Alexios Alexis

Alexios Alexis (1692-1786) was a Cretan from Lassithi Plateau on the island of Crete. He played a major role in the Cretan wars for independence. Stories of his life still resound through the country.[1] His father was the nobleman Misser Alexis (1637 - ? ). Alexios[2] led a large and eminent family and some of his descendents reached high ranks in Hellas and abroad. A few could be named as Nicholas Alexios Alexis,[3] Antonios Papadakis, Ismail Selim Pasha, and the Army General Ioannis Sotiris Alexakis,[4] but there were many others.

Early life, Ottoman rule, retaliations and causes

In 1692, when Alexios was born in the village of Potamous and was just an infant. One of the Ottoman Turks beat[5] his fifty-five year-old father almost to death and pursued everyone named Alexis.[6] Furthermore, the entire fortune of the Alexis family was confiscated.[7][8][9] Because of that, the two older brothers, Manolis and Yiannis (aged 22 to 29), retaliated and war began in Zenia,[10] a nearby village in Lassithi Plateau, forcing them to move Alexios from Potamous[11] to Marmaketo to save him from vengeance.

Years later, after Alexios had grown up in the village named Marmaketo, he regained some of the estates of his father which had been seized[12][13] and which were illegally sold by the Turks. The Christian villagers, that bought Alexis’ property from the Turks, rushed to return it to Alexios Alexis whenever he appeared in their villages. For years, Alexios Alexis moved from Marmaketo to Houmeriako, Psychro, Mirabello, Viannos, Malia, Megalo Kastro-Heraklion, and elsewhere. On these trips through the towns, he wore simple clothes to avoid attention. He had only one fellow-traveler who rode on a donkey, while Alexios walked ahead of him, incognito. This role-playing was meant to avert the Turks’ attention and to pass unnoticed.[14]

The struggle against the Ottoman rule, his role

His walking journeys and mountain hikes had also another much more important reason. Thereby, he communicated with other prominent Cretans with whom he discussed, collaborated, and planned the revolutionary uprising of Crete against the Ottoman tyranny. Until a very advanced age, Alexios traveled up and down the treacherously steep roads with a donkey that connected the mountainous Lassithi Plateau with the surrounding provinces on both sides of the Mount Dikti (2148m).[15]

Leadership and national contributions

Alexios, enjoyed respect from his countrymen, especially from Lassithi where he was appreciated for the following reasons: he was kind, generous, and had a national vision; members of his large family, were constantly hounded by the oppressors; the name Alexis was considered a Byzantine name and Byzantine names were deemed to be a link between Hellenism and Byzantine culture; his father had, in Lassithi and elsewhere, estates such as orchards and hereditary fiefs from the Byzantine period (961-1204), most of which were given to the Prefectures; and he donated property (a Byzantine feudal estate) in Viannos, to become a resort in Crete. Byzantine nobleman Alexis Kallergis and his family (formerly the Phokas family) used Lassithi as a base during the Cretan revolutions of 1283 and 1364.[16] According to tradition, the Alexis family had an affinity with the Cretan Callergi or (Kallergi) family, which had many members named Alexis and, like other legendary freedom fighters of Crete, were patriotic people involved with issues and beliefs that benefited their homeland. Alexis’ largesse also involved donating properties to the Monastery of Agias Pelagias and the Crystallenias or (Croustallenias) Monastery[17]

Marriages and adult life

In 1715, Alexios married his first wife who was from Kritsa. She bore him six children, three sons and three daughters. She died in 1735. In 1737, he remarried, but his second wife, named Chryssie did not have any children. In 1760, at sixty-eight years of age, he remarried for the third time. His wife, much younger than he, was Annezina from Simi and gave birth to a child named Nicholas. This son Nicholas Alexios Alexis[18] (1761-1818), later became the priest in the nearby village of Magoulas and father of fourteen children.

The immediate aftermath

The six children of Alexios from his first wife were persecuted and forced into exile by the Ottomans or had to move to other places where they assumed different names in order to survive. However, the first son was killed by the Turks in the village named, Farsaro. The other two sons and three daughters by his first wife were married in Kritsa and Psychro. They had four sons: Marcos settled in the village of Farsaro, Nicholas in Myrtos and later settled in Psychro; Alexios in Karavados and then in Psychro; and the Captain Manolis Alexis changed his name to Manolis Kazanis[19] in Kritsa.

A revered figure with a national reputation

Due to his renowned family name and his great age, he was known towards the end of his life in Crete and in Venice as Alexis[20] the elder. Descendants of Alexios Alexis were explorers, scientists, benefactors, and/or national donors. Members of his descendants' large families were fighters during Cretan wars for Liberty in the years 1841, 1867, 1878, 1889, 1895 - 1898, 1912, 1914 - 1918, and 1940 - 1944. Here are some of his grandsons, great-grandsons, and great-great-grandsons: Alexandris N. Alexis(1790-1820); Alexis of Maleviziou[21][22] was said to be the one who signed on 14/10/1830 the letter for peace sent to La Fayette;[23] the warrior chieftain, Captain Nicholas Papadakis-Alexis(1860-1913);[24][25] the General Ioannis Sotiris Alexakis (1885-1980) who liberated Thessaloniki;[26] and other historical personalities in Hellas and abroad. Alexios’ father, Misser Alexis, born while Crete was part[27][28] of the Venetian Republic, is mentioned in historical documents and archives in Venice, Ca' Vendramin Calergi Library.

Note

"Lassithi has small villages, but all have God’s gift. Small villages, which gave birth to great men." (M. Dialinas).[29]

External links

Footnote

All reference material and information mentioned above or below can be found in The National Library of Greece, Athens, http://www.nlg.gr or in Vikelaia Municipal Library, Tel: 2810-409702 and 2810-301543, Crete, http://www.vikelaia.gr

References

  1. ↑ Mesogeios Newspaper, 22/7/1953 - Εφημερίδα Μεσόγειος - pages 55-56, lines-στίχοι 9-14, hymns 9-14
  2. ↑ Book by Alexakis, Ioannis Sotiris- I. Σ. Αλεξάκη - The Alexises - ΟΙ ΑΛΕΞΗΔΕΣ, Athens 1969, pages 64, 85-121, 321, patricians-γενάρχες
  3. ↑ New Megali Ελληνική Εncyclopedia, 1984, CHARI PATSI, volume 4 page 608, Alexis Nikolakis-Αλέξης παπά-Νικολάκης
  4. ↑ Ioannis S. Alexakis liberated Thessaloniki on October 26, 1912
  5. ↑ Krassanaki A.G., History of Crete-Ottoman Rule - Α. Γ. Κρασανάκη, Νεότερη Κρητική Ιστορία, Τουρκοκρατία, Κρητική Πολιτεία
  6. ↑ Mourellou I. D. - Ι. Δ. Μουρέλλου - Biographies - Κρητικές Βιογραφίες
  7. ↑ Taxation Documents-Φορολογικά έγγραφα, volume 9, Vikelaia Library, Heraklion, Crete -Βικελαία Δημοτική Βιβλιοθήκη
  8. ↑ Turkish Documents-Cretica Chronica, volume Θ, Ι, pages 73,74 & ΙΙ,1955,pg 245, sub note 28 & ΙΙΙ, pg 457,sub note 3,
  9. ↑ Municipal Library-Neapoli, Archives - Τα Αρχεία Νομού Λασιθίου στη Νεάπολη στο κτίριο της Δημοτικής Βιβλιοθήκης
  10. ↑ Zenia & Potamous, history and mythology, Neapoli, Agios Nikolaos-Archives
  11. ↑ Book by Ιoannis S. Alexakis-Αλεξάκη, history and facts, tradition, roots, Potamous village, Lassithi, 1972
  12. ↑ Turkish Archives, real estate transactions and disputes - Τουρκικό Αρχείο, Vikelaia Library, Heraklio, Crete, volume 22, page 39
  13. ↑ N. S. Stavrinidis, Translation of Turkish Documents, Vikelaia Library, N. Σ. Σταυρινίδη - Μεταφράσεις Εγγράφων εν Βικελαία
  14. ↑ Dalapsi C., History, Vikelaia Library, Heraklion, Crete
  15. ↑ Mountainous Lassithi Plateau
  16. ↑ Megali encyclopedia-History of Lassithi Prefecture, Jermiado - Τζερμιάδων, Τel. 28440 89040
  17. ↑ Lassithi Plateau, History-Monastery Krustallenias
  18. ↑ Encyclopedia ΥΔΡΙΑ-YDRIA, volume 5, page 438, Αlexis παπά-Nikolakis; and also same page 438 Αlexis of Maleviziou (1790-1820)
  19. ↑ History, Monasteries Krustallenias & Agias Pelagias, Captain Manolis Kazanis
  20. ↑ Xanthoudidou ST., Crete under Venetian Republic- Ξανθουδίδου Στ., Βενετοκρατούμενη Κρήτη, Αθήνα, pages 48, 96,108,109
  21. ↑ Book by Alexakis, Ιoannis S., The Alexises, page 361, Alexis of Maleviziou
  22. ↑ History of Crete, -I. Mourellou I. - I. Μουρέλλου, Heraklio, volume Β΄, page 1197, Alexis of Maleviziou
  23. ↑ Encyclopedia ΥΔΡΙΑ-YDRIA, volume 5, page 438, Αlexis παπά-Nikolakis; and also same page 438 Αlexis of Maleviziou (1790-1820)
  24. ↑ Encyclopedia ILIOY-PAPYROS LAROUSSE BRITANNIKA, volume ΙΖ, page 551, Papadakis Captain-Νikolas, οπλαρχηγός Κρητικών πολέμων
  25. ↑ Book by Alexakis, Ioannis S. The Alexises-ΟΙ ΑΛΕΞΗΔΕΣ, pages 115, 64 Captain Papadakis Nikolas
  26. ↑ General Ιoannis S. Alexakis, liberator of Thessaloniki on 26/10/1912
  27. ↑ Paparrigopoulou K. Athens, 1887, History, volume 4, pages.363, 561,582-626 - Ιστορία Ελληνικού Έθνους
  28. ↑ History of Lassithi Plateau by S. Spanakis - Ιστορία του Οροπεδίου Λασιθίου, Σπανάκη Στέργιου, ιστοριοδίφη
  29. ↑ Libraries: Vikelaia http://www.vikelaia.gr and http://www.nlg.gr
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