Peloponnesian Senate Explained

Native Name:Γερουσία όλου του Δήμου των επαρχιών της Πελοποννήσου
Conventional Long Name:Senate of the entire People of the Peloponnese provinces
Common Name:Peloponnesian Senate
Status:Provisional
Status Text:Regional government in revolt against the Ottoman Empire
Government Type:Republic
Year Start:1821
Date Start:26 May
Year End:1823
Event End:Second National Assembly at Astros
Date End:April
P1:Messenian Senate
Flag P1:Flag of Greece (1822-1978).svg
P2:Morea Eyalet
Flag P2:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1453-1844).svg
S1:First Hellenic Republic
Flag S1:Flag of Greece (1822-1978).svg
Capital:Chrysopege Monastery, Tripolitsa
Common Languages:Greek
Religion:Greek Orthodox
Leader1:Bishop Theodoritos of Vresthena
Year Leader1:1821–1822
Leader2:Asimakis Fotilas
Year Leader2:1822–1823

The Senate of the entire People of the Peloponnese provinces (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Γερουσία όλου του Δήμου των επαρχιών της Πελοποννήσου), commonly known as the Peloponnesian Senate (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Πελοποννησιακή Γερουσία), was a provisional regime that existed in the Peloponnese during the early stages of the Greek War of Independence.

History

On 25 March 1821 (all the dates are given according to the Julian calendar), a few days after the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in March 1821, the rebels of the southern Peloponnese, led by the Maniots, assembled at Kalamata and founded the Greek rebels' first organ of government, the Messenian Senate. As the uprising spread through Greece, the Messenian Senate's leader, Petrobey Mavromichalis, invited representatives from the rest of the Peloponnese in an assembly held at the Kaltetza Monastery. There, on 26 May the "Senate of the entire People of the Peloponnese provinces", commonly known, from the legend on its seal, as the "Peloponnesian Senate" and as the "Senate of Kaltetza" (Γερουσία των Καλτετζών), was founded, with Bishop Theodoritos of Vresthena as president and as secretary. Sotirios Charalambis, Athanasios Kanakaris, Anagnostis Deligiannis, Theocharis Rentis and Nikolaos Poniropoulos were members. Unlike the modern concept of a "senate" as the upper body of parliament, the Peloponnesian Senate was both a legislative and executive organ. The Senate's constitutional charter was created on 15 December 1821.

On 27 May 1821, the Senate moved its seat to the Chrysopege Monastery in Stemnitsa. After the capture of Tripolitsa in September, the Senate established itself in the town in February 1822. The Peloponnesian Senate continued in existence (with Asimakis Fotilas as president after February 1822) until it was dissolved by the Second National Assembly at Astros in April 1823.