The Society of the Kampos on Chios and its Legacy from the Late Byzantine period to the Early Modern era

Introduction 

The island of Chios holds a special place in the Aegean Sea. Her commercial, maritime and economic role emerged when the two maritime Republics of Venice and Genoa had consolidated their supremacy in the Mediterranean. A series of factors, mainly its strategic geographical position on the crossroads of the main commercial axes towards Constantinople and the Black Sea, and the western Mediterranean coupled with its proximity to Asia Minor, established Chios as the most sought-after seafaring centre in the Levant. Within this political and economic context, the aristocratic families of the great landowners and merchants residing at the Kampos played a leading role. The Kampos, apart from centre of the local rural economy, was the area where the great landowners built their summer residences. The following historical review will help to understand the framework within which the society of the Kampos lived and acted. 

 Brief Historical Review 

Chios belonged to the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) empire. In the course of the 12th and 13th centuries, the islands of the Asia Minor shores suffered from repetitive pirate attacks, which had destroyed completely their infrastructure.¹ Communication was very difficult and this fact had a negative effect on commerce. The imperial administration, absorbed in internal disputes, had neglected the protection of the islands and the neighbouring shores. In 1204, with the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, the situation worsened. The Queen City became the capital of the Latin State. In 1261, however, it was reconquered by Michael VIII Palaiologos with the aid of the Genoese fleet. The emperor signed the treaty of Nymphaeum, by power of which he thanked his allies rewarding them generously: the Genoese were free to establish commercial stations in various places, including Chios, enjoying all kinds of commercial privileges and a customs free commerce. Byzantine emperors had started granting commercial privileges to the city states of the Italian peninsula as early as the 11th century. The latter eventually overshadowed Byzantium and acquired supremacy in the Mediterranean by means of their powerful fleets. 

At the end of the 13th century, the entrepreneurs brothers Benedetto and Manuele Zaccaria de Castro – one of the noblest Genoese lineages – were granted by Michael VIII the right to assume the monopoly of the alum mines at Phocaea in Asia Minor. Alum was a mineral used in textile industries of northern Europe. The ore was shipped and stored in the port of Chios, and thence it was transported to the industries of the West and northern Europe by Benedetto’s fleet. Thus, already by 1277, Chios had become the link between East and West. Benedetto Zaccaria was the one who left his mark on the island. On account of various services he offered as an agent of the emperor, he was appointed Grand Duke (Megas Doux), which means he became chief admiral of the Byzantine fleet. In 1304, the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos granted to him Chios with a lease, as a reward for his contribution to the clearing of the Aegean from the pirates. The emperor would keep the suzerainty. Thus, Benedetto became the first Lord of Chios.² One of his first actions was to reconstruct the island’s ruined defences, to rebuild and strengthen the town’s castle, to repair the port and by and large the infrastructure. His major achievement, though, with a long-term effect was the reorganisation of local economy, which he oriented towards export trade. 

The dawn of the 14th century was the dawn of a golden era for Chios. Riches from the overseas commerce attracted Byzantium’s belated interest, which found a pretext to lay siege against the Zaccaria heirs and re-occupy the island in 1329. A few years later, in 1346, a second naval expedition led by the admiral Simone Vignoso brought the island back into Genoese hands. The overlordship of Vignoso lasted until his death. He was succeeded by twelve families of Genoese patricians, the shipowners that had provided him the fleet for the expedition, on the condition that the Republic of Genoa would cover their expenses. Since, however, the Republic wouldn’t pay them off, the shipowners decided to establish a commercial company with the scope to exploit and commercialize the agricultural resources and use the profits for financial recompense. They set up the commercial company New Maona, represented by twelve shareholders.³ At the same time they abolished their family names in favour of a name in common for all; they elected the name “Giustiniani”, which would link them together as members of a clan, the Giustiniani clan.

From then on and for more than two centuries, the rapid financial growth would bring long-term profits to the Genoese commercial interests, which revolved around a gigantic seafaring, commercial and business network, extending from the Mediterranean and the Tyrrhenian Sea to Spain and beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, and from the Syrian-Palestinian coast to Constantinople, the Black Sea, and the Crimean peninsula. For the centuries to follow Chios would bring long-term profits for the Genoese mercantile interests; she would get the lion’s share of these benefits, upside. Not only did the island become an international maritime and commercial centre, but also the hub of the world’s economic developments. The Maona of the Giustiniani became the island’s brand name. 

The Kampos and its setting 

The Kampos, literally meaning “plain”, is a narrow plain, extending to the south of the port town. It measures 10 km in length and 2.5 km in width, with its boundaries starting from the site Leukonia and ending to the Themiana village. On the eastern side the Kampos fronts the sea, whereas on the west it is bordered by hills. It remains until today the most fertile part of the island and its productivity and mild climate account for the reservation of the area by the upper classes, the magnates who built there their country villas. The Kampos held a major share of the island economy: its abundant water supply would ensure prosperous cultivations: grain, citrus – a crop inextricably linked with the Chiot economy until today – and mulberries for the sericulture. Until nowadays the Kampos transmits a particular aura. It is an unparalleled architectural and ecological entity, representative of a multifaceted efflorescence. 

During a stroll in the narrow paths separating the estates, visitors come across remains of old mansions, towers, pillars and columns, stepped seating places, surrounded by orchards. The estates are known to the locals as the towers “Argentikon”, “Rallikon”, “Mauros”, “Petrocochino”, “Ghiazou”, “Castelli”, “Damala” “Maximou” and so on, echoing memories of historic, illustrious lineages. The names of feudal lords have survived through the centuries, despite later changes in ownership or division or even encroachment of the estates by peasant-farmers. 

Who were the nobles? 

I. Byzantine aristocrats: The great landowners 

Chios prided herself on having her own aristocracy by birth confirmed by the possession of land; it was the great landowners who claimed origin from the oldest families of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The historian of Chios, George Zolotas, notes that the ethnography of Chios until the 10th century remained more or less unaltered.⁴ From that period onwards, Muslim invasions in the hinterland of Asia Minor compelled local populations and particularly the magnates to leave their domains and seek refuge to neighbouring islands. Among the refugees were high civil and military officials. In their new homes they acquired new wealth and established a feudal system, deriving their status from imperial chrysobulls (imperial documents sealed and ratified by the emperor’s golden seal). Their revenues were personal wealth, imperial gifts of land as a reward for services and income from high-ranking offices. 

Aristocratic origin

Two qualities define an aristocrat: firstly, birth; secondly, virtue, defined by the moral and spiritual superiority of the aristocrat. Marriages among members of aristocratic families were taking place with the aim to perpetuate the House, to strengthen political influence and increase the family property. During the Byzantine period, the military and political aristocracy of Constantinople was on top of the social pyramid followed by the regional governors of imperial provinces. The Chiot leaders exercised political and military authority in the name of the Byzantine emperor. 

II. The Genoese wealthy merchants and shipowners

The Genoese were aristocrats, too but in a different sense. Being an aristocrat meant to have a leading role in civil and military affairs. Being a Genoese aristocrat meant later to be a noble, namely to have a courtly title, to enrol in the Bible of Nobility of the Republic of Genoa,⁵ and be entitled to possess armorial bearings (coats of arms), a tradition unknown in Byzantium but customary in the West. 

Only those enrolled in the Liber Nobilitatis had the right to pursue high political and military positions. As mentioned before, the House of the Zaccaria de Castro was one of the most prestigious in Genoa.⁶ When Benedetto Zaccaria became Lord of Chios in 1304, he arrived at the island in his double capacity of the Grand Admiral of the Byzantine Empire and Admiral of the Republic of Genoa. As an imperial high official, he flew the imperial flag on the Castle walls whereas as a Genoese nobleman he bore his family arms: a shield divided into silver and red compartments with a three-towered wall. 

During the second Genoese period (1346-1566), commercial and business alliances between Genoese and Chiots brought about intermarriages between Orthodox and Roman Catholics, which resulted in the merging of eastern with western houses. This, in turn, brought about the social elevation of Chiots in the Genoese nobility. Already in 1346, a special clause of the treaty of the concession of Chios to Simone Vignoso stipulated that the defeated governor of the island, Kaloyiannis Zyvos, would be granted the title of the Genoese citizen bearing full rights. In 1528, the first Byzantine and Chiot-Genoese families acquired their own arms and the right to enrol in the Libro d’ Oro of their mother-city with the surname “de Scio”(originating from Chios). Among the lineages that acquired a noble title besides the Zyvos, were the Scaramanga, the Galati, the Argenti, the Petrocochino and others. More particularly, the Genoese sources record the names of Giovanni and Juseppe Gentili Argenti, who enrolled in the Libro de la Nobilità in 1528 and 1532, respectively. 

In conclusion, from the 14th century onwards, the three grades of the chiot upper class were the following: 

a) Genoese noblemen. 

b) Chiot aristocrats. 

c) Chiot-Genoese nobles, deriving from intermarriages between members of the former two sub-categories. 

Summing up, marriage alliances between local aristocrats with Genoese patricians conferred on the chiot gentry the privilege of nobility, namely the noble title accompanied by family arms. 

Where can we find information about the upper classes? There are several sources among which innumerable notarial deeds, some imperial documents, other historical sources and so on. Very important to our knowledge is the contribution of local toponymy. 

John VI Kantakouzenos (r.1347-1354), the Byzantine statesman, emperor, monk and historian, mentions Leon Kalothetos as “the most eminent among the Chiot magnates”.⁷ Kalothetos was the governor of Chios when the emperor Andronikos II (1272-1328) granted the island to Benedetto Zaccaria (1304). In 1340, during the rule of Andronikos III, when the Byzantine overlordship was briefly re-established, the governorship was in the hands of Kaloyannis Zyvos (mentioned in the Genoese sources as Ziffo or Cibo). 

More information about other magnates is documented in the treaty of concession of Chios to the Genoese (12 September 1346), which was signed between the admiral Simone Vignoso, on behalf of the Commune of Genoa, and eminent Chiot officials, who represented the population of the island.⁸ The signatories were: the governor of the Castle, Kaloyianni Zyvos (Ziffo or Cibo, procuratoris et capitano Castri Chii), the Great Falconer Argenti (protoieracari), Constantine Zyvos (procuratoris dominis Syi, advocate of Kaloyianni Zyvo), the Grand Sakellarios Michael Coressi, the advocates Sevastos Coressi and Georgios Agelastos (syndicus et procuratore, respectively). The treaty of concession is probably the most valuable source for the chiot medieval prosopography; it is also the first historical recording of the ‘Quintet’, the nucleus of the closed circle of the local aristocracy. 

A particular clause of the treaty stipulated that the aristocracy would adhere to the terms of the conventions imposed on them and the Genoese in return would recognise their class as hereditary, would respect them and would grant them citizen rights.⁹ 

The historian Philip P. Argenti, remarked accurately that “the terms of the treaty were in fact an agreement among equals”.¹⁰

Coats of Arms 

Armorial bearings or family arms are royal symbols and marks of honour, granted by the Emperor or the King to high-ranking officers and dignitaries as a reward for good services to the State. They consist of a shield bearing symbols and surrounded by figures, all of which make the coat of arms.¹¹ The coats of arms are of western origin and appeared in Chios in the early 14th century, during the lordship of the Zaccaria de Castro. Later, when the commercial company Maona was established, the twelve families of the shareholders (Oliverio, Fornetto, Arangi, Recanelli, I. Campi, Banca, Longo, Garibaldi, Negri, Fiesco da Caneto, Adorno, joined later by the Castro, Pagano, Moneglia, Ciprocci, Mari-Moneglia, Maruffo, Ughetti, Paterio) bore, alongside their family arms, the Giustiniani emblem, namely a shield with a three-towered castle, topped by a black eagle with extended wings and a golden crown. The inscription accompanying the arms writes Civitas Chij, namely City of Chios and the initials “L.J.” standing for Lazarus Justinianus, the governor of the island, or podestà in the Genoese language”.¹² The Giustiniani coat of arms in the course of time became the trademark of the Mahona. 

The chiot family arms follow the same pattern with their Genoese prototype, bearing a characteristic family symbol, which usually relates to the history and tradition of the respective House. The Argenti coat of arms, for example, bears the falcon, a bird alluding to the office of the ancestor, the Great Falconer Argenti of the Byzantine imperial court. 13 Similarly, the Scaramanka coat of arms, characteristic symbol of which was an iron arm holding a warship, relates to the feat of the great ancestor of the family, Scaramanga, during a naval battle between Byzantines and Sicilians fought off Brindisi in Italy (1155). This feat is narrated by the historian John Kinnamos.14 The symbol of the Damala combines the double-headed eagle of the Roman Empire, holding a shield divided in four compartments whereas on top there is the three-towered castle with a black eagle. This combination is reminiscent of the double bonds of the family with both the House of the Zaccaria and the Roman Empire. This is further highlighted by their motto, writing: “Damala de Castro Zaccaria Paleologues”. Other examples of family symbols are the rooster of the Galati House, the castle as a symbol of the Castelli House, the heart as a symbol of the Coressi House and so on. Family arms carved in marble decorated the gateways and entrances of the Kampos mansions, the family chapels as well as the funerary monuments. A characteristic feature among the Chiot-Genoese that best illustrates the common traditions between East and West are family chapels. Every Kampos estate had a family chapel. Mixed marriages between easterners and westerners meant co-existence of Roman Catholics and Orthodox within the same family. 

Philip P. Argenti, a connoisseur of the Kampos and a descendant of a noble family himself, mentions that Catholics and Orthodox worshipped in the same chapel as evidenced by family chapels which had two naves, to serve the needs of both rites.¹⁵ Let us not disregard the fact that during that time what differentiated people was either their religion or their rite, not the notion of national identity according to the modern sense of the word.¹⁶ 

Ottoman period (1566-1912) 

Chios was the last Genoese stronghold in the Levant. It fell to the Ottomans in 1566. This event was the first major blow to the ruling class: the Ottomans arrested the leaders of the Maona and imprisoned them at Caffa, in the Crimea, an old Genoese mercantile centre conquered by the Ottomans. Eighteen Giustiniani offspring, aged 16-18, were slaughtered. ¹⁷A few years later, however, the exiled Giustiniani were allowed to return to the island, but were confined to their estates at the Sklavia and Agios Georgios Sykoussis, ever since, leaving the Kampos for good. 

The change of political domination did not affect the local government, which continued to be in the hands of the same noble families, which were named at that time Council of The Elderly, or Demogerontia in Greek. The only difference was that the Roman Catholics were overshadowed by the Orthodox, who took the lead. Throughout the Ottoman period, Chios continued to play a major role in the international commercial arena. The Ottomans had no reason to interfere to the detriment of a continuous source of wealth. The Chiots were very influential in reference to their commercial and political standing keeping up with their Genoese tradition, which called for prominence in economic, political and social developments. In the period following the deposition of the Maonesi, the local nobles took action to keep their privileges undisturbed in respect to their mercantile network and business affairs. They availed themselves of their leading position and experience in international maritime trade, therefore the Ottomans would rely on them for the continuity of this trade. To secure their interests they established a permanent representative in Constantinople, just as formerly the Maona had established on the island a Genoese representative, who acted as intermediary between the Republic and Chios. Probably the most renowned representative is the Phanariot Alexander Mavrogordato dubbed The Ex Aporriton (1641-1709), who descended from the Chiot house of the Mavrogordato-Scarlato branch. 

The Libro d’ Oro of Chios (La noblesse grecque de l’ île de Chio according to D.M. Petrocochino) including the 37 most eminent houses of the island, is crystallised during this period. This narrow circle derives from the mixed social group dubbed Chiot-Genoese. Those people took pride in their double origin from Byzantium and Genoa. 

According to G. Zolotas and Ph.P. Argenti, the order breaks down into three sub-divisions: the ‘Quintet’, which claims direct links with the Byzantine imperial court, ranks first in the hierarchy; it includes the Argenti, Mavrogordato, Petrocochino, Rodocanachi and Schilizzi houses, who are followed by the ‘Twelve’ namely the Agelasto, Vouro, Galati, Grimaldi, Calvocoressi, Condostavlo, Coressi, Negroponte, Ralli, Sevastopoulo, Prassacachi, and Scaramanka. Last but not least were the ‘Twenty’ including the Avierino, Vlasto, Damala, Zyvo (Ziffo), Zygomala, Casanova, Calouta, Carali, Castelli, Maximo, Paspati, Paterii, Roidi, Salvago, Sgouta, Sechiari, Scanavi, Zizinia, Franghiadi, and Chryssoveloni houses¹⁸. It is worth mentioning that the chiot hierarchy follows the Giustiniani model, which is separated into groups (alberghi). 

The 19th century marks the beginning of the end for the nobles of the Kampos. The massacre of the population by the Turks in 1822 as a retaliation for the participation of the island to the Greek Revolution and the disastrous earthquake that struck in 1881, inflicted a terrible blow for the historic families and the Kampos as an architectural entity. The survivors had no choice but to leave the island for good, the mansions were burned or pulled down, the estates were deserted and later were encroached upon. 

Even if they had to disperse in the four points of the compass, the stardom of the Chiot nobles continued to shine in the international arena: the Mediterranean and Black Sea ports became bases of their diaspora as well as points of control of the international trade. It was the Chiot noblesse that founded the Greek community of London, which remains until today the hub of the international business in the City district. Nobility titles and family arms were recognised and ratified by the official authorities of all the major kingdoms and empires of the time, namely the College of Arms in Great Britain, the Collegio Araldico in Rome, the Austrian Empire, the Rey de Armas in Spain. Chiots offered valuable services in their capacity as foreign diplomats and ambassadors in the major powers of the world as well as in the then newly founded Greek Kingdom. 

Epilogue 

Summing up, we would conclude that more than a mere architectural and natural setting, the Kampos is the place where a thriving noble spirit, very much alive, can still be felt. The stone carvings, the ornamented balustrades, the graceful columns and the elegant cross-vaulted roofs of the villas make a panorama of unparalleled quality. The towers of Argenti, the Ralli, the Petrocochino, the Club of Salvago ... Names echo of glorious lineages, whose stories traversed the centuries by word of mouth coming down to us as a fable. 

Another intangible characteristic, which has not been given the attention it merits, is names. Νames illustrate better than anything else cross-cultural encounters, interaction and cross-fertilisation between East and West, the cosmopolitan spirit of people, but most importantly Genoa’s mark on her most prestigious territory. In contrast to what is accustomed in the hinterland, names in the aristocratic circles show a blend of Byzantine and western elements deriving from the palatial and senatorial nomenclature. 

Male names and nicknames, for example, are Benetto-Benedetto, Lorenzo (Lourentzis), Leonis-Leon-Leo, Frangomanolis,¹⁹ Pantias (Pantaleone), Luca-Loukis, Augustus-Augustes, Ambrogio, Dimi-Dimitri, Mike-Michel, Stephen-Étienne, Zorzis-Giorgio-Georges, Zannis-Gianni-Jean, Sevastos, Sergio, Frantzes, Leonardo, and the unique Franco-Frangoulis. Representative female names are: Enrietta-Arietta (Arietou-Argentou in the local linguistic idiom), Marouko (Maria), Mimina, Fanny, Ypatia, Jennou (Eugenia, Jenny), Sevaste, Loula-Ioulia-Giulia, and the unique Franca-Frangoula. The same rule applies to surnames, for example: the hellenized Chaviaras derives from the Ligurian surname Chiavari, while the Tsoukalas/Tsikalas or Sigalas derives from the Cicala, the Galliano or the Gemello became Gallianos and Gemellos respectively, the Fiescho and Flisco are encountered in the hellenized form Fineskos, Flisco and Fliskos; additionally, the Paterii became the hellenised Pateras and so on. 

The arrival of the Genoese created a dynamic economic network centred around Chios and expanded to the four points of the compass. Over the centuries the combination of family bonds and business alliances brought about social, economic, cultural and linguistic interaction between East and West culminating in the unique phenomenon of the making of the Chiot culture, which combined a unique amalgam of virtues, thus making its bearers stand out in the international arena. Western influence and the multi-national element not only remoulded the local society with demographic expansion, but more importantly endowed it with a cosmopolitan mentality, entrepreneurial spirit and broad-mindedness. Travelers, foreign diplomats, writers and intellectuals praise the Chiot population for their high cultural and intellectual level, the cosmopolitan character and courteous manners; additionally, the beauty, elegance and outstanding social position of women which had no parallel in other Hellenic lands. Later on, the elevation of the Kampos families in the Genoese nobility not only enhanced their social status and their pedigree, but more importantly made them an integral part of the West and its traditions.