AP: Greek monastery manuscripts tell new story of Ottoman rule

Associated Press reports from Mount Athos in Greece that a church bell sounds, the staccato thudding of mallet on plank summons monks to afternoon prayers, and deep voices are raised in communal chant. And high in the great tower of Pantokrator Monastery, a metal library door swings open.
There, deep inside the medieval fortified monastery in the Mount Athos monastic Orthodox Christian community, researchers are for the first time tapping a virtually unknown treasure — thousands of Ottoman-era manuscripts that include the oldest of their kind in the world.
The libraries of the self-governed community, established more than 1,000 years ago on northern Greece’s Athos peninsula, are a repository of rare, centuries-old works in several languages including Greek, Russian and Romanian.
Many have been extensively studied, but not the Ottoman Turkish documents, products of an occupying bureaucracy that ruled northern Greece from the late 14th century — well before the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, fell to the Ottomans in 1453 — until the early 20th when the area became Greek again.
Byzantine scholar Jannis Niehoff-Panagiotidis says it’s impossible to understand Mount Athos’ economy and society under Ottoman rule without consulting these documents, which regulated the monks’ dealings with secular authorities.
“Ottoman was the official language of the state,” he told The Associated Press from the library of the Pantokrator Monastery, one of 20 on the heavily wooded peninsula.
Niehoff-Panagiotidis, a professor at the Free University of Berlin, said the oldest of the roughly 25,000 Ottoman works found in the monastic libraries dates to 1374, or 1371. That’s older than any known in the world, he said, adding that in Istanbul, as the Ottomans renamed Constantinople when they made the city their own capital, the oldest archives only go back to the late 15th century.
“The first documents that shed light (on the first period of Ottoman history) are saved here, on Mount Athos,” he said, seated at a table piled with documents and books. Others, the rare ones, are stored in large wooden drawers.
These include highly ornate Sultans’ firmans — or decrees — deeds of ownership and court decisions.
“The overwhelming majority are legal documents,” said Anastasios Nikopoulos, a jurist and scientific collaborator of the Free University of Berlin who’s been working with Niehoff-Panagiotidis on the project for the past few months.
And the manuscripts tell a story at odds with the traditional understanding in Greece of Ottoman depredations in the newly-conquered areas, through the confiscation of the Mount Athos monasteries’ rich real estate holdings. Instead, the new rulers took the community under their wing, preserved its autonomy, and protected it from external interference.
“The Sultans’ firmans we saw in the tower … and the Ottoman state’s court decisions show that the monks’ small democracy was able to gain the respect of all-conquering powers,” Nikopoulos said. “And that is because Mount Athos was seen as a cradle of peace, culture … where peoples and civilizations coexisted peacefully.”
Nikopoulos said that one of the first actions of Murad II, the Ottoman ruler who conquered Thessaloniki — the closest city to Mount Athos — was to draw up a legal document in 1430 protecting the community.
“That says a lot. The Ottoman sultan himself ensured that the administrative system of Mount Athos was preserved and safeguarded,” he said.
Even before that, Niehoff-Panagiotidis added, a sultan issued a mandate laying down strict punishment for intruders after a band of marauding soldiers engaged in minor thieving from one of the monasteries.
“It’s strange that the sultans kept Mount Athos, the last remnant of Byzantium, semi-independent and didn’t touch it,” he said. “They didn’t even keep troops here. At the very most they would have a local representative who probably stayed at (the community’s administrative center, Karyes) and sipped tea.”
Another unexpected revelation, Niehoff-Panagiotidis said, was that for roughly the first two centuries of Ottoman rule no effort was made to impose Islamic law on Mount Athos or nearby parts of northern Greece.
“Mount Athos was something like a continuation of Byzantium,” he said.
The community was first granted self-governance through a decree by Byzantine Emperor Basil II, in 883 AD. Throughout its history, women have been forbidden from entering, a ban that still stands. This rule is called “avaton” and the researchers believe that it concerns every form of external administrative or secular intervention that could affect Mount Athos.
Father Theophilos, a Pantokrator monk who is helping with the research, said the documents show the far-flung influence of Mount Athos.
“Their study also illuminates examples of how people can live with each other, principles that are common to all humanity, the seeds of human rights and respect for them, democracy, and the principles of social coexistence,” he told The Associated Press.
The research project is expected to continue for several months, even years.
“What could emerge in the long term I’ll be able to say when we have cataloged and digitized all the documents,” Niehoff-Panagiotidis said. “Right now, nobody knows what’s hidden here. Perhaps, even older documents.”
Read more at thenationalherald.com
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Gabriel
- 1) Greece’s Education Minister wants private colleges allowed to operate in country
- 2) UNESCO adds Greece's Zagorochoria to its World Heritage List
- 3) Global Greek Film Initiative supports professional development in Greece
- 4) Greek PM: Pulmonology clinic of 'Papanikolaou' hospital restored in record time
25/09 22:54
Greek president to inaugurate exhibition with artifacts 2.5 million years old in Athens
25/09 22:02
Emergency state apparatus on high alert ahead of 'Elias' weather front in Greece
25/09 21:59
Greek singer impressed the audience with moving concert at Queens Theater in NY
25/09 20:06
Greek FM meets with Diaspora scientists and innovators in the Boston area
25/09 18:45
24/09 19:52
Civil Protection Minister going to Larisa while schools stay shut due to bad weather
24/09 19:40
Bad weather warning to Thessaly, Sporades islands, Fthiotida and north Evia in Greece
24/09 16:43
SNF Co-President Arecognized at ELLET 50th Anniversary Celebration
24/09 15:46
24/09 14:37
New laws to regulate real estate purchases and short-term rentals in Greece
22/09 22:18
Greek FM in trilateral meeting with Cyprus and Jordan counterparts in New York
22/09 21:12
The LAGFF announces special in-person and online screenings set for October
22/09 21:02
Emergency meeting for readiness of Greek state against upcoming adverse weather
22/09 19:22
Prime Minister: Greece is a pillar of energy stability and security in broader region
22/09 13:57
Chinese Travel and Leisure magazine selects Greece as top island destination for 2023
21/09 16:25
21/09 15:47
Protest rallies in downtown Athens against Labour bill concluded
21/09 11:43
21/09 11:27
Greek Prime Minister to address the United Nations General Assembly
21/09 00:13
Athens public transport disrupted on Thursday due to 24hr strike
20/09 21:26
Bank of Greece governor: Economy forecast to grow by 2.2% this year and 3.0% in 2024
20/09 20:22
European Heritage Days: Free entrance to sites, museums in Greece on Friday-Sunday
20/09 20:14
20/09 19:19
A Centenary Celebration of Maria Callas organized at Juilliard on September 21
20/09 01:40
ADEDY, seamen, air traffic controllers and Athens bus drivers declare strikes on Thursday
19/09 22:41
UNESCO adds Greece's Zagorochoria to its World Heritage List
19/09 21:58
Fitch Ratings and Moody's upgrade ratings of Greece's systemic banks
19/09 20:52
Agricultural Development Minister: EU funds for Greek farmers should be prioritized
19/09 19:47
St. Luke Hosted its Annual Greek Festival in Philadelphia on September 15-17
17/09 14:42
Global Greek Film Initiative supports professional development in Greece
17/09 14:33
Trojan AHEPA Chapter 306 volunteers support Regional Food Bank in New York
17/09 12:36
ADMIE: "Green" electricity production has reached record levels in Greece
17/09 11:44
Level at Lake Karla subsiding but Volos city without safe drinking water for 13th day
17/09 11:25
Greek National Tourism Organisation Secretary: Greece is winning sector's bet for 2023
16/09 15:54
Greek PM: Pulmonology clinic of 'Papanikolaou' hospital restored in record time
16/09 15:50
US consul general in Thessaloniki: Health of every person must be top priority
16/09 15:50
US consul general in Thessaloniki: Health of every person must be top priority
16/09 15:50
US consul general in Thessaloniki: Health of every person must be top priority
16/09 15:46
112 message sent over rising water at Lake Karla in flood-stricken Central Greece
16/09 15:41
Moody's raises Greece's ratings to Ba1 from Ba3 and keeps outlook stable
16/09 10:37
14/09 22:35
Cruise ship arrivals at Greek port of Piraeus up 85% in January-August 2023
14/09 18:50
HRADF declares Greek firm as preferred investor in tender for Attica Motorway
14/09 14:58
Greece's Athens Medical Group signs MoU with Egyptian Health Minister
12/09 22:53
Christos Stylianides takes over as Greek shipping minister after swearing-in ceremony
12/09 22:44
Autohellas announced a 23.5% increase in its second quarter turnover of 2023
12/09 22:41
Hellenic Film Society USA hosts the New York Greek Film Expo 2023
12/09 15:36
EC chief: Greece could mobilise up to €2.25 billion in aid for floods and fires
12/09 12:32
Greece's Aegean Motorway still closed due to flooding at Gyrtonis-Sykourio area
12/09 01:42
Memorial Service for September 11 victims organized at St. Nicholas WTC
11/09 23:51
Greek and Bulgarian Presidents tour pavilion of Bulgaria, honored country at TIF
11/09 23:44
Capital Link Shipping Forum to take place in London on September 12
11/09 23:38
11/09 22:38
Aegean national highway closed down at Tempi valley due to overflowing in Greece
10/09 23:47
87th TIF opens its gates amid scheduling changes due to disastrous storm
08/09 22:16
Greek PM: Restoring water in Volos and evacuating people in Pilio top priorities
08/09 21:01
Ferry brings technicians to restore power in Pilio and Skiathos island in Greece
08/09 15:13
08/09 14:08
20th Pan-Icarian Convention in Philadelphia honors U.S. Senator Robert Menendez
08/09 12:13
Tax Free Service extension in prepackaged food products and alcoholic beverages
08/09 10:04
TFTD 2023: Artificial Intelligence areas that Greece could become a leader in
07/09 00:45
07/09 00:41
Greek Minister meets Ambassadors of Italy, the Netherlands, Egypt and Bangladesh
07/09 00:36
Codeshares of AEGEAN Air and Emirates extended to Athens-New York route
06/09 14:24
06/09 00:33
Round-table discussion on 'Smart cities and AI' organized at TIF on Saturday
04/09 22:19
04/09 20:29
Timed ticketing system introduced at the Acropolis of Athens to improve crowding
04/09 17:39
Greece, Israel and Cyprus committed to expanding trade, and collaboration with India
03/09 01:26
Minister writes to regions and municipalities for anti-corrosive and anti-flooding works
03/09 01:11
Greek Language Institute sessions at the Hellenic American Academy begin soon
02/09 19:15
02/09 14:05
Greek Coast Guard rescues 61 undocumented migrants off Serifos island
31/08 09:50
Prime Minister to address Greek parliament on measures to tackle climate crisis
31/08 08:53
Welsh nationalists join Chinese and Greek voices for return of Elgin Marbles
31/08 07:49
Economic Chamber calls for October-November deadlines for Greek balance sheets
31/08 06:58
Greek tax authority chief: Revenues from booking platforms could reach €700 million
31/08 00:24
Media: Optimism reigns at commencement of St. Demetrios of Astoria School Year
30/08 10:56
30/08 01:53
UNWTO to assist Greek island of Thassos rebuild tourism sector
30/08 01:20
National trade and investment agency of Greek state Enterprise Greece in spotlight
30/08 00:34
Historic Palamas Residence in Athens suburb of Plaka undergoes restoration
30/08 00:13
29/08 22:31
Historic Hosios Loukas monastery in central Greece reopens to visitors after fire
29/08 21:18
Media: Mandarin Oriental launches luxurious resort in Greece’s Costa Navarino
29/08 19:05
Al Fursan and Typhoon aircraft in Athens ahead of Athens Flying Week 2023
29/08 17:24
Greek president: Med countries should respond to revert the climate crisis
28/08 20:19
President of the Hellenic Republic arrives at Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia
28/08 19:28
EU mobilization for Greece's help with fires reaches 350 firefighters and 12 aircraft
28/08 19:10
AP: Greek suburb residents buy early warning drones to stop wildfires
28/08 18:24
Greek heritage hockey team visits South Florida for Amerigol LATAM Cup
28/08 16:26
Greek Maritime Golf Event supports Parents Association of Children with Cancer “Floga”
28/08 14:05
Piraeus Chamber chief: We welcome India's interest in Greek ports
27/08 21:16
Yale University men’s basketball team takes trip of a lifetime across Greece
27/08 17:24
AP: Following British Museum thefts, Greece keeping watch what happens
27/08 15:12
Pope Francis from the Vatican: 'I express my solidarity with the Greek people'
27/08 00:29
Foreign financial institutions give vote of trust in Athens stock exchange and Greek banks
27/08 00:21
EFKA online services to go offline for upgrades on September 1-10
26/08 19:05
Greek firefighters battling flare-ups and outbreaks in Evros, Andros and Fthiotida
26/08 14:54
TNH exclusive report: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson vacation in Karpathos island
Emergency state apparatus on high alert ahead of 'Elias' weather front in Greece
Greek FM meets with Diaspora scientists and innovators in the Boston area
Greek president to inaugurate exhibition with artifacts 2.5 million years old in Athens
Bad weather warning to Thessaly, Sporades islands, Fthiotida and north Evia in Greece
Greek singer impressed the audience with moving concert at Queens Theater in NY
New laws to regulate real estate purchases and short-term rentals in Greece
SNF Co-President Arecognized at ELLET 50th Anniversary Celebration
Civil Protection Minister going to Larisa while schools stay shut due to bad weather
Emergency meeting for readiness of Greek state against upcoming adverse weather
Greek Maritime Golf Event supports Parents Association of Children with Cancer “Floga”
ADEDY, seamen, air traffic controllers and Athens bus drivers declare strikes on Thursday
Greek capital of Athens in top 10 of world's most attractive destinations for conferences
Athens public transport disrupted on Thursday due to 24hr strike
Greek FM in trilateral meeting with Cyprus and Jordan counterparts in New York
Prime Minister: Greece is a pillar of energy stability and security in broader region
Mayor Eric Adams in Greece Visit: New York is the Athens of America
European Heritage Days: Free entrance to sites, museums in Greece on Friday-Sunday
The LAGFF announces special in-person and online screenings set for October
Chinese Travel and Leisure magazine selects Greece as top island destination for 2023
Online platform for 'Market Pass' applications opens in Greece on September 15
Fitch Ratings and Moody's upgrade ratings of Greece's systemic banks