman, Mistra: Byzantine Capital of the
Peloponnese(London: Thames and Hudson, 1980).
Moldavia Medieval Moldavia was a region named after
the Moldava River, lying between the eastern Carpathian
Mountains, the river Dniestr, and the BLACKSEA. It is
presently divided, part in Romania, part in the republic of
Moldava, and part in Ukraine.
The arrival of SLAVSin the sixth and seventh cen-
turies changed the native Roman-Dacian culture into the
Dridu culture of the eighth and ninth centuries. The
Slavs developed fortified sites in northern and central
Moldavia and tried to defend themselves against the
attacks of Hungarians, Petchenegs, and CUMANS. In
1241–42, the territory of Moldavia was subjected to the
MONGOLSof the Golden Horde. In the 13th and 14th cen-
turies, Moldavia became a land open to the immigration
of the Romanian, Hungarian, and German populations
of TRANSYLVANIA and for Asiatic peoples, the Cumans,
Mongols, ALANS, and Armenians.
In 1344–45, a Hungarian-Polish-Lithuanian attitude
on the Golden Horde freed Moldavia. Two states
appeared, one in the north and one in the south. There
was widespread conversion to Catholicism about 1400.
After a revolution against the Hungarians in 1360, Peter I
(r. ca. 1371–91) was the first Moldavian prince to swear
in 1387 an oath of vassalage to the king of POLAND. In
1391–92, the northern principality of Moldavia con-
quered the southern. During the long reign of Alexander
the Good (r. 1400–32), Moldavia, a tolerant Orthodox
country, welcomed persecuted people from ARMENIAand
Hussites from Hungary and BOHEMIA. The Ottomans
eventually imposed an annual tribute in 1454–56.
Nonetheless, between 1457 and 1504 Moldavia reached
great prosperity and size under the reign of Stephen or
Stefan the Great (r. 1457–1504), who promoted a flour-
ishing economy and maintained a powerful army. These
factors allowed it to play important, albeit temporary,
political and economic roles in eastern Europe. The
Ottoman occupation of its ports in 1484 was a serious
blow that ended its access to the Black Sea and began a
decline of the country’s fortunes that resulted in further
territorial losses to the Ottomans in the 16th century.
See alsoVLACHS.
Further reading: Nicolae Iorga, Byzantium after
Byzantium,trans. Laura Treptow (Portland, Oreg.: Center
for Romanian Studies, 2000); Serban Papacostea, Stephen
the Great: Prince of Moldavia, 1457–1504,trans. Sergiu
Celac (Bucharest: Editura Enciclopedica, 1996); Victor
Spinei, Moldavia in the Eleventh–Fourteenth Centuries,
trans. Liliana Teodoreanu and Ioana Sturza (Bucharest:
Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, 1986).monarchy See KINGS AND KINGSHIP, RITUALS AND
THEORIES OF.monasticism Christian monasticism had it origins in
EGYPTat the end of the third century. In coenobitic
monasticism pious men devoted themselves to the prac-
tice of retiring to the desert to the worship GODand with-
drawing from secular matters. They did this primarily as
individuals. There was no work involved in their activi-
ties. These monastic groups soon became organized into
communities, sometimes under the particular influence
of one person. Eremitic communities studied THEOLOGY
and other subjects and sometimes worked in the service
of the church as missionaries, theologians, and man-
power for rioting crowds in cities. They retained close
ties with the LAITYand entered towns frequently. Strict
CELIBACYwas expected of them, although no such obliga-
tion was as yet imposed on the rest of the CLERGY.WESTERN MONASTICISM
In the West, with the establishment of the monasteries
of Subiaco and MONTECASSINO by Saint BENEDICT OF