HOE-Working Papers

Glimpses from the Activities of Ottoman Guilds

2022-04-11T13:41:36+00:00

This working paper publishes for the first time in its entirety a manuscript kept at the Central Archives of the (Albanian) State, Tirana: AQSH. F. 141, D. 2. The codex casts light to several aspects of the cultural, social, economic, religious and educational life of the city of Moschopolis (Alb. Voskopoja) in the course of the eighteenth century, i.e., both, prior to and after the city’s first destruction (1769). In its 60 folios, multiple acts dated from 1714 to 1791 are recorded. The manuscript is written in Greek, the lingua franca of the Orthodox subjects of the Ottoman Empire and has remained largely unknown to date. Its modular structure contains eight parts:

1^r-45^v: This part contains a variety of acts related to the administration, functions and operations of Voskopoja’s guild of tailors from 10.06.1714 to 15.03.1749.
46^r-48^v: It contains acts related to the reconstruction and upgrading of the former educational institution of Voskopoja to a Greek School, the establishment of a provident fund to alleviate poverty, as well as donations to accomplish these ends, dated from 1750 to 10 May 1752.
49^r-50^r: It is a register of donations to the church of the Great Taxiarchs Michael and Gabriel in the Iliou quarter, dating from 1762 to 27 August 1772.
50^v-52^r: It extends from 1772 to 1778 and records various donations to the nowadays demolished church of St Spyridon.
52^r-53^r: In this part records are made again of donations to the church of the Archangels, dating 1778 to 1782.
53^v-55^r: This sixth part records donations to the nowadays also demolished church of St Varvara from 1782 and also contains a short reference to a donation to the church of St Charalambos, to the Greek School of the city and the church of the Taxiarchs.
56^r-59^v: This part deals with the 1760 reconstruction of the (demolished) church of St Charalambos, donations offered to this end and details of the sort of works that were made possible through such donations.

Diocesan Codices Unveiling Local History

2020-12-22T00:08:50+00:00

The present paper presents a first set of conclusions drawn from the study of the “Codex of Gjirokastër”. Compiled upon the accession of Bishop Dositheos of Dryinoupolis and Gjirokastër, the codex extends from 1760 to 1858, namely well beyond the end of his prelacy (1760-1799). Kept in the Metropolis of Gjirokastër until shortly before the Italian bombardment of the city, the codex was transferred to Tirana. Previously thought to be lost, it is now held in the Archives of the State, under the classification number F. 139, D. 2. It is written in Greek, the official language of the Church at that period, and records several documents that reflect the competences and privileges that Christian prelates enjoyed at least in issues of ecclesiastical administration and civil law. The focus here is first on the role of laymen in the accession of Bishop Dositheos in the Diocese of Dryinoupolis, then on the issue of divorces in the regions of Gjirokastër between 1786 and 1858. Placing the “Codex of Dositheos” in its context, the study underlines the importance of diocesan codices as documents of religious, cultural, social, economic, educational, administrational and juridical history.

The Bibliographical Metadata Collection. A Guide for Contributors

2019-12-10T08:43:01+00:00

This Hoe Working Paper offers an overview of the functionalities of the websites of the HOE project, especially of the meta-data collection itself. It also provides a user guide for those who what to contribute data to the meta-data collection.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Sons of Lucifer and the Children of Neptune: The Anti-Ottoman and Anti-Islamic Polemical Works of Gerasimos Vlachos

2018-04-17T13:57:09+00:00

The aim of this paper is to publish and analyze a short encomium by the Cretan scholar Gerasimos Vlachos († 1685). Entitled Trionfo del Illustrissimo et Eccelentissimo Signor Alvise Mocenico Secondo Procurator di San Marco et Dignissimo Capitan General da Mar, the encomium was delivered in the monastery of Saint Catherine in Candia, on 25 November 1649. Mentioned only in passing by the scholars dealing with Vlachos, it is part of one of the Greek manuscripts of the Library of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest – BAR ms. gr. 889; including (mainly) homilies preached in Candia between October 1649 and May 1650, this codex is one of the oldest autographs of “padre Don Girassimo Vlacho Greco di Creta predicatore”. The Trionfo celebrates the successful defence – led by Alvise Mocenigo – of the vital Martinengo bastion of Candia during the first stages of the Cretan War (July / August 1649). Therefore, one is provided with the possibility to look into the earliest depiction of the Ottoman Empire by a leading Greek scholar of the time.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.