The Zealots ( el, Ζηλωταί) were a political group that dominated political developments in
Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
from 1342 until 1350. The contemporary sources, notably anti-Zealot in sympathies, provide little information on the Zealots' government of Thessalonica. The Zealots managed to establish effective civic self-government for eight years. They confiscated the property of the
aristocracy, and redistributed their wealth. In the past it had been claimed that the Zealots had a kind of
social reform
A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...
program, but sources are scant. Many of these claims were built upon a discourse of the scholar
Nikolaos Kabasilas, but eventually it seems that it had no connection to the Zealot revolt but was composed many decades later.
Background
At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
went into dramatic decline. There was a
major civil war in the 1320s, accompanied with invasions from almost all sides. As the Empire became weaker and more impoverished, the misery of the great masses in the countryside and in the cities became almost unbearable. Both in the country and in the towns all wealth was concentrated in the hands of a small aristocratic class, and against them was directed the bitterness of the destitute masses.
John Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzene ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Ángelos Palaiológos Kantakouzēnós''; la, Johannes Cantacuzenus; – 15 June 1383) was a Byzantine Greek nobleman, statesman, and general. He served as grand domestic under And ...
, after the death of Emperor
Andronikos III Palaiologos was the effective regent for the latter's infant son,
John V. A faction in Constantinople, formed around the powerful ''
megas doux''
Alexios Apokaukos, plotted against him, and managed to enlist the support of dowager empress
Anna of Savoy
Anna of Savoy, born Giovanna (1306–1365) was a Byzantine Empress consort, as the second spouse of Andronikos III Palaiologos. She served as regent, with the titles '' augusta'' and '' autokratorissa'', during the minority of her son John V Palai ...
and the Patriarch
John Kalekas. The
conflict between the new regency and Kantakouzenos broke out openly in October 1341.
The literary sources, all in favor of Kantakouzenos, presented the conflict as a struggle between the "aristoi" (i.e. the best) and the poor. In fact, the aristocracy was divided equally between the two factions, while most aristocratic supporters of Kantakouzenos soon abandoned him in 1342-1343 after his first major defeats. Against Kantakouzenos also militated the common people of the cities, often after encouragement of the authorities. In many cities of Thrace, which had joined Kantakouzenos in the early stages of the civil war, there were riots in favor of the rightful minor
John V. In addition, contemporary Byzantine society was also divided on religious issues, between the mysticist
Hesychasts
Hesychasm (; Greek: Ησυχασμός) is a contemplative monastic tradition in the Eastern Orthodox Church in which stillness (''hēsychia'') is sought through uninterrupted Jesus prayer. While rooted in early Christian monasticism, it took i ...
or
Palamites and the intellectuals or
Barlaamites, who preferred to pursue the study of philosophy and cherished the inheritance of
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of Classical Antiquity, classical antiquity ( AD 600), th ...
.
[Lowry & Gordon (1998), p. 411] During the second civil war Thessalonica was administered by anti-Hesychast metropolitans. We know little about the attitudes of the Zealots to this controversy, but it is a fact that one of their leaders, Andreas Palaiologos, sought spiritual guidance to St. Savvas, one of the leading Hesychasts.
The movement was probably also influenced by the
Bogomilism
Bogomilism ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", bogumilstvo, богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic or dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar P ...
, a Christian heresy, which was present in the region since the 9th century.
Rise and establishment of the Zealots regime
Thessalonica at the time was the second most important city of the Empire after
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
itself. Wealthy and at almost populous as the capital, its people had already resented control from the far-off capital, and had already once rebelled against the Constantinople-appointed governor: in the first Palaiologan civil war, in 1322, they had ousted the ''
despotēs''
Constantine Palaiologos
Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος, ''Kōnstantînos Dragásēs Palaiológos''; 8 February 1405 – 29 May 1453) was the last Roman (Byzantine) e ...
in favour of Andronikos III and his lieutenant, John Kantakouzenos. When the second civil war broke out, control of the city was of great importance to both camps, and Kantakouzenos' supporters, led by its governor
Theodore Synadenos
Theodore Komnenos Doukas Palaiologos Synadenos ( el, Θεόδωρος Κομνηνός Δούκας Παλαιολόγος Συναδηνός,. ca. 1277 – ca. 1346), usually simply Theodore Synadenos, was a Byzantine magnate, senior official a ...
, tried to deliver it to him. The people of the city however reacted, ousted them and took control of the city.
[Barker (2002), p. 17] Apokaukos himself arrived shortly after at the head of a fleet, and installed Michael Monomachos as its governor, who was succeeded in 1343 by Ioannes Batatzes and in 1344 by Apokaukos' son, the ''
megas primikērios''
John Apokaukos
John Apokaukos ( el, Ἱωάννης Ἀπόκαυκος, ca. 1155 – 1233) was a Byzantine churchman and theologian. Having studied at Constantinople, he became bishop of Naupaktos and played a major role in the rivalry between the Epirote Chur ...
. Real power in the city however rested with the Zealots' leader, a Michael Palaiologos, who jointly with the governors held the title of ''
archōn''. As every city of the empire, in local affairs participated the city council, made up by the local aristocracy and other influential citizens.
Michael and Andreas Palaiologos were the leaders of the revolt. Despite efforts to identify them however, they do not fit in any way into the known
Palaiologan
The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; grc-gre, Παλαιολόγος, pl. , female version Palaiologina; grc-gre, Παλαιολογίνα), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek ...
family tree, and we do not even know their relationship to each other: they may, indeed, simply have come from some sort of client family or families who took the dynastic name by extension. But one point does remain unavoidable: the so-called “revolutionaries” did consistently identify themselves with Palaiologan legitimacy.
[Barker (2002), p. 20] Although the Zealots, throughout their existence, continued to recognize the legitimate Emperor
John V Palaiologos
John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions.
Biography
John V was the son of E ...
, it is possible that they tried to achieve a semi-autonomous status for the city of Thessalonica.
Although it has been claimed that they had a political program supporting the lower classes, as they were based mainly to the workers of the port, they themselves belonged to the aristocracy, while the confiscated properties of the supporters of Kantakouzenos were directed to the supporters of the regency. The people may indeed have anti-aristocratic motives, but this did not represent the purposes of the Zealots.
Apokaukos' coup, reaction and terror
During the next years, the city successfully resisted attempts of Kantakouzenos to capture the city with the aid of his allies, the
Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to:
* Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia
* Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities
* Seljuk (warlord) (di ...
Emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
Umur and
Stefan Dusan of Serbia.
[Bartusis (1997), pp. 95-96] As the tide of the civil war gradually turned toward Kantakouzenos however, John Apokaukos began plotting against the Zealots. He contacted the remnants of the pro-Kantakouzenian aristocracy, and after having Michael Palaiologos killed, assumed power himself and arrested most prominent Zealots without any popular reaction.
After learning of his father's murder in Constantinople in June 1345, Apokaukos decided to hand the city over to Kantakouzenos, but the city mob, led by Andreas Palaiologos, another leader of the Longshoremen (''parathalassioi''), rose up against him. Apokaukos and about a hundred of the leading aristocrats were lynched, and everyone even suspected of "Kantakouzenism" was liable to be killed and his house and property plundered.
End
In 1347 Kantakouzenos and the Emperor John V reconciled, but the Zealots ignored the orders from Constantinople, such as the appointment of
Gregory Palamas
Gregory Palamas ( el, Γρηγόριος Παλαμᾶς; c. 1296 – 1359) was a Byzantine Greek theologian and Eastern Orthodox cleric of the late Byzantine period. A monk of Mount Athos (modern Greece) and later archbishop of Thessaloniki, he ...
as its archbishop, as the majority of them were anti-Hesychasts. The city remained isolated from the outside world, suffered from the
Black Death, and was further subject to the continued threat of Stefan Dushan.
The situation became increasingly desperate, and there was even talk of surrendering the city to the protection of foreign, namely Serbian, rule. This however was unacceptable to many Thessalonians, including the other ''archon'', Alexios Laskaris Metochites.
[Barker (2002), p. 18]
At the end of 1349, the people of the city finally rose in revolt against the Zealots, who were defeated, and plundered their properties. Andreas Palaiologos fled to
Mount Athos and became a monk in the monastery of
Great Lavra
The Monastery of Great Lavra ( el, Μονή Μεγίστης Λαύρας) is the first monastery built on Mount Athos. It is located on the southeastern foot of the Mount at an elevation of . The founding of the monastery in AD 963 by Athanasi ...
. Negotiations followed, and in 1350, Kantakouzenos, accompanied by Emperor John Palaiologos and Palamas, made a triumphal entry into the city.
[Saint Gregory Palamas the Hagiorite](_blank)
Citations
Sources
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{{Greek Macedonia
1340s in the Byzantine Empire
Medieval Thessalonica
1350s in the Byzantine Empire
14th-century Eastern Orthodoxy