Caradja, Karadja or Caragea (also known as Caratzas and Karatzas) is an aristocratic family of Byzantine and Phanariote[1] Greek origins, present as dignitaries in the Ottoman Empire, and established as hospodars and boyars in the Danubian Principalities[2]from the late 16th century. One branch of it remained present in Germany and in modern-day Romania. The House of Caradja originated in the Byzantine Empire, probably in the capital Constantinople.
The earliest mentions of the family's history are present in historian Anna Komnene's Alexiad. In 1091, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos sent Argyros Karatzas to Dalmatia, and appointed him Duke of Durrës and Duke of Philippopolis in 1094.In the year 1453, during events surrounding the Fall of Constantinople, Eusthatios Karadja was mentioned as the intermediary between Patriarch Gennadius II Scholarius and Sultan Mehmed II.
In 1591, a Constantin Caradja assigned the rank of Grand Postelnic in Moldavia, and was therefore the first member of the family to be attested in one of the two principalities. Beginning with this generation, it is possible to reconstruct the family's genealogy completely. Constantin's nephew, the Postelnic Jean Karadja, was present in Wallachia, where he founded the monastery in Slobozia, as well as in Moldavia, where he restored the Saint Sava Church in Iaşi (1625).
[1] Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Phanariote Greeks (Greek: Φαναριώτες, Romanian: Fanarioți, Turkish: Fenerliler) were members of those prominent Greek (including Hellenized Vlach and Albanian[citation needed]) families residing in Phanar(Φανάρι, modern Fener)[*], the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople, where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is situated, who came to traditionally occupy four positions of major importance in the Ottoman Empire: Grand Dragoman, Grand Dragoman of the Fleet, Hospodar of Moldavia, and Hospodar of Wallachia.
For all their cosmopolitanism and often Western education, the Phanariotes were aware of their Hellenism; according to Nicholas Mavrocordatos' Philotheou Parerga, "We are a race completely Hellenic".
Phanariotes emerged as a class of moneyed Greek merchants (of mostly noble Byzantine descent) in the latter half of the 16th century, and went on to exercise great influence in the administration in the Ottoman Empire's Balkan domains in the 18th century. They tended to build their houses in the Phanar quarter in order to be close to the court of the Patriarch, who under the Ottoman millet system was recognized as both the spiritual and secular head (millet-bashi) of all the Orthodox subjects (the Rum Millet, or the “Roman nation”) of the Empire (except those Orthodox under the spiritual care of the Patriarchs of Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Ohrid and Peć), often acting as archontes of the Ecumenical See; thus they came to dominate the administration of the Patriarchate frequently intervening in the selection of hierarchs, including the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
[*] Fener is a neighborhood midway up the Golden Horn within the district of Fatih in Istanbul, Turkey. The streets in the area are full of historic wooden mansions, churches, and synagogues dating from the Byzantine and Ottoman eras. The wooden mansions between the main axis and the shore were often used for importing wood from Pontus or the Black Sea area. Their picturesque facades were largely destoyed due to street widening requirements in the 1930s and later.The area's name is a Turkish transliteration of the original Greek φανάριον (a lighting lantern, a streetlight, a lightpost with a light lantern - from φανός: a lighting lantern; syn. πυρσός: light-torch, φάρος: beacon, lighthouse) (Classical: phanárion, modern: fanári, "lantern").[1] It was so called for a column topped with a lantern which stood there in the Byzantine period - used as a public light or marine and/or other purpose locator/beacon.
After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Fener district became home to many of the Greeks in the city. The Patriarchate of Constantinople moved to the area as well and is still located there. As a result, "Phanar(i)" (the traditional spelling) is often used as shorthand for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, just as "Vatican" is used for the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church. During the Ottoman period, the Greek inhabitants of Fener were called "Phanariotes" and were important assistants to the Sultan in various capacities and offices. Wealthy Phanariotes were appointed as governors over provinces in Turkish Europe and Greece, and as hospodars of Wallachia and Moldavia between 1711 and 1821. The Phanar contains the patriarchal cathedral of St. George. Its main entrance is never opened since the hanging in 1821 of the patriarch there at the time of Greek independence.
[2] Caragea's plague: Caragea's plague or Caradja's plague (Romanian: Ciuma lui Caragea) was a bubonic plague epidemic that occurred in Wallachia, mainly in Bucharest, in the years 1813 and 1814. It coincided with the rule of the Phanariote Prince John Caradja. As Caradja came to Bucharest in 1812 after being appointed prince, the plague was already claiming victims in Istanbul, the Ottoman capital. A man in Caradja's retinue grew sick and died. It is alleged that this was the source of the plague in Wallachia, although the next reported death from plague in Wallachia occurred in June 1813. The plague was expected and in January 1813, Caradja founded two quarantine hospitals, one in Teleorman(Deliorman) and one in Giurgiu. MORE FAMILY TREE See also: Communities on the Verge: Unraveling the Phanariot Ascendancy in Ottoman Governance by Christine Philliou | Comparative Studies in Society and History | Vol. 51, No. 1 (Jan., 2009), pp. 151-181
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