About Emmanuel Vaskidovich`s “Kratko izlozhenie za soedinenieto na dvete uchilishta Svishtovski, uchilishteto na bozhestvenoto preobrazhenie i sveti apostoli”, or the first published communities’ statute

The publication of Emanuel Vaskidovitch „Kratko izlozhenie za saedinenieto na dvete uchilishta Svishtovski“ is known to the researchers, as an application of “Hristiyansko pouchenie ili sokrashtenie na Sveshtenniyata katihisisa” however to this day no researcher has commented upon the master copies which have been used for the making of the publication. „Kratko izlozhenie“ in essence, it’s the first printed draft for the communities` statute in the Bulgarian language. In the present article I demonstrate my thesis, that the author adjusts the only known published statute of Greek Orthodox community from the early 19th century „Sistyma i diatagai“, compounded from Melenikon’s citizens in 1813 is made known to the Bulgarian public. Source of unmatched value, this statute provides us with precious information for the development of the subsidiarity, for the entry of social elements in the Melenikon’s administration, as for the rules which this happens.

Islam and Nationalism in Modern Greece, 1821-1940

Drawing from a wide range of primary archival and secondary Greek, Bulgarian, and Turkish sources, the book explores the way the Muslim populations of Greece were ruled by state authorities from Greece’s political emancipation from the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s up to the country’s entrance into World War II, in October 1940. In particular, the book examines how state rule influenced the development of the Muslim populations’ collective identity as a minority and how it affected Muslim relations with the Greek authorities, Greek Orthodox Christians, and other ethnic and religious groups. Greece was the first country to become an independent state in the Balkans and a pioneer in experimenting with minority issues. With regards to its Muslim populations, Greece’s ruling framework, and many of the country’s state administrative measures and patterns were to serve as a template at a later stage in other Christian Orthodox Balkan states with Muslim minorities (e.g., Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Cyprus): Muslim religious officials were empowered with authorities they did not have in Ottoman times, and aspects of Islamic law (sharia) were incorporated into the state legal system to be used for Muslim family and property affairs. The book shows that these and any policies can be ambivalent and cannot be a guide to present-day solutions. It also argues that religion remained a defining element and that religious nationalism and public institutions played an important role in the development of religious and ethnic identity.

Muslims in the Kingdom of Hellas (1832–1880)

This chapter discusses the legacy of the Greek War of Independence and its impact on the lives of Muslims in the Kingdom of Hellas up until 1880, particularly the ways in which the war determined the legal and social status of Muslims as well as their relations with the Greek state and the Ottoman Empire. The chapter also explores Muslims’ coexistence with Christian Orthodox in the kingdom. Was the legal and social status of Muslims in Greece the same as that of Greek Orthodox and other religious groups? How did “Muslim philhellenes,” sympathizers, and supporters of the Greek War of Independence fare in the new state?

Chrysanthine theoretical thought and notation system-The relation between Orality and Textuality

Two centuries after the release of Chrysanthos’ Εισαγωγή εις το Θεωρητικόν και Πρακτικόν της Εκκλησιαστικής Μουσικής, this treatise remains one of the most important sources of theoretical thought in the field of Greek Orthodox Ecclesiastical Music. Moreover, it is widely known that the theoretical essays of Chrysanthos played a catalytic role regarding the structure of the modal system of Octaechia, the formulation of the new Parasemantiki notation, as well as contemporary performance practices. Indeed, Chrysanthos’ contribution to the reformation of the notation system as well as the way he attributed the theoretical content of Ecclesiastical Music, influenced the entire theoretical thought that was produced, at least until the last decades of the 19th century[1]. Therefore, despite individual disagreements that were expressed within the psaltic milieu of the 19th century[2], almost all of the theoreticians who succeeded Chrysanthos based their thought on his fundamental principles. Thus, it is worth mentioning that in treatises that followed the Reform of 1814, repetitions are frequently detected, even of Chrysanthos’ points that could be considered as scientifically problematic[3].[1] See Νίκος Ανδρίκος, Η Εκκλησιαστική μουσική της Σμύρνης (1800-1922), (2015), 124.[2] About this issue, see Αντώνιος Χατζόπουλος, Η εκκλησιαστική μουσική παιδεία στην εκκλησία της Κωνσταντινουπόλεως κατά το 19ο και 20ό αιώνα, (2000); Αχιλλεύς Χαλδαιάκης, “Η διδασκαλία της Ψαλτικής Τέχνης: Παρελθόν, παρόν και μέλλον”, Βυζαντινομουσικολογικά, Τόμος Α΄, Θεωρία, (2014), 50-52.[3] Among others, the most indicative example was the repetition of Chrysanthos’ misguided calculation-measurement of the basic scale’s size. This issue became the reason of a wide discourse between important theoreticians of the 19th century through the daily and periodical press and led to the convocation of the Music Committee of 1881. See Ανδρίκος, 135-145.