Byzantine Empire (in pink) and Wallachian Thessaly (in dark blue)

Great Wallachia (Greek: Μεγάλη Βλαχία Megáli Vlachía; Romanian: Vlahia Mare), also Thessaly Wallachia, was a medieval state (12th and 13th century) of the Aromanian (Vlach) shepherds, which included the mountains of Thessaly in Greece, the southern and central ranges of Pindus and extending over part of Macedonia. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Romanian or Daco-Romanian ( dated: Rumanian or Roumanian; self designation limba română, ˈlimba roˈmɨnə is a Romance Aromanians (or Macedo-Rumans; in Aromanian they call themselves Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are a people living throughout the southern Balkans Vlachs is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe Thessalia redirects here For the Butterfly Genus, see Thessalia (butterfly. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία This article is about the mountain range called Pindus for other uses of these names see Pindus (disambiguation The Pindus (Πίνδος Macedonia is a Geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe whose area was re-defined in the early 20th century

Anna Komnene in the second half of the 11th century was the first author to write about the Vlach settlements of the mountains of Thessaly. Anna Komnene or Comnena (Greek Άννα Κομνηνή Anna Komnēnē December 1, 1083 &ndash1153 was a Byzantine princess and scholar daughter of Benjamin of Tudela, the next century, wrote the earliest account of the independent state of "Great Wallachia" in the mountains. Benjamin of Tudela (Binyamin MeTudela was a medieval Navarrese rabbi and explorer who traveled through Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th He wrote that "No man can go up and battle against them and no king can rule over them".

After the Latin conquest of Constantinople in 1204, Great Wallachia was included in the enlarged Despotate of Epirus, but it soon reappeared as an independent principality under its old name. The Fourth Crusade (1202&ndash1204 was originally designed to conquer Muslim Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. The Principality of Epirus can also refer to the pashalik of Ali Pasha The Despotate or Principality of Epirus (Δεσποτάτο της

See also

• List of traditional Greek place names

Further reading

• Koukoudis, Asterios - Great Wallachia and the Byzantine commonwealth (Η Μεγάλη Βλαχία κι η βυζαντινή κοινοπολιτεία) (Greek)

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. This is a list of Greek place names. That is a list of the names of places as they exist in the Greek language. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone