Old translations of Ottoman documents held by the Holy Community of Mount Athos (1547-1890)
Hieromonk Theophilos Pantokratorinos
SOURCES OF ATHONITE HISTORY – VOL. 1
Date of publication: 2023, 248 pages, hardcover, dimensions: 31 Χ 23 cm., ISBN: 978-618-82272-8-6, price: 40.00 euros
Following five centuries of Ottoman rule in northern Greece and the two hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the Greek Revolution, it is fitting to ask the historical question: how, after all the changes and vicissitudes it has experienced, has the monastic republic of Mount Athos managed to retain its system of customary law and its ancient traditional status?
This publication includes the Greek translations of Ottoman documents held by the central administrative authority of Mount Athos. These translations are to be found in two manuscripts in the archive of documents from the modern period held by the Holy Community and date from the early and mid-19th century. Most of them are published for the first time in this volume. The translations are of fifty-eight sultanic firmans, five judicial decisions, a vizier’s order, a ministerial circular, and a document issued by the tax-collector of Mount Athos. The collection concludes with the ratified translation of the Administrative Code for the Monasteries of Mount Athos issued in 1810. Photographs of the relevant original Ottoman documents are included in an appendix.
These translations will undoubtedly prove to be invaluable archival sources for the study of Athonite history in general and, more specifically, of the institutions and the historical topography and prosopography of the Athonite republic. More particularly, however, they document the Holy Mountain’s unbroken institutional continuity throughout the period of Ottoman rule.
The translations will also be of interest to linguists as they are couched in the peculiar vernacular of the official administration. Students of Greek and Ottoman palaeography will also find the volume of interest, as will researchers studying the history of law and the political sciences.
CONTENTS
ADDRESS BY THE HOLY COMMUNITY
ADDRESS BY THE MAYOR OF THESSALONIKI
THE ‘MOUNT ATHOS DURING THE PERIOD OF THE GREEK REVOLUTION’ PROGRAMME
PREFACE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
TRANSLATIONS OF ROYAL DECREES AND JUDICIAL DECISIONS
- Translations of royal decrees (firmans)
- Translations of Turkish judicial documents
- Translations of various other Turkish documents
MANUSCRIPT CONTAINING THE TRANSLATIONS OF THE HATTIS AND FIRMANS OF MOUNT ATHOS
ADMINISTRATIVE CODE FOR THE MONASTERIES OF MOUNT ATHOS
GLOSSARY
INDEX
APPENDIX: PHOTOGRAPHS OF DOCUMENTS
