A bunch of city states////

Greece was pretty much being pilaged and invaded. This period is known as Byzantine Greece and mainly coincides with the rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire. The Greek peninsula was most likely one of the most prosperous regions of the Roman and later the Byzantine Empire. Older scenarios of poverty, depopulation, barbarian destruction and civil decay have been revised in light of recent archaeological discoveries. Greece and the empire as a whole faced a new threat from the Normans of Sicily in the late 11th century. Robert Guiscard took Dyrrhachium and Corcyra in 1081, but Alexius I defeated him, and later his son Bohemund, by 1083. The Pechenegs also raided Thrace during this period. In 1147 while the knights of the Second Crusade made their way through Byzantine territory, Roger II of Sicily captured Corcyra and pillaged Thebes and Corinth. In 1197 Henry VI of Germany continued his father Frederick Barbarossa's antagonism towards the empire by threatening to invade Greece to reclaim the territory the Normans had briefly held. Alexius III was forced to pay him off, although the taxes he imposed caused frequent revolts against him, including rebellions in Greece and the Peloponnese. Also during his reign, the Fourth Crusade attempted to place Alexius IV on the throne, until it eventually invaded and sacked the capital.

Greece had been conquered by the Ottoman Turks.Italy had broken up into many states, a large portion controlled by the Pope, constantly warring with one another or invaded by France, Austria, etc. +2