The Patriarchate of Constantinople and the “Reform of the Synod” in the 18th Century Ottoman Context

Abstract

The Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople went through a series of changes in the eighteenth century. By 1763 gerontismos was established, and the Patriarchal seal was divided into four. As such, the metropolitans of the Holy Synod gained considerable power in the administration of the Patriarchate vis-à-vis the Patriarchs. The so called “reform of the Synod” was more than a mere internal struggle among the clergymen of the Patriarchate and the Phanariots. It was rather related to the Empire-wide economic developments in connection to the transformation of social roles in the Ottoman society. In the eighteenth century the collaboration between the Ottoman administration and ecclesiastical institutions was in rise, and by the time gerontismos was established, the institutionalization of the Orthodox Church as part of Ottoman administration had been culminated.