Vasilief, A History of the Byzantine Empire

The fall of Byzantium

Political and social conditions in the Empire

Page 6

Under the pressure of the all-powerful, large landholders, the villages and the peasantry endured great hardships. The peasantry was ruined. It is sometimes stated that the position of the peasants, for example, in the district of Thessalontca in the fourteenth century, at least on the estates of large landowners, was not very bad. But, even if this was true, the misery of the peasants in general is not to be doubted. Class struggles and the hatred of the lower classes for the wealthy was felt not only in the provinces, but also in the chief cities of the Empire. During the revolution of 1328 the populace of Constantinople sacked the magnificent palace of Theodore Metochites.

From the point of view of the social antagonism between aristocratic and democratic elements, the revolutionary attempt in Thessalonica which broke out in the middle of the fourteenth century is exceedingly interesting and important. The revolutionary movement rose in 1341 at Hadrianople in connection with the proclamation of John Cantacuzene as Emperor, and manifested itself in sedition, successful at first, of the populace against the rich classes (δυνατοί); then it spread to the other cities of the Empire. The revolution of the zealots at Thessalonica, in the fifth decade of the fourteenth century, is particularly interesting.

The sources distinguish three classes at Thessalonica: (1) the wealthy and noble; (2) the middle class or bourgeoisie, the middle (μέσοι), to whom belonged merchants, manufacturers, rich craftsmen, small landowners and professional men; and, finally, (3) the populace - the small farmers, small craftsmen, sailors, and workers. While the significance and influence of the wealthy class was becoming more and more powerful, the position of the lower class, especially that of the farmers near the city, whose lands were continuously ruined by the enemy was going from bad to worse. All the commerce of this important economic center and the advantages connected with it were in the hands of the higher class. Resentment was growing, and any casual incident might provoke a clash. Then John Cantacuzene was proclaimed Emperor with the support of the nobility; immediately the democratic elements came to the defense of the Palaeologi. Tafrali wrote; It was no longer a struggle of the ambitions of two persons who contested with each other for the supreme power, but a struggle between two classes, of which one wanted to maintain its privileges and the other was attempting to throw off its yoke. One contemporary source wrote that Thessalonica was regarded as the teacher of the other cities in the uprisings of the populace against the aristocracy.

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