Γεωγραφική Θέση Pontus. Ιστορική Περιοχή Pontus. Διοικητική Υπαγωγή Patriarchate of Constantinople IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ. 1.

Transcript

1 Περίληψη : The most important ecclesiastic province of the Pontus, with a continuous life from the beginning of the Ottoman Conquest (1461) until the final expulsion of the Greeks of the Pontus (1923). Decisive moments in its historical course were the development of the mining activity in Argyroupolis and the reformations of the 19 th century, which placed it in a primary position amongst the other ecclesiastic authorities of the wider area. Γεωγραφική Θέση Pontus Ιστορική Περιοχή Pontus Διοικητική Υπαγωγή Patriarchate of Constantinople 1. Introduction The history of the diocese of Trebizond during the Ottoman period is largely different than the history of the other dioceses of Asia Minor due to the special conditions related to the time and the conditions under which it came under Islamic rule. Since this diocese is largely identified with the nucleus of the dominion of the Christian Empire of Trebizond, which had managed to survive until 1461, this area had remained outside Islamic rule until that time. It is thus characterized by a special historical evolution during the late medieval centuries in comparison to the rest of Asia Minor, even in comparison to the other regions of the Pontus, since it did not experience the dominance of the Seljuks, the incorporation in various conflicting emirates, the early phase of the Islamization and the subsequent weakening of the Christian population. The subjection of the region to the Islamic authority was made instantaneously and in a later time phase, right after the Ottoman Conquest of 1461, without the precedence of the one to three centuries long Islamic rule which characterized the rest of the areas of Asia Minor until their incorporation in the Ottoman state. The fact that this specific area remained under Christian rule until the Ottoman Conquest (1461), as well as the demographic power of the Orthodox Christian element of the region, regulated the conditions of its incorporation in the Ottoman system, which are similar to the ones which prevailed in the European provinces of the state than to the rest of Asia Minor. The prevalent right after the conquest and for a long time period after that numerical presence of the Orthodox Christian element secured the regular function of the diocese of Trebizond and the ability for the continuous appointment of a metropolitan, of his presence in the area of his jurisdiction and of the proper practicing of his duties. With the exception of the 10 first years when there was no metropolitan in the city a result of the turbulence the Ottoman conquest of Trebizond caused the series of the metropolitans was afterwards continuous; these were prelates who practiced their duties in the city, contrary to the phenomenon of the absent metropolitans which characterized the other regions of Asia Minor during the Early Ottoman period. The following division of the history of the metropolis of Trebizond in periods during the Ottoman period is partly different than the one suggested by Odysseas Lampsides concerning the general history of the Greeks of the Pontus (a mid 17th century, b. mid17th century treaty Küçük Kanyarca (1774), c. century treaty Küçük Kanyarca 1922). 1 Also in the present text there is no coincidence of views with Lampsides concerning the basic characteristics of each Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 1/16

2 period. Nevertheless the historical landmark which divides the first phase of the history of the metropolis of Trebizond from the second one is placed in the middle of the 17th century although the basic characteristic of this division is not considered to be the decadence of the central Ottoman administration and the rise of the semi autonomous local lords, the derebeys (as a result of which the increased pressure against the Christian population and the intense wave of Muslim proselytising have been identified), but the rise of metallurgy in Argyroupolis (Gümüşhane). This specific activity secured an access to safety and richness for the Christian population of the region, as well as the income for the ecclesiastic authorities; meanwhile, however, it elevated a new factor for the regulation of the power and the influence of the Christian element of the region. The next landmark, which marks a new period of development of the Christian element of the region and an increased role of the ecclesiastic authorities, is believed that it can be placed in the era of the Tanzimat when, especially in the Pontus, the authority of the derebeys is finally ended and in the same time, the authorities of the Orthodox Church assume a firm and regulated role in the provincial government, whereas the Christian population enters, already from the second half of the 18th century, a phase of continuous financial and demographic prosperity. 2. The period 1461-middle of the 17th century The general and basic characteristic of this period is considered by Lampsides to the, more or less, the tolerant and favourable stance of the Ottoman authorities towards the Christian population and the religious authorities of the wider Trebizond area. 2 This view can however be discussed and judged as to the actual size and limits of this favour, as well as to the parameters which dictated the fortune of the Christian population and of the Orthodox religious institutions under Ottoman rule. Without determining from the beginning the basic characteristics of this period concerning their value, we can locate them in the preservation and the numerical prevalence of the Orthodox element in the countryside and in the, more or less, regular function of the ecclesiastic institutions (we basically refer to the diocese of Trebizond) The period after the conquest Indeed, the diocese of Trebizond operates properly during this period (as well as during the whole Ottoman period), the succession series on the seat of the metropolitan is continuous and the metropolitans regularly settle in the place where they are supposed to practice their duties. Thus, the characteristic phenomenon of other regions of Asia Minor of the inactive dioceses and of the void metropolitan seats is not observed in the province of Trebizond. The sole exception is the period from the year of the conquest (1461) until approximately 1470, when as a result of the temporary turbulence and the resettlement of a large part of the elite of the Trebizond society in Constantinople (ecclesiastic officers comprised) the office of the metropolitan remains empty. The filling of the metropolitan seat around 1472, when a continuous series of metropolitans is inaugurated, is most probably related to the political situation in the area and the still unstable Ottoman rule. There are indications that the Christian population of the region was willing to resist to the new ruler, obviously agitated by the main adversary of the Ottomans in the East, the ruler of the tribal confederation of the Akköyunlu Uzun Hasan, who was ally and a relative, through a dynastic marriage, of the Grand Komnenos family. Thus the filling of the seat of the metropolitan of Trebizond in this specific time, which followed the rise of Symeon I of Trebizond for the second time to the patriarchal throne, was most probably a measure for the restoration of calmness and for the facilitation of the stabilization of the Ottoman authority in this region. The first metropolitan chosen, Pagkratios, probably did not manage to fulfil the Sultan s pursuits, thus Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 2/16

3 he was very quickly replaced by Dorotheos, former metropolitan of Athens, in the year Demographical elements and operation of the diocese Either way, the seat of the metropolitan of Trebizond would not remain void for a long period, since the numerical power of the Orthodox population of the region was so great that enforced the presence of a metropolitan and sufficiently covered the financial weights of an active metropolis. Characteristically a total of 13,266 Christian households in the sancak of Trebizond are reported during 1488/1489 (out of which most were Orthodox and only a small percentage Armenian), whereas an additional number of 13,865 households is documented for the region of Rize (Laziştan), which belonged to another active metropolis, the one of Rizaio. 4 Furthermore, for the total of the hinterland of Trebizond (regions of Sourmena, Of/Ofis, Gemora, Maçka, Trikomia, Tonia) data from tax registers dating in 1530 give a total of 16,717 Orthodox Christian households against 1,304 Muslim ones. 5 The reason the Orthodox element remains strong and a majority for so many years is not due to a favourable disposal on behalf of the Ottoman authorities, but to the lack of special interest for the change of the population condition of the region, provided the Christian population remained legal; also, it is due to the firm non encouraging politic of the Ottoman empire towards Muslim proselytism (except in special cases), since an extended conversion to Islam would also mean the loss of state income from the haraç head tax. In every case, however, and regardless the rather indifferent stance of the Ottoman authorities, the procedure of conversion was already evolving since the first years of the incorporation of the region to the Ottoman state and during the whole 16th century, slowly, but steadily changing the numerical relation between Christians and Muslims. 6 Thus, on the one hand in the countryside the attitude of the authorities against the procedure of conversion was rather indifferent than encouraging and the will for the firm incorporation and function of the Christian element into the Ottoman system was expressed via a positive attitude and via the bestowment of privileges to the most distinguished monasteries (Saint John the Baptist of Vazelon, Panaghia Soumela and Saint George of Peristereotas), which had a high authority in a local level. In the city of Trebizond, however, the attitude of the Ottoman authorities towards the Christian ecclesiastic foundations was from the beginning negative and was expressed with a wide confiscation of the ecclesiastic property and the transformation of important churches into Muslim shrines (as happened with the metropolitan church of the Holy Mother of Chrysokephalos Cami i atik right after the Conquest, resulting into the transfer of the seat of the Orthodox metropolis to the church of Saint Philip, or with the church of Saint Eugene Camii cedid / Yeni Cuma Cami between the years 1486 and 1515 and the monastery of Saint Sophia between 1573 and 1609). Thus a conscious policy for the change of the character of the city into a Muslim one, initially expressed via the resettlement of Muslim population from other places and later strengthened via conversion, was served. This is a natural result of the small number of priests, which in its turn was a result of the decrease of ecclesiastic income due to confiscations. 7 Notwithstanding, however, the difficulties, the metropolis of Trebizond appears to have been able to respond to its operational needs, mainly thanks to the Orthodox Christian population of the countryside, which until the 17th century remained the majority there. A special characteristic of the organization of the ecclesiastic authorities in this region is that there was still a possibility for the function of bishoprics which belonged to the diocese of Trebizond. This was something extremely rare for Asia Minor during the Early Ottoman Period, since, apart from Trebizond, only the diocese of Nicomedia is documented as having one dependent bishopric, the one of Apollonias, during the 16th and Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 3/16

4 17th century. From the bishoprics which belonged to the diocese of Trebizond, which were periodically active, the ones which most probably functioned in a regular base was the one of Kanis (later archbishopric and diocese of Chaldia) and of Ofis, which are documented in an list of bishoprics of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, most probably dating to the 16th century, and in the so called nomokanona of Jacob from Ioannina (1645). 8 Most probably occasionally bishops were christened and appointed in other places of the wider area of the jurisdiction of the diocese of Trebizond, as a document of the year 1633 from the inquisitor archive of Trebizond referring to the appointment of a bishop at Bayburt reveals. 9 This occasional or in a more permanent base christening of bishops for the ecclesiastic administration of regions of the hinterland of Trebizond is directly related to the presence of a numerically sufficient Christian population in these places; these Christians through the ecclesiastic taxation would be able to cover the expenses and the salary of a bishop and most importantly the peşkeş which was necessary for the Ottoman authorities in order to validate the appointment of the bishop, apart from the payment to the metropolitan The first decades of the 17th century A characteristic phase of this first period in the history of the ecclesiastic province of Trebizond under Ottoman rule are the first decades of the 17th century, when the administration of the local ecclesiastic matters leaves the narrow environment of the Ottoman Empire and becomes part of the developments in international politics. During this period the Jesuits and the Roman Catholic Church in general seek to penetrate with missionaries in Caucasus and Persia and to adopt the local Christian populations, repeating older similar activities which had taken place by the Dominicans and the Franciscans during the 13th and 14th centuries (the Persian missions ). 10 As in the previous endeavours, the role of Trebizond as the westernmost end of the routes of Caucasus, Persia and central Asia is vital and for this reason the presence of friendly factors there, mainly of the metropolitan, which were to facilitate these missions. In this framework, the Jesuits, aided by the French ambassadors, manage to appoint as metropolitans of Trebizond people who are friendly towards the Roman Catholic Church, such as Ignatios Mendones ( ) and Kyrill the Important ( ). A characteristic proof of this relation between these metropolitans with the Roman Catholic missions of Caucasus is the later enlistment of Kyrill himself in one of them, right after his dismissal from the metropolitan seat of Trebizond. The attempt of the Roman Catholic Church to secure bases in the region of the Pontus continued later by the order of the Franciscans, which managed to secure a relative permission from the Patriarch; the former asked the metropolitans of Trebizond Laurentios, and of Amaseia and Neocaesarea to accept the aforesaid monks and to facilitate their work. In this case the effort to organize a foundation of the Franciscans was not successful, although the attitude and the role of the specific metropolitans concerning this case remain unknown Period from the middle of the 17th century until the reformations of the 19th century 3.1. Islamization The middle of the 17th century is a very important landmark in the history of the Orthodox Christians of the Pontus (to be more precise, of the wider region of Trebizond); it marks the completion of certain changes which concern the general presence of this part of the inhabitants of the area, their numerical association with the Muslim element, the social and financial orientation of the ecclesiastic authorities of the region, the definition on their part of a policy and the placing of them into a new system of dependences, since these authorities are also the highest factors of social administration and representation of the Christian population. It is also characteristic that, during this period, the Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 4/16

5 historical evolution of the ecclesiastic authorities of the region is clearly dictated from the bottom, by dynamics developed autonomously in the base of the Christian population and in which higher representational institutions, the ecclesiastic authorities, could not do less than adapt. Proceeding with the further presentation and examination of the changes which were completed during this period, we note that demographically the numerical relation between the Christian and Muslim element has by now changed against the first one. Basically due to the escape of the Christians from the area and the conversions, the previous situation of the Orthodox Christian element being the majority was fully overturned and in certain areas of the province the Christian presence was but minor and marginal (e.g. Sourmena, Of, Trikomia, Tonia). The reception of the Muslim conversion into the folk memory of the region has attributed this fact to the character of instantaneousness, i.e. a sudden development related to special conditions. Such examples are the legend for the bishop of Of Alexander, who became a Muslim along with his whole flock ( two hundred years ago, according to the Pontic historians of the second half of the 19th century) due to a quarrel with the metropolitan of Trebizond. 12 This notion of the simultaneous and definitely incidental character of the conversion is present in the local historiography of the 19th century, but also in the general works of modern historiography concerning the Hellenism of the Pontus. This incidental element in the interpretation of this fact is provided by the relation of the conversions with the phenomenon of the decline of the central Ottoman authority and the rise of the local chieftains (derebeys) which takes place during the same period and has been considered to have been accompanied by a tougher stance and suppress against the Christians. 13 This view, however, connecting the practice of conversion with the compulsory behaviour of the derebeys, is a hypothesis with no historical documentation at all. It is, nevertheless, a fact that in the city of Trebizond after 1600 some incidents happened which indicate the hard attitude of the local governor against the Christians and the ecclesiastic authorities. The seizure of the metropolitan church of Saint Phillip and its transformation into a mosque in 1665 (which resulted into the transportation of the metropolitan seat to the monastery of Saint Gregorios of Nyssa, which until then it was a metochi (glebe) of the monastery of Vatopaidi), as well as the appearance of neo martyrs is known. 14 These incidents, however, which were local and incidental, cannot be connected to the fact of the conversion of the countryside and, much more, justify its date. As indicated by the information known through the data of the taxation catalogues, the procedure of conversion had already started right after the Ottoman conquest and was slowly but steadily continuing during the whole 16th century. This gradual development of Muslim conversion, which by the middle of the 17th century had already changed the demographic image of the region, was not the result of compulsion but a result of a series of reasons, with the most possible being the combination of the will to avoid the haraç head tax (cizye) but also the ecclesiastic taxation too and due to the spiritual inadequacy of the local priests, as well as their small number. In relation to the second reason which probably had attributed to the conversion, it is characteristic that the region of Maçka was the only one where conversion was hardly successful, due to the presence of the three privileged and of high authority Patriarchal monasteries: Panaghia Soumela, Saint John the Baptist of Vazelon and Saint George of Peristereotas (the former became Patriarchal in 1691) Immigration and mines Apart from the conversion, the other important factor which marked the dramatic weakening of the Christian element in most of the areas of Trebizond was the escape of people. In this point the element which played a major role in the later history of the Orthodox Christian population of the province of Trebizond and in the evolution of the ecclesiastic Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 5/16

6 institutions of the region appears: and this is nothing else than the development of metallurgy in the region of Argyroupolis. The mining and elaboration of metals, which was known in the Pontus during the Byzantine period already, passes into a new phase with the discovery of ores of silver and other metals initially around the small town of Kan (Kanis), in the lands of the old Byzantine bandon of Mesochaldion. The beginning of the mining activity in the region of Kan can be dated in the second half of the 16th century and from the beginning it attracted Christian populations there. Meanwhile, it secured the financial ability for the organization of a bishopric belonging to the metropolis of Trebizond in a permanent base, whereas it also remained the basic source of income for the former. Until the middle of the 17th century the mining activities in the region of Kan (which by then started being known with its Turkish name Gümüşhane) were already thriving. This period lasted for a century and is marked by the direct involvement of the Sultan in the organization and administration of the mining activities and the bestowment of privileges to the people working in this sector (charcoal suppliers comprised), with the exemption from the haraç tax for the Christians being the most characteristic one. With this development the occupation with the mining activities functioned for the Christians of the wider area as an alternative possibility to be relieved from the haraç tax with the parallel maintenance of their Christian faith. Thus, until the middle of the 17th century, the biggest part of the Christians of the province of Trebizond which had not converged to Islam, gathered around Gümüşhane and either worked in the mining activities or formed settlements of coal dealers for the supply of the mining kilns (with the exception of the Maçka villages which were under the influence of the monasteries of the region). 16 For the period in which the region of Argyroupolis remained under the control of the diocese of Trebizond, the fact that most of the Christians of the region gathered there, and thus were automatically subjugated to the local bishopric did not create any problems with the metropolis. Instead, the development of the mining activities evolved into a source of substantial income for the former. It is indicative that, according to information preserved concerning the yearly contribution of the diocese of Trebizond (along with the bishopric of Chaldia) to the Patriarchate in the year 1647, this was regulated to the substantial sum of 80 florins, instead of the even higher sum of 100 florins which was paid before. 17 However, the undertaking of these activities by privileged professionals in a framework of free entrepreneur action, 18 according to the Ottoman system of leasing of the relative rights (mukata a), contributed to the creation of a strong local elite of chief miners of Argyroupolis; they developed, from the middle of the 17th century, into an considerable pressure group with a direct influence to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and to the Ottoman government, since their financial strength allowed them to offer great amounts of money for contributions, donations and briberies. 19 The next obvious step of this powerful group of chief miners was to promote the upgrade of their ecclesiastic authority, the bishopric of Chaldia as the former bishopric of Kanis was by then known into an autonomous archbishopric. This evolution was devastating for the diocese of Trebizond: it lost the established ecclesiastic contributions of the periphery of Gümüşhane which most probably were its main source of income by then but also the comfort to ask the chief miners for donations, a comfort available until then to the metropolitans due to their spiritual precedence. Furthermore, the annexation of the periphery of Gümüşhane also meant a dramatic fall of the flock of the metropolis of Trebizond, since that was limited to the inhabitants of the city, to the villages of Maçka which were outside the exarchies of the Patriarchal monasteries of the region, to few Christians remaining in other areas of the province and to few villages with Orthodox population in the isolated areas of Bayburt. In the case of the former, the ability of the metropolis of Trebizond to control them was to be very limited, since the annexed province of Chaldia was a geographical obstacle; Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 6/16

7 thus the interventions of the metropolitan of Kamachos and Theodosiopolis in order to appropriate these villages could not be prevented, as we know from a relative incident of The annexation of Chaldia The unfavourable for the diocese of Trebizond results from the annexation of the diocese of Chaldia were evident right from the start. This annexation, which took part between 1647 and 1654, immediately brought grave financial problems in the diocese of Trebizond; thus, in January 1660, the Patriarch decided to again bring the province of Chaldia under the diocese of Trebizond, along with the assume of duties by the new metropolitan Philotheos ( ). This decision, which is doubtful whether it was ever materialized, did not last for long and until 1665 the province of Chaldia was once again annexed from Trebizond; meanwhile the serious financial problems of the former were not resolved, resulting in the resignation of the metropolitan Philotheos in 1665 due to heavy debts. 21 It is also possible that the seizure of the metropolitan church of Saint Phillip by the Muslims, which took place in the same year, can be connected to the difficult financial situation of the diocese and was caused by the inability of the metropolitan to pay off his debts to the local Muslim lords or to contribute the established monetary presents. The reaction of the metropolitans of Trebizond towards the annexation of the province of Chaldia was from the beginning intense; they sought to bring this province under their control again, something which was eventually achieved by the metropolitan Paisios ( ) in 1717 (although in this case there was no unification of the provinces or an official subjugation of Chaldia to Trebizond, but only a practice of the pontifical authority in both provinces by the same person). Another aspect of the policy of the metropolitans of Trebizond concerning the problem of the annexation of the province of Chaldia was their effort to maintain a communication channel with the chief miners of Gümüşhane (Argyroupolis), in order to secure their donations, as attested by a series of known cases from visits by the metropolitans of Trebizond in the aforementioned place during the first half of the 18th century The quarrels between Trebizond and Chaldia Another basic element of the relations of the prelates of Trebizond and Chaldia was their quarrel concerning the limits of their jurisdiction in the region of Kerasous, which lasted until the 20th century. The Kerasous region, which until the middle of the 17th century was a separate ecclesiastical province and the seat of a diocese, had suffered a similar depletion of its Orthodox Christian population for the same reasons, which have already been mentioned, as the province of Trebizond, i.e. the Muslim conversion and the escape towards Gümüşhane, with the result that it was no longer the seat of a metropolitan and was reduced to a patriarchal exarchate. The ceding of the Kerasous province to the metropolitan of Trebizond took place in 1698, obviously as a counterweight to the shrinking of its flock and the loss of income which was caused by the annexation of the province of Chaldia. In the former exarchate of Kerasous the Orthodox Christian population was located in the city of Kerasous itself, in the market towns of Tripolis and Korala and in some miners villages. 23 The presence of the former was the source of every quarrel between the metropolitans of Trebizond and Chaldia, concerning their ecclesiastic subjugation, since they came from Argyroupolis and had recently settled in these places (the overpopulation in the periphery of Argyroupolis had caused the lack of working positions forcing, from the middle of the 17th century already, many inhabitants to move to other near or distant places suitable for the undertaking of mining activities). The effort of the Chaldia prelates to Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 7/16

8 expand their jurisdiction in the miners villages of the periphery of Kerasous was the first manifestation of their later stable and finally successful policy to have every mining community in the greater area of the lands of Asia Minor subjected to them, even much further than the limits of the Chaldia province. The quarrel between the prelates of Trebizond and of Chaldia for the villages of the Kerasous periphery was triggered by the action of the first ones to sell the pontifical rights of some of these villages to the former. This action, in 1708, was judged by the Patriarchate as illegal and not according to the rules. This resulted into more claims of the prelates of Chaldia and various interventions in the rest of the villages, which the Ecumenical Patriarchate could not practically prevent due to the influence of the chief miners. In 1744 the prelate of Chaldia managed to remove from the jurisdiction of the metropolitan of Trebizond the whole exarchate of Chaldia. Finally, with a compromise which was achieved in 1767, Kerasous, Tripole and Korala were ceded to the metropolitan of Trebizond, whereas the villages remained under the jurisdiction of Chaldia Relations with the Danubian hegemonies The period from the middle of the 17th until the first decades of the 18th century was difficult for the metropolis of Trebizond, and is characterized by a dramatic numerical shrinking of its flock and a decrease of its incomes. However, the metropolis of Trebizond managed to surpass this crisis taking advantage of every favourable element which resulted from certain occasions and by discovering other points of support. We have already seen that, notwithstanding the serious quarrel with the prelates of Chaldia, the metropolitans of Trebizond maintained a channel of communication with the chief miners of Argyroupolis, in order to secure some donations. An important role in the support of the metropolis was also played by Trebizond s contacts with the opposite coast of the Black Sea. The early trade relations of the Christians of Trebizond with the Danubian hegemonies led to the development of wider communication channels, through which the metropolitans of Trebizond insured financial and other support from the local elites there, before and after the assumption of the government of the hegemonies by the Phanariots. An important indication for this substructure of relations between Trebizond and the Danubian hegemonies is given by the example of Sevastos Kyminites: this distinguished Pontic scholar, after making a career in Bucharest, returned to Trebizond in order to found in 1682 the first Greek school of the city, the famous ʺFrontistirionʺ, which Georgios Ypomenas, another distinguished scholar from the Academy of Bucharest was invited to direct in Furthermore, the favour and the support of the Phanariots families of Mourouzis and Ypsilantis, which came from the region of Trebizond, were also important for the diocese of Trebizond. Later, during the 18th century, the constant improvement of the financial situation of the Christians of Trebizond due to the development of trade offered more and more possibilities for the promotion and the undertaking of works by the diocese, whereas the decadence of the mines of Gümüşhane during the second half of the same century brought the extinction of the chief miners and the fall of their authority and their influence on the prelate of Chaldia, which was until then the opposing awe of the metropolitan of Trebizond in the wider area of the Pontus The derebeys The main problem which the Christian population of the Pontus had to face during this last phase of the pre Tanzimat period was the conflicts between the derebeys (last frisks of their autonomy shortly before the restoration of the Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 8/16

9 centralized Ottoman authority), which were to cause losses and destruction for the civilians who were in the middle of the opposing clans. Characteristic cases were the destruction of Korala in 1811 (the city will be later rebuilt in a new site) and the tyrannical towards the Christians rule of the so called Agiouplis in Maçka, which ended after successful petitions of the metropolitan of Trebizond and of the monasteries of the region to the Ottoman court during the period From the reformations of the 19th century until the Expulsion of the Greek Orthodox population (1923) The limits of these periods are in every case unstable and cannot be stabilized in an absolute manner (accept, of course, from the end of the presence of the Pontus Greeks in their fatherland, which dates in 1923). Thus, concerning this last period of the history of the Greeks in the wider area of Trebizond, a time span of many years can be considered as its beginning, during which the terms of the further community existence if the Greek element and of the function of its institutions was formulated. In the financial level, the bloom which characterized the Greek element of the cities due to the development of trade had already started from the 18th century and is intensified with the opening of the road Trebizond Tauris to the European commerce, which takes place during the middle of the 19th century. 27 In the political and institutional level, the new factors in the regulation of power, the role and the function of the representational institutions of the Greek element, with the ecclesiastic authorities being the most important one, relate to the procedure of the Ottoman reformations and the effort for the establishment of a modernized administration. This procedure is known as the Tanziman and its strict time limits can be placed in the period from 1839 (proclamation of the intentions of the Ottoman government for modernization) until 1876 (year of the declaration of the first Ottoman constitution). A landmark of great importance for the further role of the ecclesiastic authorities is the reformation of the provincial administration of 1864, with which the ecclesiastic officers gain the right to participate in various levels of the provincial administration as official representatives of the Christian population. 28 In this framework, the most important role was played by the metropolitans, thanks to their participation in the administration councils of the vilayets and of their right to remonstrate to their governors, which formed the highest rank of the provincial administration. The promotion of the principal role now characterizing the office of the metropolitan, concerning his right to represent the Christians in front of the governors of the vilayets, resulted in the creation of representation problems for many Greek Orthodox communities due to the disagreement on the limits of the ecclesiastic provinces with the ones of the vilayets. This phenomenon was very evident in the area of the vilayet of Trebizond, in the limits of which there were three ecclesiastic provinces, the province of Trebizond, Chaldia and part of Amaseia, in which soon a fourth one was added, the archbishopric and later diocese of Rhodopolis. This disagreement between the political provincial and ecclesiastic frontiers and the subsequent problems of representation were the reason for the last loss of jurisdiction area suffered by the ecclesiastic province of Trebizond. The city of Kerasous, which before 1767 was continuously subjugated to the metropolis of Trebizond, came under the jurisdiction of the metropolis of Chaldia in 1913, 29 something which had occurred in the villages of the province already since In this case the problem of the representation was to be found in the participation at the administrative council of the kaza of a pontifical representative coming from the diocese of Trebizond, i.e. from an ecclesiastic authority with which the inhabitants of the villages subjugated to the metropolis of Chaldia had nothing to Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 9/16

10 do. On the other hand, the establishment of the archbishopric and later diocese of Rhodopolis ( , ) had no consequence in the area of jurisdiction of the diocese of Trebizond, since the former was formed by the merging of the exarchates of the patriarchal monasteries of Maçka. In this case too the essence of the request for the establishment of the new ecclesiastic authority must have been related to the problems of the representation of the Orthodox population at the provincial authorities. The removal of the city of Kerasous in 1913 apparently did not create any special problem in the diocese of Trebizond concerning the decrease of its flock, since it had, during this last period, secure a strong population base, as a consequence of the continuous demographic rising which characterized the Greek element from the 18th century onwards. Based on the concentrative information on the population strength of all the dioceses of Asia Minor cited by the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the period before the outbreak of World War I, the diocese of Trebizond, with 58,734 Orthodox Christians under its jurisdiction, is in the eighth position concerning population, after the dioceses of Smyrna, Ephesus, Amaseia, Chaldia, Neocaesarea, Chalkedon and Crene. These numbers should be faced with a relative reserve concerning their accuracy and to be considered solely indicative. This population is mainly located in the city of Trebizond and in many villages of her kaza, as well as in the small cities of Tripolis and Korala, in parts of the kaza of Maçka (the greater part of which was subjugated to the diocese of Rhodopolis). Smaller groups were found in the kazas of Platanoi (Akceabad), Sourmena, Of and in coastal small cities of the sancak of Lazistan (Rizaion, Athena, Chopa, Batoum until its annexation by Russia in 1878). 30 We see that concerning the population strength the diocese of Trebizond is inferior in comparison to other dioceses of Asia Minor, even of the Pontus, due to its limited extent and to the fact that special local conditions had previously contributed to the limitation of its jurisdiction even in the directly neighbouring area (we refer to the power and to the influence of the patriarchal monasteries of Maçka which was accompanied by the ceding of an extended area for the exarchate, as well as by the development of metallurgy in Argyroupolis, which contributed to the annexation of the province of Chaldia). However, the fact that the seat of the diocese was a political and financial centre of great importance, like Trebizond, as well as the increased financial power of the local Greek element, led to the promotion of a particularly increased role for the diocese. Of critical importance was the possibility of the metropolitan of Trebizond to participate in the administrative council of the whole vilayet with the right of a remonstrance to its general governor, something which secured for him the unofficial precedence amongst the other prelates whose seat was located inside the vilayet. To be more precise, the right of a remonstration of the metropolitans of Chaldia and Rhodopolis was limited to the mutasarrıf of the sancak of Gümüşhane and to the kaymakam of Maçka respectively. This elevated role of the metropolitan of Trebizond was proved to be salutary for the Greeks of the vilayet in the period of the persecutions during World War I and after. Very favourable coincidence for the local Greek population was the presence of a very competent person at the seat of the diocese of Trebizond, Chrysanthos Philippides, who, after a communication with the governor of the vilayet, managed to secure conditions of safety for the Orthodox Christians of the area, not only in the limits of his jurisdiction, but also in the provinces of Chaldia and Rhodopolis. Thanks to the actions of the metropolitan this region avoided a more intense persecution and the atrocities which were suffered by the Greeks of the other regions of the Pontus the regime of a safe living was also secured during the period , but in general also after 1918, when the Turkish authority was restored after the Russian occupation. Nevertheless, after 1918, the presence of the Greeks of the Pontus in their birthplace comes to its end, since the failure to secure a political autonomy in these efforts the metropolitan Chrysanthos played a major role gave the signal for the escape, which was completed with the population exchange Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 10/16

11 between Greece and Turkey in Λαμψίδης, Ο., Οι Έλληνες του Πόντου υπό τους Τούρκους ( ) Α: Πολιτική Ιστορία (Ποντικαί Έρευναι 1, Athens 1957), pp These period are adopted also by Tzirakes in his Θρησκευτική και Ηθική Εγκυκλοπαιδεία 11 (Athens 1967), lines , see «Τραπεζούντα» (Ν. Τζιράκης). 2. Λαμψίδης, Ο., Οι Έλληνες του Πόντου υπό τους Τούρκους ( ). Α: Πολιτική Ιστορία (Ποντικαί Έρευναι 1, Athens 1957), pp Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), pp It is most rather unlikely that Pangratios was appointed as the metropolitan of Trebizond before 1472, since his election was naturally connected to the rise of Symeon for a second time on the patriarchal throne (1472) and was considered a consequence of it. Pangratios remained the metropolitan of Trebizond for a very short period, since the election of his successor, Dorotheos, happened during the same year, as documented in the act of his election preserved in a codex of the monastery of Pantokrator of Mount Ahtos. See Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, op.cit., pp Barkan, Ö.L., 894 (1488/89) yılı cizyesinin tahsilâtına âit muhasebe bilânçoları, Belgeler 1 (1964), pp Yürt Ansiklopedisi 10 (Istanbul ), p. 7187, see Trabzon. 6. Published information by the series of the tax registers of the 16th century show that in the region of Maçka the percentage of the Muslim population had risen from 1.91% in 1515 in 3,72% in 1553, and in the region of Of from 2% in 1515 in 24% in See Lowry, H., Privilege and Property in Ottoman Macuka in the Opening Decades of the Tourkokratia: , in Bryer, A.A.M. Lowry, H. (eds.), Continuity and Change in Late Byzantine and Early Ottoman Society (Birmingham Washington DC 1986), pp. 128 Poutouridou, M., The Of Valley and the Coming of Islam: the Case of the Greek-Speaking Muslims, Δελτίον Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών 12 ( ), pp Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), pp. 374, 422, 440; Bryer, A.A.M., Rural Society in Matzouka, in Bryer, A.A.M. Lowry, H. (eds.), Continuity and Change in Late Byzantine and Early Ottoman Society (Birmingham Washington DC 1986), pp ; Φωτιάδης, Κ., Οι Εξισλαμισμοί της Μικράς Ασίας και οι Κρυπτοχριστιανοί του Πόντου (Θεσσαλονίκη 1993), pp ; Lowry, Η., Trabzon Şehrinin İslamlaşma ve Türkleşmesi, ² (İstanbul 1998). This favourable attitude of the Ottoman administration towards the abovementioned monasteries of the hinterland is, according to Bryer, attributed to the possible mediation of Amiroutzes to the Ottoman court. 8. Darrouzès, A.A.J., Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Géographie Ecclésiastique de l Empire Byzantine I, Paris 1981), no.21, p. 421; Γερμανός Σάρδεων, «Κατάλογος επαρχιών του Πατριαρχείου Κων/πόλεως κατά τον ιζ αιώνα», Ορθοδοξία 3 (1928), pp Jennings, R., The Society and Economy of Maçuka in the Ottoman Judicial Registers of Trabzon, , in Bryer, A.A.M. Lowry, H. (eds.), Continuity and Change in Late Byzantine and Early Ottoman Society (Birmingham Washington DC 1986), p. 137; Bryer, A.A.M., The Three Cyrils, in Bryer, A.A.M. Lowry, H. (eds.), Continuity and Change in Late Byzantine and Early Ottoman Society (Birmingham Washington DC 1986), pp The increased interest of the Jesuits for the organization of missions to the Caucasus is for the first time documented in exactly the period when Ignatios Mendones became the metropolitan of Trebizond. For these plans of the Jesuits there is a clear mention in a letter of their superior in Constantinople father François de Canillac towards the Assistance de France of the year There is also a report for the travel of two members of the order in Migrelia in See Carayon, A., Relations inedites des missions de la Compagnie de J esus a Constantinople et dans le Levant au XVIIe siecle (Poitiers Paris 1864), p. 67, For the previous missions of the Dominicans and the Franciscans see Delacroix-Besnier, C., Les Dominicaines et la Chretiente Grecque aux XIVe et XVe siecles (Rome 1997), pp , ; Richard, J., La Papaute et les Missions d Orient au Moyen Age (XIIIe-XVe siecles)² (Rome 1998), pp. 130, , 232, Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), pp See for example Ιωαννίδης, Σ., Ιστορία και Στατιστική Τραπεζούντος και της περί ταύτην Χώρας, ως και τα περί της Ενταύθα Ελληνικής Γλώσσης (Constantinople 1870), pp. 134, Ιωαννίδης, Σ., Ιστορία και Στατιστική Τραπεζούντος και της περί ταύτην Χώρας, ως και τα περί της Ενταύθα Ελληνικής Γλώσσης, (Constantinople 1870), pp , ; Λαμψίδης, Ο., Οι Έλληνες του Πόντου υπό τους Τούρκους ( ) Α: Πολιτική Ιστορία (Ποντικαί Έρευναι 1, Athens Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 11/16

12 1957), pp. 12, In contrast to the previous, Chrysanthos does not connect the rise of the derebeys with the Islamization, neither does he consider the fact of their authority as the primal factor of the later historic course of the Christians of the region, although he mentions incidents related to their unfavorable attitude towards the church, see Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), p For a more balanced evaluation of the importance of the local authority from the derebeys as well as of other important developments of the same era, see Bryer, A.A.M., The Tourkokratia in the Pontos: Some Problems and Preliminary Conclusions, Neo-Hellenica 1 (1970), pp Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), p Bryer, A.A.M., The Tourkokratia in the Pontos: Some Problems and Preliminary Conclusions, Neo-Hellenica 1 (1970), pp Bryer suggests that the hostile attitude of the Turks of Trebizond against the local Christians is related to the merchant relations and contacts the former had with the Russians, which were already considered a hateful enemy by the Turks of the coasts of the Black Sea. See Bryer, A.A.M., op.cit., p Ιωαννίδης, Σ., Ιστορία και Στατιστική Τραπεζούντος και της περί ταύτην Χώρας, ως και τα περί της Ενταύθα Ελληνικής Γλώσσης, (Constantinople 1870), pp ; Bryer, A.A.M., Rural Society in Matzouka, in Bryer, A.A.M. Lowry. H. (eds.), Continuity and Change in Late Byzantine and Early Ottoman Society (Birmingham Washington DC 1986), p. 81. For the declaration of the monastery of Saint George in a patriarchal one see Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), p Παπαδόπουλος, Α.Α., «Ο Χαλδίας Αρχιερεύς των Μεταλλουργών», Αρχείον Πόντου 13 (1948), pp ; Bryer, A.A. M., The Tourkokratia in the Pontos: Some Problems and Preliminary Conclusions, Neo-Hellenica 1 (1970), p. 49; Φωτιάδης, Κ., Οι Εξισλαμισμοί της Μικράς Ασίας και οι Κρυπτοχριστιανοί του Πόντου (Thessaloniki 1993), pp Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), p When mentioning free enterprising activity we mean that the works of mining, elaboration and exploitation of the product were not undertaken by state employees, but from professionals who privately undertook the execution of these works. As for the rest, the organization of these works was regulated by a guild framework with its successive hierarchical structures. 19. Φωτιάδης, Κ., Οι Εξισλαμισμοί της Μικράς Ασίας και οι Κρυπτοχριστιανοί του Πόντου (Thessaloniki 1993), pp Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), pp Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), pp Παπαδόπουλος, Α., «Ο Χαλδίας Αρχιερεύς των Μεταλλουργών», Αρχείον Πόντου 13 (1948), p Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), pp Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), pp , , 609; Παπαδόπουλος, Α.Α., «Ο Χαλδίας Αρχιερεύς των Μεταλλουργών», Αρχείον Πόντου 13 (1948), pp ; Κανδηλάπτης, Γ., «Συμβολή εις Μελέτην περί της Μητροπόλεως Χαλδίας», Αρχείον Πόντου 14 (1949), pp ; Αρχείον Πόντου 15 (1950), pp Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), pp Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντας, Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος (Athens 1936), p. 618 Bryer, A.A.M., The Tourkokratia in the Pontos: Some Problems and Preliminary Conclusions, Neo-Hellenica 1 (1970), p Bryer, A.A.M., The Tourkokratia in the Pontos: Some Problems and Preliminary Conclusions, Neo-Hellenica 1 (1970), pp Αναγνωστοπούλου, Σ., Μικρά Ασία, 19ος αι Οι Ελληνορθόδοξες Κοινότητες: από το Μιλλέτ των Ρωμιών στο Ελληνικό Έθνος (Athens 1997), pp Παπαδόπουλος, Α., «Ο Χαλδίας Αρχιερεύς των Μεταλλουργών», Αρχείον Πόντου 13 (1948), p Οικουμενικόν Πατριαρχείον, Μαύρη Βίβλος Διωγμών και Μαρτυρίων του εν Τουρκία Ελληνισμού ( ), (Constantinople 1919), p. 273 Patriarcat Oecumenique, Les Atrocités Kémalistes dans les Régions du Pont et dans le reste de l Anatolie (Constantinople 1922), pp , Δημιουργήθηκε στις 1/11/2017 Σελίδα 12/16