Phanariots

Phanariotes or Phanariot Greeks (Greek: Φαναριώτες, Romanian: Fanarioţi) - were the members of those principal Greek families who resided in Phanar (Fener in Turkish, from the Greek word Φανάρι, Phanari - "Lighthouse"), the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople (Istanbul) - where the ecumenical patriarchate is situated. Phanariotes occupied high political and administrative posts in the Ottoman Empire. Between the years 1711/1716 and 1821, they were appointed Hospodars (Voivodes or Princes) of the Danubian Principalities (Moldavia and Wallachia); that period of Moldo-Wallachian history is also usually termed the Phanariote epoch.

Starting point

The period is not to be understood as marking the introduction into the Principalities of the Greek element, which had already established itself in both provinces, to both of which Greek Princes had been appointed before the 18th century. But whereas the Greek families of earlier introduction gradually became merged in their country of adoption, the later immigrants usually retained their separate ethnicity.

After 1453, when the Sultan virtually replaced the Byzantine Emperor, the Orthodox Patriarchy of Constantinople around which the former nobility of the Byzantine Empire had grouped, ultimately succeeded in infiltrating the structures of the Ottoman Empire. The attention of this Greek-speaking elite was concentrated on occupying the most favorable offices the Empire could offer, but also to the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, who were still relatively rich, and more importantly, autonomous (despite having to pay tribute as vassal states). Many Greeks had found there favorable conditions for commercial activities, by far more advantageous when compared with the stringes inside the Ottoman Empire, and also an opportunity to gain political power. Many had entered the ranks of Wallachian and Moldavian boyar nobility by marriage.

However, the use of Phanariote did not imply that the Prince who was appointed was necessarily Greek or to have a random relation with Greeks, but the term refers to a certain number of elite families from Istanbul’s quarter of Phanar. Although rarely occurring, reigns of local Princes were not excluded on principle. This situation had even determined two Romanian noble families, the Callimachis (originally Călmaşul) and Racoviţăs, to penetrate into the Phanar nucleus, in order to facilitate and increase their chances to occupy the thrones, and later to successfully maintain their positions.

While most sources would agree to 1711 being the moment where the gradual erosion of the traditional institutions had reached its ultimate stage, characteristics usually ascribed to the Phanariote era had made themselves felt long before it. The Ottoman overlord had been enforcing its choice for Hospodars throughout previous centuries (as far back as the 15th), and foreign - usually Greek or Levantine - boyars had been competing with the local ones since the late 1500s. Also, rulers since Dumitraşcu Cantacuzino in Moldavia and George Ducas, a Prince of Greek origin, in Wallachia (both in 1673) had been forced to surrender all of their families, and not just selected members, as hostages in Constantinople.

The clear change in policy was determined by the fact that Wallachia and Moldavia, although autonomous, had entered a period of continuous skirmishes with the Ottomans, due to insubordination of the native princes, one especially associated with the rise of Imperial Russia's power under Peter the Great and the firm presence of the Habsburg Empire on the Carpathian border with the Principalities. Dissidence within the two countries became more dangerous for the Turks, who were now confronted with the attraction exercised on the population by the protection offered to them by a fellow Eastern Orthodox Empire. This became obvious with Mihai Racoviţă's second rule in Moldavia, when the Prince plotted with Peter to have Ottoman rule removed. Incidentally, his replacement, Nicholas Mavrocordatos, was also the first official Phanariote in his second reign in Moldavia (he was also to replace Ştefan Cantacuzino in Wallachia, as the first Phanariote ruler in that country).

A crucial moment in the policy change was the Russo-Turkish War of 1710-1713, when Dimitrie Cantemir sided with Russia and agreed to a Russian tutelage over his country. After Russia suffered a major defeat and Cantemir went into exile, the Ottomans took charge of the succession to the throne of Moldavia, soon followed by similar measures in Wallachia.

Characteristics

Negative perception

The person raised to the princely dignity was usually the chief Dragoman of the Sublime Porte, and was consequently well versed in contemporary politics and the statecraft of the Ottoman government.

The new Prince, who was compelled to purchase his elevation with a heavy bribe (not a new requirement in itself), proceeded to the country which he was selected to govern, and of the language of which he was in nearly every case totally ignorant. Once the new Princes were appointed, they were escorted to Iaşi or Bucharest by retinues composed of their families, hangers-on and their creditors (from whom they had borrowed money to bribe the Ottoman officials). He and his acolytes counted on recouping themselves in as short a time as possible for their initial outlay and in laying by a sufficiency to live on after the termination of the Princes' brief authority.

As a total for the two principalities together, 31 princes from 11 different families have ruled during the Phanariote epoch. Many times they were exiled or even executed: from these 31 princes, seven suffered a violent death, and a few were executed at their own courts of Bucharest or Iaşi. The fight for the throne could become as harsh as to provoke murders carried out among members of the same family. When, owing to relatively numerous cases of treachery among the Princes, the choice became limited to a few families, it became frequent that rulers would be shifted from one principality to the other: the Prince of Wallachia, the richer of the two Principalities, would pay certain sums in order to avert his transfer to Iaşi, while the Prince of Moldavia would bribe supporters in Istanbul in exchange for his appointment to Wallachia. For example, Constantine Mavrocordatos accumulated a total of ten different rules in Moldavia and Wallachia. It is very relevant that the debt was owed to various creditors, and not to the Sultan himself: in fact, the central institutions of the Ottoman Empire were determined to maintain their rule over the Principalities, and not exploit them irrationally. In one early example, Ahmed III even paid part of Nicholas Mavrocordatos' debt.

The Phanariote Epoch was characterized by excessive fiscal policies, driven by both Ottoman needs and by the greed of some of the Hospodars (who, mindful of their fragile status, sought to pay back their creditors and increase their wealth while they still were in a position of power). In order to make the reigns lucrative while raising funds that would satisfy the needs of the Porte (increased during the Stagnation of the Ottoman Empire), Princes channeled their energies into spoliation, and the inhabitants, liable to increasing and diversified taxation, were in many instances reduced to the last stage of destitution. However, the most hated taxes identified with the Phanariotes were of relevant tradition (such as the văcărit, first imposed by Iancu Sasul in the 1580s).

Positive aspects

The malignant effects of many Phanariote rules should be contrasted with the achievements and projects of others, such as Alexander Ypsilantis'. Ypsilantis tried to reform the legislation and impose salaries for administrative offices - in an effort to halt the depletion of funds through the sums the administrators, local and Greek alike, were using for their own maintenance (it had by then become more profitable to hold office than to own land). His Prăvilniceasca condică, a rather modern legal code, met stiff boyar resistance. In fact, the focus of such rules was many times the improvement of state structures against conservative wishes.

After the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji (1774) allowed Russia to intervene on the side of Ottoman Eastern Orthodox subjects, most of the Turkish political pressures became ineffective. The Porte had to further offer concessions, with the imperative of maintaining hold over the countries as economical and stategic assets. In parallel, the boyars started a petitioning campaign against the Princes in power: although sometimes addressed to the Porte and even the Habsburg Monarchy, they mostly demanded Russian supervision. Also, while they make reference to cases of corruption and misrule, the petitions show their conservative intentions. The boyars tend to refer to specific, but fictional, Capitulations that either of the Principalities would have signed with the Ottomans - demanding that the rights guaranteed through them be restored. They also viewed with suspicion reform attempts on the side of Princes, claiming these were not legitimate - in alternative proposals (usually taking the form of constitutional projects), the boyars express a wish for the establishment of an aristocratic republic.

Ending and legacy

The active part taken by the Greek Princes in revolts after 1820 (see Greek War of Independence), together with the chaos provoked by Philikí Etaireía occupation in Moldavia and Tudor Vladimirescu's Wallachian uprising, led to the disappearance of promotions from within the Phanar community.

Ioan Sturdza's rule in Moldavia and Grigore IV Ghica's in Wallachia are considered the first of the new period: as such, the new regime was to have its own abrupt ending with the Russian occupation during another Russo-Turkish War, and the subsequent period of Russian influence.

Condemnation of the Phanariotes is a particular focus of Romanian nationalism, usually integrated with the resentment of foreigners as a whole. The tendency unifies pro- and anti-modernising attitudes: Phanariotes may represent reactionary elements (as their image was presented by Communist Romania), as well as agents of brutal and opportunistic change (as illustrated by Mihai Eminescu's Scrisoarea a III-a).

Leading phanariote families

Caradjas (Caragea)
Mavrocordatos (Mavrocordat)
Mourousis (Moruzi)
Rosettis (Ruset/Russeti)
Soutzos (Suţu)
Ypsilantis (Ipsilanti)

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
Vlad Georgescu, Istoria ideilor politice româneşti (1369-1878), Munich, 1987 (in Romanian)