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Peskes: a gift presented to the Sultan by the Patriarch as a token of recognition. This institutionalized obligation to the state that began in 1464-5 did not in any sense constitute bribery or corruption. Patriarchal autocracy: in 1754 the berat recognized the Fathers' role( the five Metropolitans who lived permanently in Constantinople) in the Patriarch's election. In 1763 the Patriarch Samuel issued a decree that divided the official seal in to four. The Patriarchate kept one piece and the others were given to three prelates. |
Since the Ecumenical Patriarchate was the religious and political centre of Orthodoxy, the Phanariotes, the Greeks of Constantinople, were drawn towards it. The Phanariotes took advantage of their social status, wealth and
relationship with the Ottoman authorities and the sultan to control and use the Patriarchate as protection against state arbitrariness. Since the Patriarch's seat was auctioned and every newly elected Patriarch had to pay a peskes to the sultan, the Patriarchate was constantly in debt. The Phanariotes subsidized the candidates. The subsidy was a kind of investment: they expected the Patriarch to grant them land. This proximity to the Patriarch added to their spiritual and religious status. |
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As the 17th century drew to a close, the Phanariotes gained control of the Church's central organization. By the mid 18th century, the Phanariotes's influence was apparent in the institutions of the Church: the patriarch's autocracy
was condemned; the people's role in the election of the Patriarch and good management of religious institutions were finally recognized. Thanks to the Phanariotes, the Patriarchate's profile changed. |
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