Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
For the Aegean island of Syros, the Greek Revolution (1821-1832) marked a significant turning point. Known as “the island of the Pope”, due to its Catholic majority, Syros transformed into a major commercial hub, seemingly triggering the withdrawal of its indigenous Latin community. Juxtaposing the view from the Archipelago with that from Istanbul, the Peloponnese, Rome, Paris and Vienna, this volume revisits the island’s history. From early encounters between native inhabitants and groups from across the Ottoman Levant, to how the Latin community navigated conflict and change during the Greek War of Independence, this book offers new insights into the political, cultural and social history of the region.
“This is a very well written study of the Catholic communities in the Aegean Sea during the Greek revolution, a case study for the historical transition from the imperial experiences to the new, for the nineteenth century, reality of the nation-state in-the-making and the new national identities. […] [It] is the only study of the Greek Revolution from the point of view of the Catholic communities in the Levant, combining the local, regional, and international level of analysis.” • Elias Kolovos, University of Crete.
“Kousouris’ Island of the Pope is another exciting and immersive addition to the [existing] line of literature. It makes politics and conflicts in the nineteenth-century Cyclades palpable, personal, and engaging. I would argue that it assigned Syros its just position as a protagonist in the history of the Greek Revolution and, probably speaking for many scholars working on the Mediterranean, state that we want more books of this kind.” • CEU Review of Books
Dimitris Kousouris is a Researcher at the National Hellenic Research Foundation. He holds a PhD from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris and has taught Modern History at the Universities of Crete, Constance, Princeton, Columbia, Chicago, and Vienna. His recent publications include; Histoire des procés des collaborateurs en Gréce (1944–1949) (Presses de I’lnalco: Paris, 2017) and the co-edited volume, Understanding the Greek Revolution of 1821 (Brill: Leiden, 2024).
List of Figures
Introduction: What Happened to the “Island of the Pope”?
Part I: The Imperial Setting
Chapter 1. The Early Modern Aegean Archipelago and the “Island of the Pope”
Chapter 2. From the Russian Occupation to the Greek Revolution (1770-1820)
Chapter 3. The Outbreak of the Revolution
Chapter 4. The Holy See and the Greek Insurrection from the Massacre of Chios to the Congress of Verona
Part II: Revolution in the Islands
Chapter 5. Territorial Integration and the Battle for the Tithe
Chapter 6. Nestor Faziolis’ Incursions and the Takeover of the Port
Chapter 7. On Limits of Sovereignty and Frontiers of Civilization
Chapter 8. 1824. The Empire Strikes Back
Chapter 9. Luigi Maria Blancis and the Adjustment into the New Reality
Conclusion: Endgame.
Chronology of Events
Bibliography