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The fifth earl of Guilford (1766–1827) and his secret conversion to the Orthodox church
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 March 2016
Extract
In September 1725 archbishop Wake of Canterbury wrote to patriarch Chrysanthos of Jerusalem, warning him that the non-jurors were in schism from the official and established church of England; and so the remarkable correspondence between the non-juring bishops and the patriarchs of the east was suspended without ever coming to any decisive conclusion. Wake’s letter marks in many ways the end of an era. During the previous hundred years, from the reign of king James I onwards, there had been a series of surprisingly positive contacts between England and the Orthodox world. Archbishop Abbot, for example, exchanged letters with Cyril Lukaris (1572–1638), patriarch first of Alexandria and then of Constantinople; and as a result of this Cyril not only sent the Codex Alexandrinus as a gift to king Charles I in 1628, but also despatched his most promising disciple, Mitrophanis Kritopoulos (1589–1639), future patriarch of Alexandria, to study for five years at Balliol College, Oxford (1617–22). Later in the century Orthodoxy was made known in England through a series of books, such as Thomas Smith’s An Account of the Greek Church, published in Latin in 1676 and in English four years later, and Paul Rycaut’s The Present State of the Greek and Armenian Churches, published in 1679. To these should be added John Covel’s magnum opus entitled Some Account of the Present Greek Church, which did not appear until 1722, but which reflects experience gained in the Levant some fifty years before. During 1699-1705 there was even a short-lived Greek College at Gloucester Hall, Oxford. Last but not least, in 1716–25 came the negotiations between the non-jurors and the Orthodox, to which reference has been already made.
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References
1 In Williams, G., The Orthodox Church of the East in the Eighteenth Century (London 1868) pp lv–lviii.Google Scholar
2 Curzon, R., Visits to Monasteries in the Levant, with an introduction by Hogarth, D. G. (London 1916) pp 333–4.Google Scholar
3 See his highly readable account of this journey, Notes of a Visit to the Russian Church in the Years 1840, 1841, ed Newman, cardinal (London 1882).Google Scholar
4 The family was established at Strathwell by 1545; inventories of the chapel survive from the years 1630,1753 and 1775. The house was sold by the family in 1866, and then or subsequently the contents of the chapel were presumably dispersed. The family name is variously spelt Colnot, Kolnot or Colnett.
5 See Tsoumas, George, ‘Methodism and Bishop Erasmus’, Tlie Greek Orthodox Theological Review, 2, 2 (Brookline 1956) pp 62–73 Google Scholar; Sackett, A.B., ‘John Wesley and the Greek Orthodox Bishop’, Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, 38 (Chester 1971-2) pp 81–7, 97-102.Google Scholar
6 The chief account of his Ufe is by [Andreas Papadopoulos-Vretos], Notizie [Biografiche-Storiche su Federico Conte di Guilford Pari d’Inghilterra, e sulla da lui fondata Universita Ionia], text in Italian and Greek on opposite pages (Athens 1846). Papadopoulos-Vretos first met Guilford in 1820, and from 1824 acted as librarian for his personal library as well as for that of the Ionian academy. While detailed and on the whole accurate concerning Guilford’s last years and the foundation of the Ionian academy, he provides only vague and sketchy information about Guilford’s early life. On Guilford’s orthodox baptism we have a fascinating first-hand account by his sponsor at the ceremoany, [George] Prosalendis; this was edited by [L. S.] Vrokinis and published under the title Άνίκδοτα χειρόγραφα [άφορώντα τήν κατά τό Δόγμα τηΐ Όρθοδόξου ΈκκλησΙαξ βάττησιν τοθ δγγλου φιλέλληνοξ Κόμητο; Γυΐλφορδ] (Corfu 1879). Guilford and the Ionian academy form the theme of a special issue of the Athenian periodical Έλληνική Δημιοι/pyfa (no 3, 1949): see in particular the articles by G. I. Sálvanos and V. G. Salvanou, ‘H ‘lóvios ΆκαδημΙα, 6 1бритѓ Ѕ airrřls Kópis Γύλφορδ, ol καθηγητα! καΐ σττουδασταΐ αύ-riļs, and by К. A. Diamantis, ‘H ‘lóviot ΆκαδημΙα τοθ Κόμι-ros ΓκΙλφορδ. In English there is a short account of Guilford’s career by Rigg, J. M. in DNB 41 (London 1895) pp 164–6 Google Scholar, and a fuller presentation in [Z. D.] Ferriman, [Some English Philhellenes. VI. Lord Guilford] (Anglo-Hellenic league, London 1919) pp 75-109. ‘
7 There is some uncertainty about the date: the year is usually given as 1791, but several factors point to 1792. The evidence in Prosalendis is contradictory. He writes that North arrived in Venice on 2 December 1791, left four days later, and then reached Corfu on January 1791 (p 57). Either the earlier date is a mistake for 2 December 1790, or else Prosalendis dates the beginning of the new year from 25 March, in which case North’s arrival at Corfu was in fact on 4 January 1792, by modern methods of dating. Certain evidence favours the second hypothesis. North stayed on Corfu until 3 February, when he left to spend lent on Levkas, proceeding after easter for short visits to Ithaka and Zante. While at Zante, so Prosalendis states, he heard about the ending of the Russo-Turkish War (p 166). This could be a reference to the preliminary peace signed at Galatz on 11 August 1791, or else to the treaty of Jassy, concluded on 9 January 1792. From Zante North was summoned home by his family: he travelled via Frankfort, attending the coronation of the emperor Leopold (p 167), and reached England just before the death of his father (p 168). Something is wrong here: Leopold was crowned on 9 October 1790, that is, before North’s visit to Corfu, whichever year we choose. Perhaps Prosalendis is referring to the coronation of Leopold’s successor Francis II on 14 July 1792. North’s father died on 5 August 1792. If we assume that North left Corfu on 3 February 1791 and Levkas after easter, it is difficult to fill in the fifteen months between then and his arrival in England shortly before his father’s death. But if we place his visit to Corfu and all the subsequent events in 1792, there is a reasonable time sequence. The account in Notizie pp 5 seq, disagrees at several points with Prosalendis, but is in general imprecise and untrustworthy.
8 Diary of Nicolas Arliotis, cited by Vrokinis in his introduction to Prosalendis, ‘Ανέκδοτα χειρόγραφα, ρ 47.
9 Vrokinis recounts the life of Prosalendis (1713-95) in his introduction, ibid pp 15-36.
10 Ibid p 66.
11 Ibid p 69.
12 Ibid pp 74-75.
13 On the 1755 decree and its background, see Ware, [K.]T., Eustratios Argenti: A Study of the Creek Church under Turkish Rule (Oxford 1964) pp 65–107.Google Scholar
14 Described in great detail by Prosalendis pp 78-143.
15 Ibid p 145.
16 Ibid p 63.
17 Petrettinos (1722-95) was elected protopopc in 1784, and was re-elected in 1789 and 1794, holding office until his death.
18 Prosalendis pp 11-12.
19 Full text in ibid pp 41-3.
20 Ibid p 150.
21 Ibid pp 153-4.
22 Ibid pp 156-7.
23 Ibid p 160.
24 Ibid p 149.
25 Ibid pp 160-4.
26 Theoklitos Pharmakidis, professor of theology at the Ionian academy during 1824-5, realized that North was orthodox: see his ‘АтгсАоуІа (Athens 1840) p 125, cited Notizie, p 15. But Pharmakidis is probably inaccurate when he asserts that this was a matter of common knowledge in Corfu at the time.
27 Entitled ΑΙκατερίνη EipnıraıraıŞ, this was published anonymously, with a Latin translation (no place or date of publication: ?Leipzig 1792). The text and translation were reprinted with an introduction by A. Papadopoulos-Vretos (Athens 1846).
28 See Notizie pp 27-9, for North’s reply in attic Greek, accepting this office; he signs himself ττολίτηΐ ‘АОлтоЛоѕ, ‘an Athenian citizen’.
29 As he remarked to Papadopoulos-Vretos: ‘Ah! my child, if I were not the earl of Guilford I would have liked to be a librarian’, Αΐκατερΐντι Είρηνοιτοιω, intro p 4. His vast collection of books and manuscripts was dispersed in a series of sales at London during 1828-35. One of the most interesting items, in the sale beginning on 9 November 1835, is no 1795: ‘A very Curious, Valuable and Extensive Collection of Books in the Modern Greek Language ... in all 627 vol.’ The auctioneer rightly appreciated the importance of this collection, stating in the sale catalogue: ‘This is the most Extensive Assemblage of Modern Greek Books ever submitted to Public Sale.’ It seems that the collection was acquired by the British Museum. Also in the possession of the British Museum are manuscript catalogues of Guilford’s modern Greek books (Add MSS 8220, 16572), which show that the greater part of the collection was on theological topics. This is evidence of Guilford’s continuing interest in Orthodoxy, although of course he may have collected the books for use in the Ionian academy rather than for his own personal consultation.
30 Cited in Ferriman p 77.
31 Notizie p 93.
32 Cited in Ferriman pp 94-5.
33 The copy of the first edition of ΑΙκαΎερΙνη ΕΙρηνοττοιφ in the British Museum bears the inscription on the inside cover, ‘Reverend J. Smirnove, with the Author’s most affectionate Respects’, but there is unfortunately no indication of date.
34 Notizie p 145.
35 Ibid p 13. But Papadopoulos-Vretos is not an unprejudiced witness, since he resented most bitterly the way in which Sheffield, after Guilford’s death, had the latter’s books removed from the Ionian academy and auctioned in London.