PHANARIOTE

member of one of the principal Greek families of the Phanar, the Greek quarter of Constantinople (Istanbul), who, as administrators in the civil bureaucracy, exercised great influence in the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century. Some members of these families, which had acquired great wealth and influence during the 17th century, abandoned their traditional careers in commerce to enter the bureaucracy of the Ottoman Empire. From 1669 until 1821 Phanariotes served as dragomans (interpreters who also acted as foreign-affairs advisers) to the Sublime Porte (the Ottoman government) and to foreign embassies. They were also appointed hospodars (rulers) of the Danubian principalities, Moldavia and Walachia, vassal states of the Ottoman Empire during the period 1711-1821, which is, therefore, known as the Phanariote period in Romanian history. Phanariotes also dominated the administration of the Eastern Orthodox church and frequently intervened in the selection of prelates, including the patriarch of Constantinople. Leading Phanariote families were the Argyropoulos, Cantacuzino, Mavrokordtos, and Ypsilantis.