Skorta
area of Arcadia in the Peloponnese
Skorta (Greek: τὰ Σκορτὰ, French: Escorta) was a name used in the 13th and 14th centuries, during the period of Frankish rule in the Peloponnese, to designate the mountainous western half of the region of Arcadia, which separated the coastal plains of the western (Elisian) and southwestern (Messinian) Peloponnese from the Arcadian plateau in the interior. The name is found chiefly in the various-language editions of the Chronicle of the Morea. It also appears as Skodra and Skorda (Σκορδὰ, Σκοδρὰ), in the chronicle of Pseudo-Dorotheos of Monemvasia.
The northern portion of this area, around Akova, was also known by the Greek name Mesarea (Μεσαρέα, a common term in Greece for inland locations, cf. Mesaria); in some cases, when juxtaposed with Mesarea, the term "Skorta" is limited to the southern portion, around Karytaina. The local population was renowned for its rebellious character, and never fully submitted to the Frankish Princes of Achaea. It frequently rose up, aided by the Byzantine Greeks of the province of Mystras. As a result, two of the most powerful baronies of Achaea were set up to control the region, the Barony of Akova in the north and the Barony of Karytaina (or Skorta) in the south.
The region of Skorta rose up in rebellion ca. 1302, when Prince Philip of Savoy raised new taxes on the local Greek gentry.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Skorta” is area of Arcadia in the Peloponnese. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Skorta, area and Arcadia, not as a finished interpretation.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 27, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q17035232. Authority coordinates are 37.470, 21.866. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1302.
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This entry incorporates text from “Skorta” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.