MELCHISEDEK (MICHAEL) TSOUDEROS

Melchisedek (Michael) Tsouderos (1769-1823): From Asomatos in Agios Vassilios, he took the name Melchisedek when he became a monk at Preveli Monastery. He participated in the meetings before the Revolution in Sphakia. In May 1822 he was a member of the Provisional Government of Crete, led by Michael Afentoulief. He fought in many battles and was killed at Polemarchi in Kissamos in May 1823.

The Orthodox Christian Cretans took part in the Greek Revolution, but the island was not integrated into the Greek state established in 1830. Crete remained a possession of the Ottoman Empire, with repeated uprisings by the Greek inhabitants, until 1898, when it gained its autonomy (Cretan State), before eventually being incorporated into the Kingdom of Greece in 1913.
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