Religious Fairs And Historical Topography in the Ottoman Empire:

Religious Fairs in the Ottoman Empires Habitation History:

Christian Feasts in Epiros and Albania as Urban Social Events

And Their Manifestations Displayed in Ecclesiastical Painting of the 16th-17th Century.Dr. Konstantinos Giakoumis

UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK / TIRANA

Summary

The coupling of 16th-17th century historical and demographic evidence from Epiros and Albania presents a totally different view of what consists the urban and what the provincial than what has hitherto been thought. In the light of such findings this paper argues that Christian fairs previously considered being social events of a provincial character need to be perceived as urban experiences. Festivities represented in 16th and 17th century ecclesiastical paintings along with posterior accounts of western travellers can illuminate the character of those feasts.Dipalitsa, along with Messarea [Map 1], both consisting one and the same city, are the capital of [Pogonianis] region. This city thrived especially after the 14th century and, together with its suburbs Avaritsa (Avaric) and Hypsilotera and the two villages to the citys North, was populated by 12,000 families and was home to 74 churches and 43 fountains. While Messarea was inhabited by noblemen and land-holders, in Dipalitsa lived migrant merchants and workers, where numerous tanneries existed. According to the accounts author I. Lampridis, the development of the city was owed to the installation of high-rank civil authorities and a rumoured promotion of the local Diocese to an Archdiocese, as well as to the establishment of a commercial religious fair by Andronicus III Palaeologus (1335-6). This trade-fair started on August 15 and lasted for about a month and persisted until 1792, when it moved to Ioannina where it was still called Pogonian trade-fair. On this trade-fairs early history Emmanuel Becker records that it started in the reign of Justinian I who sponsored the construction of a church at Ypsili Petra (modern Cepo) to accommodate 12 sketes of Mount Dryinon granting them several gifts, among which a fair at Pelakon, where it was held for 500 years before it was transferred to Dryinoupolis (Dropull). Lampridis further mentions that this trade-fair was transferred nearby the Molyvdoskepaston Monastery in 1235-6. The trade-fair in question was very important in that it gathered people not only from the nearby regions, but also from distant areas of Epiros and from as far as Europe; the products were exhibited in a quarter situated half an hour off Dipalitsa, while, besides commercial dealings, the trade-fair strengthened trading ties, intercultural relations and promoted migrating tendencies, which became vitally important in the following centuries.

Travelling in the same region, Franois Pouqueville attended a similar religious fair at the chapel of Prophet Elias in Delvinaki on May 15, 1806 [Map 1], at the feast of the Third Finding of Saint John the Forerunners Holy Head. Pouqueville was impressed by the common participation of both farmers and stock-breeders. The dancing of the well-dressed young boys and girls and the friendly and cheerful atmosphere reminded him of his compatriots in France, when that country lived in the purity of her gentle and cheerful customs. Traditional theatrical acts and marriage customs (weddings often took place during festivals) stopped only with the coming of the following day which summoned the people back to work. Pouqueville also writes that these ecclesiastical festivals took place once or twice annually at each village and were always public and popular, while often connected with trade and cattle fairs.

Pertaining to two different time periods notwithstanding, both sources describe the most important religious trade-fair of the same region. The first source, a 19th century account of a thriving 14th-18th century trade-fair in Dipalitsa / Molyvdoskepaston, clearly indicates the existence of a powerful middle class of merchants and artisans next to the civil nobility and the nearby peasantry, thereby providing clear evidence of the subsistence of a late medieval urban centre in the Epirote hinterland, in the Schlesingers sense of existence of a market, trade, commerce, probably walls and officials. As is known, local and regional fairs, manifestations of a pre-modern economy, provided the organizational backbone to an emerging continental trading system which functioned as a node connecting local, regional and continental markets. Its preservation up to the 18th century indicates the need for specialized exchange fora in areas where uplands and lowlands overlapped so as to channel pastoral products from the mountains towards the grain-growing, urbanised plains at minimal cost. Consequently, there is little doubt that the trade and cattle-fair held in Dipalitsa should be considered as an urban event of a typically late medieval character. In contrast, the second source, a first-hand account of an early 19th century fair, presents a seeming differentiation in the fairs character: in his freedom to travel freely throughout Epiros with his diplomatic immunity, Pouqueville must have chosen the most prominent festival of the region, whose abstractive description showed that Pouqueville was unimpressed by the fair that traditionally accompanies such religious festivities, thereby making his account virtually befitting a typical post-Byzantine, provincial fair of a rustic character, of the type that can still be observed in various religious festivals in Greece and Albania. As is evident, such diversities in the character of religious fairs of the same region denote profound changes in the history of settled areas of the Epirote hinterland that culminated in the 18th century with the development of urban centres known as such until today (e.g. Ioannina, Gjirokastr, etc.).

Delving into the nebulous process of the provincialization of former late medieval urban centres by the 18th century by applying quantitative sociological methods of historical enquiry, this paper aims at showing that several of those highly-reputed late medieval religious trade and cattle fairs described or not in later sources should be considered as urban socioeconomic events, contrary to their character from the ends of the 18th century thereafter. The application of quantitative sociological methods of historical enquiry through historical demography of the regions in question in the 16th and 17th century was conditioned by the absence of solid archaeological, topographical and historical evidence that can cast light on the history of the populated centres of the Epirote hinterland. Historical demography data from the 16th and 17th century consists only one indicator of the habitation types of those populated centres. In addition, taking advantage of pictorial evidence in religious painting, I shall try to grope some of the manifestations of those fairs.

A. 16th and 17th Century Demographic History in Epiros / Albania: The case of Gjirokastrs City and Region.

Disaster theories advanced by early Greek historians, who describe the demographic situation of the Greek provinces, were intended to show that the 16th century was a period of serious demographic decline. However, all of the available evidence leads one to the opposite view, namely that the 16th century was a period of intense demographic development. Studies by Braudel have demonstrated that in the 16th century the population of the Mediterranean rose remarkably in a few decades. Following Braudels conclusions, Barkan, who has examined the demographic problems of the Ottoman Empire, reached the conclusion that the rise of population in the territory of the Sublime Porte was even more impressive, particularly in the cities, whose urban population increased at a higher rate than that of the rural population. Population growth, facing the first signs of the Ottoman crisis, did not continue at the same rate after the end of the 16th century. This has recently been confirmed by scholars who have examined specific case-studies from different Ottoman provinces.

Within the frame of this expansion Epiros and Albania were not exceptions. There, the population rose not only in places today are considered to be cities [Appendix 1], but also in areas today being province both as a whole [Appendix 2], and on a village-to-village basis [Appendix 3]. This situation was not limited geographically, but extended equally from the Albanian North to the Epirote South.

It is evident that the city and the province of Gjirokastr was part of this demographic reality. After experiencing a slight decrease in its number of households in 1506/07 (143 households from 163 in 1431/2, which may be partly due to the non-recording of certain population groups in the census), the city of Gjirokastr in 1583 numbered 302 households and by the centurys end 380 households [Appendix 4]. The population growth in Gjirokastr city coincided with a similar demographic expansion in its province, which was generally recorded as a single demographic unit (kaza of Gjirokastr) [Appendix 5] and specifically on a village for village basis [Appendix 6]. These sixteenth-century population rises are comparable with contemporary data from other regions of Epiros and Albania [Appendix 7].

A further notable detail is the extraordinary rise in the nowadays considered as rural population of Epiros and Albania. To cite but two examples: in 1583 Labov e Madhe numbered 473 households and Goranxhi 172 households, whereas in 1431/32 they numbered 104 and 13 houses respectively. Here it is apparent that, contrary to Barkan, the rural population in Epiros and Albania increased at a greater pace than in the cities. What is impressive is that many of the places today identified as villages saw such a rapid demographic development in the 16th century that their populations could easily be compared with that of the administrative urban centres [Appendix 8]. For example, in 1583, Polian numbered 325 households, Kamenic 550, Finiq 359, Voskopoj 330, Vithkuq 478, Grammos 326 and Aydonat 669. By comparison, at the end of 16th century the city of Gjirokastr had only 302 taxable households, Delvin 204, Berat 1.094 and Vlor 878 [Appendix 8]. We have therefore in our disposal evidence that shows a different report between the city and the province than what appears to be today, thereby obliging us to consider a number of additional urban centres nowadays deserted (e.g. Kamenic) or diminished to the status of villages (e.g. Voskopoj, Vithkuq) next to the better-known administrative urban centres.

This situation, also to be observed on a far smaller scale in the demography of the same regions in the 15th century, was falsely attributed to the destruction of cities brought about by the Ottoman conquest. As historians have already noted, the rate of demographic development in the regions of Epiros and Albania (31.8% after Pulaha) was less than the average rate of population increase in the provinces of the Empire (60% after Barkan). Even though both rates seem fictitious and methodologically problematic, the general conclusion that population growth in Epiros and Albania moved at a slower pace than in the rest of the Empire must be accurate. F. Braudel aptly notes that the demographic increase constitutes successively a power and an impediment, a factor of both stability and instability. Epiros and Albania did not meet the necessary requirements to develop large urban centres. Therefore, when in the 16th century these regions reached the limits of their demographic capacity, pressure on the population resulted and this, in the regions of Epiros and Albania, was expressed through extensive emigration and recruitment into the Ottoman armies by way of devirme. Moreover, the growth of the city and province of Gjirokastr contributed to its financial prosperity and, in turn, to artistic prosperity.

The abundance of published sources on 16th-century population changes is largely due to the enthusiasm of Turkish scholars on the occasion of the golden century of the Ottoman Empire. Consequently, one has to consider the distortions caused by modern nationalist interpretations of Turkish and Greek early historians with respect to the 16th century. With the advent of the 17th century, however, enthusiasm lapses. As a consequence, only recently have the relevant Ottoman registers in Turkey been accessible to scholars at large and there is a corresponding diminution of evidence. But in the case of Albania, there is available some evidence concerning 17th-century population numbers from different districts, thanks to the research of Petrika Thngjilli.

The only piece of demographic information for 17th-century Gjirokastr city, however, is the account of Evliya elebi, the Ottoman traveller who in 1670/71 visited Gjirokastr and mentions some 2,000 households, of which 200 belong to Christians [Appendix 4]. This figure, of course, cannot reasonably be accepted as accurate since it comes not from an official source but from an itinerant traveller who depended on information from local guides. Yet, it may not be far off the mark since data from the end of the 18th century [Appendix 4] shows a figure only slightly higher. Assuming a count of 2,000 as a working number, this would be an impressive increase from the 380 of the 16th century.

The assumption, however, is deceptive since the number of households over the entire province of Gjirokastr (kaza) shows a dramatic decrease in population. Whereas, in 1583, the kaza of Gjirokastr numbered 5,227 households, by 1668/69 this number had been reduced to 910. This may partly be explained by possible changes in the borders of the kaza, or by the different understanding of the household (hane), but it cannot be denied that depopulation in the kaza of Gjirokastr continued throughout the remainder of the 17th century. In 1682 the district numbered 710 households; it was reduced to 204.5 in 1686 and to 188.33 in 1700 [Appendix 5]. Could this be seen as a demographic catastrophe?

The answer to this question needs to be sought in the apparent population decrease in the kaza of Gjirokastr. Thngjillis figures probably represent only the Christian population of the kaza. If accurate, one could account for the dramatic decline of the Christian population chiefly by Islamizations, but not a general demographic crisis over the entire region. It has also been suggested that deteriorating conditions in the villages, together with the conversions to Islam, led to mass emigrations from the periphery of Gjirokastr to the city. This suggestion can be reinforced by comparing the population figures for Gjirokastr city (cited by Evliya elebi) with those of the Gjirokastr kaza [Appendices 4-5, respectively]. Moreover, as in the case of the deserted village of Siarates, the 17th century marks some mobility towards other districts of the empire.

Irrespective of any particular reasons for Gjirokastrs decrease in population, this is a phenomenon that draws interesting analogies with wider demographic phenomena in the period. Bruce McGowan, in his pioneering work on Ottoman economic history in the 18th century, makes extensive use of cizye muhasebes from after the 1691 reform and compares their demographic data with the aggregates of the 15th-16th century Christian populations as calculated by . L. Barkan, N. Todorov and F. Braudel. He concludes that a veritable demographic catastrophe must have taken place in the 17th century. In spite of methodological problems in calculating the actual rate of this disaster, Machiel Kiel also emphasises that the 17th century was indeed a period of remarkable demographic decline throughout Europe.

This decline was the result of a structural overpopulation in the 16th century which created the preconditions for some kind of demographic readjustment. Other problems ensued, such as the universally-felt financial crisis, high prices and inflation. The British historical demographers E. Wrighley and R. Scofield conclude that population growth unaccompanied by economic expansion pushes the age of marriage hither. While there are no figures for the number of children per household for greater Gjirokastr in the 17th century, there is evidence from other provinces of the Empire and from Europe in general indicating that the age of marriage rose thereby causing a lower birth rate and fewer children per household. In some countries, such as England, particular efforts were made in order to prevent a high birth rate, including preventive stipulations on marriages, i.e. impediments, limitations, etc. Finally, in certain European countries, crude measures of family planning (late marriage, abortion, infanticide) were also applied, for which there is no evidence in the Ottoman Empire.

There is a growing literature regarding the change of climatic conditions as a factor of demographic decline, which in its turn was a reflection of a general crisis in the 17th century. The sinking of the average global temperature caused a diminution in harvests and an increase in the prices of food provisions. As a consequence the peasants rioted, fled or starved to death. The political and military history of the world was seldom more violent than in the 17th century. Many historians have linked this violence with the deteriorating climatic conditions, the bad harvests and the consequent famines. Considerable evidence for these adverse climatic conditions have been amassed by historians of the period, such as: cherry-trees in the imperial gardens of Japan that blossomed weeks later than usual and delayed wine harvests in France. Dendro-chronological research in the Balkans has uncovered serious disturbances in tree growth, especially during the first decades of the 17th century. From the Balkans we know that in 1595 Prince Michael the Brave of Walachia with his army passed over the frozen Danube River into Bulgaria and in the first half of the 17th century the Ottoman scholar Katib elebi noted that the Bosporus was frozen and people could walk from Istanbul to skdar on the Asian shore.

Similar evidence can be traced in Greek lands, as well as in regions of Epiros and Albania. In 1616 very severe weather lashed against Crete and destroyed the trees. According to a marginal note in a manuscript, the people suffered from starvation. Another rubric in MS 240 of the Monastery of Leimonos on Lesbos refers to the outbreak of a great famine that burst out in the world in 1621, and many died of starvation. Further evidence exists for Epiros. In 1607, the lake of Ioannina (Pamvotis) had frozen to such a degree that the people could walk on it without fear. An even harsher freeze occurred in 1687 and again in 1700, the former being so extreme that it lasted for three months and inspired the writing of a piece in verse. In 1684/85 there was such a severe flood in Ioannina that the water not only covered the lower lands and the houses close to the lake but also reached to the height of the metropolitan church of Saint Athanasios, that is, 18 feet above the normal lake level. In the area of Dropull a severe and unusual hail storm destroyed the crops in 1625 resulting in a rampant rise in prices, while in 1640 and 1702 severe famines covered the same region. Furthermore, we know from secondary literature that the difficult conditions created by the freeze of the 17th century, the bad harvests, the rise of food prices and the decrease in population forced some inhabitants in Dropull to flee, as did a large number of families from the village of Siarates, who went to Plovdiv (Philippoupolis), Bulgaria. Finally, one may note that in the houses of Dropull and Gjirokastr from the 17th century special measures were taken against moisture.

Adverse demographic conditions of the 17th century in Epiros and Albania were further intensified by several epidemics that burst out in these provinces. In 1667 it was recorded that the city of Ioannina was infected by pestilence, while in Dropull and the city of Gjirokastr the same disease appeared three times (1604, 1642, 1670). In general, plagues were rather common in the 17th century as a result of cold weather; their consequences must have been terrible for the population, as may be derived from the description of another epidemic in 1814 by Franois Pouqueville. However, similar pestilences in the 16th , 18th (1742) and 19th century (1814) did not seem to have affected the demography as much in these regions as a whole as they did in the 17th century. This investigation into the adverse demographic conditions of the 17th century in the regions of Dropull and Gjirokastr indicate strongly that the fate of the local population as a whole was similar to those in other parts of the world owing to both local and global hostile circumstances. There is little doubt that numbers overall were depleted.

While the evidence presented above show an overall demographic fragility of the areas of Epiros and Albania in the 17th century, it is inaccurate to assume that the provincialization of former late medieval urban centres must have been completed by the end of the 17th century. The relatively better-known cases of a number of Vlach-inhabited hamlets, such as Linotopi and Grammos, which flourished from the 16th to the 18th century, as also testified by their artistic activity, indicate a far more complex process. While Linotopis social, economic and culture thrive is confirmed as late as the first quarter of the 18th century by the existence of a school, its fall should be dated at the same time with that of Voskopoj (Moschopolis), where the change of commercial routes towards the second half of the 18th century and the aggression of Islamized groups led the city to gradual decline especially following its major destruction in 1769. The inhabitants of those places now diminished to the status of a village evacuated them seeking refuge in cities or in other settlements. In 1886 Linotopi was inhabited only by a few Muslims, while in the beginning of the 20th century it had already been completely deserted.

As an indication of recognition of the importance of such religious fairs for revenue-raising purposes, on such occasions sultans granted a special berat obliging the pilgrims to pay a resm-i panayir, a religious tax for the rural market or fair.In conclusion, the current paucity of accurate archaeological, topographical and historical evidence makes it impossible to determine with precision which of the multitude of the fairs in Epiros and Albania could be considered as urban social experiences in a late medieval-early modern context, but in later times either shrink to provincial events or disappear. Yet, judging from the overall picture of the herein-presented demographic evidence, this process is confirmed at least for some cases.

B. Manifestations of Religious Fairs in Ecclesiastical Painting.Churches and monasteries provided an environment where people could profit from diverse forms of social and recreational activities, which fulfilled corresponding needs. Spiritual needs and to some degree intellectual needs were satisfied with sacerdotal acts and features of ecclesiastical life, such as preaching and readings from the Bible or from saints vitae. Moreover, the ecclesiastical services varied in their expressions throughout the Orthodox calendar year, offered a spiritual refuge to the faithful of a kind whose profundity can hardly be compared with any of todays majestic liturgies. Emotional needs were satisfied by popular folk songs, theatrical acts, local dances, etc. while the monasteries with their feasts and fasts provided inspiring moments of recollection.Church festivals, more or less the standard and sole cultural activity of the urban and provincial population, had many social and economic aspects: they were not only religious feasts, but also local assemblies (since most of the emigrants repatriated for the occasion), displays, monkey-parades, public spectacles and commercial dealings. The most famous monastic festivals in Epiros and Albania were those at the monasteries of the Holy Trinity, Pepel (29 May), St. Nikolaos or Cepo (20 May), the Prophet Elias, Stegopul (20 July), the Dormition of the Virgin or Soronia (15 August), Molyvdoskepasto (15 August), Paliouri, Makryalexi and a number of other monasteries. The host would provide food, wine and lodging to the pilgrims in especially prepared rooms, while the celebrations and dance took place in defined areas inside or outside the monastery courtyard.Any given image not only constructs or reconstructs visually the biblical past, but also envisages links between this past and the periods present. Ecclesiastical painting of the 16th and 17th century provides evidence on various manifestations of the fairs in question in secondary details, for which no precise templates had been made. Since at the time when these paintings were made there was no living eye-witness memory of the biblical events in which such manifestations were incorporated, while no written account of them records minutiae details, such as how the Temple of Solomon bazaar looked when Christ expelled the merchants from it, the rendering of such details relied on the initiative of the artist or its patron. As will be shown, several displays of such trade and cattle fairs can be seen in subjects like the Expulsion of Merchants from the Temple of Solomon, the Multiplication of Bread and others, displays of the festivities accompanying such religious fairs can be viewed in scenes like the Lauds and the Mocking of Christ, while displays of banquets that could also be associated with such festivities are observable in themes like the Last Supper, The Hospitality of Abraham, the Marriage at Kana and the Parable of Royal Marriages. In these subjects, local elements of daily life, also used in contemporary fairs, were utilized as models, since minutiae copying of templates from previous models must have been deemed to be unnecessarily time-consuming and, therefore, no time-effective by experienced master painters.

The representations of the Lauds [fig. 1-2] and of the Mocking of Christ [fig. 3-4] are among the most popular and characteristic subjects in 16th and 17th century ecclesiastical painting in Epiros and Albania and display musical performances taking place in such fairs. The pictorial representation of the Lauds [fig. 1-2] renders Psalms 148, 149 and 150, the earliest depictions of which date from the 5th-6th century. The subject is widely seen in post-Byzantine painting. Two of its elements provided opportunities for the painters to develop their personal talents and skills in portraying scenes inspired by major social events in the spirit of Let Israel rejoice in him [Ps. 149:1-2]: first, the dance of the maidens [fig. 5], and secondly, the band of musicians [fig. 3-4]. Seventeenth century works as in the catholica of the monasteries at Jorgucat and atisht, or in other works of master-painter Michael from Linotopi (such as the Churches of Saint Nikolaos at Vitsa or Saint Menas at Monodendri) drew models from the Monastery of Philanthropenon on Ioannina island by Frangos Kondaris. One notes with interest that representations of this subject in other churches of the same region, where feasts, ceremonies and marriages are celebrated in a rather similar way, the iconography remains unaltered with elements that can still be seen today in that region, such as the garments and kerchiefs of the dancing women. While some of the musical instruments identified in the Lauds [fig. 1-2] can be associated precisely with the Psalmist text (psaltery), on occasion adjusted to well-known forms in the region (trumpets), other instruments traditionally used in the Balkans fit into the more vague passages (a lute for the Psalmist concept stringed instruments and a tambour for a sounding cymbal).

More dancing figures and instruments can be viewed in the Mocking of Christ [fig. 3-4], taken from Matthews account. Here, Christ takes up a central position, defining the vertical axis of the picture. He is represented frontally, wearing a sleeved robe and a garment. Barefoot, he bears the crown of thorns on His head and holds a reed in His right hand. The Jews, who deride Him, are at His side and behind, where there is a building with a gable that sets the scene of the Mockery: the palace of Pilate. Christ, calm and meek, has an expression of stoicism, while six musicians divided into two groups of three are at His sides playing the davul (Alb. daull), the lahut, the laut (Alb. llaut), the lyra (Alb. zumarj) and two zurna (Alb. llullak), the last of which cross above His head. Before the figure of Christ, two young men bend their bodies as if bowing to Him, while at the lower sides of the picture two figures are dancing. The appearance of dancers (not mentioned in the Gospels) is not unknown in middle, late Byzantine and early Post-Byzantine Art in the Balkans. One detail, the kerchief held in the hands of both dancers, is found in churches throughout the Balkans and was painted or influenced by the workshop of Kastoria. These dancing figures bear similarities with the knight executioners in the monumental art of certain anti-unionist circles, such as the Monastery of Philanthropenon on the island of Ioannina [fig. 3], yet, they may well be figures from local dances. In the churches of Saint Nikolaos at Vitsa and Saint Menas at Monodendri, both painted by master-painter Michael in the 17th century, the same subject is closely connected with the Betrayal of Judas. By way of variation, perhaps due to the lack of space, the musicians are limited to four. The bent trumpets try to imitate the western instruments seen at the Monasteries of Philanthropenon and Eleousa on Ioannina island. The detail of the dancers is missing there.A good indication of how trade fairs and banquets associated with them must have looked like in the 16th century is provided by the scene of the Expulsion of Merchants from Solomons Temple [fig. 6], the Marriage at Kana [fig. 7] and the Multiplication of Bread [fig. 8] in naos northern wall of the catholicon of Philanthropenon Monastery on the Isle of Ioannina. Exhibiting stalls and stock for sale in the first subject [fig. 6] indicate a remarkable continuity of such fairs until our days. Jars for storing liquids, as appearing in the Marriage at Kana [fig. 7] and baskets containing dry foodstuff displayed in the Multiplication of Bread [fig. 8] also fit a fairs setting. Last but not least, banquets associated with religious fairs are displayed in scenes like the Marriage at Kana [fig. 7], the Last Supper [fig. 9], the Hospitality of Abraham [fig. 10], the Parable of Royal Marriages [fig. 11] and, on occasion, other subjects like the Nativity of the Mother of God [fig. 12].As is evident, the study of ecclesiastical painting can cast light to various aspects of daily life rendered in several scenes secondary details, which time constraints and the lack of precise textual references allowed artists to record manifestations of daily life in their paintings. Displays of fairs in 16th and 17th century ecclesiastical painting in Epiros and Albania are good indications of this.In this paper I attempted to couple 16th and 17th century historical and demographic evidence from Epiros and Albania in order to present a totally different view of what consists the urban and the provincial setting in these centuries in contrast to what has hitherto been thought. In the light of such findings this paper argued that some Christian fairs previously considered being social events of a provincial character need to be perceived as urban experiences. Festivities represented in 16th and 17th century ecclesiastical paintings along with posterior accounts of western travellers can display several manifestations of those feasts.

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Buhara V. (1992/1993), Kazaja e Delvins (nga defteri osman i sanxhakut t Delvins i vitit 1583), Studime Historike, 1st part: v. 1-4 (1992), pp. 121-151 and 2nd part: v. 1-4 (1993), pp. 165-194.

Buschhausen H. - Buschhausen H. (1976), Die Marienkirche von Apollonia in Albanien: Byzantiner, Normannen und Serben im Kampf um die Via Egnatia, Wien.

Ducellier A. (1981), La faade maritime de l Albanie au Moyen Age (Durazzo et Valona du XIe au XVe si(cle), Thessaloniki: Institute of Balkan Studies.

Ducellier A. (1998), Les Albanais dans l Empire byzantine: de la communaut l expansion, in Gasparis Ch. [ed.] (1998), pp. 17-45.

Duka F. (1991), Realiteti etnik i Dropullit n burimet historike t shek. XVI (Defteri osman i regjistrimit t pronave dhe t popullsis t sanxhakut t Vlors i vitit 1520), Studime Historike, v. 3-4, Tiran 1994, pp. 167-199.

Frashri K. (1998), Les Albanais et Byzance aux VIe-XI sicles, in Gasparis Ch. [ed.] (1998), pp. 47-57.

Giakoumis G. (1994), , Athens: Doukas School ed. (translated in English with the title: Monuments of Orthodoxy in Albania.

Giakoumis G. - Giakoumis K. (1994), : / , Janin, pp. 33-35.

Giakoumis K. (2002), The Monasteries of Jorgucat and Vanisht in Dropull and of Spelaio in Lunxhri as Monuments and Institutions During the Ottoman Period in Albania (16th-19th Centuries), Ph.D. thesis submitted in the C.B.O.M.G.S., The University of Birmingham, Birmingham.

Inalcik H. (1954), Hicri 835 Tarihli. Sreti Defteri Sancaki Arvanid, Ankara.Iorga N. (1919), Brve histoire de l Albanie et du peuple albanais, Bucarest.

Kamaroulias D. (1997), , v. 1 - 2, Athens: Bastas - Plessas ed.

Kiel M. (1990) [1] = Kiel M. (1990), Central Greece in the Suleymanic Age. Preliminary Notes on Population Growth, Economic Expansion and its Influence on the Spread of Greek Christian Culture, in Veinstein G. [ed.] (1990), Soliman le magnifique et son temps, Paris, pp. 399-424.

Kiel M. (1990), Ottoman Architecture in Albania 1385 - 1912, Istanbul: Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture.

Kiel (1990) [2] = Kiel M. (1990), Remarks on the administration of the poll tax (cizye) in the Ottoman Balkans and value of poll tax registers (cizye defterleri) for demographic research, tudes Balkaniques, v. 4, pp. 70-104.

Kiel M. (1991), Byzantine Architecture and Painting in Central Greece, 1460-1570. Its demographic and economic basis according to the Ottoman census and taxation registers for Central Greece preserved in Istanbul and Ankara, Byzantinische Forschungen, v. XVI, pp. 429-446.

Komis K. (1999), : 16-18 , Ioannina.

Lambridis I. (1971 first edition 1890), , , part A, Ioannina.

Lampridis I. (1993), , parts 1-8, Ioannina.

Liva - Xanthaki Th. (1980), , Ioannina: I.M.I.A.H. Ed.

Liva - Xanthaki Th. (1993), , , , , in Garidis M. - Paliouras A. [ed.] (1993), , Ioannina, pp. 221-273.McGowan B. (1981), Economic Life in Ottoman Empire: Taxation, Trade and the Struggle for Land. 1600-1800, Cambridge - Paris: Cambridge University Press & Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l Homme.

Malltezi L. (1989), Qytetet dhe roli i tyre n lidhjet ekonomike midis krahinave shqiptare n shek. XIII-XV, in Pulaha S. - Maltezi L. - Huta P. (1989), Studime pr epokn e Sknderbeut, v. I, Tiran: Akademia e Shkencave - Instituti i Historis, pp. 78-90.

Malltezi L. (1990), Qyteti dhe fshati n shoqrin shqiptare (shek. XI-XV), Studime Historike, v. 3, pp. 123-130.

Meksi A. - Riza E. (1974), Ndrtimet n fshatin - rrnoj t Kamenics (Constructions du village en ruine de Kamenic), Monumentet, v. 7-8, pp. 139-160 (tab. I-VII); French synopsi in pp. 161-165.

Nicol D. (1957), The Despotate of Epiros, Oxford.Papadopoulos N. (1976), (1430-1913), Athens.

Popa Th. (1965), Materialet epigrafike kishtare t vendit si burime pr historin e kulturs s popullit ton, Konferenca e par e studimeve albanologjike, II (kumtesa n lmin e shkencave historike), Tiran, pp. 567-573.

Popa Th. (1974), Icnes e Miniatures du Moyen Age en Albanie, Tiran.

Popa Th. (1998), Mbishkrime t kishave n Shqipri, edited by Nestor Nepravishta - Kostandin Gjakumis, Tirana: Akademia e Shkencave - Instituti i Historis Ed.

Poulitsas P. (1928), , , v. 5, pp. 55-99.

Pouqueville F. (1994), : , translation: Panagiota Kotsou, Athens: Tolidis Ed.

Pulaha S. (1983), Popullsia shqiptare e Kosovs gjat shek. XV-XVI (studime dhe dokumente), Tiran: Akademia e Shkencave - Instituti i Historis.

Pulaha S. (1984), Aspects de dmographie historique des contres albanaises pendant les XVe-XVIe sicles, Studia Albanica, v. 2, pp.65-76.

Pulaha S. (1984) [2] = Pulaha S. (1984), Qytetet shqiptare nn regjimin feudal ushtarak osman gjat shekujve XV-XVI (Les villes albanaises sous le regime foedal militaire ottoman au cours des XVe et XVIe sicles), Monumentet, v. 1, pp. 17-42; French synopsis in pp. 43-49.

Pulaha S. (1988), On the demographic and ethnic situation of the Albanian territories (15th-16th centuries), Tirana: 8 Nntori Publishing House.

Pulaha S. (1989) [1], Aspekte t demografis historike t trevave shqiptare n shek. XV-XVI, in Pulaha S. - Maltezi L. - Huta P. (1989), Studime pr epokn e Sknderbeut, v. I, Tiran: Akademia e Shkencave - Instituti i Historis, pp. 44-55.

Riza E. - Thomo P. (1983), Karakteri dhe tiparet e vendbanimeve t banesave fshatare shqiptare n shek. XIV-XVII, Kultura Popullore, v. 2, p. 123 - 150.

Riza E. - Thomo P. (1984), Le caractre et les types des habitations et maisons des village en Albanie, 14me - 17me sicle, Culture Populaire Albanaise, v. 1, p. 45 - 74.

Soustal P. unter Mitwirkung von J. Koder (1981), Nicopolis und Kefallenia, (Tabula Imperii Byzantini, hrsg. v. H. Hunger, Bd. 3 = Denkschr. d. ph. Kl. d. ster. Ak. d. Wiss), pp. 206-207.

Thomo P. Bushaka G. (2003) [eds.], 2000 Vjet Art dhe Kultur Kishtare n Shqipri, Tiran

Thngjilli P. (1990), Renta Feudale dhe Evoluimi i Saj n Vise Shqiptare (Shek. XVII - mesi i shek. XVIII), Tiran.

Todorova M.N. (1988), Was There a Demographic Crisis in the Ottoman Empire in the Seventeenth Century?, tudes Balkaniques, v. 24/2, pp. 55-63.

Tourta A. (1991), , Athens.

Versakis F. (1915), , , v. 1, pp. 28-44.

Vokotopoulos P. (2003), Shnime pr Arkitekturn Kishtare nga shek. X n shek. XIII n Shqiprin e Jugut, in Thomo P. Bushaka G. (2003) [eds.], 2000 Vjet Art dhe Kultur Kishtare n Shqipri, Tiran, pp. 141-142 dhe shnimet 30-36 n pp. 147-148.Vryonis S. (2000), (11-15 ), translation by K. Galavariotou, second edition, Athens: M.I.E.T. Ed.

Yiannias J. (1991), The Palaeologan Refectory Program at Apollonia, in Curcic Sl. - Mouriki D. [ed.] (1991), The Twilight of Byzantium, Princeston: Princeton University Press, pp. 161-185.

Zachariadou E. (1988), Marginalia on the history of Epiros and Albania (1380-1418), Wiener Zeitschrift fr die Kunde des Morgenlandes, v. 78, pp. 195-210.

Zachariadou E. (1996), (1483-1567), Athens.

Ziangos N. (1974), , Athens. Lampridis Io. (1993), part 7, p. 34; cited in Ziangos N. (1974), p. 290.

Lampridis Io. (1993), part 7, pp. 52-53; cited in Ziangos N. (1974), p. 290.

Immanuel Beccerus, Historia Politica et Patristica, p. 276; cited in Ziangos N. (1974), p. 290. I am not convinced of the historical accuracy of this account.

Lampridis Io. (1993), part 7, pp. 52; cited in Ziangos N. (1974), p. 290.

Aravantinos P. (1856), v. 2, p. 138.

Pouqueville P. W. (1994), pp. 57-61 and note on pp. 73-74.

For the different uses of the term, see Schledermann H. (Oct. 1970), The Idea of the Town: Typology, Definitions and Approaches to the Study of the Medieval Town in Northern Europe, World Archaeology, v. 2/2, pp. 115-127.

Schlesinger W. (1963), ber mitteleuropischen Stadt, in Schlesinger W., Beitrge zur deuschen Verfassungsgeschichte, Gttingen, v. 2, pp. 55-67.

For local, regional and continental fairs see the classic studies of S.R. Epstein (Aug. 1994), Regional Fairs, Institutional Innovation, and Economic Growth in Late Medieval Europe, The Economic History Review, v. 47/3, pp. 459-482 and Epstein, S. R. (2000), Freedom & Growth : Markets & States in Pre-modern Europe, Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, pp. 73-88. It worth mentioning that in todays city of Konitsa there is a tradition that links the fair, called Pazaropoulo, organized there at the end of September with the one of Dipalitsa.

On the monastic festivals of Epiros and Albania see Gatsopoulos St (1960), , , v. 9, pp. 142-149, 220-228; Mammopoulos A. (1961), , v. 1, Athens, pp. 20-27; Lambridis I. (1971), , pp. 159-160; ibid. (1993), part 3, p. 57 and part 7, pp. 52-53; Gizelis Gr. (1975), , in , Thessaloniki, pp. 21-33; Matsias Ch. (1985), - . - - , Athens-Ioannina, pp. 31-36; Vryonis S. (1988), pp. 135-137; Kamaroulias D. (1997), v. 1, pp. 109i-112.

See the critique by Machiel Kiel in Kiel M. (1991), pp. 430-431 and note 4 on p. 431. Occasionally, these stereotypical arguments regarding the 16th century demographic situation are also subjected to variation by contemporary Greek scholars [Patrinelis Ch. (1992), (1453-1600). , , v. 16, p. 36a].

Braudel P. (1993), pp. 397-400.

Barkan . L. (1955), Quelques observations sur l organisation conomique et sociale des villes ottomanes, des XVIe et XVIIe sicles (Some comments on the economic and social organization of Ottoman cities during the 16th and 17th Centuries), Recueil de la Societ Jean Bodin, v. XVII, pp. 289-296; Barkan . L. (1958), pp. 23-26; Barkan . L. (1970), Research on the Ottoman Fiscal Surveys, in Studies in the Economic History of the Middle East from the Rise of Islam to the Present Day, London: M. A. Cook ed., pp. 167-170. See also Zachariadou E. (1996), pp. 110-111.

Zachariadou E. (1996), p. 111 and note 7.

Inalcik H. (1978), Impact of the Annales School on Ottoman Studies and New Findings, Review, v. 1, pp. 74-75. For different case-studies I could cite: for city populations see: Barkan . L. (1958), table in p. 27]. For the province of Karahisar see: Acun P. (1993), Ottoman Administration in the Sancak of Karahisar-i Sarki (1485-1569): An analysis based on tahrir defters, Ph.D. thesis submitted at the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, pp. 284-293. For the provinces of central Greece see: Kiel M. (1990) [1], pp. 403, 406, 408-409, 418-419, 421. For the provinces of the Peloponnese see: Panagiotopoulos V. (1987), : 13-18 , reprint, Athens, pp. 111-114. For the province of Preveza see: Komis K. (1999), pp. 44-46. For an opposing view on the existence of a demographic crisis in the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century, see Todorova M.N. (1988), pp. 55-63.

Pulaha S. (1984), pp. 25b-27b; Pulaha S. (1989), p. 47.

See, for example, the case of the rise of population in the districts of the sancak of Dukagjin in the 16th century, in Pulaha S. (1973), Krahinat e sanxhakut t Dukagjinit gjat shekullit XVI (Les contres du sancak de Dukagjine durant le XVIe sicle), Studime Historike, v. 3, p. 13.

See for example, the development of the population on a per village basis in the district of Delvin in 1583 [Buhara V. (1992/1993)] compared with the population of the same district in 1431/32 [Inalcik H. (1954), pp. 3-4]. See also Giakoumis K. (2002), [Appendix I, maps 10-11, pp. 501-502.

Cf. Giakoumis K. (2002), v. 2, Appendix I, maps 10-11, pp. 501-502.

Ibid., Appendix I, pp. 508-509, 514.

Pulaha S. (1989) [1], pp. 48-49.

Ibid.

Barkan . L. (1958), p. 27.

The size of the cities in Epiros and Albania (400-1600 households) [Pulaha S. (1989) [1], pp. 48-49] was well below that of an average city in the Empire and nowhere near the size of major cities (2.000-5.000 households) such as Thessaloniki, Serajevo, Sofia, etc. [For the size of the Empires major cities in different periods, see Barkan . L. (1958), p. 27].

Braudel P. (1993), v. 1 ( ), p. 400.

Thngjilli P. (1990). While mentioning the location of his sources, the author does not identify their kind. It seems, however, that his data come from cizye and avariz defters.

It is worth noticing that these figures represent avariz hanes. For the differences between household as a fiscal unit and household in a literal meaning, see Ursinus M. (1980), Avariz hanesi und tevzi hanesi in der Lokalverwaltung des kaza Manastir (Bitola) im 17. Jh., Prilozi za Orientalni Filologiju, v. 30, pp. 481-493.

Thngjilli P. (1990), p. 130. For a discussion of the difference between household as a fiscal unit and household in a more literal sense, see Ursinus M. (1980), Avariz Hanesi und Tevzi Hanesi in der Lokalverwaltung des Kaza Manastir (Bitola) im 17. Jh., Prilozi za Orientalni Filologiju, v. 30, pp. 481-493.

Kiel M. (1990), pp. 139-140, who does not cite references. The same author further suggests that emigration to the city led to Islamization, implying that emigration preceded conversion. However, as already stated, it is my belief that emigration to Gjirokastr city was either preceded by or simultaneous with Islamization. [See, for example, Gjakumis K. (2001), Paraqitija e par n ikonografi e dshmorit t ri Nikolls nga Mecova: tregues t orientimit ideologjik t pikturs n zonn e Gjirokastrs (1634-1653), Tempulli: Revist Periodike Kulturore, v. 3, p. 53].

See, a) the case of the village of Strstan (Elbasan district), whose inhabitants had departed to settle in the village of Bujara in the kaza of Shpat. They were ordered to return to their village in 1606 and 1636 but as late as 1715 had not done so [Thngjilli P. (1990), p. 39]; and b) the case of Mallakastr, in which in an aggregate of 234 registered hane only 87.5 had actually remained in their villages by 27 October 1677 [op. cit., pp. 117-118].

McGowan Bruce (1981).

For opposing views to the theory of a demographic crisis in the 17th century, see Todorova M. (1988).

Kiel M. (1990) [2], pp. 77-86.

See, for example, Mols R. (1974), Population in Europe 1500-1700. Two centuries of demographic evolution, in Cipolla C. [ed.] (1974), The Fontana Economic History of Europe, Glasgow, pp. 15-82.

Wrighley E. - Scofield R. S., The population of England, Cambridge cited in Kiel M. (1990) [2], p. 79.

Kiel M. (1990) [2], p. 79. This information specifically refers to Bulgaria and Europe at large.

Herlihy D. (1985), Medieval households. Studies in cultural history, Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University Press, pp. 144-145.

Kiel M. (1990) [2], p. 79. For infanticide in general and in the 17th century in particular, see: Pien M. W. (1978), Infanticide, New York; Wrightson K. (1982), Infanticide in European History, Criminal Justice History, v. 3, pp. 1-20.

The 17th century was called the little Ice Age, see Eddy J. (1977), The Case of the Missing Sunspots, Scientific American, v. , pp. 80-92; Griswold W. J., The Little Ice Age: Its Effects on Ottoman History, 1585-1625, Colorado, unpublished, cited in Kiel M. (1990) [2], p. 79, note 24. For a general overview of the relevant literature, see initially Kiel M. (1990), pp. 78-79 and notes 22-24.

Kiel M. (1990), p. 78.

Kiel M. (1990) [2], p. 78.

The Cell revolts and rural violence in Anatolia (1595-1620) have been linked with climatic change [Griswold W. J., The Little Ice Age: Its Effects on Ottoman History, 1585-1625, Colorado, unpublished, cited in Kiel M. (1990) [2], pp. 78-79 and note 24 in p. 79]. Furthermore, the so-called Tarnovo Uprising has also been linked with climatic change [Kiel M. (1990) [2], p. 79]. Perhaps, it is possible to consider adverse climatic change as one of the causes of several uprisings with clear economic motives which broke out in Albania in the 17th century.

For all these evidence see Kiel M. (1990) [2], p. 78.

Lambros S. [ed.] (1902), Ecthesis Chronica and Chronicon Athenarum, London, p. 16, verses 165-169, 170-172.

op. cit., p. 45, verses 59-60.

On these climatic phenomena, see Aravantinos P. (1856), v. 2, pp. 223, 225. On the 1687 and 1700 freezes (the former with its verse), see Karpozilos A. (1984), 17 , , v. 26, pp. 79-116.

Aravantinos P. (1856), v. 2, p. 224.

Papadopoulos N. (1976), p. 35. In order to evaluate this information in context, it is worth mentioning that these famines, which are noted commemoratively in manuscripts, were again referred to only two occasions: once in 1764 and once in 1810 [Papadopoulos N. (1976), p. 35].

For the hail-fall, see op. cit., p. 25, while for the famine of 1640, see op. cit., p. 37 and for the famine of 1702, see: op. cit., p. 37.

N. Mystakidis writes [Mystakidis N. (30.11.1906), . , , No. 188, Athens, p. 1; republished in , v. 2, Athens, p. 129; cf. Papadopoulos N. (1976), pp. 31-32] that he heard from travellers coming from Plovdiv that drovers from Dropull once went to their city where they were forced to spend a night in one of its villages. They noticed that the local inhabitants sang and spoke just as they did and questioned them if they knew anything about their origin. The response was that their grandfathers had come from a village in Epiros called Siarates where they had experienced hardship. Then the merchants from Dropull asked insistently whether they remembered any traditions regarding Siarates. The villagers answered that Siarates was a great village, close to a bigger one with a market called Zervat; moreover, above Siarates there was a monastery dedicated to the Prophet Elias; it owned 10-15 houses in the village where the families of the monasterys tillers lived. They further recalled that there was also another village in that region called Prokokki or Pyrokoki.

According to a document dated Hijra 1033 (1623/24), a sentence was issued against a certain corn-dealer named Dedo Nikas from Jorgucat. He had signed as a guarantor for two other corn-dealers, the sons of a priest from Siarates who disappeared without fulfilling obligations. The guarantor was therefore summoned to pay the sum of 9,000 ake. In another Ottoman document dated in the month Rajab of the Hijra year 1009 (January-February 1601) a certain Christian named Quka Knipa from the village Siarates possessed a field on the site Mursa. At one side was another field belonging to a certain George Meksi; at another was a public road; and at the other two sides, the church of the Prophet Elias. Quka Knipa sold his field to the church of the Virgin at the said village for 2,000 ake [both documents are mentioned in Giovannis G. (1928), p. 45 and were republished in: Giovannis G. (1980), , in , v. 2, Athens, p. 130. The conversion of the Hijra dates was false; those given in this note were corrected by me]. In the 19th century the memory of the emmigrants from Epiros and Albania was still alive; see Lory B. (1992/94), pp. 97-100.

On the measures of the houses in Dropull against moisture, see Kamberi Th. (1976), Vendbanimet dhe banesat fshatare n Dropullin e poshtm (Agglomrations et habitations dans le bas Dropull), Monumentet, v. 12, pp. 173a-180 (tab. I-IV); French synopsis in pp. 181-182; for the measures of the houses in Gjirokastr against moisture, see Papanikolla I. (1982), Masat kundr lagshtirs n banesn gjirokastrite (Les mesures prises contre l humidit dans l habitation de Gjirokastra), Monumentet, v. 2, pp. 103-116; French synopsis in pp. 117-118.

Aravantinos P. (1856), v. 2, p. 224.

On the pestilence disease in Dropull and Gjirokastr in the 17th century, see Papadopoulos N. (1970), , Athens, p. 37 and Papadopoulos N. (1976), p. 34.

I shall limit my references to the regions of Epiros and the Ionian islands citing four known plagues in the regions of Arta and Preveza (in 1622, 1623, 1642 and 1643) [Komis K. (1999), p. 43] and four in the island of Leucas, in 1644 (with 2.000 casualties), 1673, 1674 and in 1682 [Kostis K. (1995), . , 14-19 , Herakleion, 369, 371].

Pouqueville P. (1994), p. 30.

As far as we know, the regions of Arta and Preveza were twice attacked by pestilence, in 1522 and in 1524 [Komis K. (1999), p. 43], while, according to a note on fol. 104v of the Codex Parisinus Graecus 938, the city of Ioannina was heavily affected by the epidemic which in 1533 attacked other provinces of the Mediterranean, such as Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Zante, as well as Arta [Lambros S. (1932), , edited by K. Amantos, Athens, p. 52, verses 218-220].

Papadopoulos N. (1976), p. 34.

Pouqueville P. (1994), p. 30.

Jakumis K. (2003), Veprimtaria e Piktorve nga Linotopi n Viset e Kishs Orthodhokse t Shqipris, in Thomo P. Bushaka G. [eds.] (1993), 2000 Vjet Art dhe Kultur Kishtare n Shqipri, pp. 209-234 (209 and tables 1-2 on pp. 228-229).

Zisiou K. G. (1915), , Athens, p. 35; Evangelidis Tr. (1930), ( ), v. 1, Athens, p. 131.

Steriopoulos K. (1937), , , Athens, p. 35; Vakalopoulos A. (1973), , v. 4, p. 385-386; Zamputi I. - Nai S. - Shkodra Z. (1961), Burime t zgjedhura pr historin e Shqipris: Shqipria nn sundimin feudal-ushtarak otoman (1506-1839), v. III, Tiran, p. 219; Vranousis L. - Sphyroeras (1997), , in Sakellariou M. V. [ed.] (1997), . 4000 , Athens, p. 260b; Tritos M. (1999), , , v. 19, pp. 218-222.

Tourta A. (1991), p. 42.

See: Kabrda J. (1969), Le systme fiscal de l glise orthodoxe dans l Empire Ottoman (d aprs les documents turcs), Brno, pp. 79-80; Inalcik H. (1991), The status of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch under the Ottomans, Turcica, v. XXI-XXIII, p. 425.

Loukatos D. (19924), , Athens, pp. 198-199.

Giakoumis K. (2002), pp. 327-328.

This subject is being studied by Parcharidou M. (2001), (1453-1700), Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Faculty of History and Archaeology at the University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki. For the earliest representations of Lauds and a brief survey of their evolution, see the more accessible study: Parcharidou M. (1998), ( ), in : . , 18-22 1994, v. 1, Drama: Municipality of Drama Ed., p. 312 and note 10 (where the author suggests that the first representation of the subject, which dates from the 6th century, is in the triclinium of the bishop Neon. The same author on p. 316, however, changes her chronology to the 5th century), pp. 316-318 and notes 21-47.

Let them praise his name in the dance [Ps. 149:3] and the entire Psalm 150.

Let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp [Ps. 149:3].

Tourta A. (1991), p. 132 and ill. 18-19, 74a-b.

The subject of Lauds lies in the western exonarthex of the catholicon: Acheimastou - Potamianou M. (1983), p. 40 and Acheimastou - Potamianou M. (1993), p. 26 and ill. 189-195 and 197-200.

Lauds was also represented in the narthex of the Monastery at Jorguat, in the nave of the Monastery at Vanisht, in the Church of Saint Nikolaos at Saraqinisht and in the nave of the Monastery of Spelaio.

Mt. 27:24-31.

For the identification, photographs and the nature of these instruments from a musicological point of view see: Sokoli R. - Miso P. (1991), Veglat muzikore t popullit shqiptar, Tiran: Akademia e Shkencave - Instituti i Kulturs Popullore, pp. 73b-81b and 290b-292b (daull), 89a-b (llullak), 117a-121 (zumarj), 195a-212b (llaut) and 212b-223a (lahut).

The earliest example, so far as I know, dates to the 12th century and comes from the Gospel Lectionary in the Laurentine Library [Velmans T. (1971), Le Ttravangile de la Laurentienne, Paris, ill. 29.118].

One could cite as examples the dancers in Nagoricino [Frolow A. - Grabar A. (1954), La peinture murale du Moyen Age en Yugoslavie (Serbie, Macdoine et Montenegro), Paris, ill. 88.2], in Zemen [Grabar A. (1928), La peinture religieuse en Bulgarie, texte-album, Paris, p. 191] and at Lesnovo [Millet G. - Velmans T. (1969), La peinture du Moyen Age en Yugoslavie, Fasc. IV, Paris, ill. 15.32].

See the Church of Saint Nikolaos Magaliou at Kastoria (15th century) [Pelekanidis St. (1953), : , Thessaloniki, ill. 168a].

For example, in the Church of Saint Nikolaos Magaliou at Kastoria (15th century) [Pelekanidis St. (1953), : , Thessaloniki, ill. 168a] as well as in a number of 16th-century church monuments in Bulgaria, such as Poganovo [Grabar A. (1928), La peinture religieuse en Bulgarie, texte-album, Paris, ill. XVIII]; from Romania there is an example in Varta Moldoviei [Henry P. (1930), Les glises de la Moldavie du Nord, texte-album, Paris, ill. XXIII.1] and in Dobrova [Stefanescu J. (1938), L art byzantin et l art lombart en Transylvanie, texte-album, Paris, ill. XLV.2]. This detail is not found in the Cretan School.

The most representative subject in the Monastery of Philanthropenon related to this issue is the martyrdom of Ss Menas, Victor and Vicentios on the southern wall of the narthex [Acheimastou - Potamianou M. (1993), p. 97, ill. 146]. The same dancing figure of an executor without a knights harness also appears in the representation of the martyrdom of Ss Markianos and Martyrios, found on the western wall of the narthex [Acheimastou - Potamianou M. (1993), pp. 105-106, ill. 160 and 161].

On the representation of the subject in these churches see Tourta A. (1991), pp. 104-105 and ill. 58a and 59.

Acheimastou - Potamianou M. (1983), p. 85; Tourta A. (1991), p. 105 and note 681 and Acheimastou - Potamianou M. (1993), p. 68, ill. 91.

Papadopoulou V. (1993), , , , , in Garidis M. - Paliouras A. [ed.] (1993), , Ioannina, pp. 274-295, p. 277, ill. 455.