Constantinople massacre of 1821

The Constantinople massacre of 1821 was orchestrated by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire against the Greek community of Constantinople in retaliation for the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1830). As soon as the first news of the Greek uprising reached the Ottoman capital, there occurred mass executions, pogrom-type attacks,[1] destruction of churches, and looting of the properties of the city's Greek population.[2][3] The events culminated with the hanging of the Ecumenical Patriarch, Gregory V and the beheading of the Grand Dragoman, Konstantinos Mourouzis.

Background
Atrocities committed by Ottoman religious fanatics and Janissaries in Constantinople in the Greek quarter, April 1821

In early March 1821, Alexandros Ypsilantis crossed the Prut river and marched into Moldavia, an event that marked the beginning of the Greek War of Independence.[4] Immediately in response of rumors that Turks had been massacred by Greeks in the Danubian Principalities,[5] particularly in Iași and Galați,[6][full citation needed] the Grand Vizier ordered the arrest of seven Greek bishops in Constantinople. In addition, on the evening of April 2, the first news of the Greek Revolt in southern Greece reached Constantinople.[7]

Leading personalities of the Greek community, in particular the Ecumenical Patriarch, Gregory V, and the Grand Dragoman, Konstantinos Mourouzis, were accused of having knowledge of the revolt by the Sultan, Mahmud II, but both pleaded innocence. Nevertheless, the Sultan requested a fatwa allowing a general massacre against all Greeks living in the Empire[8] from the Shaykh al-Islām, Haci Halil Efendi. The Shaykh obliged, however the Patriarch managed to convince him that only a few Greeks were involved in the uprising, and the Shaykh recalled the fatwa.[4] Haci Halil Efendi was later exiled and executed by the Sultan for this.[7]

The Ecumenical Patriarch was forced by the Ottoman authorities to excommunicate the revolutionaries, which he did on Palm Sunday, April, 15 [O.S. April, 3] 1821. Although he was unrelated to the insurgents, the Ottoman authorities still considered him guilty of treason because he was unable, as representative of the Orthodox population of the Ottoman Empire, to prevent the uprising.[9]
Executions of the Patriarch and the Grand Dragoman
Painting by Peter von Hess depicting the casting of the corpse of Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople into the Bosphorus.

Although the Patriarch found himself forced to excommunicate the revolutionaries, he still failed to appease the Ottoman rulers.[10] Later, on the same day as the excommunication, the Sultan ordered the execution of the Grand Dragoman, Konstantinos Mourouzis. He was arrested at the house of the Reis Effendi and beheaded, while his body was displayed in public.[11] Moreover, his brother and various other leading members of the Phanariote families were also executed,[12] although in fact only a few Phanariotes were connected with the revolutionaries.[13]

Despite the efforts of the Orthodox Patriarch to profess his loyalty to the Sultan, the latter remained unconvinced.[11] One week after the excommunication, on Easter Sunday, April, 22 [O.S. April, 10] 1821, he was grabbed by Ottoman soldiers during the liturgy and hanged at the central gate of the Patriarchate.[14][15] Thus, although he was completely uninvolved with the Revolution, his death was ordered as an act of revenge.[16] His body remained suspended at the gate for three days, and was then handed to a Jewish mob (there had been animosity between the Greek and Jewish communities of Constantinople at the time), dragged through the streets before being thrown into the Golden Horn.[8][17] The body was eventually picked up by the Greek crew of a Russian ship, brought to Odessa, and fifty years later was brought to Greece, where, on the one hundredth anniversary of his death, Gregory V was formally proclaimed a saint by the Greek Orthodox Church.[17] Gregory's execution caused outrage throughout Greece and the rest of Europe, and resulted in an upsurge of sympathy and support for the rebels in Europe.[17] The gate from which he was hung remains closed to this day.[citation needed]
Spread of the massacres (April–July 1821)
News about the massacre and enslavement of Greeks in Constantinople in 1821, as published in the "Gazette de Lausanne" of Nov. 13, 1821. The correspondence is from Odessa as of Oct. 16, 1821.[18]

On the day of the hanging of Gregory V, three bishops and dozens of other Greeks, high officials in the Ottoman administration, were quickly executed in various parts of the Ottoman capital.[8] Among them were the metropolitan bishops, Dionysios of Ephesus, Athanasios of Nicomedia, Gregory of Derkoi, and Eugenios of Anchialos.[15]

Moreover, the execution of the Patriarch signaled a reign of terror against the Greeks living in Constantinople in the following weeks, while fanatical Muslims were encouraged to attack Greek communities throughout the Ottoman Empire.[19] Thus, groups of fanatical Turks, including janissaries, roamed the streets of the city, as well as the nearby villages. They looted Greek churches and property, initiating a large-scale pogrom.[20] Around 14 Christian churches suffered heavy damage, while some of them were completely destroyed. The Patriarchal complex also became one of the targets. Eugenius II, the newly elected Patriarch, saved himself at the last moment, by escaping to the roof.[21] During this period, the Ottoman authorities sought prominent Greeks from all over Constantinople: in government service, in the Orthodox Church, or members of prominent families and put them to death by hanging or beheading.[22] In addition, several hundred Greek merchants in the city were also massacred.[23][24]

By May 1821, restrictions on the local Greeks increased, while churches continued to be assaulted.[21] On May 24, Patriarch Eugenius presented a memorandum to the Ottoman authorities, begging them to be merciful towards the Greek people and church, claiming that only a few Greeks revolted and not the entire nation.[21] Eugenius also repeated the excommunication of Gregory toward the revolutionaries. Nevertheless, public executions of Greeks were still a daily occurrence in Constantinople. On June 15, five archbishops and three bishops were executed. Additionally, in early July, seventy shared the same fate.[22] Additionally, 450 shopkeepers and traders were rounded up and sent to work in mines.[22]
Anti-Greek massacres in other parts of the Ottoman Empire (May–July 1821)

The same state of affairs also spread to other major cities of the Ottoman Empire with significant Greek populations. In Adrianople, on May 3, the former Patriarch, Cyril VI,[15] nine priests and twenty merchants were hanged in front of the local Cathedral. Other Greeks of lower social status were executed, sent to exile or imprisoned.[22]

In Smyrna, numerous Ottoman troops were staged, waiting orders to march against the rebels in Greece. They entered the city and together with local Turks embarked on a general massacre against the Christian population of the city which amounted to hundreds of deaths.[25] During another massacre in the predominantly Greek town of Ayvalik, the town was burned to the ground, for fear that the inhabitants might rebel and join the revolution in Greece.[26] As a result of the Ayvalik massacres, hundreds of Greeks were killed and many of the survivors were sold as slaves.[25]

Similar massacres against the Greek population during these months occurred also in the Aegean islands of Kos and Rhodes. Part of the Greek population in Cyprus was also massacred. Among the victims was the archbishop Kyprianos, as well as five other local bishops.[26]
Aftermath

The British and Russian ambassadors made strong protests to the Ottoman Empire as reaction of the execution of the Patriarch.[27] The Russian ambassador in particular, Baron Stroganov protested against this kind of treatment towards the Orthodox Christians, while his protest climaxed after the death of the Patriarch.[28] In July 1821, Stroganov proclaimed that if the massacres against the Greeks continued, this would be an act of war by the Porte to all Christian states.[29] The public opinion in the European countries was also affected, especially in Russia.[30]
Legacy

The events in Constantinople were one of the reasons that triggered massacres against Turkish communities in regions where the uprising was in full swing.[31] On the other hand, part of the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch, secured in 1453, was revoked.[12] The Patriarchate had until then been vested by the Ottoman Empire as the sole representative of the Orthodox communities of the Empire. Apart from leader of the Greek Orthodox millet, the Orthodox Patriarch was also responsible for legal, administrative, educational rights of his flock.[8] The Patriarchate never recovered from the atrocities that occurred in the city in 1821.[12]
Motivation

The massacres were undertaken by the Ottoman authorities, as a reaction to the outbreak of the Greek Revolution, centered in southern Greece. The victims of these actions were hardly related to the revolution, while no serious investigations were conducted by the Ottoman side in order to prove that there was any kind of involvement by the people put to death.[22]

The French newspaper Le Constitutionnel reported on May 21, 1821 that it had been formally decided by the Ottoman authorities to "slaughter all Christian subjects of the Empire."[25][32] The same newspaper also stated that it was the Ottoman government's intention to "wipe Christianity from the face of the earth."[33]
References

Moltke, Helmuth (1984). Unter dem Halbmond: Erlebnisse in der alten Türkei 1835-1839. Thienemann Edition Erdmann. p. 17. ISBN 9783522603102.
Seewald, Berthold (1994). Karl Wilhelm v. Heideck: ein bayerischer General im befreiten Griechenland (1826-1835). Oldenbourg Verlag. p. 40. ISBN 9783486560589.
Kluge, Alexander (2006). Tur an Tur mit einem anderen Leben. Suhrkamp. p. 321.
Schröder Felix , Bernath Mathias (1979). Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas. München: Oldenburg. p. 72. ISBN 9783486489910.
Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters (2009). Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire. Infobase Publishing. p. 240. ISBN 9781438110257.
History of the Balkans, Barbara Jelavich, page 212, 1983
Frazee, 1969: 27
Clair, William St. (2008). That Greece might still be free (New ed., rev., corr., and with additional ill. and updated bibliography. ed.). Cambridge: Open Book Publ. p. 3. ISBN 9781906924003. "massacred+1821+constantinople+greeks."
Weithmann, Michael W. (1994). Griechenland : vom Frühmittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Regensburg: Pustet. p. 167. ISBN 9783791714257.
Binns, John (2002). An introduction to the Christian Orthodox churches (1. publ. ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 12. ISBN 9780521667388.
Frazee, 1969: 29
Runciman, 1985: 405-406
Frazee, 1969: 28
Binns, John (2002-07-04). An Introduction to the Christian Orthodox Churches. pp. 12–13. ISBN 9780521667388.
Angold, Michael (2006). The Cambridge history of Christianity (1. publ. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 230. ISBN 9780521811132.
Weithmann, Michael W. (1994). Griechenland : vom Frühmittelalter bis zur Gegenwart. Regensburg: Pustet. p. 167. ISBN 9783791714257.
Richard Clogg (20 June 2002). A Concise History of Greece. Cambridge University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-521-00479-4. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
Gazette de Lausanne, digital archive available online[permanent dead link]
editor, Alexander Mikaberidze (2011-07-31). Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World a Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 349. ISBN 9781598843378.
Arndt, Helmuth v. Moltke ; herausgegeben von Helmut (1984). Unter dem Halbmond : Erlebnisse in der alten Türkei 1835-1839 (3. Aufl. ed.). Stuttgart: Thienimann. p. 17. ISBN 9783522603102.
Frazee, 1969: 33
Clair, 2008: 4
Kossok, Manfred (1989). In tyrannos : Revolutionen der Weltgeschichte : von den Hussiten bis zur Commune (1. Aufl. ed.). [Leipzig]: Edition Leipzig. p. 7240. ISBN 9783361002067.
Eichheim, Hubert (2006). Griechenland (Orig.-Ausg., 2., aktualisierte und erg. Aufl. ed.). München: Beck. p. 116. ISBN 9783406398773.
Rodogn, Davide (2011-11-21). Against Massacre : Humanitarian Interventions in the Ottoman Empire, 1815-1914 (1. publ. ed.). Oxford: Princeton Univ. Press. p. 67. ISBN 9780691151335.
Clair, 2008: 5
Frazee, 1969: 32
Frazee, 1969: 36
Webster, Daniel (2006). Great speeches. Teddington, U.K.: Echo Library. p. 54. ISBN 9781846375798.
Cycon, Dieter (1991). Die glücklichen Jahre : Deutschland und Russland. Herford: Busse Seewald. p. 373. ISBN 9783512030376.
Breuilly, John (1993). Nationalism and the state (2. ed.). Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press. pp. 141–142. ISBN 9780719038006.
Wheatcroft, Andrew (2004). Infidels a history of the conflict between Christendom and Islam (1st U.S. ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 9781588363909. "On May 27, 1821, Le Constitutionnel reported that it had been officially decided in Constantinople to 'slaughter all Christian subjects of the Ottoman empire'"

Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, Nina (1989). French images from the Greek War of Independence (1821-1830) : art and politics under the Restoration (illustrated ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 17. ISBN 9780300045321. Retrieved 5 March 2013.

Sources

Clair, William St. (2008). That Greece might still be free (New ed., rev., corr., and with additional ill. and updated bibliography. ed.). Cambridge: Open Book Publ. p. 7. ISBN 9781906924003. "massacred+1821+constantinople+greeks."
Frazee, Charles A. (1969). The Orthodox church and independent Greece: 1821-1852. Campridge University Press.
Runciman, Steven (1985). The Great Church in captivity : a study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the eve of the Turkish conquest to the Greek War of Independence (1st pbk. ed.). Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521313100.

Further reading

C. Prousis, Theophilus (2008). "Eastern Orthodoxy Under Siege in the Ottoman Levant: A View from Constantinople in 1821". History Faculty Publications. University of North Florida (13). Retrieved 23 June 2013.

vte

Greek War of Independence (1821–1829)
Background
Ottoman Greece
People

Armatoloi Proestoi Klephts Dionysius the Philosopher Daskalogiannis Panagiotis Benakis Konstantinos Kolokotronis Lambros Katsonis Cosmas of Aetolia Ali Pasha Maniots Phanariots Souliotes Gregory V of Constantinople

Events

Orlov Revolt Souliote War (1803)

Greek Enlightenment
People

Athanasios Christopoulos Theoklitos Farmakidis Rigas Feraios Anthimos Gazis Theophilos Kairis Adamantios Korais Eugenios Voulgaris

Organizations

Ellinoglosso Xenodocheio Filiki Eteria
Nikolaos Skoufas Athanasios Tsakalov Emmanuil Xanthos Panagiotis Anagnostopoulos Philomuse Society Society of the Phoenix

Publications

Adelphiki Didaskalia Asma Polemistirion Hellenic Nomarchy Pamphlet of Rigas Feraios Salpisma Polemistirion Thourios or Patriotic hymn

European intervention and
Greek involvement in
the Napoleonic Wars

Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca Greek Plan of Catherine the Great Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars
Fall of the Republic of Venice Republican French rule in the Ionian Islands Septinsular Republic Greek Legion Imperial French rule in the Ionian Islands Albanian Regiment Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814 1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry United States of the Ionian Islands

Ideas

Nationalism Eastern Orthodox Christianity Liberalism Constitutionalism

Events
Sieges

Patras Salona Navarino Livadeia 1st Acropolis Tripolitsa Arta Acrocorinth Nauplia 1st Messolonghi 2nd Messolonghi 3rd Messolonghi 2nd Acropolis

Battles

Kalamata Wallachian uprising Alamana Gravia Valtetsi Doliana Lalas Vasilika Dragashani Sculeni Vasilika Trench Peta Dervenakia Karpenisi Greek civil wars Sphacteria Maniaki Lerna Mills Mani Distomo Arachova Kamatero Phaleron Chios expedition Martino Koronisia Petra

Massacres

Constantinople Thessaloniki Navarino Tripolitsa Naousa <a href="MassacreOfSamothrace.html">Samothrace</a> <a href="ChiosMassacre.html">Chios</a> Psara Kasos

Naval conflicts

Eresos Chios Nauplia Samos Andros Sphacteria Gerontas Souda Alexandria Volos Itea Navarino

Ships

Greek sloop Karteria Greek brig Aris

Greek regional councils and statutes

Messenian Senate Directorate of Achaea Peloponnesian Senate Senate of Western Continental Greece Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece Provisional Regime of Crete Military-Political System of Samos

Greek national assemblies

First (Epidaurus) (Executive of 1822) Second (Astros) Third (Troezen) Fourth (Argos) Fifth (Nafplion)

International Conferences,
Treaties and Protocols

Congress of Laibach Congress of Verona Protocol of St. Petersburg (1826) Treaty of London Conference of Poros London Protocol of 1828 London Protocol of 1829 Treaty of Adrianople London Protocol of 1830 London Conference Treaty of Constantinople

Related

Greek expedition to Syria (1825) Russo-Turkish War (1828-29)

Personalities
Greece

Chian Committee Odysseas Androutsos Anagnostaras Markos Botsaris Laskarina Bouboulina Constantin Denis Bourbaki Hatzimichalis Dalianis Kanellos Deligiannis Athanasios Diakos Germanos III of Old Patras Dimitrios Kallergis Athanasios Kanakaris Constantine Kanaris Ioannis Kapodistrias Stamatios Kapsas Panagiotis Karatzas Georgios Karaiskakis Nikolaos Kasomoulis Ioannis Kolettis Theodoros Kolokotronis Georgios Kountouriotis Antonios Kriezis Nikolaos Kriezotis Kyprianos of Cyprus Georgios Lassanis Lykourgos Logothetis Andreas Londos Yannis Makriyannis Manto Mavrogenous Alexandros Mavrokordatos Petrobey Mavromichalis Andreas Metaxas Andreas Miaoulis Theodoros Negris Nikitaras Antonis Oikonomou Ioannis Orlandos Papaflessas Dimitrios Papanikolis Emmanouel Pappas Christoforos Perraivos Nikolaos Petimezas Panagiotis Rodios Georgios Sachtouris Georgios Sisinis Iakovos Tombazis Anastasios Tsamados Meletis Vasileiou Demetrios Ypsilantis

Philhellenes

António Figueira d'Almeida Michail Komninos Afentoulief Joseph Balestra Lord Byron François-René de Chateaubriand Richard Church Giuseppe Chiappe Lord Cochrane Vincenzo Gallina Charles Fabvier Thomas Gordon Frank Abney Hastings Carl von Heideck Vasos Mavrovouniotis Johann Jakob Meyer
Ellinika Chronika Karl Normann Maxime Raybaud Giuseppe Rosaroll Santorre di Santa Rosa Friedrich Thiersch Auguste Hilarion Touret German Legion [el] Serbs Olivier Voutier

Moldavia and Wallachia
(Danubian Principalities)

Alexander Ypsilantis Sacred Band Nikolaos Ypsilantis Alexandros Kantakouzinos Georgios Kantakouzinos Athanasios Agrafiotis Giorgakis Olympios Yiannis Pharmakis Dimitrie Macedonski Tudor Vladimirescu Konstantinos Xenokratis Anastasios Manakis Stamatios Kleanthis

Ottoman Empire, Algeria, and Egypt

Sultan Mahmud II Hurshid Pasha Nasuhzade Ali Pasha Ismael Gibraltar Omer Vrioni Kara Mehmet Mahmud Dramali Pasha Koca Hüsrev Mehmed Pasha Reşid Mehmed Pasha Yussuf Pasha Ibrahim Pasha Soliman Pasha al-Faransawi

Britain, France and Russia

George Canning Stratford Canning Edward Codrington Henri de Rigny Lodewijk van Heiden Alexander I of Russia Nicholas I of Russia

Financial aid

London Philhellenic Committee Ludwig I of Bavaria Jean-Gabriel Eynard Lazaros Kountouriotis Ioannis Papafis Georgios Stavros Ioannis Varvakis Rothschild & Co

Morea expedition
Military

Nicolas Joseph Maison Antoine Simon Durrieu Antoine Virgile Schneider Auguste Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély Camille Alphonse Trézel

Scientific

Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent Léon-Jean-Joseph Dubois Pierre Peytier Stamatis Voulgaris Guillaume-Abel Blouet Gabriel Bibron Prosper Baccuet Eugène Emmanuel Amaury Duval Pierre-Narcisse Guérin Charles Lenormant Edgar Quinet

Historians/Memoirists

Dimitrios Ainian Fotis Chrysanthopoulos Ioannis Filimon George Finlay Ambrosios Frantzis Konstantinos Metaxas Panoutsos Notaras Panagiotis Papatsonis Anastasios Polyzoidis Georgios Tertsetis Spyridon Trikoupis

Art

Eugène Delacroix Louis Dupré Peter von Hess Victor Hugo François Pouqueville Alexander Pushkin Karl Krazeisen Andreas Kalvos Dionysios Solomos Theodoros Vryzakis Hellas The Reception of Lord Byron at Missolonghi Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi Le siège de Corinthe The Massacre at Chios The Free Besieged Hymn to Liberty The Archipelago on Fire Loukis Laras The Apotheosis of Athanasios Diakos

Remembrance

25 March (Independence Day) Hymn to Liberty Eleftheria i thanatos Pedion tou Areos Propylaea (Munich) Garden of Heroes (Missolonghi) Royal Phalanx Evzones (Presidential Guard)

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