Christian Elites of the Peloponnese and the Ottoman State, 1715–1821

In: European history quarterly, Band 43, Heft 4, S. 628-656

Abstract

This paper examines the political 'system', behaviour and attitudes of Christian landed elites in the Ottoman Peloponnese in the decades preceding the Greek Revolution of 1821. Particular attention is given to the relationship between these important local power-holders and the Filiki Etairia (Society of Friends), the secret organization that set the revolution in motion. Questions raised by earlier scholars concerning the motivations which led the notables to join this venture are reconsidered here in light of the aims disclosed in previous separatist plots and a closer reading of the interactions between the notables and the Etairia leadership. These help to indicate what the proposed revolution meant to those involved from a standpoint of opportunities and risks, as well as the assumptions contained in contemporary elite notions of sovereignty.