The Greek nation, 1453-1669: The cultural and economic background of modern Greek society - Hardcover

Vakalopoulos, Apostolos E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 081350810X ISBN 13: 9780813508108

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 1976

Synopsis

This book is about Greece's Dark Ages, two centuries during which the whole of Greece except the Ionian Islands, was taken over by the Turkish Empire. The author maintains that in this period, as in that of the Byzantine Empire, the vital forces that ultimately shake the foundations of the modern Greek nation were nurtured. He believes that Hellenism would have lost its traditions and its bearings if the Greeks had not withdrawn for self-preservation into the two institution he refers to Church and Community. In this book, he traces the nuclei of Greece's eventual nationhood among the clergy, scholars, copyists, artists, craftsman, and soldiers in Greece, in central and western Europe, and even in the heartland of Russia. The author describes the often wrenching search for sanctuary; the painful conversions to Islam; the crypto-Christians; the fierce piracy and extensive displacement of populations in the Greek Islands. He discusses the state of the church and of education. He explores the institution of the armatoli, those powerful Christian Greek mercenaries who served the conqueror from the 15th century until the War of Independence, and of the klephts or bands of brigands, who formed their own communities. He analyzes the catalytic effects of immigration and commerce. All of these elements served to prepare the Greeks for eventual nationhood. This book makes a significant contribution to the history of Greece, since earlier histories tend to avoid this period of Turkish domination. They have taken up a story either from the middle of the 17th century, when Greece was in a period of economic and intellectual growth, or even later, from the 18th century. Indeed, the period has until now lacked adequate documentation in any reasonably available form.

About this title

Language Notes:

Text: English, Greek (translation)

About this edition

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication date: 1976
• ISBN 10: 081350810X
• ISBN 13: 9780813508108
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 457