One of the offers made during the Fall of Constantinople was the offer for Constantine to relocate to the Morea as Governor.
What if, instead of that offer (which was refused), the Ottomans offered to allow Constantine to be Despot of the Morea, their vassal in perpetuity, and an incredible quantity of gold to compensate the Emperor, and he accepted that offer, taking control of the Despotate, backed by an army of freshly recruited and armed Romans (yay coin) - and taking a number of monuments and artefacts with them (such as the Statue of Justinian, etc), and bringing some stability to the Morea (and avoiding the later Albanian revolt in the area).
Lets assume the Ottomans never retract this state of vassalage, and respect the rule of the Despots of the Morea - how does this situation evolve? What is the overall strategy for such a realm for survival and prosperity? What cultural changes might we see?
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For me, the idea for a strategy would be the idea of being loyal to the Ottomans - moving into Attica if a civil war takes place to 'enforce the peace', to if a war requires those areas to be stripped of troops (defacto taking command, but totally loyal like), and trying supplant Venice in trade.
With the Ottoman navy protecting them, the Romans can trade with Egypt more easily, and it is more palatable to trade with the Romans rather than the Ottomans - either making them a good partner for Venice, or someone who can undermine them.
What if, instead of that offer (which was refused), the Ottomans offered to allow Constantine to be Despot of the Morea, their vassal in perpetuity, and an incredible quantity of gold to compensate the Emperor, and he accepted that offer, taking control of the Despotate, backed by an army of freshly recruited and armed Romans (yay coin) - and taking a number of monuments and artefacts with them (such as the Statue of Justinian, etc), and bringing some stability to the Morea (and avoiding the later Albanian revolt in the area).
Lets assume the Ottomans never retract this state of vassalage, and respect the rule of the Despots of the Morea - how does this situation evolve? What is the overall strategy for such a realm for survival and prosperity? What cultural changes might we see?
----
For me, the idea for a strategy would be the idea of being loyal to the Ottomans - moving into Attica if a civil war takes place to 'enforce the peace', to if a war requires those areas to be stripped of troops (defacto taking command, but totally loyal like), and trying supplant Venice in trade.
With the Ottoman navy protecting them, the Romans can trade with Egypt more easily, and it is more palatable to trade with the Romans rather than the Ottomans - either making them a good partner for Venice, or someone who can undermine them.