Posts in category: Η ιστορία αρχίζει…2 – Παντοκράτορος

The Athonites supported the revolution led by Emmanuel Pappa in Eastern Macedonia by every means possible, even providing him with the cannons from the towers. Unfortunately, his failed campaign opened the ‘sack of Aiolos’ for the Athonites: In 1822, Ottoman forces entered Mt Athos and based themselves inside the monasteries, forcing the monks to provide for their needs. In a document from 1827, two officials of the Monastery, the Prior Theoclitos and the Elder Agapios comment that: 'Now that it is known what has happened, we will be deprived of good bread.'
Most of the monks at the Monastery, as well as the other Athonite monks, had already abandoned Mt Athos before the invasion of the Turkish troops. They left on boats belonging to the Monastery, first sailing to Thasos and from there to Skopelos, taking all the valuables of the Monastery with them. Upon their arrival in Skopelos, the artefacts were recorded and given to Droso Mansolo and Kyriako Tasika, two high-ranking representatives of the Hellenic Parliament of Corinth, for the purpose of using the items to help meet the needs of the revolution. According to K. Notara, the Minister of the Hellenic Economy at that time, the silver and gold obtained from the artefacts amounted to 6,250 γρόσια (grosia, Turkish coins). Any artefacts which were not used were taken to the Monastery of the Great Cave in the Peloponnese, from where they were eventually returned to the Monastery in 1830, after the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from Mt Athos, by order of the first Governor of Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias.

The seizure of the Athonite lands by Sultan Selim II in 1568 forced the monasteries to borrow large sums of money at exorbitant rates in order to buy back their dependencies. This fact, together with the high taxes imposed, caused serious economic problems to all the monasteries, including the Pantokratoros, which it attempted to resolve by resorting to soliciting donations. Furthermore, the appropriation of the large dependency in Limnos in 1958 required the Monastery to pay 130,300 άσπρα (aspra, silver coins) to recover it. Donations of money and land helped in the improvement of conditions in the 17th century: In 1629, the Vlachian ruler Ioannis Alexandros offered the Katsori Monastery to the Pantokratoros as a dependency. In general, the following period was characterized by alternate cycles of economic decline and recovery, depending on the circumstances.

In documents from 1501, Staikos, the ruler of Vlachia, is recorded as being the new founder of the Monastery. This began an important period of sponsorship by leaders of Vlachia and Moldavia, who supported the Athonite communities particularly during the 16th century, and to a large degree shaped the present day appearance of the structures within the Monastery complex.
Another important sponsor was the Moldavian ruler Neagoe Basarab Kraioveskou, who is also known for his close relationship with the hieromonk Nifon and his work at the Dionysios Monastery. In his Romanian biography, he is characterised as the founder of both the Pantokratoros and Iviron monasteries.
Vasilieos Barski refers to the third founder as ‘Barboulos’; however, no evidence has been found which connects this name with any of the similarly-named rulers of the period. Gabriel Totousianos, the great Moldavian Treasurer and Chancellor (1516-1523, 1539-1541), funded the repairs to the Byzantine aqueduct in 1536/7.

In 1392, a fire destroyed a significant part of the structures, including the archives of the Monastery. Apart from the necessary reconstruction of buildings, the monks needed to recover and to reissue the most important documents which ensured the rights of the Monastery. Among such documents, three imperial decrees (χρυσόβουλλα, chrysobulls) of the Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos from 1393, 1394, and 1396 have survived, which validate the property rights of the Monastery in Limnos and in Eastern Macedonia. These are followed by four ecclesiastical edicts (σιγίλλια, sigillia) by the ecumenical patriarch Antonios IV, two which decree the dependencies in Eastern Macedonia and Limnos, and the other two which regulate issues related to the independence of the Monastery from the Proton of Mt Athos and local ecclesiastical authorities, and also with the life within the monastic community (e.g., the relationship between the Abbot and the monks.