The Great Church in the Sixteenth Century Challenge Management and Politics


Published: Jan 23, 2025
Keywords:
Early modern period Patriarchate of Constantinople Ottoman Empire 16th century
Youli Evangelou
Abstract

The Early Modern period was a period of dense religious developments in Western Europe, which contributed to major historical events (Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Thirty Years’ War). Throughout this period, religious identity was also particularly crucial for the Orthodox Christian populations living in the East within the Ottoman Empire, where the predominant agent of religious relations was the patriarchate of Constantinople (the Great Church). Since its re-establishment in the beginning of 1454, the patriarchate’s mission comprised the ecclesiastical administration of the empire’s Orthodox Christians, along with the preservation of their faith; at the same time, the patriarchate had to fulfil its political, financial and institutional obligations towards the Ottoman state. Therefore, the patriarchs usually had to decide on multidimensional issues, which repeatedly posed new challenges to the Great Church. This article examines the entangled nature of patriarchal actions and reactions to specific issues that emerged during the sixteenth century.

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