Dionysius the Philosopher

Dionysios Philosophos (Διονύσιος ο Φιλόσοφος, Dionysios the Philosopher) or Skylosophos (; c. 1541–1611), "the Dog-Philosopher" or "Dogwise" ("skylosophist" ), as called by his rivals, was a Greek bishop, who led two farmer revolts against the Ottoman Empire, in Thessaly and Ioannina (1611), with Spanish aid. He is considered one of the most important bishops of the Greek Orthodox Church who acted conspiratorially and revolutionary against the Ottomans during the Ottoman rule in Greece.

Early life

Dionysius was born in 1541 in Aydonat in the Rumelia Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire (modern Paramythia, Thesprotia, Greece). He was of Greek descent from the region of Epirus. At a very young age, Dionysius became a monk at Dichouni in the Ioannina region.

At age 15, he went to Padua where he studied medicine, philosophy, philology, logic, astronomy, and poetry. He took the name "Philosophos" (philosopher).

In 1582, he lived in Constantinople and in 1592 he was elected metropolitan bishop of Larissa and Trikala.

Due to his astrology, fortune-telling activities and contacts with demons he was deposed by the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Rebellions

In Trikala, Dionysius began organizing an uprising, considering the area suitable for this purpose because it bordered the inaccessible hideouts of the Pindus and the Agrafa mountains. In December 1598, he sent a monk to the Greek community of Venice, in order to ask it to intercede with the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Rudolf II, the king of Spain, Philip III, and the Pope, Clement VIII. The Greeks of Venice responded positively, submitting a memorandum to Rudolf's court in Vienna, on behalf of the inhabitants of Epirus, Thessaly, and Macedonia, requesting that troops, weapons, and supplies for 40,000 men be sent to Dionysius and the metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Arta, and that the emperor intercede with the Pope and Spain. Dionysius made one more attempt to contact the Pope in May 1600. The text of the letter to the Pope, written in Greek, was influenced by Rudolf II's successes against the Turks and the exploits of Michael the Brave. It states, among other things:

In addition to these contacts, Dionysius began withholding the contributions paid to the Ecumenical Patriarchate (dosimata) and to the empire (haraç) in order to use them for the coming struggle. Ultimately, he launched the uprising without any substantial foreign assistance, apart perhaps from some vague promise from Venice. This movement may be related to the uprising instigated by the Venetians in Albania in mid-November 1600.

Dionysius led a farmer revolt in 1600 in the region of Agrafa. He was demoted from the rank of metropolitan bishop of Larissa for his public speeches inciting rebellion and for his related fundraising activities. He subsequently left for the Republic of Venice where he raised enough funds to pay for a peasant army and tried to get contact with the Pope.

After returning to Greece, he made his headquarters in the Monastery of St. Demetrius in Dichouni of Thesprotia. As a monk, he toured the surrounding villages, raising an army of about 700 men. Armed with simple weapons, his army succeeded in several surprise attacks against the Ottoman garrisons of the area. Encouraged by these successes, he led his army into Ioannina on 11 September 1611. The inhabitants of the city were so surprised by the sight of the armed men and the fires that they turned against each other in confusion, unaware of the purpose of the fighting. This second revolt by Dionysius in 1611 in Ioannina ended in failure as the Ottoman garrison under Aslan Pasha eventually prevailed.

Death Dionysius hid in a cave by the lake but was captured. When he was presented to Osman Pasha his famous words were: "I fought in order to free the people from your tortures and your tyranny". Dionysius was tortured and perished upon being flayed alive by the Turks in September 1611. His skin was filled with hay and was paraded around the city, rebuked as the "skylosophos" - rather than "philosophos" (skylos meaning "dog"). The term was possibly coined by one of his main opponents, Maximus the Peloponnesian, another monk, loyal to the Patriarchate and the Ottoman Empire.

The Greek population was removed from those houses inside the castle of Ioannina and lost their privileges. The old church of Saint John the Baptist, guardian of the city, dating to the period of Justinian, was destroyed and its monks were killed. The Aslan Pasha Mosque was erected in its place in 1618 to commemorate the success of Aslan Pasha in quelling the rebellion.