This two-day International symposium will focus on social mobility of the Greek-speaking Orthodox Christians, the Istanbul based Ottoman mercantile elites and the Phanariots during the mid-seventeenth century and up to the mid-nineteenth century. It will be organized in collaboration with Meşher and Sismanoglio Megaro, convened by Namık Günay Erkal, Firuzan Melike Sümertaş, and Haris Theodorelis-Rigas, and key speakers will be Christine Philliou, Shirine Hamden and Constanta Vintilă.
Half a century after the transfer of the Patriarchate to the Petrion Castle on the Golden Horn, Phanar had already emerged as the educational and cultural center of the Greek Orthodox population in the Ottoman Empire and a mercantile elite neighborhood when, for the first time, semi-masonry houses started to appear on the waterfront, with some of them belonging to Moldo-Wallachian notable families. Greek mercantile elites began to rise in the Ottoman state apparatus as personal physicians of viziers and as dragomans. Former Byzantine, Moldo-Wallachian, and newly emerging Greek-Orthodox elites converged over political alliances and intermarriage, culminating in the Danubian hospodariats.
The primary objective of the symposium is to present the current state of research on Phanariot studies and to facilitate the establishment of a new network of academics engaged in this field. In addition, the symposium will serve to prepare the ground for new collaborative and interactive research.
The symposium will be held hybrid in ANAMED Auditorium and on Zoom, and is open to general participation.
Issue 67, December 2024
Beauty in the Wilderness
