fraternal order of the Holy Sepulchre
It was founded in 326 AD. Its aim was to provide service for the pilgrimages to the Holy Land. It is mentioned in fermans of the 15th century. The essential duty of the members of the order of the Holy Sepulchre were the travels for the financial support of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. After a period of time they determined the routes followed, and as a result, the areas that each group of monks had to cover, which were also called “travels”. According to code 622 of the metochion of the Holy Sepulchre of Constantinople, the “travel” of Smyrna included in the period 1707-173, the dioceses of Ephesus, Smyrna, Methymna, Lemnos, Mytilene, and Philadelphia, as well as the archdiocese of Samos and Ikaria.
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metochion
In the Byzantine period, metochion meant the estate that was conceded to a monastery for income purposes and operated as its dependency. Usually the metochia were located far from the monastery to which they belonged and included various structures, such as churches, hospices etc.
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protosynkellos
The protosynkellos was the assistant and often the successor of the Patriarch or the archbishop, as he was a person with great influence. Until the 5th c. the title of the synkellos was used for the same office. In the course of time, the synckllos undertook more responsibilities and this resulted in the creation of the titles of the protosynkellos and the great protosynkellos. The latter in the Paleologean era signified the protosynkellos of the Patriarch.
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representative of the fraternal order of the Holy Sepulchre
The representative of the fraternal order of the Holy Sepulchre, responsible for the facilitation of the delegate monks whose purpose was the collection of financial support. In the case of Smyrna, he was also the director of the metochion with the same name.
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