Michael Kantakouzenos Şeytanoğlu
Michael Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzenus (
Background
Nothing is known of Michael Kantakouzenos' origins and early life. Although he bears the name of
Life
Kantakouzenos made his wealth through successful mercantile speculations, which allowed him to engage in the lucrative
He also secured the profitable monopoly on the salt works of
"The election of the metropolitan proceeds in the same way. Those who have money will make gifts to the Bassas [Pasha] and to Kantakouzenos of several hundred ducats, then this or that one will write to the patriarch: "Give this one there the office of metropolitan; then the patriarch has to obey without speaking a word against it"
Diary of Stephan Gerlach, translated by Papademetriou[9]
Michael became thus the most distinguished and powerful of all Greek magnates (archons) of the Ottoman capital.[7] His influence was such that contemporaries called him "the pillar" of the Greek nation, and the contemporary German scholar Martin Crusius called him "the God" of the Greeks. As a token of his power, he sealed his letters with the double-headed eagle of the Byzantine emperors.[10]
Consequently, Michael played an active role on the sale of offices within the Greek Orthodox community (
Although at first a willing aide in Michael's various schemes, Metrophanes eventually fell out with Kantakouzenos and was deposed in 1572, amidst allegations of treacherous contacts with Western powers.
Michael preferred to live at Anchialos, a city almost exclusively inhabited by Greeks,[4] where he had built a magnificent palace that cost 20,000 ducats and was said to rival the Sultan's own.[1][6] Nevertheless, his extravagance aroused the envy and enmity not only of his fellow Greeks, but of the Turks as well, and when the influence of his patron, Sokollu Mehmed, began to decline, his enemies struck: in July 1576 he was arrested and his property confiscated, but he managed to save his life and secure his release through the intervention of Sokollu Mehmed. Kantakouzenos was able to re-acquire his fortune, but he was again accused of plotting against the Sultan, and on 3 March 1578, he was hanged from the gateway of his palace in Anchialos.[1][6][16]
His possessions, including "an almost infinite number" of silk, brocaded, or velvet clothes, decorated with gold and rubies and other precious stones, as well as horses and other precious items, were auctioned off. Such was the scale of the affair that having bought something "at Şeytanoğlu's auction" became proverbial for future generations.[17] Among the items sold was Kantakouzenos' sizeable library, comprising many valuable manuscripts. It was mostly bought up by the monasteries of Mount Athos, which teamed up for the purpose.[18]
Family
Michael married twice. His first wife is unknown, but he had at least one daughter by her, who married a member of the Rallis family.
His second wife, whom he wed at an advanced age, was a daughter of the
Michael's three sons,
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Finlay 1856, pp. 188–189.
- ^ Iorga 1935, p. 116 n. 6.
- ^ Runciman 1985, p. 197 n. 2.
- ^ a b c Runciman 1985, p. 197.
- ^ Nicol 1968, p. v.
- ^ a b c d Braudel 1995, p. 696.
- ^ a b İnalcık 1997, pp. 211–212.
- ^ a b Iorga 1935, p. 115.
- ^ Papademetriou 2015, p. 152.
- ^ Iorga 1935, p. 116.
- ^ Iorga 1935, pp. 113–114, 116.
- ^ Runciman 1985, p. 199.
- ^ Papademetriou 2015, p. 156.
- ^ Runciman 1985, pp. 199, 200.
- ^ Iorga 1935, pp. 116–117.
- ^ Iorga 1935, p. 117.
- ^ Iorga 1935, pp. 117–118.
- ^ Runciman 1985, pp. 210, 389.
- ^ Iorga 1935, pp. 115–116.
- ^ Cazacu, Matei (2017). Dracula. Brill. p. 192.
- ^ Iorga 1935, pp. 117–120.
Sources
- ISBN 0-520-20330-5.
- Finlay, George (1856). The History of Greece under Othoman and Venetian Domination. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons.
- ISBN 0-521-57456-0.
- Iorga, Nicolae (1935). Byzance après Byzance (in French). Bucharest: Editions de l'Institut d'études byzantines. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- OCLC 390843.
- Papademetriou, Tom (2015). Render Unto the Sultan: Power, Authority, and the Greek Orthodox Church in the Early Ottoman Centuries. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-871789-8.
- ISBN 0-521-31310-4.
- Stefan Gerlach des Aelteren Tagebuch der von zween Glorwürrtigsten römischen Kaysern, Maximiliano und Rudolpho, Beyderseits den Andern dieses Nahmens an die ottomanische Pforte zu Constantinopel abgefertigten Gesandschaft. Herfürgegeben durch seinen Enkel M. Samuelem Gerlachium. Frankfurt a. M., in Verlegung Johann-David Zunners, 1674, 552 p.