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The World View of the Anonymous Author of the Greek Chronicle of the Tocco

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The World View of the Anonymous Author of the Greek Chronicle of the Tocco THE WORLD VIEW OF THE ANONYMOUS AUTHOR OF THE GREEK CHRONICLE OF THE TOCCO (14th-15th centuries) by THEKLA SANSARIDOU-HENDRICKX THESIS submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF ARTS in GREEK in the FACULTY OF ARTS at the RAND AFRIKAANS UNIVERSITY PROMOTER: DR F. BREDENKAMP JOHANNESBURG NOVEMBER 2000 EFACE When I began with my studies at the Rand Afrikaans University, and when later on I started teaching Modern Greek in the Department of Greek and Latin Studies, I experienced the thrill of joy and the excitement which academic studies and research can provide to its students and scholars. These opportunities finally allowed me to write my doctoral thesis on the world view of the anonymous author of the Greek Chronicle of the Tocco. I wish to thank all persons who have supported me while writing this study. Firstly, my gratitude goes to Dr Francois Bredenkamp, who not only has guided me throughout my research, but who has always been available for me with sound advice. His solid knowledge and large experience in the field of post-classical Greek Studies has helped me in tackling Byzantine Studies from a mixed, historical and anthropological view point. I also wish to render thanks to my colleagues, especially in the Modern Greek Section, who encouraged me to continue my studies and research. 1 am indebted to Prof. W.J. Henderson, who has corrected my English. Any remaining mistakes in the text are mine. Last but not least, my husband, Prof. B. Hendrickx, deserves my profound gratitude for his patience, encouragement and continuous support. 11 CONTENTS Preface II Contents III Introduction 1 The study and its aim 2 Method 4 Historical Overview 8 Internal factors 9 External factors 15 The Author and his World View Defining the term "world view" 24 World division in the author's conceptualisation .... 29 Christians versus Muslims 38 Ethnic world division 40 The Author's Ideational System of Thought: The Social Aspect 73 Dignities (giciiparct) 74 The ruling and the ruled classes 94 Social relationships 104 The Author's Ideational System of Thought: Cultural Aspect 121 Aesthetic perceptions of the author 122 Decorative terms 125 Christian ethics and the Bible 143 III "Ages of Life" in the Author's Conceptualisation 155 "Ages of Life" in the Chronicle of the Tocco 157 Gender differentiation 163 Political role of the children 164 Women and Gender Relations through the Author's Prism 169 The woman as daughter 175 The woman as wife 186 The woman as mother 190 The Author's Conception of Death 197 eavarog as a literary tool 200 eavarog as a factual event 201 eavarog : death by human factor 202 Metaphysical intervention: God's will or fate 207 Conclusion 214 Bibliography 217 Abstract 239 Map 242 IV Chapter 1 Introduction Written in 3923 "political verses", the anonymous Chronicle of the Tocco is an epic family chronicle, which describes the history of the Tocco family - mainly the deeds of Carlo I Tocco, as well as the events which took place in Western Greece and the islands of Zakynthos (Zante), Leukas, Cephalonia (Cephallenia) and Ithaca during the years 1375-1422 1 . It starts with the death of Leonardo I Tocco (ca 1375) 2 and ends with the beginning of the war between Carlo I Tocco and the two Palaiologoi despots of the Byzantine Peloponnesos, Theodoros II and Constantinos XI, in 1422 3. Edited by Giuseppe Schiro 4, the text provides a great deal of factual information with regard to the political, economic, cultural and social life in the Epirote cities of Arta and Ioannina5 . This chronicle thus forms part of these sources which describe the I The Chronicle of Ioannina, which is written in erudite Greek, is dated to the same period: Vranousis, "Xpovixo TCOV Icoavivvow", pp. 57-66. 2 For the problems of the exact chronology, see Schiro, Cronaca dei Tocco, pp. 25-26. Cf. Beck, Bvcavrivij Aoyorezvia, p. 253; Zachariadou, "Xpovtith TCOV TOKICO", passim. ' The reason for the conflicts was the occupation of Clarentsa which fell into the hands of the Byzantines in 1426; Zakythinos, Despotat, II, 144-145. On the despot; Theodoros II (1408-1443), and the last Byzantine emperor, Constantinos XI Palaiologos (1449-53), see Nicol, Byzantium, pp. 357- 365, 390 4 Schire, Cronaca dei Tocco; see bibliography. 5 For a recent evaluation of the Chronicle of the Tocco, see Zachariadou, "Xpovtico TCOV 'roma)", p.158. For factual information, see Talbot, "Tocco", vol. III, p. 2090; Kassapides, "Taxicot", pp. 379- 382. 1 troubled history of Greece after its occupation by the Crusaders and up to and including the beginning of the Turkish period. Besides its historical significance, this chronicle also represents an important source of linguistic value; unlike the majority of Byzantine sources, which are written in erudite Greek, The Chronicle of the Tocco, like The Chronicle of Morea, is written in the vernacular6. It must be noted that the first 800 verses of the text in the Codex Vatic. Gr. 1831 and in its copy, the Codex Vatic. Gr. 2241, are missing. Except Schir6's thorough and commendable historical examination of the Chronicle of the Tocco 7 , there has not been any specialised study on the social, political, economic and cultural aspects of this Chronicle, neither on the author's prism. Thus, the importance of the present study will reside - we believe - in the thorough analysis of the above mentioned aspects. While concentrating on the anonymous author's value system, his social and cultural views, religious beliefs and moral standards will be measured against the late medieval Byzantine background, characterised by the tensions and the symbiosis between different ethnic and religious groups. 1. The study and its aim This is the study of an unknown man's view of his contemporary Byzantine world how it was structured and functioned both socially and culturally. In other words, this is an attempt to reconstruct the world view of an unknown individual, through expression of his emotions, impressions, principles and norms in connection with various aspects of his environment. By this approach, I trust, the anonymous author's value system can be "re-created" and examined in association with the collective 6 For a comparison, see Beck, BvcavrtVli Aoyorezvia, pp. 249-253; Beaton, Romance, pp. 92-93. ' See Kazhdan, "Chronicle of the Tocco", pp. 169-179. 2 cultural norms, set and shared by his contemporary society. Thus, besides the author's aesthetic perception of the external, physical aspects of his environment, collective and individual stereotypes found in ideologies (such as ethnocentrism, provincialism, patriotism, and class differentiation), as well as religious and social moral values (such as piety, faith, sin, generosity, divine intervention) will be identified and analysed. Our author's perception of his world order may be seen "from the inside" through his concepts, opinions, impressions, criticisms and praises. These are expressed either directly or indirectly throughout his narrative, and refer to certain situations, events, characters and the human condition in general (such as the eternal question of life and death). Certain values, which are expressed by the author through his concepts and opinions, may appear as contradicting one another. These cases will be analysed according to the author's perception of a certain event and measured against related collective ideology, i.e. generally-held conceptions and values, as well as factual information. Thus, in order to realise the purpose of our study, we shall examine the relationship and interaction between individual and collective concepts in the Chronicle; establish the Chronicle's value as a source of information g on the political, economic, social and cultural life in Western Greece during a significant section of the later Byzantine era (1375-1422); try to reach a better understanding of the mentality of multi-ethnic Byzantine society, especially in Western Greece during the 14 th and 15th centuries. 8 For the historical value of the text regarding especially the history of Epiros, see Schiro, Cronaca dei Tocco, pp. 8-10; Beck, Bvcays-wn Aoyorezvia, p. 253. 3 2. Method Based on a combined historical-anthropological approach, the subject matter will be placed on two different levels: First, the necessary factual information regarding the main events, covered by the narrative, as well as their consequences in the political and economic life in Byzantium, will be presented in a summarised form, covering the period from 1261 to 1453. In addition, relevant factual information will appear in the text or footnotes in the course of our study. Secondly, the term world view will be examined from a comparative point of view in terms of relevant definitions and methodological approaches. Regarding our study, however, according to certain relevant expressions, the author's ideational system (or conceptualisation) will be divided into two aspects: the external aspect, which refers to the author's aesthetic perceptions and his acquired and commonly shared cultured ideas, and the internal aspect, which refers to his world "from inside" and consists of ethic standards. Both will be reconstructed in terms of the author's evaluative standards, which will be identified in the Chronicle and contextually analysed. Placed in the context of the author's contemporary society, special attention will be paid to religious beliefs, moral norms and principles. As for the selection and reconstruction of the various aspects of the author's world view, we will rely on two factors: (a) the appearance and occurrence of terms in the Chronicle which reveal the author's world perceptions; 4 (b) the degree of attention these aspects receive, directly or indirectly, by the author himself Moreover, in restructuring our author's world view, we will take under consideration other Byzantine sources, which form part of the Greek oral tradition and are connected with our Chronicle historically, linguistically and culturally 9.
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