Orthodox Bishops, Parish Priests and Monks, Participants in Social and Political Conflicts on the Balkans (According to Ottoman Documents from the Piskopos Kalemi Fund)

Authors:

Pages: 221-240
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/VPNW7343

Abstract:

The paper is based on Ottoman documents from the Piskopos kalemi fund of the Ottoman Archive in Istanbul at the General Directorate of State Archives in the Republic of Turkey – patriarchal and metropolitan petitions (arzuhals), collective petitions (mahzars) and various type of Sultan’s orders (fermans, hükms, etc.), kadı reports (arzes) – the earliest of which dates back to 1700 and the latest is from 1783. The study focuses on social and political conflicts at local level within the Orthodox dioceses on the Balkans in the 18th c., provoked by Orthodox clergy (metropolitans, bishops, monks, priests), most often with the participation of their parishioners and the local Muslim population. In many of the commented documents (mostly patriarchal petitions) are registered rather preventive measures against established offenses by “the community of the clergy” (parish priests, monks, etc.), generally described as “disorders”, “turmoil”, “riots”, etc. – all of them, to a large extent, a reflection of the social atmosphere and political situation in the Balkans during the first three decades of the 18th c. Special attention is paid to the collective petition of the reaya from the sancak of Vidin (from 1716) regarding the joint actions of the metropolitan of Vidin Simeon, laymen from Vidin and the Voivode of Wallachia in the events during the Russian-Ottoman War of 1710–1713. Another part of the documents provides rather provocative information on the formation of “robber gangs” by the Orthodox clergy, including both laymen and Muslims, as well as reports of single attacks, robberies, violence and even murders (Sarajevo, 1741; Dimotica, 1743, Debar, 1769, and others). Often the conflicts and disturbances at a local level, as pointed out by many of the commented documents, are also due to the direct interference of the parish clergy, on the one hand, and the Ottoman authorities and population – on the other, in the selection or elimination of the dioceses of some eparchies, including patriarchs. The comparative analysis of the selected documents reveals specific acts of interference by the Orthodox clergy in social and political life in the Balkan provinces of the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century – a particularly dynamic and controversial period in the history of the Balkans and the Orthodox Church under Ottoman rule.

Keywords:

Orthodox Church; central and local Ottoman authorities; Piskopos kalemi fund; arzuhal; mahzar, arz.

Download

NA