Map of the Morea (Peloponnese) in 1432

In 1432 the Morea was ruled by three brothers of the Palaeologos family, Theodore, Constantine and Thomas. Their eldest brother John was Emperor in Constantinople and the brothers were appointed as Despots, answerable only to the Emperor. (In those days the title of Despot simply meant a ruler and did not have the negative connotations it does nowadays.) The territory, with the exception of the four Venetian colonies which were autonomous, was divided between the three brothers, and this map shows how it was apportioned.