THE GREEK REVOLUTION (1821)

Following the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Empire in 1453,
most of Greece came under Ottoman rule. During this time, there were
several revolt attempts by Greeks to gain independence from Ottoman
control. In 1814, a secret organization called the Filiki Eteria was founded
with the aim of liberating Greece. The Filiki Eteria planned to launch revolts
in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities, and in Constantinople and
its surrounding areas. The first of these revolts began on 6 March 1821 in the
Danubian Principalities, but was soon put down by the Ottomans. The events
in the north urged the Greeks in the Peloponnese into action and on 17 March
1821, the Maniots declared war on the Ottomans. This declaration was the
start of a "Spring" or revolutionary actions from other controlled states
against the Ottoman Empire.
By the end of the month, the Peloponnese was in open revolt against the
Turks and by October 1821, the Greeks underTheodoros Kolokotronis had
captured Tripolitsa. The Peloponnesian revolt was quickly followed by
revolts in Crete,Macedonia, and Central Greece, which would soon be
suppressed. Meanwhile, the makeshift Greek navy was achieving success
against the Ottoman navy in theAegean Sea and prevented Ottoman
reinforcements from arriving by sea.
The kleftes due to their difficult life as thieves in the mountains, ate whenever
they found food. Therefore, they could not follow their othodox beliefs and
customs, since when they found meat, they ate it. When on Megali Tetarti,
Kolokotronis ate lamb- overthrowing the fest, he bared the incident in big
guilt and always prayed for forgiveness:
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Tensions soon developed among different Greek factions, leading to two
consecutive civil wars. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Sultan negotiated with
Mehmet Ali of Egypt, who agreed to send his son Ibrahim Pasha to Greece
with an army to suppress the revolt in return for territorial gain. Ibrahim
landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825 and had immediate success: by
the end of 1825, most of the Peloponnese was under Egyptian control, and the
city of Missolonghiput under siege by the Turks since April 1825fell in
April 1826. Although Ibrahim was defeated in Mani, he had succeeded in
suppressing most of the revolt in the Peloponnese and Athens had been
retaken.
The Peloponnese, with its long tradition of resistance to the Ottomans, was to
become the heartland of the revolt. In the early months of 1821, with the
absence of the Ottoman governor of the Morea Mora valisi Hursid Pasha and
many of his troops, the situation was favourable for the Greeks to rise against
Ottoman occupation. The crucial meeting was held at Vostitsa (modern
Aigion near Patras), where chieftains and prelates from all over the
Peloponnese assembled on 26 January. There, Papaflessas, a pro-revolution
priest who presented himself as representative of Filiki Eteria clashed with
most of the civil leaders and members of the senior clergy, such as
Metropolitan Germanos of Patras, who were sceptical and demanded
guarantees about a Russian intervention.
As news came of Ypsilantis' march into the Danubian Principalities, the
atmosphere in the Peloponnese was tense, and by mid-March, sporadic
incidents against Muslims occurred, heralding the start of the uprising.
According to the tradition, the Revolution was declared on 25 March 1821 by
Metropolitan Germanos who raised the banner with the cross in the
Monastery ofAgia Lavra, although some historians question the historicity of
the event.
On 17 March 1821, war was declared on the Turks by the Maniots in Areopoli.
The same day, a force of 2,000 Maniots under the command of Petros

Mavromichalis advanced on the Messenian town of Kalamata, where they

united with troops under Theodoros Kolokotronis, Nikitaras and Papaflessas;
Kalamata fell to the Greeks on 23 March.
In Achaia, the town of Kalavryta was besieged on 21 March, and in Patras
conflicts lasted for many days. The Ottomans launched sporadic attacks
towards the city while the revolutionaries, led by Panagiotis Karatzas, drove
them back to the fortress.
By the end of March, the Greeks effectively controlled the countryside, while
the Turks were confined to the fortresses, most notably those of Patras
(recaptured by the Turks on 3 April by Yussuf Pasha), Rio, Acrocorinth,
Monemvasia, Nafplion and the provincial capital, Tripolitsa, where many
Muslims had fled with their families at the beginning of the uprising. All
these were loosely besieged by local irregular forces under their own
captains, since the Greeks lacked artillery. With the exception of Tripolitsa, all
sites had access to the sea and could be resupplied and reinforced by the
Ottoman fleet. Since May, Kolokotronis organized the siege of Tripolitsa, and,
in the meantime, Greek forces twice defeated the Turks, who unsuccessfully
tried to repulse the besiegers. Finally, Tripolitsa was seized by the Greeks on
23 Septemberand the city was given over to the mob for two days. After
lengthy negotiations, the Turkish forces surrendered Actrocorinth on 14
January 1822.

Georgios Dimitrios Flessas was his birth name. His monastic name was
Gregory Flessas ( , Grigrios Flssas) or Papaflessas,
while the pseudonym he used later in his life was Gregory Dikaios
( , Grigrios Dhikos).
Gregory "Papaflessas" Dikaios or Georgios Flessas or Flesias (), was
born in 1788 in the village of Poliani in Messinia. His father was Demetrios G.
Flessas ( ), son of the klepht Georgios Dimitriou Flesaas
( ), and his mother, the second wife of
Demtrios, was Constantina Andronaiou ( ) from
Dimitsana. In 1809, he attended school at the renowned school of Dimitsana,
from whence many Greek national heroes graduated. While in school, he
published a satire and pinned it on the door of Dimitsana Pasha (the Turkish

local governor at the time) signing it "Gregorios PHOS Kalamios" (

). Realizing he was in danger from his action
he was sent in 1815 to become a priest or monk, taking the ecclesiastical name
of Gregorios Flessas or Papaflessas. For a short time, he served in this
capacity in the monastery of Velanidia, situated outside of the city of
Kalamata, Messinia.

Returning to Constantinople from his successful mission Papaflessas again

came to the attention of the Turkish authorities and had to flee. At the end of
1820, he sailed to Kydonia of Asia Minor and catechised all scholars of the Big
School (as it was called there) while awaiting the arrival of war supplies from
Smyrna. From Smyrna he received military supplies and the assurance of
additional ammunition if needed.
Papaflessas traveled to several areas seeking support for a revolution against
the Ottoman Empire. At the Saint George monastery he called a meeting of
Greek authorities and High Priests to discuss if the time was right to start the
a revolution. After heated arguments the meeting was postponed for a later
time in the monastery of Agia Lavra.
In January 1821 meetings took place with Papaflessas recounting his supplies
and assurances of support coming from Russia. Concerns about the
practicalities of war and the uncertainty of the promises of military support
lead the other participants to propose to secretly jail Flessas in the monastery
of Agia Lavra in order to avoid problems for the nation. But Papaflessas had
armed supporters and no one dared arrest him. The synod decided to get
further information and the opinion of neighbouring countries before starting
a revolution.
Flessas' problem was with the upper class (landowners) in the villages and
municipalities, including the top echelon of the clergy, who did not trust
Papaflessas, and his mission was received with a great deal of scepticism and
fear. He felt safer to approach first farmers and peasants and the poor class of
people who were easily magnetized by his speeches looked upon him as the
messiah of their freedom.
After the meeting he went to Kalavryta and met with Nikolaos Souliotis and
Asimakis Skaltsas in order for them to write a letter in the first 10 days of
March 1821 to Oikonomos Eliopoulos. Then he retreated to Kalyvia Kalamata

waiting for news from Souliotis and Skaltsas and the arrival in Almyros, a
small port near Kalamata, of the boat with the war supplies. From Kalyvia he
went secretly to Gardikion (now Amfeia) near his hometown Poliani and
learned that the small boat of Mexis Poriotis arrived in Almyros. Papaflessas
immediately called his brothers.
In March 1821, he received news the ship with military supplies had arrived.
He gathered about 400 men with mules and donkeys from the Poliani area
and went to AlmyrosKalamata. In order to unload the boat they had to have
the authorization of the area's harbourmaster, the famous Mavromichalis,
who was in the pay of the Turks security force. The harbourmaster demanded
a large bribe to cover up what the Greeks were unloading.
Papaflessas sent 45,000 grosia to Mavromichalis who accepted it but still did
not sign the proper papers. He wanted half of the supplies in the boat to have
them as reserves to fight the Greeks when they start the revolution against
the Turks. This was agreed to and the supplies were transported to the
monastery of Velanidia, where Papaflessas served as a monk, summoning
prominent "kleftes" chieftains from the area. By purpose or accident some of
the gunpowder was dropped at a local well and the next day the stablemen of
the local Pasha found and reported it. The Pasha summoned all the
prominent Greeks and clergy from the Kalamata area and jailed them.
Papaflessas arranged his men to cover various strategic positions in the area.
When a Turkish sympathizer tried to leave the city he was killed, starting the
war of Independence on March 21, 1821. In Mani a gathering of the captains
of the rebels had decided to start the revolution on March 25, 1821, but
received news on the 22nd that the fighting had already begun. The Greek
War of Independence officially started on March 25, 1821, and brought a great
change to the Church of the free kingdom. The clergy had taken a leading
part in the revolution.
When Ibrahim Pasha invaded the Peloponnese in 1825 (with an army
consisted mostly by Egyptians), Papaflessas was still Minister of Internal
Affairs. Realizing the great danger the nation was facing with the Ibrahim's
invasion, he demanded the government grant amnesty to Kolokotronis and
other political prisoners. This demand was refused and he appeared before
the Executive Branch and Parliament to tell them he would go to Messinia
alone to organize a resistance against Ibrahim, determined to return
victorious or die in the battlefield.
Papaflessas gathered 3,000 poorly armed men and went to the province of

Pylia, Messinia, searching for the best spot to face Ibrahim's army coming out
of the city of Pylos. He selected the hills of Maniaki in order for him to have a
better view of the enemy's movements and there Papaflessas established
three lines of defence. On June 1, 1825, Ibrahim's forces led by well-trained
French officers attacked Papaflessas' defence lines. Most of the Greek troops
lost their nerve, abandoned their positions, and fled. Papaflessas continued to
fight the Egyptians with a small force of 800-1000 men loyal to him and his
cause.
Papaflessas knew that in choosing to face Ibrahim he would die on the
battlefield. Papaflessas's defenses were ultimately broken by the heavy
bombardment of Ibrahim's artillery and the repeated attacks of his infantry
and cavalry. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting ended with the death of the last
defender.
After Papaflessa's death from a bullet in the chest, Ibrahim ordered that his
body be cleaned of blood and dirt and tied to a tree. After a few minutes of
looking at his foe, Ibrahim walked up to the corpse and kissed it on the cheek
as a sign of extreme respect. In speaking of Papaflessas after his death, it is
said that Ibrahim told his officers: "If Greece had ten heroes like him, it would
not have been possible for me to undertake the military campaign against the
Peloponnese".

Executions of the Patriarch and the Grand Dragoman

Although the Patriarch found himself forced to excommunicate the

revolutionaries, he still failed to appease the Ottoman rulers. Later, on the

same day as the excommunication, the Sultan ordered the execution of the
Grand Dragoman, Konstantinos Mourouzis. He was arrested at the house of
the Reis Effendi and beheaded, while his body was displayed in public.
Moreover, his brother and various other leading members of the Phanariote
families were also executed, although in fact only a few Phanariotes were
connected with the revolutionaries.
Despite the efforts of the Orthodox Patriarch to profess his loyalty to the
Sultan, the latter remained unconvinced. One week after the
excommunication, on Easter Sunday, April, 22, 1821, he was grabbed by
Ottoman soldiers during the liturgy and hanged at the central gate of the
Patriarchate. Thus, although he was completely uninvolved with the
Revolution, his death was ordered as an act of revenge. His body remained
suspended at the gate for three days, and was then handed to a Jewish mob
(there had been animosity between the Greek and Jewish communities of
Constantinople at the time), dragged through the streets before being thrown
into the Golden Horn. The body was eventually picked up by the Greek crew
of a Russian ship, brought to Odessa, and fifty years later was brought to
Greece, where, on the one hundredth anniversary of his death, Gregory V
was formally proclaimed a saint by the Greek Orthodox Church. Gregory's
execution caused outrage throughout Greece and the rest of Europe, and
resulted in an upsurge of sympathy and support for the rebels in Europe. The
gate from which he was hung remains closed to this day