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A kavass or cavass is an Ottoman Turkish term for an armed guard fulfilling various roles, often in the service of local notables and European foreigners of high status or means.
A kavass or cavass is an Ottoman Turkish term for an armed guard fulfilling various roles, often in the service of local notables and European foreigners of high status or means.
The Turkish word is derived from the Arabic qawwās, 'archer', [1] [2] qaws meaning 'bow'. [3]
Kavass is often spelled in English as kawas or kawass, especially in geographical contexts where Arabic exerts an influence on the author.
The kavass was mainly known as a type of 19th-century Ottoman guard and escort, serving local and foreign dignitaries such as ambassadors and consuls. [1] [4] In the Holy Land (Ottoman Palestine) for instance, the right to employ kawasses was a prerogative of the Christian patriarchs [lower-alpha 1] and was only extended to the chief rabbi of the Palestinian Jews in 1842, along with his recognition as the official representative of the community (see millet system). [5] This was quite significant, as a kawass was entitled to strike a misbehaving citizen even if he was a Muslim. [5]
Kavasses preserved public order at the important worship spots of the Holy Land, which was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1516 until 1918, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. They still are employed there, but with a primarily ceremonial role, as law enforcement is provided by the normal state authorities.[ citation needed ]
The 1911 entry in the Encyclopædia Britannica defines the kavass as "an armed police-officer; also for a courier such as it is usual to engage when travelling in Turkey." [3] At the time, "Turkey" would still usually mean the entire declining Ottoman Empire.
More generally, in the words of the famous Nazi-time spy 'Cicero', by his real name Elyesa Bazna (1904–1970), "in Turkey anyone who serves a foreigner is known as a kavass, a term used especially for servants at foreign embassies." [6]
The ecumenical patriarch is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul) and New Rome, and primus inter pares among the heads of the several autocephalous churches which compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as the representative and spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide. The term ecumenical in the title is a historical reference to the Ecumene, a Greek designation for the civilised world, i.e. the Roman Empire, and it stems from Canon 28 of the Council of Chalcedon.
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Patriarchate is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were established by the apostles as apostolic sees in the 1st century: Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria. Constantinople was added in the 4th century and Jerusalem in the 5th century. Eventually, together, these five were recognised as the pentarchy by the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
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Cyril Lucaris or Loukaris was a Greek prelate and theologian, and a native of Candia, Crete. He later became the Greek Patriarch of Alexandria as Cyril III and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople as Cyril I. He has been said to have attempted a reform of the Eastern Orthodox Church along Calvinist Protestant lines. Attempts to bring Calvinism into the Orthodox Church were rejected, and Cyril's actions, motivations, and specific viewpoints remain a matter of debate among scholars. Cyril is locally venerated as a hieromartyr in the Alexandrian Orthodox Church; the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria glorified Loukaris on 6 October 2009, and his memory is commemorated on 27 June.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the RūmOrthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox church within the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and one of the historic Pentarchy. Headed by the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Antioch, it considers itself the successor to the Christian community founded in Antioch by the Apostles Peter and Paul. It is one of the largest Christian denominations of the Middle East, alongside the Copts of Egypt and the Maronites of Lebanon.
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Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Fanariots were members of prominent Greek families in Phanar, the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is located, who traditionally occupied four important positions in the Ottoman Empire: Voivode of Moldavia, Voivode of Wallachia, Grand Dragoman of the Porte and Grand Dragoman of the Fleet. Despite their cosmopolitanism and often-Western education, the Phanariots were aware of their Greek ancestry and culture; according to Nicholas Mavrocordatos' Philotheou Parerga, "We are a race completely Hellenic".
The term Melkite, also written Melchite, refers to various Eastern Christian churches of the Byzantine Rite and their members originating in the Middle East. The term comes from the common Central Semitic root m-l-k, meaning "royal", referring to the loyalty to the Byzantine emperor. The term acquired religious connotations as denominational designation for those Christians who accepted imperial religious policies, based on Christological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon (451).
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Antiochian Greek Christians are a Middle-Eastern Eastern Christian group residing in the Levant region. They are either members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch or the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and they have ancient roots in the Levant, more specifically, the territories of western Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, western Jordan, and the southern Turkish province of Hatay, which includes the city of Antakya —one of the holiest cities in Eastern Christianity. Many of their descendants now live in the global Near Eastern Christian diaspora. With Arabic becoming the lingua franca in the Levant, they primarily speak Levantine Arabic.
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The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, also known as the Sanjak of Jerusalem, was an Ottoman district with special administrative status established in 1872. The district encompassed Jerusalem as well as Hebron, Jaffa, Gaza and Beersheba. During the late Ottoman period, the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, together with the Sanjak of Nablus and Sanjak of Akka (Acre), formed the region that was commonly referred to as "Palestine". It was the 7th most heavily populated region of the Ottoman Empire's 36 provinces.
This is a timeline of the presence of Eastern Orthodoxy in Greece. The history of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically, as well as the territory now composing the modern state of Greece.
This is a timeline of the presence of Eastern Orthodoxy in Greece from 1821 to 1924. The history of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically, as well as the territory now composing the modern state of Greece.
The Armenian Quarter is one of the four sectors of the walled Old City of Jerusalem. Located in the southwestern corner of the Old City, it can be accessed through the Zion Gate and Jaffa Gate. It occupies an area of 0.126 km², which is 14% of the Old City's total. In 2007, it had a population of 2,424. In both criteria, it is comparable to the Jewish Quarter. The Armenian Quarter is separated from the Christian Quarter by David Street and from the Jewish Quarter by Habad Street.
Ludwig Carl Moyzisch was a diplomatic attaché of the Nazi German Embassy in Ankara, Turkey in 1943. Under this cover, he led the work of the German secret services in Turkey, including Elyesa Bazna, codename 'Cicero'. Moyzisch wrote the book Operation Cicero in part to explain his role and activities working for the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). The book was subsequently adapted into the film 5 Fingers, starring James Mason as the spy.
