Hadjikyriacou | 247From “the Devoted Yorgaki, the Lord Dragoman”
to “the Above-Mentioned Executed”
As was typical in the punishment or execution of powerful officials, Hadjiyor-
gakis’s property was confiscated. The confiscation of the assets of powerful no-
tables, however, was no simple affair. While a large amount of confiscated money
could be channeled into Ottoman coffers, a wide range of hidden costs, material
and otherwise, could exist. Bringing down an official in such a spectacular fash-
ion could often have unpredictable and counterproductive ramifications. Recent
studies have highlighted the complexities and pitfalls of expropriating a fallen
magnate’s assets.
First, confiscation entailed the complete restructuring of any financial,
political, and social system revolving around the powerful individual. Hadji-
yorgakis’s position as dragoman for over thirty years meant that he had left an
important mark on how things were run. Power was distributed in particular
ways, and networks controlled by the dragoman were used to perform state func-
tions. Hadjiyorgakis was particularly adept at making himself indispensable by
contributing to the smooth running of the province’s mundane everyday affairs.
This was one of the reasons he had lasted so long; a replacement with a new set
of arrangements that redistributed power was neither simple nor predictable.
Figure 17.2 The façade of the mansion of Hadjiyorgakis Kornesios. (Reproduced by permis-
sion of Evangelos Hadjikyriacou.)