Historical Chart of Athonite Monasticism

Monasticism is an early phenomenon of the organized Christian church. The relaxation of morals in the church during the late Roman and early Byzantine periods, the decline of spiritual life in Christian communities in the cities, the disruption of ecclesiastical life by the emergence of heresies and schisms, and even the presence of forms of departure from other religions, resulted in the development of the ascetic ideal by Christians as a means of spiritual perfection. This was expressed in various forms of collective and personal spirituality.

The spiritual “special homeland” of monasticism, even if it developed autonomously in other regions, is considered to be Egypt. This is because of its famous representatives there and the mythical image of the “great desert” of Egypt as a place of absolute isolation and harsh asceticism.

An early form of monasticism is asceticism, pioneered by Anthony the Great (+356), while in the same period Saint Pachomius (+346) establishes the coenobitic system of asceticism. A common feature of both the asceticism method of Anthony the Great and the Pachomian canon is the priority given to individual asceticism and autonomous spirituality. However, the monasticism of Asia Minor, in the region of Cappadocia, which flourished at the same time, with the profound influence of the Mountains of Basil the Great, in addition to the “theoretical life” seems to favor the participation of monastic communities in monastic duties of social welfare.

In addition to Egypt and Cappadocia, monasticism experienced widespread development in the regions of Antioch, Syria (with a particular form of Stylitism), Mesopotamia and Palestine.

The monastic movement of the East very soon spread to the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The first known monastery in Constantinople, the monastery of Dalmatos, is attested in 382, ​​while at the end of the 6th century there were 92.

In the following centuries, monasticism in Asia Minor, a rich and powerful province, would experience even greater flourishing with the emergence of important communities in Olympus of Bithynia and Latros of Miletus and their activation in the fight against iconoclasm.

In the spiritual climate, especially of Bithynia, the great reformer of Byzantine monasticism, Theodore the Studite, came of age between the 8th and 9th centuries.

The principles of monastic life, as formulated by Theodore in the Catechisms and in the Typicon of his monastery, aim to impose absolute order in the worship life as well as in the daily life of the monks. The conditions he introduces will have a profound influence, a little later, on the organization of Athonite coenobitic monasticism.

In the 9th century, within the framework of the new hegemonic policy outlined by the reborn church under Patriarch Photios, the monks were called upon to carry out work with broader implications.

For the Christianization of the northern neighbors, two brother monks will be chosen, the Thessalonians Constantine-Cyril and Methodius. The spiritual assimilation of the Slavic tribes of the southern Balkans will be accomplished through the systematic missionary activity of the monks.

In the mainly Greek area, where up to the 9th century, evidence of the presence of organized monastic life is scarce (although archaeological evidence indicates the existence of monasteries in Thassos, Delos and Crete already in the early Christian years), centered on Thessaloniki, Larissa and Patras, missionary activity goes hand in hand with the establishment of monasteries. In the Peloponnese, the brothers Symeon and Theodore founded the monastery of Megalos Spilaios, while the presence of the Byzantine church in Macedonia is emphasized during the 9th century with the establishment of large monastic centers in Halkidiki (monasteries of Saint Euthymios and John Kolovos).

The activity of missionary monks or apostolic monks in Greece will peak during the 10th century with the main exponents being Saints Nikon Metanoeite, Luke Steriotis and Athanasius Athonite.

The systematic activity of the monks is directly linked to the efforts of the Byzantine administration for political and ecclesiastical reorganization of the Balkans, with specific goals of strengthening defense, expanding Byzantine influence among the surrounding Christian peoples, and neutralizing Rome's attempts to penetrate areas vital to the empire.

This spiritual mobilization also included the founding of the first monastery on Mount Athos, the monastery of the Great Lavra in 963. Its founder was Saint Athanasius the Athonite, a particularly active and gifted monk, a member of the upper society of courtiers and officials of Constantinople and a personal friend of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros Phokas. The fact of the appearance of a large monastery not only signifies the beginning of a new period in the experience of the ascetic ideal on Athos, but also makes the wider Greek area a center of spiritual expedition towards the Balkans and the Christian East.

The favorable climate created for the development of Athonite monasticism by the ideological and political orientations of the flourishing empire after the second half of the 10th century onwards was also strengthened by the sense of security that was restored after the defeat and expulsion of the Arabs from Crete in 961 and the elimination of piracy from the Aegean regions. In contrast, the once renowned monastic communities of Asia Minor suffered the consequences of the invasion and settlement of the Seljuk Turks, the defeat of Matzikert (1071) and gradually declined.

Saint Athanasius, of course, did not build his monastery in a deserted country. He settled in an area in which a monastic tradition of a retreat nature had already been established, with acceptance on the part of the Byzantine emperors and with, albeit a loose, regime of central administration.

It is possible that already during the time of the second iconoclasm, at the beginning of the 9th century, iconoclastic monks from the neighboring regions of Macedonia had taken refuge for a period on Mount Athos in order to avoid the shock of the iconoclastic persecutions, which, however, seem to have been particularly mild in the region.

The first information, although not particularly specific, about the presence of ascetics, and indeed of names, dates back to the late 8th or early 9th century. The presence of Saint Peter the Athonite, who is said to have practiced asceticism in the present-day area of ​​Kafsokalyvia, is placed at this time. Shortly after the mid-9th century, Saint Euthymius, later the founder of a large monastery in Vrastamou (present-day Vrasta) in Chalkidiki, took refuge on Mount Athos to practice asceticism temporarily.

However, the monks of the peninsula before the middle of the 9th century must have formed a relatively numerous and well-known hermit community so that they were invited by the Empress Theodora to Constantinople. According to the testimony of the historian Genesios, monks from Athos attended the solemn ceremonies for the restoration of the icons in 843.

In 883, the Athonite ascetics received their first imperial privileges. Emperor Basil I, by sigil, forbade public officials from collecting any taxes from the monks and placed a barrier on the entrance of the inhabitants of Ierissos and their animals to the area of ​​Mount Athos. His son Leo VI the Wise in 908 recognized the independence of Athos from the great monastery of Kolovos near Ierissos and ratified the peace of the Athonite monks. In 941-942, Emperor Romanos Lekapinos inaugurated the financial subsidy of the monks, known as “roga” with one gold coin annually. A year later, in 943, the general of Thessaloniki, Katakalon, following a royal order, demarcated the land of the Athonites. These boundaries, with minor changes, remain in force to this day.

At the beginning of the 10th century, despite their dispersion throughout the peninsula, the monks had already organized some institutions of central administration. In 908, the first of Athos, who was based in Karyes, was first mentioned, spiritual leader, arbitrator and representative of the community to the world, and three annual gatherings of all the monks were established to resolve common issues: at Christmas, Easter and August 15. At the same time, larger monastic facilities also appeared, such as the monastery of St. Paul of Xeropotamion and the monastery of Clement (which later merged with the monastery of Iveron) and the Bouleuteria, near the current skete of Agia Anna.

However, the solitary, solitary and landless life of the hermits largely continued and, as reflected in the sources of the time, was particularly rough and difficult. They lived in makeshift shelters and ensured their survival mainly with forest products. This situation did not change until the middle of the next century, when Saint Athanasius arrived and toured Athos. The description of the monks' way of life in the Life of the saint is characteristic: And for them, according to the accepted wisdom, everything was unsown and uncultivated; for they did not carry, they did not cut furrows, they did not have a tree, no beast of burden, nothing other than beasts of burden, no oxen, no dogs, but huts made of small sticks and thatched roofs of grass, thus they lived in summer, thus in winter, enduring the blows of the wind […]. And their food, after the spiritual, was all that was necessary and simple and all of it was mountain; […] for they gathered the fruits of wild trees and prepared for themselves an improvised table […].

The arrival of Athanasius on Athos and the construction of the Great Lavra disturbed the tranquility of the humble hermits. The internal organization of the new monastery and the multiple building and economic activities it developed seemed like a great innovation being introduced to Mount Athos. It was the first time that a large monastery with a centralized internal operating regime was established here.

The owner of the monastery is the emperor himself, while after his death it will remain free, self-governing and autonomous. In other words, it becomes an independent legal entity of private law under imperial protection. The administration is exercised exclusively by the abbot, who before his death appoints his successor, assisted by a council of reputable monks.

It seems that large financial resources were allocated for the establishment of the Lavra monastery from the very beginning. For the beginning of the works MONASTERY, Nikephoros Phokas allocated six pounds of gold, while Athanasius himself allocated a large part of his personal wealth.

For the character of this new type of monastic institution, which would also become the model for the monasteries that would soon be founded on Athos, a very important event was Athanasius' policy for the development of the monastery's economy and the utilization of the land. The innovative monk, in addition to the large complex that he erected, attempted to clear and cultivate wasteland and barren lands within Athos and utilized the property of abandoned monasteries. He developed new techniques in agriculture. He introduced to Mount Athos the hitherto unknown pairs of oxen and constructed an irrigation system. He used technology that was modern for his time to drive watermills and bread-making machinery. He constructed or purchased ships, built warehouses for goods and houses for the sailors to stay in.

The new model monastery, although developing rapidly and becoming a center of great agricultural and industrial production, did not alter the principles of monastic life. The intentions of its founder left no room for deviations. Saint Athanasius remained a strict ascetic, who imposed strict rules of living, while demanding systematic work from his monks.

Despite all this, the gradual transformation of Athos from a place of refuge for hermits and ascetics into a center of coenobitic monasticism created friction and conflicts. The old monks do not seem to have been bothered so much by the new regime for them of living the ascetic ideal. Organized large coenobites had been operating for centuries both in Constantinople and throughout the empire, and coenobitism was the dominant method of monastic life at that time. Their objections stemmed from the widespread fear of merging and disappearing their monastic communities due to the dominance of new and dynamic institutions.

The clergy were entrusted with resolving the problems that had arisen under Phocas' successor, Emperor John Tzimiskes. To this end, he sent the monk of the Studion monastery, Euthymius, to Mount Athos with the mandate to examine the situation and, in collaboration with the coenobites and ascetics, to draw up the regulations for the functioning of the monastic community.

The result of the collaboration was the drafting of the first Typikon of Mount Athos, which was signed by the then first Athanasius, the namesake saint Athanasius, abbot of the Lavra, and forty-six other abbots of Athonite monasteries. The emperor, in 972, ratified the Typikon. The original of this rare document, which was also called the Goat, because it was written on thick parchment, signed by hand by John Tzimiskes, and which is characterized as the first charter of Mount Athos, has survived to this day and is kept in the Holy Community as the most valuable archival relic of Mount Athos.

The Typicon of 972 regulates the function and responsibilities of the central administration of Mount Athos, namely the first, the officials of the Protaton as well as the Synaxus of Karya, delimits their relations with the monks and defines the relations between the various categories of monks. However, although it protects the ancient regime of the recluses, it clearly seems to recognize the superiority of the coenobitic system as a method of ascetic life on Athos.

The Typikon of Tzimiskes was supplemented and adapted to the new realities created by the Typikon issued in 1045, during the reign of Constantine the Monomachos. A third, almost new typikon, which dates to the late Byzantine period, in 1406, and largely deals with the internal administration of monasteries and the relations of monks with their leaders, was issued by Emperor Manuel I Palaiologos.

The foundation of the Lavra and the multifaceted activities of Athanasius gave impetus to the establishment of other monasteries by famous men, directly or indirectly connected with him. In 979/80 the Iberian (Georgian) nobles John Tornikios and his son Euthymios, provided with royal privileges and subsidies, erected the monastery of Iveron, while a little later three wealthy magnates from Adrianople, Athanasius, Nicholas and Anthony, founded the monastery of Vatopedi.

From the end of the 10th century, the establishment of monasteries will take on an astonishingly rapid pace. Around 1000, more than forty-one monasteries are attested on the Athonite peninsula. Monks of foreign nations from various parts of the empire flock to the now famous mountain. While Saint Athanasius was still alive, the first Italian monks from Aia ᾂ settled there, who shortly afterwards founded the monastery of Amalfi. Around the same time, the monasteries of Sicily, Paphlagonia, Chaldos are mentioned, and at the beginning of the 11th century, the monastery of Rusos. Monhydria, which will develop into large monasteries and continue their existence to this day, have their origins in the same period. The monastery of Zografou was founded before 980 by the Byzantine painter/hagiographer Georgios. The activity of Saint Paul of Xiropotamos, who founded the monastery of Saint Nikephoros (now the monastery of Xiropotamos) before 956, is also responsible for the establishment, before 980, of the monastery of Saint Paul (which was initially called Xiropotamos). The monasteries of Xenophon, Esphigmenou and the first monastery of Chelandariou make their appearance before the end of the 10th century.

By the end of the 12th century, the inter-Orthodox and ecumenical character of Athonite monasticism was consolidated. Before 1142, a monastery was founded, inhabited by Russian monks, in 1198 the ruined monastery of Chilandari was granted to the Serbian monk-king Simeon Nemanja and his son Saint Savvas, and later the monastery of Zografou became the seat of Bulgarian monks.

Imperial policy throughout the Byzantine period, with few exceptions, was particularly favorable to Mount Athos. Almost all monasteries were called “royal monasteries” at some time in their lives, that is, royal institutions protected from the interference of political and ecclesiastical officials. Privileges, tax exemptions and donations from kings and officials made them robust economic organizations that allowed them to carry out their spiritual work.

The historical course of the institutions of Mount Athos only to a certain extent follows the historical fortunes of the empire. Thus, the gradual decline of the Byzantine Empire was not accompanied by a corresponding shrinkage of the Athonite monasteries. On the contrary, the 14th century in particular is considered a period of great renaissance. Hesychasm, as a spiritual movement that was born and developed on Athos, renewed the ascetic ideal and once again made this area a center of spiritual radiation towards the Slavic peoples of the Balkans and Russia.

In the politically and economically declining empire of the Palaiologoi, in a period of civil wars and general unrest in the Balkans, new monasteries were founded or revived on Mount Athos. In the center of the peninsula, near Karyes, the monastery of Koutloumousi was rebuilt with the intervention of Vlach rulers, and on the eastern coast, the great general Alexios and his brother the great primigerios John founded the monastery of Pantokratoros. On the western coast, the Serbian despot John of Ugclesis essentially promoted the monastery of Simonopetra, and the Trapezuntian saint Dionysius built the homonymous monastery of Dionysius, which was generously endowed by the emperor of Trebizond, Alexios III Komnenos. Further south, shortly after 1380 and after centuries of desolation, the Serbian monks from an aristocratic lineage, Gerasimos Radonias and Antonios Pagasis, rebuilt the monastery of Saint Paul. Finally, probably in the early 15th century, the monastery of Gregory was created.

In 1423, Mount Athos was definitively annexed to Ottoman territory. The end of the Byzantine Christian kingdom and the new political reality certainly brought about significant changes in the political orientations of the Athonite people and created painful economic shocks. In addition, they gradually brought about changes in the basic institutions of the Athonite state. However, the differentiations and changes occurred with extreme slowness and the adaptation to the new political, social and economic conditions did not alter the spiritual principles of monastic life.

The necessary agreement with the Ottoman authorities had as its primary goal the preservation of the autonomy of the Mount Athos community and the preservation of the real estate of the monasteries.

The sultans' policy towards the monks, compared to the treatment of the conquered Christian populations, was initially favorable. The autonomy of the place was respected and the taxation imposed specifically on the real estate of the monasteries within the Athonite peninsula was mild. A flat-rate tax was imposed for the whole of Mount Athos and its distribution was left to the discretion of the monastic authorities. The monks' attempt to apply the same regime to the estates outside Mount Athos was only partially successful.

Although direct taxation was not, except for certain periods, particularly burdensome, the extraordinary taxes and dues, but above all the arbitrariness of the tax officials, placed an unbearable burden on the monasteries. Numerous firmans, preserved in the archives and issued at the request of the monasteries, indicate the sultans' efforts to remedy the problem and the extent of the phenomenon.

The large and rich fiefdoms that extended mainly to central and eastern Macedonia (Chalkidiki, the areas of Thessaloniki and Strymon) as well as to the islands of the northern Aegean do not seem to have remained unscathed. The total or partial confiscation and the concession to Ottoman timars or the subordination to the sultan's lands of large income-producing areas drastically reduced incomes, leading many monasteries to decline. A severe economic blow was an extraordinary administrative measure in 1568/1569. Sultan Selim II completely confiscated the properties of the monasteries and forced them to buy them back. The buy-out cost Mount Athos a total of fourteen thousand gold florins.

In addition to the institutional and arbitrary interventions of the Ottoman authorities, other unfortunate events were added. Natural disasters from earthquakes, devastating fires, piracy, robber raids and military operations often neutralized the efforts to rebuild the monasteries, and led to excessive borrowing with all the well-known side effects that these entail.

In the first centuries of Turkish rule, the Athonite monasteries, almost in their entirety, tried to strike a balance between economic survival and the basic maintenance and utilization of the property they were able to retain.

The production of the Athonite peninsula itself initially provided the basic necessities of life, since the taxation on it was offset by the poll tax. Gardens and viticulture, logging, olive production and fruit gathering were the main products that contributed to survival.

However, the intra-Athonite production was not enough to meet real needs. The main income of the monasteries during this period came from: a) the systematic exploitation of the shares, which gradually recovered, increased through donations and purchases and yielded stable income; b) from the shares of the Danubian principalities which were massively dedicated, especially from the 17th century, by the Orthodox rulers of Moldavia and Wallachia; c) the large monetary donations not only from the rulers themselves and their court officials but also from the Tsars of Russia and generous Greek high clergy and nobles. This form of sponsorship contributed decisively to the maintenance and expansion of the building complexes and the decoration of the monasteries with works of art; d) the carrying out of the quest which extends beyond the area of ​​the Greek East to the Slavic world and Europe.

Since the Ottomans did not interfere in the internal regime of the Mount, the central administration continued to exist as it had during the Byzantine period for at least another century and a half. The former retained its administrative, executive, judicial and spiritual jurisdictions, however, the old glory of the institution had passed. The former imperial sponsorship had ceased and the Protato had difficulty meeting its needs. Its land ownership, which extended throughout the peninsula, gradually passed into the hands of the monasteries, to which it was gradually forced to cede even the cells of its jurisdiction. The judicial powers found “competitors” in the qadis, to whom the monasteries resorted when decisions resolving disputes were not to the liking of one of the parties. The institution of the former gradually faded away at the end of the 16th century. The last holder of the office is mentioned in 1593.

At the end of the century, the definitive number of dominant monasteries seems to have been consolidated, amounting to twenty. Nineteen of these are already large monasteries from the Byzantine period, while the twenty are completed by the only post-Byzantine monastery of Stavronikita, which was founded in 1541 by Patriarch Jeremiah I.

Since the beginning of the 17th century, Athos has been governed by a collective body, the Great Synax, in which representatives of the monasteries participate. In the new scheme, as is natural, the administrative role of the great monasteries (Lavra, Vatopedi, Iveron), which also shoulder most of the common financial burdens, is decisive. However, a Turkish governor has already been established in Karyes. His presence is formally associated with the protection of the region from robber raids and piracy, but in reality he actively participates in the internal administration. In 1661, the unbearable debts of the Protatus force the Great Synax to sell to the monasteries all the cells that were left under its jurisdiction. Thus, all that remains of the central authority of Athos is the central church of Karyes, the Protatus.

In 1744, in agreement with the Athonite monks, Patriarch Paisios paved the way for a new, more representative form of administration of the communities, with the participation of the smaller monasteries. The Great Synaxis is now called the Holy Community. However, the representative system was essentially consolidated with the Typikon of Patriarch Gabriel IV of 1783. According to it, the administration is exercised by four overseers elected by specified fives of the twenty monasteries. One of them must come from the five major monasteries (Lavra, Vatopedi, Iveron, Chilandari and Dionysios). In 1810, the permanent body of twenty representatives of the monasteries is also established.

However, changes also occurred in the internal functioning of the monasteries. Until the end of the 14th century, the communal system of living prevailed, as determined by the Typika. Gradually, however, and especially after the Ottoman conquest, the idiosyncratic order continuously gained ground. The office of abbot, although it remains, lacks substantial responsibilities. It is now mainly an honorary office, with ceremonial extensions. It is awarded to important persons who have offered valuable services to the monastery (successful conduct of a request, beneficial management of a share, etc.), lasts for a short period of time and is often undertaken more than once. In the idiosyncratic monastery, the administration is exercised by the officials of the monastery, such as the sacristan, the churchwarden and the steward.

The dysfunctions that arose from the prevalence of idiosyncrasy not only on Mount Athos but also in most monasteries of the Greek East were attempted to be addressed by Patriarch Jeremiah II, assisted by Patriarch Sylvester of Alexandria. After the latter's on-site transfer to Mount Athos, the great monasteries of Lavra and Vatopedi reinstated the coenobitic regime (1574). However, the new coenobitization must have been extremely ephemeral. A strong trend towards a permanent return to the form of life provided for by the monastic rules was observed only at the end of the 18th century. From 1784 to 1839, eight monasteries returned to the coenobitic regime.

The centrifugal tendencies that characterized the monastic life of Mount Athos throughout the Ottoman period are also reflected in the widespread spread of other forms of monastic life, such as settlement in sketes, cells and hermitages. All these minor establishments now belong to the ownership of the monasteries and are assigned for life to “elder” monks and their entourage.

The skete, which recall the ancient lavras, do not constitute a single building complex. They consist of cells or “huts” scattered around a temple called the kyriakon. The monks live in them in a peculiar way under the supervision of a superior, the righteous, who is elected by themselves. The oldest organized skete is that of Agia Anna, already attested at the end of the 16th century and belongs to the monastery of Megisti Lavra. However, the same monastery, since the beginning of the 15th century, had a cluster of cells with a precursory form of a skete in the area of ​​Kerasia. At the end of the 17th century, the skete of Kafsokalyvia, which also belongs to the Lavra, seems to have been organized, while the skete that survive to this day, of Saint Demetrius of the Vatopedi monastery, of Prophet Elias of the Pantokrator monastery, the New Skete and of Saint Demetrius of Lakkos of the Saint Paul monastery, of Timios Prodromos of the Iviron monastery, of Saint Panteleimon of the Koutloumousi monastery and of Evangelismos of the Xenophon monastery, were established in the following century.

The unique coenobitic sketes, of Saint Andrew of the Vatopedi monastery, in which Russian monks settled until our century, and of Prodromos of the Lavra monastery with Romanian monks, made their appearance after the mid-19th century.

Cells are simpler forms of monastic living. They form small-scale, single building complexes, belong exclusively to a monastery after 1661 and are staffed by an “elder” with his spiritual accompaniment. There are many cases where cells are a continuation of or have been built on the ruins of ancient monasteries, even retaining their old Byzantine name.

The total population of Mount Athos during the Byzantine period is not known. Only the Great Lavra in the 11th century is attested to have numbered seven hundred monks. Certainly the number of monks would not have remained constant since from the 10th century to the beginning of the 15th century new monasteries constantly appeared and smaller monastic institutions disappeared or merged with larger ones. Periodic general crises or problems that arose in individual monasteries certainly contributed to the fluctuations in the total number of monks.

For the period of the Ottoman rule we have more data. Travelers, already from the end of the 15th century, Ottoman tax registers and, from 1764, censuses of monks help to form a clearer picture regarding at least the order of magnitude of the monastic population of Athos. The deviations of the figures given are large: 1440 people are given by the tax register of 1525/1530 and from 2246 to 2860 souls are recorded by Orthodox travelers and monks in the 16th century. The census of 1764 gives 2908 monks and that of 1808 2390. In conclusion, it could be said that, with the exception of the period of the Greek Revolution when the number of monks decreased dramatically and the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when a methodical and massive descent of thousands of Slavic monks was observed, the population of the Athonite state did not exceed three thousand souls.

Despite the economic difficulties and historical adventures that were not lacking for approximately five hundred years, Mount Athos emerged as the most important spiritual center of the Orthodox East.

The tradition created by the hesychast movement of the 14th century, with a multitude of learned monks living and writing on Athos, was not completely interrupted. The first signs of revival are already evident in the first half of the 16th century. The libraries are enriched with a large number of manuscripts that are copied in the bibliographic workshops that exist in almost all monasteries. Research so far has identified very few of them (e.g. in the monasteries of Iviron, Koutloumousi, Dionysiou, Philotheou, Xiropotamos), however all indications lead to the conclusion of systematic engagement with book production until the 17th century, when the printed book begins to prevail.

Large collections of books, manuscripts and printed matter, as well as personal libraries of learned men, such as Metropolitan Makarios of Thessaloniki, Maximos Margounios, Patriarch Dionysios IV, Metropolitan Neophytos of Arta and Nafpaktos, are added to the already rich Athonite collections.

Although their use was rather occasional, as was the case with all monastic libraries in the East, they should by no means be characterized as repositories of books and relics. Contrary to what many believe, the libraries of Athos were the source of readings and writings of a large number of scholars, clerics and laymen, in the centuries of conquest.

There were not a few scholars, mainly monks and clergy, who, at least for a decisive period of their lives, worked and wrote in a monastery. Characteristic is the case of the well-known scholar and enlightener of the Russians, Maximus of Graecos, who, in the early 16th century, after his return from the West, chose the Athonite monastery of Vatopedi for meditation. A little later, the passage of the scholar monk Pachomius Roussanos left his strong traces in the library of the Iviron monastery.

Other monks, possessors of a remarkable education, owe their prominence as writers to their intellectual activity within the boundaries of Athos. The previous Dionysius Iveritis, the homonymous orator Dionysius Studitis, Agapios Landos, author of popular spiritual readings, and the prolific monk Caesarios Dapontes of Xeropotamion are characteristic examples of this category of scholars.

However, there were even more educated ecclesiastical men, mainly high-ranking clergy, who chose to end their lives in the solitude of Athos. Although they have no written works to show for it, their presence and the influence they exerted on the spiritual rise of the place was decisive.

The 18th century, a period of general spiritual, social and economic recovery throughout the East, is marked on Mount Athos by two important events: the founding of the Athoniad School and the spiritual movement of the Kollyvades.

In 1748, at the suggestion and expense of Vatopedi, a school was founded within the monastery with an ambitious program of teaching Greek, philosophical and theological subjects. The school, which was characterized as the first Academy of Hellenism, was housed in a magnificent building built on a nearby hill and hosted a multitude of students who later became famous intellectuals. The first headmaster for several years was the famous scholar Eugenios Voulgaris.

In 1754, the later-named “Kollivadis” conflict broke out. The reason was the disagreement over the celebration of memorial services on Sunday and not only on Saturday, as had traditionally happened until then. However, the causes were much deeper, so that the monks were divided into two sharply opposing factions: the champions of tradition, the “Kollivadis”, who supported not only the persistence in tradition but also the return to the roots of the patristic and Neptic theology of the great fathers of the East, and the supporters of a more secularized understanding of the monastic life. The main representatives of the Kollivadis were famous scholars from Mount Athos, such as the prolific Nikodemos the Athonite, the militant Athanasius Parios and Makarios Notaras, former metropolitan of Corinth.

After initial condemnations and persecutions, the Kollyvades movement was vindicated, spread beyond Mount Athos, particularly in the island area and the Peloponnese, and became the occasion for the philokalic revival that profoundly influenced the Orthodox Slavic world.

The spread of the Greek Revolution of 1821 in Macedonia and especially in Halkidiki did not leave the Athonite people indifferent. Many of them, such as the active Nikiforos Iviritis, a cleric, had been initiated into the Filiki Etaireia for years. In May 1821, in a festive manner in Karyes, Athos joined the movement of Emmanuel Papas. The Turkish commander was arrested and placed under confinement in the Koutloumousi monastery and armed monks were deployed on the borders of Mount Athos.

As is known, the revolution in northern Greece ended quickly and ingloriously. However, the Athonite monks were called upon to pay the heavy price for their participation. Turkish troops were stationed in the monasteries, which were obliged to undertake their maintenance. An extraordinary and very heavy tax of 3.300 poungia (1.750.000 groschen) was imposed collectively and the regular taxes were paid in double. The meteochies of Chalkidiki suffered heavy damage and the collection of revenues from the lucrative meteochies of Moldavia was interrupted for at least five years. Debts ballooned, a large number of monks abandoned Mount Athos, many monasteries found themselves in a state of total poverty and were forced to sell off a large number of relics, although the most valuable of these were exiled to the islands of rebellious Greece.

The measures against Mount Athos were only lifted in 1830. However, a new disturbance, especially in the economic sector, was caused by the confiscation by the Romanian government in 1863 of all the monastic estates and shares in the region of Moldavia-Wallachia. A new blow awaited the Athonite monks a few years later in 1873. The Russian government decided to expel the monks from the estates of Bessarabia and the Caucasus, giving the monasteries only two-fifths of their income there. After the October Revolution, this income stopped permanently.

In the second half of the 19th century, Mount Athos found itself in the midst of the national antagonisms of the Balkans and suffered the consequences of the pursuits of Russian policy, which consisted in altering the ethnological character of the monastic state through the mass settlement of Slavic, mainly Russian, monks, through the penetration of poor monasteries and dependencies and the construction of huge monastic complexes. At the beginning of the 20th century, Mount Athos numbered a total of about 3.500 Russian monks.

The liberation of Mount Athos by the Greek fleet in November 1912 put an end to the dangerous situation that had arisen. The monastic state of Athos became a self-governing part of the Greek territory. Its legal status was constitutionally guaranteed and defined by the Statute Charter, which was drawn up in 1926. This Athonite “Constitution” consolidated, with many adjustments, the traditional institutions of administration of the monastic state.

Today on Mount Athos there are 20 sovereign coenobitic monasteries, as consolidated since the 16th century. 12 skete and approximately 250 cells depend on them administratively and spiritually. Each monastery is self-governing and regulates the life of its monks according to the monastic rules and internal regulations approved by all the monks. Every year the monasteries elect a representative who represents them in the Holy Community. The latter's task and responsibility is to manage the common affairs of Mount Athos and monitor the smooth functioning of the internal regulations of the monasteries. The executive body of the Holy Community is the Holy Epistatasia.

Spiritually, the Athonite state falls under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, while the duties of representative of the Greek state are performed by the Governor of Mount Athos.

The decline observed during the first decades of the 20th century due to the pathology of idiosyncrasy, the dramatic economic contraction that followed the mass confiscation of Macedonian stocks, and the hardships of World War II was halted in the late 1960s.

Today, Mount Athos is experiencing a new flourishing. A large number of young monks with a very high spiritual level man the twenty monasteries, all of which have been converted into communes, sketes and cells of Athos.

Kriton Chrysochoidis

Director of Research, I.B.E., H.I.E.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Lavriotis, Mount Athos after the Ottoman conquest, Annual of the Society for Byzantine Studies 32 (1963), 113-261

K. Vlachos, The peninsula of Mount Athos and the monasteries and monks therein, past and present, Volos 1903

M. Gideon, Mount Athos. Memories-Documents-Notes, Constantinople 1885 (photographed reprint, Athens 1990)

H. Ktenas, All the holy institutions on Mount Athos, numbering 726 in total, and their services to the slave nation, Athens 1935

I. Mamalakis, Mount Athos (Athos) through the centuries, Thessaloniki 1971

P. Meyer, Die Haupturkunden fur die Geschichte der Athosklb'ster, Leipzig 1894 (photo reprint Amsterdam 1965).

P. Nasturel, Le Mont Athos et les Roumains, Rome 1986 (Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 227)

Dionysia Papachrysanthou, Athonite monasticism. Principles and organization, Athens 1992.

N. Svoronos, The importance of the establishment of Mount Athos for the development of the Greek area, Mount Athos 1987

G. Smyrnakis, Mount Athos, Athens 1903 (photo reprint, Karyes 1988)

P. Christou, Mount Athos. Athonite city-History and art, Athens 1987

[=Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Modern Greek Culture and General Education, 6 (1984)17-47]

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