Timeline of Eastern Orthodoxy in Greece (1453–1821)

This is a timeline of the presence of Eastern Orthodoxy in Greece. The history of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically, as well as the territory now composing the modern state of Greece.

Ottoman rule (1453–1821)

"The fifteenth-century Ottoman Empire reunited the Roman Orthodox as subjects of their patriarch in Constantinople. Yet it was not the Byzantine Empire in disguise. Even though Mehmed the Conqueror resettled Constantinople as the centre of the Roman Orthodox world, he was even more effective in making it the capital of an Islamic empire."Christopher Allmand (Ed.). THE NEW CAMBRIDGE MEDIEVAL HISTORY: Volume VII c. 1450 –c. 1500. Cambridge University Press, 2008. p. 788. The privileges given to the Greek Church by Mehmed, in 1453, were able to save only a part of Byzantine Christendom from Islamization and Turkification, and most of those who remained Christians (and Greeks) accepted the unenviable fate of the rayas.G. G. Arnakis. Book review of: "[Relations between Greeks and Turks from the Eleventh Century to 1821, I: The Wars of the Turks to Conquer the Greek Lands, 1071–1571]", by Constantine J. Amantos. Speculum, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jan., 1957), pp. 143-144. Pressure to convert and the insecurity of Christian life produced widespread Crypto-Christianity in various regions, and there were also forced conversions and neo-martyrs.Speros Vryonis, Jr. "The Byzantine Legacy and Ottoman Forms." Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 23/24 (1969/1970), pp. 299-300. In practice, Greeks were forbidden to build or furnish churches, to carry arms or to dress like Moslems.D.A. Zakythinós (Professor). The Making of Modern Greece: From Byzantium to Independence. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1976. p. 36. However following the example of Byzantine emperors, the Sultans hastened to ratify the ownership of land by the Church and by monasteries and renewed their privileges.D.A. Zakythinós (Professor). The Making of Modern Greece: From Byzantium to Independence. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1976. p. 40. British historian Sir Steven Runciman has written also that although it was Orthodoxy that preserved Hellenism throughout the dark centuries, without the moral force of Hellenism Orthodoxy itself might have withered.Sir Steven Runciman. The Great Church in Captivity. Cambridge University Press, 1968. p. 410.

1454 Dismantling of a planned rebellion against Venetian rule in Crete. This became known as the conspiracy of Sifis Vlastos and was an opposition to the religious reforms for the unification of Churches agreed at the Council of Florence. 1454 Accession of Gennadius Scholarius as Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (1454–56 and 1464–65), confirmed by Mehmed the Conqueror, who invested him with the signs of his office – the crosier (dikanikion) and mantle, and confirmed the Patriarch's ancient privileges;D.A. Zakythinós (Professor). The Making of Modern Greece: From Byzantium to Independence. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1976. pp. 43-44. in following the Islamic doctrine which enjoined tolerance towards Christians and Jews as "People of the Book," the religious Head of the Greek Church became also Ethnarch (Greek: ἐθνάρχης), thus establishing the Rūm millet (millet-i Rûm), or "Roman nation," the name of the Orthodox Christian community within the Ottoman Empire; the Great School of the Nation is established in Constantinople under the direction of Greek Renaissance scholar Mathaeos Kamariotis, as a continuation of the University of Constantinople after the Fall of Constantinople.Kostas Gavroglu. The Sciences in the European Periphery During the Enlightenment. Springer, 2001. p. 46. 1456–1458 Fall of Athens to the Ottoman Turks under Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey.Franz Babinger. Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time. Edited by William C. Hickman; Transl. from the German by Ralph Manheim. Princeton University Press. (1992) . pp.159–160. 1456–1587 Byzantine Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos became the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. 1460 Parthenon Cathedral dedicated to the Mother of God, is turned into a mosque on the sultan's order.A. A. Vasiliev. History of the Byzantine Empire: 324–1453. Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1958. p.654."Parthenon." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2009 Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009. 1461 In July, the Byzantine general Graitzas Palaiologos honourably surrendered Salmeniko Castle, the last garrison of the Despotate of the Morea, to the invading forces of the Ottoman Empire after a year-long siege;Donald M. Nicol. The Immortal Emperor: The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans. Cambridge University Press, 2002. p. 113. on 15 August, the Empire of Trebizond, the last major Romano-Greek outpost, fell to the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II, after a 21-day siege, bringing to a final end the Byzantine–Ottoman Wars.Ian Heath. Byzantine Armies AD 1118–1461. 1995. p. 41. 1462 Death of Matrona of Chios.Great Synaxaristes : Ἡ Ὁσία Ματρῶνα ἡ Θαυματουργός ἡ Χιοπολίτιδα . 20 Οκτωβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.Venerable Matrona of Chios . OCA – Lives of the Saints. 1463 Demolition of the Byzantine Church of the Holy Apostles (which had served as a site of Byzantine imperial ceremony), then under Venetian rule, to make way for construction of the Fatih Mosque;Janna Israel. "A History Built on Ruins: Venice and the Destruction of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople." Future Anterior. 9.1 (Summer 2012): p106. Greek scholar and pro-unionist Basilios Bessarion, formerly an Orthodox Metropolitan, later becoming a Roman Catholic Cardinal, is given the purely ceremonial title of Latin Patriarch of Constantinople by Pope Pius II. 1472 Decrees of the Council of Ferrara-Florence are repudiated by a Council of Contantinople;Schaff, Philip (1819–1893). History of the Christian Church, Volume VI: The Middle Ages. A.D. 1294–1517. Grand Rapids, MI: Christian CLassics Ethereal Library. p. 151. Retrieved: 25 May 2013. marriage of Ivan III of Russia to Princess Zoe-Sophia Palaiologina, a niece of Constantine XI, the last Byzantine emperor, leading to the doctrine of Moscow as the Third Rome.D.A. Zakythinós (Professor). The Making of Modern Greece: From Byzantium to Independence. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1976. p. 127. 1480 Patriarch Maximus III wrote to the Doge of Venice asking for an end to the persecution of Orthodox clergy and for permission to collect a special levy for the patriarch.Vrasidas Karalis. "Greek Christianity After 1453." In: Ken Parry (Ed.). The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2007. p. 158. 1489–1571 Church of Cyprus is subordinated to the Venetian rule, which ends with the siege and capture of Nicosia and Famagusta by the Ottomans.Dr. William Mallinson. CYPRUS: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW . Press and Information Office, Republic of Cyprus. 2011-12-19. Retrieved; 25 July 2019. p. 38. 1494 The Aldine Press is set up in Venice by the Italian humanist, printer and publisher Aldo Manuzio, becoming the greatest international force in spreading the Venetian study of Greek, including the great masterpieces of Antiquity, as well as the works of later Greek writers, theological, educational, ethical and secular.D.A. Zakythinós (Professor). The Making of Modern Greece: From Byzantium to Independence. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1976. p. 118. 1498 The Typikon of Manuel II Palaeologus of 1394 is issued on Mt. Athos.Treasures from Mount Athos. CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF IMPORTANT EVENTS . Hellenic Resources Network (HR-Net). Retrieved: 23 May 2013. 16th–17th centuries. Pax Ottomanica , or Ottoman Peace, characterized by the prosperity of the early Ottoman centuries, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–1566), and by the relative religious tolerance of this multi-religious and multi-ethnic empire, in an age when most European monarchs by contrast tried to impose religious homogeneity upon their subjects (i.e. Protestant Reformation and Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation in the West).Gabor Agoston and Bruce Masters. Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire. Facts on File, Inc., 2009. pp. xxxv–xxxvi. 1511 Death of Joseph the Sanctified of Crete.Great Synaxaristes : Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἰωσὴφ ὁ Ἡγιασμένος ὁ ἐν Κρήτῃ . 22 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ. 1517 Recognition of the Patriarchate of Alexandria by Selim I, on the Sultan's conquest of Egypt.D.A. Zakythinós (Professor). The Making of Modern Greece: From Byzantium to Independence. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1976. p. 91. 1518 Church of Saints Peter and Paul of the Greeks in Naples, Italy is founded to serve the needs of Greek Orthodox faithful who became refugees after the Fall of Constantinople. Δόμνα Ιορδανίδου. Ελληνική Διασπορά Στην Ιταλική Χερσόνησο: Βενετία, Ρώμη, Αγκόνα, Νάπολη (μέσα 15ου-17ος αι.). In: 2ος Θεματικός Άξονας: Κοινωνική, Θρησκευτική, Πολιτιστική και Πολιτική Οργάνωση των Παροικιών. Ιστορία της Νεοελληνικής Διασποράς: Έρευνα και Διδασκαλία – Μέρος Δεύτερο: Ιστορική Διασπορά. Πανεπιστημιούπολη Ρεθύμνου, 4–6 Ιουλίου 2003. p.204. Άγγελος Σακκέτος. . 04/03/2012.

c. 1520 Sultan Selim I, who disliked Christianity, suggested to his vizier that all Christians should be forcibly converted to Islam.Sir Steven Runciman. The Great Church in Captivity. Cambridge University Press, 1968. pp. 189-190. 1522 The first printed copy of the Septuagint (earliest extant Greek translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew) was issued in the Complutensian Polyglot Bible (1514–22)."Septuagint." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2009 Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009. 1526 New Martyr John of Ioannina.Great Synaxaristes : Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Νεομάρτυρας ὁ Ράπτης ἐξ Ἰωαννίνων . 18 Απριλίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ. 1530 Mother of God restores sight to blind youth through the Cassiope icon of Corfu.Great Synaxaristes : Μνήμη Θαύματος τῆς σεβασμίας εἰκόνος τῆς Ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου . 8 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ. 1537 Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent implemented a tolerant and judicious religious policy over his multinational empire, and granted to Christians 'the great privilege of ours, to practise our religion freely and without any impediment.' 1541 Patr. Jeremiah I founds Stavronikita monastery. 1554 New Martyr Nicholas of Psari in Corinth.Great Synaxaristes : Ὁ Ἅγιος Νικόλαος ὁ Νεομάρτυρας ὁ ἐξ Ἰχθύος τῆς Κορινθίας . 14 Φεβρουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ. 1556 Death of Maximos the Greek, Greek monk, publicist, writer, scholar, humanist, and translator active in Russia.Great Synaxaristes : Ὁ Ὅσιος Μάξιμος ὁ Γραικός . 21 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.Venerable Maximus the Greek . OCA – Lives of the Saints.

1556–65 The Patriarchal School of Joasaph II is initially established in Constantinople as a Greek school under the direction of Ioannes Zygomalas, being the forerunner of the later Great School of the Nation. Ἰωάσαφ Β´ . ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΟΝ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΕΙΟΝ. Retrieved: 25 May 2013. 1559 Death of Icon painter Theophanes the Cretan (Theophanes Strelitzas).Timothy E. Gregory. A History of Byzantium. Volume 14 of Blackwell History of the Ancient World. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. p. 408. 1561 Compilation of the Nomocanon of Manuel Malaxos, a notary of the Metropolitan Diocese of Thebes, having a wide circulation, with a version in classical Greek and another in modern Greek.D.A. Zakythinós (Professor). The Making of Modern Greece: From Byzantium to Independence. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1976. p. 49.

1565 The inhabitants of Epirus and Albania rose and slaughtered the officers charged with carrying out the child levy, but the Sultan sent to the local Sanjak-bey a reinforcement of 500 Janissaries and the revolt was put down.D.A. Zakythinós (Professor). The Making of Modern Greece: From Byzantium to Independence. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1976. p. 26.