Croatian franciscans at the frontier between Christianity and Islam from the 15th to the 17th century

Patafta, Daniel (author)

The conquest of the Ottoman state at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century put under its rule most of the territory inhabited by Croats. In the Croatian lands that came under Ottoman rule, the legal position of Catholics was built on the model of Muhammad's order towards those who recognized his political power and possessed »holy books« and did not accept Islam. The conqueror of Bosnia, Sultan Mehmed II gave the Bosnian Franciscans Hatisherif the so-called Ahdnama, by which he guaranteed to the Franciscans personal inviolability and freedom of religious activity, and to the Christian population unhindered possession of property and freedom of residence in the area of his authority. It was a pragmatic act, because despite the legal guarantees, the position of Catholics and Franciscans was very difficult. Wars with Christian, mostly Catholic countries, often provoked terrible retaliation. The Franciscans were the only Catholic priests in the area under Ottoman rule. Although they often suffered great injustices from state and local Ottoman powerful people and resisted the proselytizing efforts of Orthodox bishops, they expanded their activities beyond the borders of medieval Bosnia. The missionary dynamics and tradition of the Franciscans over the centuries have made the Franciscans in Croatian lands a vital component of the Order and they, in the service of preserving Catholicism and pastoral work, successfully maneuvered between the demands of the Ottoman theocratic state, Orthodox proselytism and the demands of Christian states of Western Europe, mainly of the Habsburg Empire, the papacy, and Venice.

• Language: English
• Keywords: franciscans, Bosnia, Argentina, Slavonia, Danube region, islam, Ottoman Empire, theocracy
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: TEOF - Theological Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2020
• Year: 2020
• Number of pages: Str. 195-218
• Numbering: Letn. 75, št. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-163450
• UDC: 27-789.32:94(497.5)"14/16"
• ISSN on article: 2335-4127
• DOI: 10.34291/Edinost/75/Patafta
• COBISS.SI-ID: 34713091
• Publication date in RUL: 07.10.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Edinost in dialog : revija za ekumensko teologijo in medreligijski dialog
• Publisher: Inštitut za ekumensko teologijo in medreligijski dialog pri Teološki fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani, Inštitut za ekumensko teologijo in medreligijski dialog pri Teološki fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani, Inštitut Stanka Janežiča za dogmatično, osnovno in ekumensko teologijo ter religiologijo in dialog, Teološka fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2335-4127
• COBISS.SI-ID: 268194560

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Hrvaški frančiškani na mejišču krščanstva in islama od 15. do 17. stoletja

Abstract

Osvajanje osmanske države konec 15. in v začetku 16. stoletja je pod svojo oblast vzelo večino ozemlja, naseljenega s Hrvati. V hrvaških deželah, ki so spadale pod osmansko oblast, je bil pravni položaj katoličanov zgrajen po vzoru Mohamedove ureditve tistih, ki so spoštovali njegovo politično moč, imeli »svete knjige« in niso sprejemali islama. Osvajalec Bosne, sultan Mehmed II., je bosanskim frančiškanom Hatišerifom podal tako imenovano Ahdnama, s čimer jim je zagotovil osebno nedotakljivost in svobodo verske dejavnosti ter krščanskemu prebivalstvu neovirano posedovanje lastnine in svobodo bivanja v območju njegove oblasti. Šlo je za pragmatično dejanje, saj je bil položaj katoličanov in frančiškanov kljub zakonskim jamstvom zelo težaven. Vojne s krščanskimi, večinoma katoliškimi državami so pogosto izzvale strašno maščevanje. Pod osmansko oblastjo so bili frančiškani edini katoliški duhovniki na njihovem območju. Čeprav so pogosto trpeli velike krivice državnih in lokalnih otomanskih oblastnikov in se uprli prozelitskim prizadevanjem pravoslavnih škofov, so svojo dejavnost razširili tudi zunaj meja srednjeveške Bosne. Z misijonsko dinamiko in tradicijo frančiškanov skozi stoletja so frančiškani v hrvaških deželah postali življenjsko pomemben sestavni del Reda, ki je v službi ohranjanja katolicizma in pastoralnega dela uspešno manevriral med zahtevami osmanske teokratske države, pravoslavnim prozelitizmom in zahtevami krščanskih držav zahodne Evrope, predvsem habsburškega cesarstva, papeštva in Benetk.

• Keywords: frančiškani, Bosna, Argentina, Slavonija, Podonavje, islam, Otomansko cesarstvo, teokracija