Latin rule in the Greek area began in 1204 with the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders during the Fourth Crusade and the division of the Byzantine Empire in many feudal states.

The Byzantines recaptured Constantinople in 1261, but the prestige of the Empire was only temporarily restored.The continuous pressure of the Latins and the Turks and internal corrosion were catalytic for Byzantium.Constantinople was finally captured by the Ottomans in 1453 and the Venetians, Genoans and Franks, aiming at the preservation of their important trade bases in the East, found themselves in fierce competition with the Ottoman Empire, as previously with the Byzantines.

In 1669, the Ottomans completed the conquest of Crete and established their dominance over the Eastern Mediterranean. By the end of the last Venetian-Turkish war in 1718, Venetian presence was limited to the Ionian Islands and to some areas on the mainland coast across.

Throughout this period of turbulent centuries, Hellenism fought for its existence and consistency and managed not only to survive but also to create conditions for its national and spiritual rebirth in the following centuries.