Archives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople

The project “Archives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople” continues the programme “Institutions and Ideology in Greek Society (15^th-19^th century)”, which was conceived around 1980 by Dimitris G. Apostolopoulos, established at the Centre for Neohellenic Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, and later it was staffed by Panagiotis Michailaris and Machi Paizi-Apostolopoulou. The principal goal of the project is the study of the history of the Christian populations who, after the dissolution of the Byzantine state, continued to live within the Ottoman Empire. As this part of the Greek society expressed itself through ecclesiastical institutions –given that these were the only ones legitimized by the sovereign–, these institutions are the main subject of the project, specifically

• The history of the institution of the Patriarchate of Constantinople through the late Byzantine and post-Byzantine sources, a Byzantine institution which during the post-Byzantine period was integrated into the Ottoman legal order with new types of obligations, acquired increased jurisdictional powers, and at the same time it functioned as a ruling institution of the society of Christians.
• The archival sources concerning the ecclesiastical institutions at the periphery, i.e. the ecclesiastical administrative units (metropolises, archbishoprics, bishoprics and exarchies) and the monastic foundations.

The main objectives of the project are:

• The collection, processing, classification and publication of the acts, i.e. the decisions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
• The registration of patriarchal acts in an electronic database, which the research project aims to offer with open access,
• The publication of the summaries (regestes) of the patriarchal acts of the post-Byzantine period, in continuation of the multi-volume work published by the French Assomptionnistes for the Byzantine period (Les Regestes des actes du patriarcat de Constantinople),
• The publication of the official and private law compilations of the post-Byzantine period that were in use by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, in continuation of such works as “Nomimon of the Great Church, 1564-ci 1593 (2 vols)”,
• The production of scientific studies that make use of the findings of archival research,
• The organization of conferences and lectures on the history of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The conclusions of the research work have been presented in numerous monographs, articles, and scientific events. The project continues in the framework of the IHR/NHRF publications the series

• Επίσημα κείμενα του Πατριαρχείου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως. Τα σωζόμενα από την περίοδο 1454-1498 [Official Documents of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Extant Texts from the Period 1454-1498] and II. Tα σωζόμενα από την περίοδο 1498-1565 [Extant Texts from the Period 1498-1565]
• Οι πράξεις του Πατριαρχείου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως. Επιτομή-Παράδοση-Σχολιασμός. Ι. 1454-1498 [The Acts of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Summary – Transmission – Commentary. I. 1454-1498]

The project, which is also hosted in the Research Area Institutions and Archival Sources of the Section of Neohellenic Research, aims to expand the already existing scientific cooperation-communication with institutions and scientists abroad who treat similar subjects from other perspectives (e.g. Collège de France, CNRS, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, etc.).