Μ. Dumas-Ph. De Bonneval «Αναγνώριση της νήσου Κρήτης» : μια ανέκδοτη περιήγηση του 1783 (Πρόδρομη δημοσίευση)
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Abstract
This study offers the first account of an unpublished Frenh report of 1783
concerning Crete, two copies of which have been located in Paris : one in the French
National Record Office and the other in the Historical Archives of the Ministry of
War. It is a very importand 251-page report, which was written during a secret
mission to the eastern Mediterranean by two French army officers named Dumas
and de Bonneval. It appears from the published and unbublished documents we have
studied that Crete was of special importance to France at that time, mainly for
military reasons, but also in terns of trade. The point of this secret mission, then,
was to collect detailed information about the situation on Crete and also about other areas ol the Aegean and the Black Sea. In 1783, the western powers, and France
especially, were certain that Russia whould declare war on the Ottoman Empire in
order to secure an outlet into the eastern Mediterranean. To give the reader a better
understanding of the reasons which prompted the French government to plan and
carry out the mission, the first part of the study gives a brief outiline of the Eastern
Question at the beginning of the 1780s. The two French officers' itinerary, in
accordance with the orders they had received, is than briefly described, including
Dumas' trip into the interior of Crete. Lastly, the report itself is reproduced and
evaluated. It provides valuable and precise information (often unknown from other
contemporary sources) about the island's fortifications and harbours, its army,
villages, monasteries, and khans, its population and administration, and its agricultural output and trade.
concerning Crete, two copies of which have been located in Paris : one in the French
National Record Office and the other in the Historical Archives of the Ministry of
War. It is a very importand 251-page report, which was written during a secret
mission to the eastern Mediterranean by two French army officers named Dumas
and de Bonneval. It appears from the published and unbublished documents we have
studied that Crete was of special importance to France at that time, mainly for
military reasons, but also in terns of trade. The point of this secret mission, then,
was to collect detailed information about the situation on Crete and also about other areas ol the Aegean and the Black Sea. In 1783, the western powers, and France
especially, were certain that Russia whould declare war on the Ottoman Empire in
order to secure an outlet into the eastern Mediterranean. To give the reader a better
understanding of the reasons which prompted the French government to plan and
carry out the mission, the first part of the study gives a brief outiline of the Eastern
Question at the beginning of the 1780s. The two French officers' itinerary, in
accordance with the orders they had received, is than briefly described, including
Dumas' trip into the interior of Crete. Lastly, the report itself is reproduced and
evaluated. It provides valuable and precise information (often unknown from other
contemporary sources) about the island's fortifications and harbours, its army,
villages, monasteries, and khans, its population and administration, and its agricultural output and trade.
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