Barony of Passavant

Barony of the Principality of Achaea

c. 1220–c. 1263

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Map of the Peloponnese with its principal locations during the late Middle Ages

Capital

Passavant Castle
36°43′N 22°30′E / 36.717°N 22.500°ECoordinates: 36°43′N 22°30′E / 36.717°N 22.500°E

Government

Feudal lordship

Historical era

Middle Ages

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Established

c. 1220

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Byzantine reconquest

c. 1263

The Barony of Passavant or Passava was a medieval Frankish fiefdom of the Principality of Achaea, located in the mountains between the Mani peninsula and the plain of Laconia, in the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, centred on the fortress of Passavant or Passava (Greek: Πασσαβάς). It was among the twelve original baronies of the Principality of Achaea, but was conquered by the Byzantines in the early 1260s.

The Barony of Passavant was the last of the original twelve secular baronies of the Principality of Achaea to be established. While most of the others were formed c. 1209, after the conquest of the peninsula by the Crusaders, Passavant was created shortly after 1218/20 for the French knight John de Nully. He established the fortress of Passavant or Passava—the name probably derives from the war-cry or family motto "passe avant", but is also found as a toponym in northeastern France—on the mountains between the Mani peninsula and the plain of Laconia. John of Nully is generally supposed to have been the son of Vilain of Nully, a native of Nully and close friend of the historian Geoffrey of Villehardouin. John did not take the cross until 1218, and arrived in the Peloponnese probably not until 1220. His barony probably comprised newly conquered land—it was not until c. 1248, with the fall of the last Byzantine fortress, Monemvasia, that Laconia was fully pacified—with four knight's fiefs. It was militarily important, since it kept watch over the unruly Maniots and the Slavic inhabitants of Mount Taygetos, and Nully was named hereditary marshal of Achaea.

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