Render unto the Sultan: Power, Authority, and the Greek Orthodox Church in the Early Ottoman Centuries

273 Pages·2015·5.59 MB·English

by  Tom Papademetriou

RENDER UNTO THE SULTAN

Render unto the Sultan
Power, Authority, and the Greek Orthodox
Church in the early Ottoman Centuries
TOM PAPADEMETRIOU
1
1
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Acknowledgments
On my initial trip to Istanbul in 1989, I entered the Library and Archives of
the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople for the first time. I was excited
because I had been selected to assist a scholar of Byzantine history to research
philanthropic institutions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate during the Ottoman
period. Having grown up as the son of a Greek Orthodox priest, and later as
a seminary student at Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of
Theology, I had been immersed in the glory and legacy of Byzantium both in my
history courses, as well as in the living church tradition of the Greek Orthodox
Church. On that trip, I set out to discover Constantinople, and I unearthed
Istanbul.
Day after day, I walked into the humble patriarchal compound that at the
time was finally being rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1941, past the gate where
Patriarch Gregory V had been hung at the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821
(a gate that has since been sealed), and each day I began to see the Patriarchate
of Constantinople in its own context and in realistic terms. What became most
obvious as we sat quietly working in the Archives was the call of the muezzin from
the nearby mosque. It became clear to me then that it was just as important to
understand the Ottoman layer of the history of the Church as the early Christian
or Byzantine layers, and in some respects was more directly linked to today’s
realities.
There is a tendency for people of Greek Orthodox heritage to focus on the
rise of Christianity, the Patristic age, or the glory of Byzantium, and ignore the
Ottoman period as a period of enslavement full of evil oppression. Since this was
the last period in the history of the Church before everything radically changed
in the twentieth century, it seems as if it should also be the most well understood
period. However, this is not the case. Rather, it is perhaps one of the most misun-
derstood periods.
Within the archives, the libraries, and in the city of Istanbul itself, I discovered
a truly dynamic Greek Orthodox world in the midst of the Ottoman Empire
that had amazing brilliance, both in theological and intellectual activity, but also
in supporting community institutions, schools, and churches that are unparal-
leled in the same period anywhere in the world, except perhaps Russia. From that
moment, I set out to uncover that world.
This book is the result of that initial search as well as a later collective vision
shared by a number of colleagues and friends who studied together in Princeton
University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies. Together we sought to con-
front the received wisdom about how the Ottomans ruled their subject popula-
tions and challenge entrenched historical conceptions. The open and supportive
working environment allowed us to formulate our ideas and propose our plans to
examine important aspects of the long-lasting, territorially large, multi-ethnic,
vi Acknowledgments
multi-religious, and multi-racial Ottoman Empire. As a beneficiary of this open
environment, I owe my primary debt of gratitude to the Department of Near
Eastern Studies, and the Program in Hellenic Studies, that in this same spirit con-
tinue to provide combined support to graduate students. I am grateful to Heath
W. Lowry who encouraged me even before I arrived at Princeton to see for its
own sake the richness of the Ottoman world, and helped me grow confidant as an
Ottomanist in search of continuity and change from the Byzantine period. His
long experience in Ottoman studies helped me navigate through the conceptual
as well as technical terrain. Molly Greene provided the example of how one can
move seamlessly between Ottoman and Greek sources to arrive at a more genuine
picture of Greeks in Ottoman society. Her command of the historiographical
issues involved in this work also was invaluable for helping me formulate my own
thoughts and ideas. I am also grateful to Norman Itzkowitz and Şükrü Hanioğlu
who instilled in me a great appreciation for the richness of Ottoman administra-
tion and the administrative documents.
I would also like to acknowledge other colleagues and friends who made a
tremendous impact on my approach to Ottoman history, whether in the broader
theoretical formulations, or in its more concrete applications. My first true
teacher of history, Stephen W. Reinert, not only set high standards for historical
scholarship, but also was equally gracious to his students by keeping their inter-
ests at heart. I would never have imagined the present book without his genial
encouragement to move into the post-Byzantine world. Rifa’at Abou-El-Haj
challenged me always to consider larger issues of Ottoman social history when
looking at specific events. Nejat Göyünç’s mastery as an archivist and generos-
ity as a teacher and friend gave me the confidence to approach the demands and
intricacies of the Ottoman scripts. Elizabeth Zachariadou helped me narrow and
define my questions through early conversations, and her vast scholarship con-
tinues to lead the way through difficult terrain. I am also appreciative of other
influential and helpful colleagues including Rev. Dr. Demetrios J. Constantelos,
Nenad Filipoviç, Dimitri Gondicas, Baki Tezcan, Christine Philliou, Mustafa
Aksakal, Phillip Allen, Bob Crews, Macit Kenanoğlu, Abdelhafid Tbaili, Dimiter
Angelov, Kostes Smyrlis, Shirine Hamadeh, Rev. Dr. N. M. Vaporis, Ilan Karmi,
Vasilios Stavrides, Nikiforos Metaxas, and my colleagues of the Historical Studies
Program of the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Each individual listed
provided, at various points in this work, scholarly perspective, balance, expertise
as well as friendship to encourage me to continue.
I am forever grateful to the directorship and staff of the Osmanlı Başbakanlık
Arşivi in Istanbul, Turkey for granting full access to the rich collection of fifteenth
and sixteenth century Ottoman documents. Their energy and interest in my pro-
ject, made working in the archives a fruitful and pleasurable experience.
Special appreciation is directed to His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew, and the members of the Holy Synod, who provided me with
access to the archives and library of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Fener
and the Halki Theological School Library on Heybeliada, in Istanbul. I am also
grateful to the Chief Archivist, Fr. Nicholas Petropelis and the Librarian, Grand
Acknowledgments vii
Archimandrite Athenagoras as well as Mr. Yorgo Benlisoy, who extended their
hospitality during my research.
I benefited greatly from the generous support of many different institutions
that funded and facilitated my research and writing. I am grateful to the people
of these institutions who were able to identify something of value in the project
I set before them. My work was funded in part by the Social Science Research
Council—Near and Middle East Fellowship, the American Research Institute in
Turkey Dissertation Fellowship, as well as grants from the Princeton University
Graduate School, the Program in Near Eastern Studies, and Program in Hellenic
Studies. I was also the lucky beneficiary of a wonderful year in residence at
the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (Trustees of Harvard
University) in Washington, DC. At the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, I
benefitted from the Research and Professional Development grant, as well as fund-
ing provided by the Constantine and Georgean Georgiou Endowed Professorship
in Greek History of the Interdisciplinary Center for Hellenic Studies.
Finally, I would like to offer my deep gratitude to my family. My parents,
brother, and sister constantly encouraged my research and writing, even when it
challenged some of their most fundamental historical assumptions. Their example
of academic excellence and care for my development continue to inspire me in my
own work. I owe my greatest debt to my wife, Dorrie, who had the stamina and
patience to endure what has been an arduous and lengthy process. She, and my
two sons, George and Roman, have borne the adventures of this book, of living
as academic nomads in Istanbul, New Jersey, Washington, DC, Michigan, and
back to New Jersey, as well as the anguish and uncertainty that accompanies any
creative enterprise. It is to Dorrie, George, and Roman that I dedicate this book.
I now have returned again to the Fener in Istanbul, years later, to complete
this book. At the vespers of Feast of the Holy Transfiguration, high on a hill-
top on the island of Heybeliada (Halki), His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew spoke about the small number of Rum (Greek Orthodox) remain-
ing in Istanbul, remarking about the few who had gathered for the vespers. He
went on to list many significant Greek Orthodox people, lay and clerics, who
over the centuries had lived, worked, studied, and prayed in that very place. He
explained that these people, some of whom are written about in the pages of this
book, are present today, as they survive in the memory of the Church. Their pres-
ence, whether in the churches, as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew explained,
or in archives and historical accounts, continues to offer insight into how the
Church transitioned from Byzantine to Ottoman rule. This, therefore, is the story
that follows.
August 6, 2012
Feast of the Holy Transfiguration
Fener-Haliç (Golden Horn)

For Dorrie, George, and Roman