Povijesni prilozi, Vol. 45 No. 70, 2026.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22586/pp.v45i70.556tk13
Security and Freedom: The Dynamics of Relations between Orthodox Christians and Catholics in Ottoman Bosnia at the End of the Seventeenth Century
Mario Šain
Abstract
This study examines the factors that shaped the dynamic relationship between the two Christian denominations in Bosnia at the end of the seventeenth century, with particular attention to the concepts of security and freedom. The privileges granted to the Bosnian Franciscans, and indirectly to the Catholic community in Ottoman Bosnia, broadly guaranteed the security of this minority and its religious autonomy vis-à-vis the Orthodox Church. Any challenge to these privileges by the Orthodox ecclesiastical authorities constituted a direct threat to the security of the Catholic community and its representatives, and consequently to the freedom of their religious identity and practice.
The concepts of security and freedom are critically examined through comparative and methodological analysis, focusing on the court proceedings between the Bosnian Franciscans and the Patriarchate of Peć, which constitute the central theme of this study. Among these cases, the lawsuit of July 1692 stands out in particular. It represents one of the most compelling and best-documented judicial disputes between the two parties, centring on the question of ecclesiastical jurisdiction as the principal source of conflict, as attested by sources of diverse provenance.
The case attracted the attention of both higher and lower state authorities, as well as ecclesiastical structures and the Holy See. Owing to the availability of all relevant sources, it is now possible to analyse the dispute from a broader perspective and, using a comparative method, to assess the validity of the legal arguments advanced by the parties. These sources illuminate the circumstances, proceedings, and outcome of the dispute and include the original Ottoman court register, the Franciscan records, the 1691 berat of Patriarch Kalinik, and the official report preserved in the Historical Archives of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide) in Rome. The original version of this report is published here in transcription for the first time and constitutes the backbone of the present study. This paper thus contributes to the historiography of interconfessional relations between Orthodox Christians and Catholics in Bosnia in the late seventeenth century.
Keywords
Propaganda Fide; Patriarch Kalinik; Patriarchate of Pécs; Bosnian Franciscans; court proceedings; mulla; Sarajevo
Hrčak ID:
349448
URI
Publication date:
15.7.2026.
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