The Island of the Pope - by Dimitris Kousouris (Hardcover)

About the Book

For the Aegean island of Syros, the Greek Revolution (1821-1832) marked a significant turning point. Known as "the island of the Pope", due to its Catholic majority, Syros transformed into a major commercial hub, seemingly triggering the withdrawal of its indigenous Latin community. Juxtaposing the view from the Archipelago with that from Istanbul, the Peloponnese, Rome, Paris and Vienna, this volume revisits the island's history. From early encounters between native inhabitants and groups from across the Ottoman Levant, to how the Latin community navigated conflict and change during the Greek War of Independence, this book offers new insights into the political, cultural and social history of the region.

Book Synopsis

For the Aegean island of Syros, the Greek Revolution (1821-1832) marked a significant turning point. Known as "the island of the Pope", due to its Catholic majority, Syros transformed into a major commercial hub, seemingly triggering the withdrawal of its indigenous Latin community. Juxtaposing the view from the Archipelago with that from Istanbul, the Peloponnese, Rome, Paris and Vienna, this volume revisits the island's history. From early encounters between native inhabitants and groups from across the Ottoman Levant, to how the Latin community navigated conflict and change during the Greek War of Independence, this book offers new insights into the political, cultural and social history of the region.

Review Quotes

"This is a very well written study of the Catholic communities in the Aegean Sea during the Greek revolution, a case study for the historical transition from the imperial experiences to the new, for the nineteenth century, reality of the nation-state in-the-making and the new national identities. [...] [It] is the only study of the Greek Revolution from the point of view of the Catholic communities in the Levant, combining the local, regional, and international level of analysis." - Elias Kolovos, University of Crete.

About the Author

Dimitris Kousouris is a Researcher at the National Hellenic Research Foundation. He holds a PhD from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris and has taught Modern History at the Universities of Crete, Constance, Princeton, Columbia, Chicago, and Vienna. His recent publications include; Histoire des procés des collaborateurs en Gréce (1944-1949) (Presses de I'lnalco: Paris, 2017) and the co-edited volume, Understanding the Greek Revolution of 1821 (Brill: Leiden, 2024).