Supervisors info:
Όλγα Κατσιαρδή-Hering, Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια Ιστορίας Νέου Ελληνισµού, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Βάσω Σειρηνίδου, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Νέου Ελληνισμού, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Άννα Ταμπάκη, Καθηγήτρια Θεατρολογίας και Ιστορίας του Θεάτρου, Τμήμα Θεατρικων Σπουδών, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
This particular master examines the presence of the Phanariote women in the Danubian Principalities of Walachia and Moldavia from 1712 up to 1821, a timeline that coincides with the action and authority of the Phanariotes in the Walachia and Moldavia.
The impeachment of the ‘classical type’ of the Phanariote woman was the beginning of the master, while the quest of the aspects of their life composed its objective. The resources consisted of the theatrical production of the pre-revolutionary theatre, the Phanariote civil lyrics, the memoirs, the diaries, the personal correspondence and the international bibliography.
The thesis was organized in three parts: in the first one, we investigated the Phanariote woman. As a result, we found that she was a woman of noble origins who belonged in the close-knit social group of the Phanariotes. While at the same time we observed a specific type of depiction of the Phanariote woman in the sources and the historiography. More specifically, she was worshiped for her contribution to the nation and she was praised as a representer of civilization. Although she was condemned for her ‘sinful’ feminine nature, in the majority of the time she was presented as a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother or as a nun.
Roles which will introduce us to the second part of this master. First of all, the marriage of the Phanariote wife, in which includes her entire life. The Phanariote marriage was the result of marital tactical movements between the families of the Phanariote elite. A fact that justifies the adultery as well as the one-digit number of divorces in the Phanariote cycles. The marriage is followed by motherhood. The Phanariote woman, as mother obtained a role inside the community and the society. As far as it concerns the Little ladies, they lived their childhood as miniatures of their mothers due to their noble origins
Although the monastic life seems to be a contrary way of living, in the Phanariote aristocratic world the Phanariote nuns used to choose to live in monasteries as a moral or as a spiritual escape from their secular life.
In the third and last part of the master, the Phanariote woman wasn’t sketched from the point of view connected with the society and her family, but from her personal interests and her characteristic features. The Phanariotes women don’t have access to power, but their annual income, the formal sending of gifts and the special protocols testified a sense of their presence in the Hegemonies. Furthermore, they were highlighted as characters of civilization, giving samples of creative writing, translations, and poems. Finally, the theatre, the balls, the music nights, the fashion and the social events completed a noble life in the crossroad of the East and the West.
Keywords:
Phanariote, women, nobles, aristocracy, networks, childhood, marriage, divorces, adultery, motherhood, nuns, social activities
