Greek Ecclesiastical Law from the Ottoman Period

A very interesting monument of Greek Orthodox Ecclesiastical Law is the juridical encyclopedia Βακτηρία Ἀρχιερέων (The Bishops’ Staff [1645]) of Archimandrite Iakovos of Ioannina.

This is together with the sixteenth century Νομοκάνων of Manuel Malaxos the most important post-Byzantine monument of Greek Orthodox ecclesiastical law before the classicism of eighteenth century Greek Orthodox canon law (e.g., Spyridon Milias’ Νέα καὶ δαψιλεστάτη συλλογή [2 volumes, 1761-1762], Agapios Leonardos’ Συλλογὴ πάντων τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ θείων κανόνων [1787], Christophoros Prodromitis’ Κανονικόν  [1800], and Nikodemos Hagioreites’ and Agapios Leonardos’ Πηδάλιον [1800]).

The Βακτηρία Ἀρχιερέων is an important sources of knowledge about the development of ecclesiastical and civil customary law among the Ottoman Greeks. Despite its importance it was not edited and published until 2000 when P. Akanthopoulos published a critical edition in three volumes (1740 pages) with a historical introduction.

The Nomokanon of Malaxos, on the other hand, is available in several editions. A. Sgoutas published a partial edition of the Νομοκάνων of Malaxos in 1856 and K. Dyovouniotis published a study with a partial edition, Ὁ νομοκάνων τοῦ Μανουήλ Μαλαξοῦ, in 1916 (this edition has not been reprinted or digitized as far as I know). Another complete edition of Malaxos was published in 1962 by V. Grecu and G. Gront in Indreptarea legii (1652), pp. 635-929.