Editing Phanariots (section)

==Overview==
Many members of Phanariot families (who had acquired great wealth and influence during the 17th century) occupied high [[State organisation of the Ottoman Empire|political and administrative posts]] in the Ottoman Empire. From 1669 until the Greek War of Independence in 1821, Phanariots made up the majority of the [[dragoman]]s to the Ottoman government (the [[Ottoman Porte|Porte]]) and foreign [[Diplomatic mission|embassies]] due to the Greeks' higher level of education than the general Ottoman population.<ref name="BritA">Encyclopædia Britannica, The Phanariots, 2008, O.Ed.</ref> With the church dignitaries, local notables from the provinces and the large Greek merchant class, Phanariots represented the better-educated members of Greek society during Ottoman rule until the 1821 start of the [[Greek War of Independence]]. During the war, Phanariots influenced decisions by the [[Greek national assemblies|Greek National Assembly]] (the representative body of Greek revolutionaries, which met six times between 1821 and 1829).<ref name=BritA/><ref name="Papar108"/> Between 1711–1716 and 1821, a number of Phanariots were appointed [[Hospodar]]s ([[voivode]]s or princes) in the [[Danubian Principalities]] ([[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]]) (usually as a promotion from the offices of [[Dragoman of the Fleet]] and [[Dragoman of the Porte]]); the period is known as the Phanariot epoch in Romanian history.<ref name=BritB/>