Des relations entre le Patriarcat Oecuménique et la Sublime- Porte au commencement du XVIIle siècle
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Abstract
The examination of certain administrative and legal documents could
lead to interesting conclusions regarding thè interrelations between thè Patriarchate
and thè Sublime Porte during diverse periods of the Ottoman rule,
thè degree of independence of the Church from the Ottoman state concerning
decisions of administrative and legal character and finally, the channeis by
which the Patriarch’s decisions were carried through on occasions when their
realization depended on the intervention of the Sublime Porte, etc. T he documents
issue d by the Patriarch and becoming Acts of State through the résolution
of the supreme authority —thè Grand Vizier— are interesting from the
view point of the Ottoman diplomacy.
This paper discusses four Turkish documents with which the Patriarch
demands measures from the State for the punishment of a culpable member
of the Orthodox Church and traces up the formal, bureaucratie interrelations
between the Vestry, the Chancellery of the Sublime Porte and the “Defterhane”—
the Ministry of Finance up to the first half of the 19th Century. The
documents, dated between 1716-1726 reflect the profound contradictions
between the Christians on the Balkans and the Greek Patriarchate in Constantinople
during the 18th Century. Despite some features of its activities
which had positive repercussions—the safeguarding of the spiritual and cultural
traditions of Christiandom within the boundaries of the Ottoman empire,
as well as the préservation of the national consciousness, in many respects
its role has been nefarious. Supported by thè supreme state power of the
Ottomans, the Patriarchate “pointed the sword” towards its own flock with the
aim of securing larger revenues by means of taxes and duties imposed on the
orthodox congrégation.
lead to interesting conclusions regarding thè interrelations between thè Patriarchate
and thè Sublime Porte during diverse periods of the Ottoman rule,
thè degree of independence of the Church from the Ottoman state concerning
decisions of administrative and legal character and finally, the channeis by
which the Patriarch’s decisions were carried through on occasions when their
realization depended on the intervention of the Sublime Porte, etc. T he documents
issue d by the Patriarch and becoming Acts of State through the résolution
of the supreme authority —thè Grand Vizier— are interesting from the
view point of the Ottoman diplomacy.
This paper discusses four Turkish documents with which the Patriarch
demands measures from the State for the punishment of a culpable member
of the Orthodox Church and traces up the formal, bureaucratie interrelations
between the Vestry, the Chancellery of the Sublime Porte and the “Defterhane”—
the Ministry of Finance up to the first half of the 19th Century. The
documents, dated between 1716-1726 reflect the profound contradictions
between the Christians on the Balkans and the Greek Patriarchate in Constantinople
during the 18th Century. Despite some features of its activities
which had positive repercussions—the safeguarding of the spiritual and cultural
traditions of Christiandom within the boundaries of the Ottoman empire,
as well as the préservation of the national consciousness, in many respects
its role has been nefarious. Supported by thè supreme state power of the
Ottomans, the Patriarchate “pointed the sword” towards its own flock with the
aim of securing larger revenues by means of taxes and duties imposed on the
orthodox congrégation.
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