GOD, SLAVE AND A NUN : A CASE FROM LATE MEDIEVAL CYPRUS

Author(s): Petra Melichar

Source: Byzantion, Vol. 79 (2009), pp. 280-291
Published by: Peeters Publishers
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44173179
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 GOD, SLAVE AND A NUN :
A CASE FROM LATE MEDIEVAL CYPRUS

Late medieval notary inscriptions preserve only fragments of the

dramatic, tragic or colorful fates of female slaves in eastern Mediter-
ranean 0). One of them involves a case of a slave woman and her mis-
tress from fifteenth century Cyprus. A story like many others, it would
seem. However, the fact that the owner was a nun raises several ques-
tions, which led me to inquire into issues of Cypriote immigration,
minorities and monasticism of this time.

In Byzantium (to which Cyprus belonged for greater part of the

Middle Ages), the institution of slavery went through a marked trans-
formation (2). The allusions to the crowds of slaves in imperial retinues
depicted by the early Byzantine sources stand in sharp contrast to the

(l) See the recent research of S. P. Karpov, Les Occidentaux dans les villes de la
périphérie byzantine : la mer Noire «vénitienne» aux XIVe-XVe siècles , in : M. Balard,
Elisabeth Malamut, J.-M. Spieser (ed.), Byzance et le monde extérieur -ē Contacts , rela-
tions, échanges ( Byzantica Sorbonensiat 21), Paris, 2005, pp. 67-76, especially
pp. 72-75. S. A. Epstein, Purity Lost : Transgressing Boundaries in the Eastern Mediter-
ranean: 1000-1400 ( The John Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political
Science , 3), Baltimore, 2006, especially pp. 52-95. For some interesting notes on
slavery in medieval southern Europe and its economic aspects in the 13th and
14th centuries see S. A. Epstein, Wage , Labor and Guilds in Medieval Europe , Chapel
Hill and London, 1991, especially pp. 223-226, 257.
(2) For the situation of early Byzantine slaves see Zņ V. Udalcova, ĪIoAooiceHue
paôoe e Bu3aumuu VI. e., in VV N.S. , 24 (1964), pp. 3-34. For an overview of
the middle Byzantine slavery consult P. Browning, Paôcmeo e Bu3aHmuücKoü
I ÍMnepuu (600-1200 in VV N.Sè1 14 (1958), pp. 38-55. Finally, for late
Byzantium see Helga Köpstein, Zur Sklaverei im ausgehenden Byzanz : philologisch-
historische Untersuchung (Berliner Byzantinistische Arbeiten, 34), Berlin, 1966. For a
detailed study of slavery in medieval Europe see C. Verlinden, Lesclavage dans
l'Europe Medievale , II, Gent, 1977. For further materials consult ODB, p. 1915.

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 GOD, SLAVE AND A NUN 281

late medieval period when the number of slaves within

territory considerably diminished, a result of a long an
process of loss of land, lack of successful conque
Christian ideals on the society and the eleventh-cen
state's attempts to circumscribe the power of the great
Although never abolished, the minimal post-Justin
regarding this group of subjects testifies to the decrea
of slavery (4) as does the multi-volume Prosopographisc
Palaiologenzeit ( PLP ), which mentions only six women
ment of involuntary service (not all of whom actually
ries under Byzantine control) (5).
Although marginal in late Byzantium, slavery did not
eastern Mediterranean. Quite the contrary ; the so
number of slave women who lived in the former domain
such as Crete or Cyprus where continuous warfare, abd
settlement made human trade flourish and regain e
tance. Slaves appear in different occupations ; craftsm
for the hardest and dirtiest jobs, house servants, c
mothers. Women could be disposed with as part of the
ty ; exchanged, given in deposit or as part of a dowry (6
The fifteenth century inscription, which depicts the u
the nun and her slave woman, appears in a tenth centu

(3) Verlinden, p. 987, specifically on Byzantium see also pp

above quoted work of Helga Köpstein.
(4) There clearly were exceptions. See for example the
Comnenos (passed in 1095), which established the manumissio
of free parents, and access of slaves to sacramental marriage
C. Brand, Slave Women in the Legislation of Alexius I., in BF, 23 (
(5) Women subject to involuntary service, whose names
the late Byzantine sources appear in the PLP under three dif
first, Sklavin (slave) is used for the slave woman depicted in
(PLP 94079), a certain Margia (PLP 16856), enslaved in Cyprus
time and a third woman, Eúõoxíoc MitiArļvaioc (PLP 18139). A
term, Dienerin, rather depicts a servant, it also denotes wom
free to choose their masters or leave their service. Thus Bao
given by testament of Dimitrios, megas stratopedarches, to hi
willed another woman, neoTpoßoö(v) ( PLP 22517), to his son.
( PLP 15185), depicted as a Magd (another term for servant),
master through testament.
(6) Verlinden, p. 105.

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 282 P. MELICHAR

known today as Parisinus gr. 913

zès edition, which transcribes th
"Ori ó 0EÒÇ Katapxàç tîMgcxç tòv
te Kai aKataSouÄcjTOv navři, ou
Tupavvrjç reo Ài$xva) rfļ<; r|5ovfļ<;
TioĀrļc; Kai xopaç Trjç Poo^iavíac;, av
aSeĀcprļ òvó^an Mapía ek xúpaç Ae
év Tfj vóaaco KÍTipou dç x^P^v Àey
0£oû tļ viovaxri MápGa roö Oupprļ
Kai KaÀfj npoaipEorļ éOéÀiqaev iva
auTfjc; Kai 'xexql twv toö xpéou Àu
7iávro éAeuOépa* Kai oatiļc; 5è a0£
ļaapTi3po)v arépÉojia oú yóvov ...
(Translation)

"From the beginning God made man free, with authority above himself and
not enslaved by anything. However, the deceitful rule of a serpent dragged
down to the light of pleasure stripped all the cities and places of Romania
and piled distress on our sister named Maria (8) from the land called tou
Lazarou and brought her to the island of Cyprus, to a place called Leuco-
sia (9). And led by God, Martha tou Ourri (10), a nun, bought her. Presently,
making a will she wanted to choose for the good so that [Maria] would serve
her [Martha] until the end of her life and after she worked off her debt, the
same Maria should be free from all bondage. Anyone who disregards this let-
ter of manumission and the testimony of the witnesses not only ..."

The text is clearly a draft (") and whether it was ever made into a
valid document remains uncertain. The unique circumstances of the
two women and the specific details included in the manuscript never-

(7) For further details regarding the manuscript see J. Darrouzès, Manuscrits
ońginaires de Chypre à la Bibliothèque nationale de Paris , in REB , 8 (1950), pp. 162-
196, p. 181 ; and for the edited text see Notes pour servir à l'histoire de Chypre , in
KvnpiccKcci ZnovSai, 23 (1959), p. 35 ; these two articles are reprinted in J.
Darrouzès, Littérature et histoire des textes byzantins (Variorum Reprints CS, IO),
London, 1972, contributions XI and XVII respectively.
(8) PLP 92750 and 94079.
(9) Later known as Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus and the residential city of
the Lusignan kings. In 1995, the Greek part of Nicosia was changed back to
Leucosia.
(10) PLP 21195.
(il) Darrouzès points out the fact that the signature of witnesses (required
by the Latin law of Assizes) is missing. See Darrouzès (1959), p. 36.

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 GOD, SLAVE AND A NUN 283

theless suggest that it dealt with a real though exceptio

lowing study will inquire into Maria's origin and religi
confession and nationality (II) ; and the implications
tence as a slave of a nun (III) reflecting the social and r
of their time.

I. MARIA'S ORIGIN AND RELIGION

The text contains several pieces of information, which refer to

Maria's religious and ethnic background. If it weren't for baptismal
names, which often successfully conceal former identities, her name
would obviously be the most apparent one. Since a woman named Rosa,
could, the notary informs us, be a baptized Muslim of Turkish
descent (12), this particular evidence must, however, be handled with
care. Although nothing implies that 'Maria' was only a baptismal name,
there is another reason to suppose that she was not of Muslim or other
non-Christian origin, if that had been the case, the writer was likely to
comment on either her faith or conversion as she was to become a ser-
vant of a nun.
Concluding that Maria was 'Christian' is, for the late medieval period,
a somewhat dubious categorization requiring further specification.
Several things speak against her being a Catholic. In the first place, the
Crusader laws ruled that "no Latin Christian could be or become a
slave" (13). As by this time Cyprus was a Frankish kingdom, this law
would have made it impossible for Martha to keep Maria a slave on the
island. It is also unlikely that she was a Byzantine Orthodox converted
to Catholicism because the law, which in such case would have led to
her manumission or at least to a limited period of service (14), was

(12) Verlinden, p. 206.

(13) H. Kausler, Livres des Assises des Bourgeois, in : Les Livres des Assises et des
usages du Royaume de Jérusalem, I, Stuttgart, 1839. See also J. Prawer, Crusader
Institutions, Oxford, 1980, p. 208.
(14) In fact the service of most slave women mentioned by the notary
inscriptions was limited, from two to twenty years. Slaves of Byzantine origin
converted to Catholicism were of special value to the Latins and special condi-
tions would be arranged for them as for example the law of Frederick of Aragon
(1296-1337), passed in 1310, shows : "Quod servi greci de Romania, postquam
coeperint credere artículos fidei, ut sancta Romana ecclesia tenet, si ex tunc
serviverunt per septem annos sint liberi. Licet Graeci de Romania hucusque se

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284 P. MELICHAR

clearly not applied. The fact tha

on the other hand suggests that
Orthodox, although (for the rea
Byzantine.
In respect to her homeland, the
place called tou Lazarou. I agre
Larnaca (15), as a captured person
her home island (16). "Lazar," ho
fourteenth and fifteenth centur
document is dated (1420's), Ser
revič (1389-1427) (17). The genitiv
ally specific name make some all
try" with the late medieval Serb

ab obedientia sedis apostolicae subtr

quia eis qui oderunt nos benefacer
constringimur, etiam Graecis ipsi
quapropter, salva ordinatione ac pro
aliquid ordinavit ac statuit quod p
statuetur, sincere capita nostra su
stare ac obedire protinus disponent
Graecis Romaniae emerit captivum
per septem annos audeat retiñere, c
providimus suae pristinae libertati.
extendimus, quam iam ad emptos :
qui firmiter credent et simplicite
Romana mater Ecclesia credit et t
unam et solam omnium Ecclesiarum
quod tempus septennii ex eo tem
credere et firmiter confiteri articul
tenet, ut superius declaratur". See J. S
tišci Testa), Palermo, 1865, Chp. 72 ;
(15) Darrouzès may have thought
known church of St. Lazaros. Howe
the writer would probably have me
conceal her origin. Holding Maria
have been a crime and a dangerous
and the owner. As for further flaw
Maria's captor as roaming 'the cities
had been a Latin kingdom for sever
(16) Darrouzès (1959), p. 36.
(17) The House of Lazarevič was
1389), the father of Stephan III.

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 GOD, SLAVE AND A NUN 285

The fact that the author mentions "the cities and pla
(Byzantium) in context with Maria's capture does not n
tradict the theory of her Serbian descent. His knowled
geographies may have been restricted and Serbia and B
after all neighbors whose boundaries changed several ti
vious century. His mentioning the 'snake' roaming B
moreover hint on the circumstances of Maria's abduction
ing or pursuing a business in the Empire. As a Serbian,
been Orthodox, which in turn offers an explanation
description of her conversion, justifies her being called
the Orthodox faith) and provides a reason for Martha t
of her as a suitable servant.

II. MARTHA'S RELIGION AND BACKGROUND

Before focusing on the nun Martha, let us briefly examine the high and
late medieval history of Cyprus, which creates the setting of our story.
This strategic island was Byzantine until 1191, when Richard I of England
conquered it. In 1192, he sold it to the Templar Order who in turn passed
it on to Guy de Lusignan, a nobleman of Frankish background whose
family held the territory until it fell under Venetian control in 1489 and
later to the Turks (1571). In Martha's time, Cyprus was a Latin kingdom
with strong Italian, mainly Genoese (18) and Venetian, colonies (").
As for religion, beside the Catholics, Cyprus had a large Orthodox
population (20). The coexistence of the two Churches was not exactly a
harmonious one ; the Orthodox Church was forced into submission fol-
lowing a unionist policy with the Catholics. Despite the efforts of
several enlightened popes and legates, Latin archbishops and papal
emissaries too often thought that the union of the churches could be
achieved by theological discourse, or worse, by force. Notwithstanding

(18) For information on late medieval Genoese community on Cyprus see

the edition of documents prepared by Svetlana Bliznyuk, Die Genuesen auf Zypern.
Ende 14. und im 15. Jahrhundert ( Studien und Texte zur Byzantinistik, 6), Frankfurt
am Main, 2005.
(19) See Epstein, Purity Lost, p. 80.
(20) For an outline, see G. Hill, A History of Cyprus, III, The Frankish Period,
1432-1571, Cambridge, 1948, pp. 1041-1104. Also see A. Stylianou et J. A. Stylianou,
The Painted Churches of Cyprus, London, 1985 (1st edition 1964), pp. 15-19, espe-
cially p. 18.

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286 P. MELICHAR

the pressures to convert, the Or

from the island. The priests wer
to the believers of the other rite
could not attend Orthodox mas
But when the Orthodox Cyprio
Patriarch of Constantinople, the
mised and attached to the Latin
In respect to economy, trade an
of income in Cyprus along with
ket. Available primary sources
coming from a number of con
Africa, Asia, Serbia, Bulgaria or
Cyprus was merely a stop on the
Verlinden suggests that some
farm laborers (23).
Finally, as it directly concerns o
could be manumitted under the F
Bourgeois describes five ways in
front of three witnesses (l), by
slave an inheritance (4) or by c
however, rarely practiced as it d
the decision out of their hands (2

The notary inscription includes

ing Martha. Her surname, tou Ou

(2l) Hill, pp. 1085-1087. To complete

1420's due to a Mameluk expedition
and the mendicants remained only
amount of effort to find a more p
remained complex. Hill notes that "
weakening of the Latins who wander
approach from the Greek side." It
finally solved the situation expelling
(22) Verlinden, pp. 884-892.
(23) Verlinden, p. 892.
(24) Kausler (witnesses, charter,
(conversion) ; ch. 249. Prawer, p. 209
(25) For details see Prawer, pp. 210
(26) A. K. Indianou, KvnpiocKá ¡ieoa
(1942), pp. 7-18, for details and fur
see Darrouzès (1950), p. 180.

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 GOD, SLAVE AND A NUN 287

ried. The fact that the document describes her as a nun,

suggests that by the time it was drafted she was already
Buying a slave, she certainly was not poor. As Steven Ep
"owning a slave was usually a sign of some wealth in the
tury, and freeing one as an act of charity or economic c
ally cost something and was not lightly done" (28). We m
that Martha was a woman of means even though she did
ly belong among the rich.
The variations of her family name including 'Urri', 'O
'Gurry' and 'Gourri' were not uncommon in Cyprus. A stu
Cypriot epigraphs (M) mentions a fourteenth century Ia
member of an originally Genoese family, which came to
Syria, while the new edition of Genoese documents from
up two late medieval persons bearing this name (30). A p
nation would present Martha as a member of the Genoese
Latin community. On the other hand, a Latin nun would
a Greek notary and request a draft of her will in a lang
from her own.
The wording of the document itself implies neither
Orthodox setting. On the contrary, a fifteenth century L
sion text from Chios (32) somewhat reflects the above in
the name of God amen. Since by nature all people are
slavery had been introduced by the law of nations again
through the said law of nations was introduced the bene
mission to extinguish it" (33). A perception of slavery as

(27) Orthodox couples could also separate and take monas

nothing in the document indicates this to be the case, I did n
option among the possibilities mentioned above.
(28) Epstein, Purity Lost, p. 71.
(29) Indianou, p. 18.
(30) Bliznyuk, no. 85, 87, also see p. 408.
(31) Interestingly, the Genoese medieval law forbade to free
tament. See Epstein, Purity Lost, p. 85. For details see S. A. Eps
Slavery : Color, Ethnicity, and Human Bondage in Italy, Ithaca, 200
(32) The text was written by Antonio Foglietta, a public nota
Chios between 1460-1476. For details see P. P. Argenti, The Occup
the Genoese and Their Administration of the Island, 1346-1566,
pp. xx and 614.
(33) Argenti, p. 807. "Cum naturaliter omnes homines liberi
servitus per ius gentium contra ius naturale fuerit introducta

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288 P. MELICHAR

tradicting God's natural order, w

of a manumission document.
Martha's actions as a nun reflec
first place, she disposed with he
western convent would hardly
ing slaves) brought to a nunnery
Beside having sufficient means a
went to the market herself (a ve
that she did so on behalf of a nu
have resided in a monastic inst
question for a Catholic nun. A C
side the nunnery, would, furt
describe herself as a nun (35).
The above evidence sets Martha
ing either in a nunnery (Orthod
vate ownership and gave the mo
to move around) or as an idiorh
own house and living ascetic life
attire. The latter option seems e
backed by the results of an anal
cism, which shows that

"development of an idiorhythmic
retain personal property, earn the
rately from one another in their o
tine monasticism in the Palaiologan

The independence of Martha'

resources and the missing indica
ticular nunnery, all speak in favo

tionem per dictum ius gentium int

Translation taken from Epstein, Purit
(34) Epstein, Purity Lost, pp. 57-58
rare. Epstein's study mentions no f
(35) See Petra Melicharová, Crown,
Female Sanctity in the West and in th
Century), in Byz., 77 (2007), pp. 315

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 GOD, SLAVE AND A NUN 289

III. MARIA, THE NUN'S SLAVE

By the time the notary drafted the text, Maria had be

mistress for some time. What was her life like ? As it ca
pletely discarded, let us examine the option of Maria fol
into a nunnery. Although the primary sources confirm t
noble nuns had servants in the convent, slaves do not figu
late Byzantine monastic rules. Several centuries earl
Studites severely forbade their presence in the monaste
not possess a slave whether for your own use or for the m
the fields since man was created in the image of God" ("
Byzantine period it was customary to release slaves befo
or mistress's entering a monastery (3S). Unlike slaves, ser
mentioned in several typica usually in connection with n
women, who might have faced serious temptations and r
denly deprived of all luxury and comfort. The typikon of
century Constantinopolitan convent Bebaia Elpis allows o
provide modest amount of service and ease'. Mother sup
er admonished to allow "this exception only for those w
here from a life of privilege, and in no case for anyone e
At the same time, scholarly research shows that memb
hierarchy, monastic institutions and individual monk
Byzantium did own slaves. Verlinden says that monaster
bers of the church hierarchy in Byzantium had d
(although he does not provide further details or precise
In her study, Udalcova mentions slaves serving high clerg
middle Byzantine Vita of St Basileios the Younger (42) p

(36) Angela C. Hero, G. Constable, R. Allison, J. Thomas, By

Foundation Documents : A Complete Translation of the Surviving Fo
Testaments (DOS, 35), Washington, 2001, p. 1300, 2.
(37) Hero, p. 77,4.
(38) Browning, p. 43.
(39) Hero, p. 1550, 94.
(40) Verlinden, p. 998.
(41) Udalcova, p. 28.
(42) A. N. Veselovskij, PasbicxanuH e oÔAacmu pyccKoao dyxo
Sbomik Otdela Russkogo Jazyka I Slovestnosti Imperatorskoj Ak
(1899), pp. 10-76. Also see Christina G. Angelidi, AovAoi arřjv K
rov lOo ai. 'H ¡lapropía to v Biov rov óaíov BaaiÁeíov rov Néov,
(1985), pp. 33-51.

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 290 P. MELICHAR

healing slaves ("). In one instanc

demons is cured and returns health
rence of slave ownership among th
the slow disappearance of the inst
sons. Fifteenth century Cyprus w
with needs and possibilities that
which in turn may have bent the
If Maria lived in a convent along
not become a nun herself. Such ac
sion, which she as a slave could n
would not have differed much fro
ing to Martha, she would have join
elevated tasks of maintenance such
a slave, on the other hand, protec
the convent upon her mistress's
home country. As nun, she would
tament draft sought to guarantee
As an idiorhythmic nun, Marth
property, supported herself and l
her own house (46). In such case, M
pendent but also more physically
ing her mistress, taking care of t
the nun to spend more time on he

The story of Martha and Maria is

many parts are missing. It brin
Mediterranean with its quickly

(43) Veselovskij, pp. 54-55. Angelidi, p

(44) Veselovskij, pp. 68-69. Angelidi, p
(45) Hero, p. 1300.
(46) In late Byzantium, a certain Thi
I could find of a woman who took the monastic vows and lived as nun in her
own house. Unfortunately, her case was not a success as according to an accu-
sation she transformed her house into a public house and ended before the
patriarchal court. For a note on house convents also see Sharon E. J. Gerstel et
Alice-Mary Talbot, Nuns in the Byzantine Countryside, in AXAE, 27 (2006), pp. 481-
489, see especially p. 489.

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 GOD, SLAVE AND A NUN 291

administrations, where more than the strict limits o

nationalities become blurred ; Maria is the slave and Mar
concerned with the things of the Lord.
Whether the draft from the beginning of the fifteenth
became a valid document or not, it is a valuable testimony
of its time. The story offers a snapshot of Maria's strugg
new country, language and social position. Probably of S
dox descent, she was kidnapped in her home country or
and sold in Cyprus. Martha, her owner, seems to have be
of Orthodox background with some Latin (Genoese ?)
lived either in one of the nunneries on the island or, ev
bly, as an idiorhythmic nun. Maria's service was vital to
fore she wished to free her slave only upon her death.
Due to the lack of information provided by the text, th
of the two women remain indistinct. Through the draft
ment, we may picture Martha as a benevolent slave owne
willing to show some mercy to a stranger in difficult ci
could not afford a completely magnanimous gesture ; a s
hand, which could not let go.

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Petra Melichar.

Instituut voor Vroegchristelijkearwen54@hotmail.com

en Byzantijnse Studies.

Summary

A draft of a will takes us back to the fifteenth century Cyprus introducing a

strange case : a nun as an owner of a slave woman of foreign origin. While
attempting to reconstruct the identities and circumstances of the two women,
the primary sources offer a glimpse of the late medieval eastern Mediter-
ranean with its quickly changing boundaries, multicultural context and com-
plex interpersonal relationships.

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