Abstract
M.A.
The evidence that the history provides us with, indisputably indicates that the city of Ioannina was always a meeting place, sometimes under the influence of favourable conditions and other times not, for philosophical, scientific and theological investigations. The city has been a place of cohabitation of the three largest religions of the world, Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
The geographical position of Ioannina and Epirus in general, being opposite the island of Kerkyra (Corfu) and more specifically the city of Kerkyra that was the capital city of the then Venetian occupied Eptanisa (Ionian Islands), the close proximity to the important ports of Preveza and Parga and the short distance of these from Italy favoured the economic development of the city and transformed it into one of the most significant transit centres of the Ottoman empire.
Many Ioannites (residents of Ioannina) started to emigrate during the beginning of the 17th century and the years and centuries following. They generally emigrated to the shores of the Adriatic and Italy, and also to the states adjoining the Danube River (Romania and Moldavia), southern Russia and central Europe, in search of a more prosperous future and in order to satisfy their educational improvement. This mass emigration of the Ioannites had as a result a capital influx into the city, either in the form of bequests or grants, which could meet the daily or educational needs of the Ioannites,
At the same time community development takes place and Local Government is established in Ioannina with local leaders. Ecclesiastical and school committees are also established. Home industries are established in the manufacture of furs, leather craft, candlestick making, silver crafting, embroidery and hand crafts in general.
The city of Ioannina offered the enslaved Greeks the scope, bounds and conditions for their spiritual recovery and the restoration of their political reestablishment. The Epirotes, and more specifically the Ioannites, donors, teachers and instructors were the contributors to this recovery, and with their actions they rendered Epirus a land of virtuous people. To these contributors we must add the leaders of the Klephtes and Armatoli that made their presence heard when the various revolutionary uprisings took place (D. Philosophos, Vlachavas, Katsadonis, the monk Samouil, etc.).
From Epirus, as mentioned above, the first merchants set out, who became the healers and rejuvenators of the paideia and became national benefactors.
Indeed, the development of the paideia is owed to the initiative and the actions of the Ioannites merchants, bankers and landowners that lived abroad. Some of these Ioannites were Leodarides, Gioumas, Tsigaras, Hieromnimones, Maroutsides, Karayiannides, Dobolis, Tsouflis, Hatjikonstas, Staurou, Efthymiou, Kaplanis, Zosimades, Tositsides, Averof, Stournaras, Manthos and Georgios Rizaris, and others.
The schools of Ioannina, and the tireless teachers, that contributed decisively to the recovery of «a nation whose rights were infringed upon», played a catalytic role. The schools that were established in Ioannina played a pioneering role insofar as the ideas that evolved in these schools, as well as the teaching programmes that were taught. These modernised and often-radical ideologies that were not only bread, but also born in these Schools greatly contributed to the “Neo Hellenic Enlightenment.” These resulted in the intellectual arousal and the political reinstatement of the Greek Nation.
In 1648 the School of Epiphanios Igoumenos was established and functioned until 1742, where teachers like Glykis, Mitrou and Katzioulis taught. The year 1648 is regarded as the commencement of the Eperotiki and simultaneously the Neo Hellenic Renaissance. This School was the cause of the rupture of the Byzantine, classic Orthodox, political ideology that was the status quo and in force until then. It further contributed and begun the separation of Aristotelism, a philosophical system that was followed by the established Church, and which system had ended in Europe two centuries earlier.
The School of Emmanouil Gionma (1677–1723) was characterised as a great and grand school, and boasts teachers and educationists such as Makris, Sougdouris and the famous Methodios Anthrakitis. These above-mentioned teachers stood up and never hesitated to oppose the conservative establishment and the entrenched views of the Church. Save for a few Chief Priests such as Kosmas o Etolos who was named the Saint of the “Neo Hellenic Language”, the Church bears much of the responsibility for the intellectual suppression of the then Turkish dominated Hellenic Nation.
The Maroutsios School (1742-1797) is categorised as modern and contemporary amongst the others, with the renowned teacher, Evgenios Voulgaris. Although Voulgaris did not use and teach the simple modern language in his teachings, his overall rating at the school was a very positive one. The first phase of the Renaissance of the Greek paideia in the city of Ioannina comes to an end during the second half of the 18th century with the departure of Voulgaris from the city.
The reigns of education are taken over from the School of Emmanouil Gionma in 1723, with the departure of Methodios Anthrakitis, by the conservative clergy family of Balanos (1723-1821). The school then is renamed Balanios School. This family will establish themselves as the only official educators of Ioannina for close to a century. With the paideia being controlled by the Balanos family, it starts not only to diminish in standard, but also reaches a point of decadence.
From this anachronistic and lethargic education system, Athanasios Psalidas emerges to revive the education of the capital city of Epirus, Ioannina, while teaching at the Kaplanios School (1805-1820). With the emergence of Psalidas in the education system of Ioannina, he will begin a series of battles, conflicts and controversy against the conservative community of Ioannina. Psalidas, belonging to the upper middle class that consisted mainly of merchants, was an ardent supporter of European ideologies and the common Greek language as spoken by the common folk. He had as his main objective and aspiration the intellectual upliftment and the political restoration of the enslaved Hellenic Nation. In his efforts to achieve this, he was assisted by the sharp-witted and religious tolerant Ali Pasha, who protected and encouraged the paideia in Ioannina. He imposed upon the conservatives to be silent and tolerant of Psalidas, and he openly gave his undisguised support to the educational methods and innovations of the teacher.
In the near future however, the Neo Hellenic Renaissance, in which Ioannina had contributed to, came to an abrupt end with the start of the revolution, the Greek War of Independence of 1821. Ioannina was turned into a battlefield between the forces of the Sultan and Ali Pasha, and this resulted in the destruction of the Schools of the city and the wide spread scattering of the scholars.
Epirus was not included in the newly formed State of Greece that was formed after the 1821 Greek War of Independence. In the city of Ioannina in the period of the late Tourkokratia the field of paideia is inaugurated with generous donations of the brothers Zosimas in 1828, in order to establish the Zosimea School. The school boasted a “Gymnasion” since 1852 with principles such as, Georgios Kranas, Anastasios Sakellarios, Spyridon Manaris and Georgios Kaloudis. It further transformed into the most significant educational centre of the region, welcoming and accommodating students from Epirus and also from Albania.
Further, worth mentioning are the following Ioannites teachers, authors and scholars, who were students of the Schools of Ioannina, and these were, Philitas, Asopios, Goudas, Labridis, Aravadinos, Labros, Vasiadis, Pallis, Vilaras, Zalokostas, Krystallis and Christovasilis, who with their philological and historical works, as well as their literature achieved distinguished success. They founded philological societies and clubs, published periodicals and journals, conveyed the European ideologies to Ioannina, cultivated the Modern Greek language, rescued intellectual treasures, and promoted traditions. Their efforts were met by assistance from other Ioannites in the printing trade in Venice, Vienna, Ioannina, Moschopolis, Konstadinoupolis and Athens. Some of these are the brothers Glykides, Sarrous and Theodosiou, and also Labanitziotis and Sakellarios.
Thus the intellectual movement that took place in Ioannina found its support in three main vessels, namely, merchants, teachers and printers.
Therefore, all off the above-mentioned comprise the “Enlightenment” that was born in Ioannina, and in conjunction with the modern educational efforts of the other regions, formulated the Neo Hellenic Enlightenment. This had as a result the upliftment of the moral of the Hellenic Nation and the National Hellenic independence.