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Peasant Names in Fourteenth-Century Macedonia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2016

Angeliki E. Laiou
Angeliki E. Laiou*
Affiliation:
Brandeis University
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Extract

The historian who is engaged in the study of Byzantine social history is faced with a problem common to pre-industrial societies, or societies in which the majority of the population is both exploited and illiterate. The sources, written as they are by an upper class and largely for an upper class, give relatively abundant information about a small segment of the population, leaving us in darkness about the rest of society. In Byzantine history this is particularly true about the peasantry, which has left us only a very few sources of its own, and rather uninspiring ones at that. The Byzantine upper class wrote its own history, but the Byzantine peasants did not, thus making the task of the modern historian more difficult. Despite these problems, work has been done on both the urban and the rural population of the Empire, and more will probably be done as monastic archives become available. The study of the Byzantine peasantry is of primary importance. For if we are to understand Byzantine society, we must study and understand what happened in the countryside. After all, the Byzantine economy rested on agriculture, and the social relations which determined the fate of the state were, primarily, the social relations prevalent in the countryside.

Type
Research Article
Information
Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies , Volume 1 , 1975 , pp. 71 - 95
Copyright
Copyright © The Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham 1975

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References

* This article forms part of a larger study, which was undertaken with the generous help of the Guggenheim Foundation.

1. Identification of names which appear in praktika will be made in the following fashion: the name of the monastery will be given, followed by the name of the village in which the household appears, followed by the date of the apographe (reassessment) and the serial number of the household. Each particular praktikon will be identified only in the first reference to each village and apographe. The names mentioned in the text will be found in: F. Dölger, ‘Sechs byzantinische Praktika des 14. Jahrhunderts für das Athoskloster Iberon’, Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philos.-historische Klasse, XXVIII (1949), Kato Volvos, 1341, 8; unpublished praktikon for Lavra, no. 109 of the Collège de France, Gomatou, 1321, 27; Dölger, op. cit., Iveron, Kato Volvos, 1317, 2; unpublished praktikon of Vatopedi, Collège de France no. 334, Zavarnikeia, 11. This is an undated praktikon, but it probably dates from or after 1325, since it mentions the ‘theme of Christoupolis’: cf. G. I. Theocharides, (Thessaloniki, 1954), p. 66. The unpublished praktika which I use in mis article have been made available to me by Professor Paul Lemerle of die Collège de France. I wish to thank him and his colleagues, especially Professor N. Svoronos and Miss D. Papachryssanthou, for die great kindness and courtesy they extended to me.

2. Laiou, A., ‘The Byzantine Aristocracy in the Palaeologan Period : A Story of Arrested Development’, Viator, IV (1973), 134–40 Google Scholar, and n. 11, with a bibliography of some of the most important modern studies of Byzantine families.

3. Ostrogorsky, G., Pour l’histoire de la féodalité byzantine (Brussels, 1954)Google Scholar, passim; Gorjanov, B. T., Pozdnevizantiiskii jeodalizm (Moscow, 1962)Google Scholar; Hvostova, K. V., Osobenosti agramopravovyh otnoshenii v pozdnei vizantii xiv-xviii. (Moscow, 1968)Google Scholar. I should like to list also some of the demographic studies which have appeared on the late Byzantine peasantry : Jacoby, D., ‘Phénomènes de démographie rurale à Byzance aux XIIIe, XlVe et XVe siècles’, Etudes rurales, V-VI (1962), 161–82 Google Scholar; Kondov, N. K., ‘Demographische Notizen über die Landbevolkerung aus dem Gebiet des unteren Strymon in der ersten Halfte desXIVJahrhunderts’, Études Balkaniques, II—III (1965), 261–72 Google Scholar; Kondov, N. K., ‘Za broja na naselenieto v B’igarija k’m kraja na xiv v.’, Istoricheski pregled, XXIV, 5 (1968), 65–9 Google Scholar. See also Mazal, Otto, ‘Die Praktika des Athosklosters Xeropotamou. Ein Beitrag zur byzantinischen Wirt-schaftsgeschichte des 14. Jahrhunderts’, JÕBG, XVII (1968), 85–115 Google Scholar. On names in the Morea, see Eva Topping’s Appendix I in Longnon, J. and Topping, P., Documents sur le regime des terres dans la principauté de Morée au XlVe siècle (Paris, 1969), pp. 221–31 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4. See, for example, Bompaire, Jacques, Actes de Xéropotamou, in the series Archives de l’Athos, published by Paul Lemerle (Paris, 1964)Google Scholar, no. 16.

5. From the numerous possible examples, I cite Petit, L., Korablev, B., Actes de l’Athos, V: Actes de Chilandar, Viiantiiskii Vremennik, XVII, Appendix I (1911), nos. 28, 55 Google Scholar.

6. Dölger, op. cit., Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 1.

7. Dölger, op. cit., Iveron, Voriskos, 1316, 1.

8. The sample includes domains of the monasteries of Lavra, Iveron, Xenophon, Zographou, Chilandar, and Xeropotamou. The villages in which diese domains are situated are: Gomatou, Selas, Metalin, Gradista, Melintziani, Ierissos, Ano Volvos, Kato Volvos, Xylorygion, Stomion, Gournai, Agia Euphemia, Sarantarea, Pinsson, Karbaioi, Skylochorion, Panagia, Neochori, Krya Pegadia, Paschali, Genna, Loroton, Psalidofourna-Neakitou, Epano Antigonia, Leipsohorion, Eunouhou.

9. Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 2; Iveron, Kato Volvos, 1301, 30; Iveron, Gomatou, 1331, 41; Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 45.

10. Ostrogorsky, , Féodalité, pp. 330–47 Google Scholar.

11. Lavra, unpublished praktikon of 1300, no. 91 of the Collège de France, Gomatou, 62; Lavra, no. 109 of die Collège de France, Selas, 1321, 121; Dölger, op. cit., Iveron, Melintziani, 1341, 18.

12. Lavra, Gomatou, 1300, 58; Lavra, Gomatou, 1321, 80.

13. There is a certain tautology in this observation, since one way of identifying a time-series household is precisely through the continuity of names. This, however, is not the only way; one can discover continuity by looking at the landed property of the various peasant families, by following the various family relationships, and even by the place of the household in the praktikon, since, in general, old families were placed before new additions.

14. Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 2; Dölger, op. cit., Iveron, Gomatou, 1317, 2; Iveron, Gomatou, 1321, 2; Dölger, op. cit., Iveron, Gomatou, 1341, 26.

15. Dölger, op. cit., Iveron, Ierissos, 1301, 10; 1317, 9; 1321, 9; 1341, 5.

16. Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 36; Lavra, Gomatou, 1300, 7; Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 8, 9, 20; Lavra, Gomatou, 1300, 59, 62, 66, 69, 41, 42, 53; Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 27, 45: Lavra, Gomatou, 1300, 20, 48, 56, 63, 16, 73; Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 42; Lavra, Gomatou, 1300, 3, 4, 10, 52, 46, 28, 45, 25, 26, 9; Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 34, 37; Lavra, Gomatou, 1300, 1, 77.

17. Lavra, Gomatou, 1300, 62, 66, 69, 48, 42, 10, 46, 52, 45; Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 16, 27, 45; For the possible interpretation of Skiadas as tent-maker, see Liddell-Scott, Greek-English Lexicon, , and Du Cange, Glossarium ad scriptures mediae et infimae Graecitatis, .

18. Lavra, Gomatou, 1300, 59, 73, 25, 26, 53; Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 2, 9, 10, 33. In 1321, there were in Gomatou seven Tzykalas, one Chalkeus, nine Tzangares, five Raptes, two Yfantes, six Skiadas, a widow Pelekito, a widow Kapasa and an Anna Keporia (gardener). Two priests, one potter, two shoemakers, one tailor, one weaver, and possibly one tent- or hat-maker exercised their professions : Iveron, Gomatou, 1321, 10; Lavra, Gomatou, 1321, 9, 59, 18, 96, 10, 14, 67. The number of known paroihoi in Gomatou at that time was 538 (150 households).

19. Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 1, 5; Lavra, Gomatou, 1300, 36.

20. Miklosich, F., Muller, J., Acta et Diplomata Graeca medii aevi, VI (Vienna, 1890), pp. 7–13 Google Scholar.

21. Lemerle, P., Guillou, A., Svoronos, N., Papachryssanthou, D., Actes de Lavra, Premine partie, des origines à 1204 (Archives de l’Athos [Paris, 1970]Google Scholar), nos. 64 (1162), 65(1181).

22. Ibid., no. 62 (1154), and Appendix 1.

23. Antoniadis-Bibicou, H., ‘Villages désertés en Grèce, un bilan provisoire’, in Villages désertés et histoire économique. Les hommes et la terre, XI (Paris, 1965), p. 364 Google Scholar.

24. Vryonis, S., The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh Through the Fifteenth Century (Berkeley, 1971), pp.253–71 Google Scholar Laiou, A., Constantinople and the Latins; The Foreign Policy of Andronicus II, 1282-1328 (Cambridge, Mass., 1972), pp. 90–1 Google Scholar.

25. Unpublished praktikon of Vatopedi, no. 334 of die Collège de France, Zavarnikeia, 11; Lavra, Gomatou, 1321, 35.

26. The apographe of 1316 includes the villages of Voriskos, Radolivous, Ovelos, Dovrovikeia, and that of 1341 includes Voriskos and Radolivous: Dölger, op. cit., praktika RK and RV. My sample for 1325 is from the villages of Semaltos, Hotolivou, and Zavarnikeia, from the unpublished praktikon for Vatopedi, Collège de France no. 334.

27. Even here there seems to be great variation from place to place. In the Slavic praktikon of the monastery of Chilandar, which concerns an area near Strumica, the number of households with Slavic names is limited to 23 out of 127, i.e. 18 per cent. This praktikon has been published by V. Mosin, ‘Akti iz Svetogorskich archiva’, Spomenhik der Kgl. Serb. Akademie, 2. ser., Philos.-Philologische Klasse, LXX, 5 (Belgrade, 1939), pp. 205-18.

28. No. 43 of the Collège de France.

29. Gregoras, Nicephorus, Byzantina Historia, I (CSHB, 1829), pp. 374–83 Google Scholar, especially p. 378.

30. Iveron, , Volvos, Kato Google Scholar, 1301, 33. Cf. also , Lavra praktikon of 1321, Collège de France no. 109, Agia Euphemia, 35.

31. Lavra, , Gomatou, , 1321, 86. Cf. Laiou, Constantinople and the Latins, pp. 60 Google Scholar, 64, 75.

32. Lavra, Gomatou, 1300, 31; Lavra, Gomatou, 1321, 58.

33. On the Jews in this period, see Jacoby, D., ‘Les juifs vénitiens de Constantinople et leur communauté du XIIle au milieu du XVe siècle’, Revue d’études juives, CXXXI (1972), 397–410.Google Scholar

34. Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 28; Iveron, Gomatou, 1321, 24; Iveron, Gomatou, 1341, 20, 22.

35. Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 24; Iveron, Gomatou, 1321, 21; Iveron, Go matou, 1341, 18.

36. Lavra, Gomatou, 1300, 51, 52; Lavra, Gomatou, 1321, 74;cf. above, pp. 79-80.

37. Iveron, Gomatou, 1301, 2; Iveron, Gomatou, 1321, 2; Iveron, Gomatou, 1341, 46. Cf. also, Lavra, Collège de France no. 91, Gradista, 1300, 3; Lavra, Gradista, 1321, 5, 30; also, Iveron, Kato Volvos, 1321, 8, 26, and Petit, L., Actes de l’Athos, I : Actes de Xénophon, Vizantiiskii Vremennik, X, Appendix I (1903), Stomion, 1338, 5 Google Scholar.

38. Xenophon, Stomion, 1338, 4, 5.

39. Lavra praktikon, Collège de France no. 91, Metalin, 1300, 14; Lavra praktikon, Collège de France no. 109, Metalin, 1321, 12.

40. Dölger, op. cit., Melintziani, 1301, 15; 1321, 15; 1341, 11. Cf. Dölger, op. cit., p. 26.

41. Lemerle-Guillou-Svoronos-Papachryssanthou, Actes de Lavra, I, nos. 64, 65.

42. Miklosich-Müller, Acta, VI, no. II.

43. Praktikon of Gazes, P., Pringeps, G. (for Lavra [1409])Google Scholar, Collège de France no. 215.

44. Turski izvori za B’lgarskata istorija, ser. XV-XVI, no. II, edd. Todorov, N. and Nedkov, B. (Izvori za B’lgarskata istorija, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, 1966), p. 451 Google Scholar.

45. Lavra, Agia Euphemia, 1321, 19.