Articles by Felicita Tramontana
Social History, 2023
Through an analysis of the network associated with the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, this ... more Through an analysis of the network associated with the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, this article challenges overly positive narratives of early modern mobility and of the role played by networks more generally. It reconstructs the functioning of the Franciscan network, focusing on its ‘immobile infrastructure’ and showing how the latter facilitated and at the same time controlled and limited friars’ movement. Building on this analysis, the article postulates the existence of an ‘organisational migration infrastructure’, which enabled, addressed and controlled people’s movement according to organisations’ interests. The article also suggests a new methodological approach to the study of early modern networks, centring its analysis on ‘organisational migrants’ and using the notion of ‘infrastructure’ as an analytical tool. From a wider perspective, the article deepens our general understanding of early modern mobility, particularly with regard to the role of networks and organisations, and to the entanglement of mobility, immobility, control and exclusion.
Continuity and Changes , 2020
A read-only version of the article is available at:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cont... more A read-only version of the article is available at:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/continuity-and-change/article/geographical-mobility-and-communitybuilding-in-seventeenthcentury-palestine-insights-from-the-records-of-bethlehems-catholic-parish/BDFE125C9855C5AB9CF9328B3EB439EB/share/f6d48bf202dc159ab5ab0942630cbd56b500a5a2
Abstract
This article focuses on the role played by local mobility in processes of confession and community building, taking the Catholic population in seventeenth-century Palestine as a case study. Works on the Reformation in Europe have acknowledged a connection between the strengthening of confessional identities and geographical mobility. Through the analysis of the parish records of Bethlehem, the article reveals some characteristics of seventeenth-century Catholic mobility in Palestine and shows how this mobility was bound up with the consolidation of a tiny Catholic minority and the establishment of a sacramental network. From a larger perspective, this research suggests that mobility plays an important role in the development and consolidation of small communities in a context of competing religion. From a methodological point of view, it also shows the importance of microanalysis in understanding the geographical mobility associated with religious practices and allegiances.
French abstract
Mobilité géographique et construction d'une identité communautaire en Palestine au XVIIe siècle: l'apport des registres paroissiaux catholiques de Bethléem
S'attachant au cas de la population catholique présente en Palestine au XVIIe siècle, cet article est consacré au rôle joué par la mobilité géographique dans les processus de construction d'une identité confessionnelle et communautaire. Les travaux sur la Réforme en Europe s'accordent à reconnaître un lien entre renforcement des identités confessionnelles et mobilité géographique. Grâce à l'analyse des registres paroissiaux de Bethléem, certaines caractéristiques de la mobilité catholique du XVIIe siècle en Palestine sont mises en lumière. L'auteur montre comment cette mobilité était liée à la consolidation d'une minuscule minorité catholique et à la création d'un réseau sacramentel. Dans une perspective plus large, cette recherche suggère que la mobilité joue un rôle important dans le développement et la consolidation des petites communautés dans le contexte d'une religion entrant en concurrence. D'un point de vue méthodologique, l'étude fait ressortir également l'importance de la microanalyse pour comprendre la mobilité géographique associée aux pratiques et allégeances religieuses.
German abstract
Geographische Mobilität und Gemeindebildung in Palästina im 17. Jahrhundert: Erkenntnisse aus den Akten der katholischen Gemeinde Bethlehems
Dieser Aufsatz dreht sich um die Frage, welche Rolle die lokale Mobilität im Prozess der Konfessions- und Gemeindebildung spielt, und wählt dafür die katholische Bevölkerung in Palästina im 17. Jahrhundert als Fallstudie. Arbeiten zur Reformation in Europe haben einen Zusammenhang zwischen der Bekräftigung konfessioneller Identitäten und geographischer Mobilität aufgezeigt. Aus der Analyse der Pfarrregister Bethlehems ergeben sich einige Charakteristika der katholischen Mobilität in Palästina im 17. Jahrhundert. Der Aufsatz zeigt ferner, wie eng diese Mobilität mit der Konsolidierung einer winzigen katholischen Minderheit und der Bildung eines sakramentalen Netzwerks verknüpft war. Aus einer übergreifenden Perspektiv deutet diese Forschung darauf hin, dass der Mobilität für die Entwicklung und Festigung kleiner Gemeinden im Kontext konkurrierender Religionen eine wichtige Rolle zukommt. Aus einem methodologischen Blickwinkel zeigt sich außerdem, wie wichtig die Mikroanalyse ist, wenn man die mit religiösen Praktiken und Loyalitäten verknüpfte geographische Mobilität verstehen will.
Church History, 2020
Expanding upon recent work on the heterogeneity of Catholicism and the challenges facing Tridenti... more Expanding upon recent work on the heterogeneity of Catholicism and the challenges facing Tridentine reformers, this article examines local religion in two “extreme” settings: the village republic of Gersau in Central Switzerland and the missionary territory of the Custody of the Holy Land. Following conceptual remarks, the authors sketch the
distinct secular contexts as well the phased evolution of localized networks for the administration of the cure of souls, the latter starting in the eleventh and sixteenth centuries, respectively. A consistently comparative approach reveals notable similarities—in terms of expanding spiritual provision and better record keeping—alongside
substantial differences—especially between the clearly demarcated territorial parishes in the Alps and a more punctual system of sacrament centers in Palestine. At Gersau, where diocesan structures were weak, the church operated under the close supervision of a commune with extensive powers stretching to the rights of advowson and
benefice administration. Around Jerusalem, the Franciscans—whose custos acted as the vicar apostolic—used material incentives to win over converts from other Christian denominations. Building on recent reassessments of the post-Tridentine Church, both examples thus underline the strong position of the laity in the confessional age and
the need to acknowledge local sociopolitical as well as organizational factors in the formation of early modern Catholicism.
Turcica, 2019
This article analyses the forms of assistance available to the Ottoman peasantry, taking as a sta... more This article analyses the forms of assistance available to the Ottoman peasantry, taking as a starting point a number of instances in which the governor of Jerusalem sold wheat to peasants on credit. The first part of the article sets the court documents recording the sales in the local context and evaluates them in the light of the local governor’s policies toward the population of the district and of his own interests as revenue-holder. The article then contextualizes the sales on credit in the wider framework of the forms of help available to inhabitants of rural areas and of the relationship between the state and its subjects, arguing that the forms of assistance granted to the peasants are inextricably linked with the mechanisms of surplus appropriation. This analysis leads to a broader reflection on the limits of the state’s interventions towards the inhabitants of the Ottoman countryside.
Le présent article analyse les formes d’assistance disponibles pour la paysannerie ottomane, en prenant pour point de départ des cas dans lesquels le gouverneur de Jérusalem accorda des ventes à crédit de grain aux paysans. La première partie de l’article replace les documents juridiques qui enregistrent ces ventes dans leur contexte local, en les évaluant à la lumière d’une part des politiques du gouverneur local à l’égard de la population du district, et d’autre part de ses intérêts en qualité de bénéficiaire des recettes. L’article traite ensuite des ventes à crédit dans le contexte plus large des formes d’aide disponibles pour les habitants des zones rurales et du rapport entre l’État et ses sujets, en avançant la thèse que les formes d’assistance accordées aux paysans sont inextricablement liées aux mécanismes d’appropriation de l’excédent. L’analyse développe une réflexion plus large sur les limites des interventions de l’État auprès des habitants de la campagne ottomane.
Mélanges de l'École française de Rome, 129/1, pp., 201-213., 2017
Through the analysis of the dubia and of the requests of facultates, this article examines the ca... more Through the analysis of the dubia and of the requests of facultates, this article examines the catholic Church’s attitude toward the interactions between Protestants and Catholics in Ottoman territories. More precisely, it discusses how Rome tried to establish and maintain borders between the two communities. The goal of the article is to unfold how this process was influenced by the complex relationship between the Catholics and eastern Christianity.
http://journals.openedition.org/mefrim/3497
Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions, 183 (2018) , 2018
Documented thanks to a register of the seventeenth century, the religious objects that reach the... more Documented thanks to a register of the seventeenth century, the religious objects that reach the Franciscan sanctuary of the Holy Savior of Jerusalem draw from many sources, in Europe and in the world: offerings of kings, alms of simple devotees and communities, requests for the Franciscan Custody. To the secular practices of the gift are added the needs of divine worship, the welcome of pilgrims and those, emerging in the seventeenth century, Franciscan missions in the Holy Land. All objects are transported through the network of police stations, following Mediterranean routes highlighted in the article. The cargoes delivered to the Holy Sepulcher combine liturgical objects, special offerings and everyday goods. While the orders of the Custos and the goods of use come from Europe, only the offerings come in some cases from extra-European territories, that is to say from the Spanish and Portuguese colonies.
Keywords: Custody of the Holy Land, Franciscans, objects of devotion, network, missions.
Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions, 183 (2018) , 2018
Zeitschrift für historische Forschung 41/3 (2014), 401-422, 2014
Konversionen von Protestanten zum Katholizismus
im syrisch-palästinensischen Raum (17. Jahrhunder... more Konversionen von Protestanten zum Katholizismus
im syrisch-palästinensischen Raum (17. Jahrhundert)
Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht Konversionen von Protestanten zum Katholizismus
im syrisch-palästinensischen Raum in der ersten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts
auf der Basis von Quellen franziskanischer Provenienz. Die Konversionsforschung
betont immer wieder die Integrationsfunktion von Glaubensübertritten. In den untersuchten
Fällen dienten Konversionen jedoch nicht der Integration in eine Gesellschaft
mehrheitlich anderen Glaubens, sondern sind auf ganz konkrete Bedürfnisse
zurückzuführen, die das Reisen in einem fremden Land mit sich brachte. Der Beitrag
zeigt, dass die Glaubensübertritte eng mit der starken Präsenz des Franziskanerordens
in dieser Region zusammenhingen. Die Mönche boten den Protestanten, die als Kaufleute
oder Reisende in einem fremden Land unterwegs waren, in Notlagen Beistand
und halfen ihnen in vielfacher Hinsicht. In den untersuchten Fällen waren die Konversionen
durch die Hoffnung auf kurzfristige Hilfe in prekären Situationen motiviert,
nicht durch theologische Überlegungen oder langfristige Strategien. Es bestand ein
enger Zusammenhang zwischen Mobilität und Konversion, der für den Mittelmeerraum
bislang nur unzureichend untersucht ist.
In Ottoman Jerusalem Anglican travellers came into close contact with the Franciscans of the Cust... more In Ottoman Jerusalem Anglican travellers came into close contact with the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land. This article examines the hospitality given to Scottish and English travellers in the S. Saviour monastery between 1600 and 1612. When describing their stay at the monastery, travellers show a hostility toward the Catholics that is linked to the anti-Catholicism that was becoming more and more virulent in Great Britain. Through the analysis of both British (Biddulph: 1609; Sanderson: 1931; Timberlake: 1603; Lithgow: 1632. Sandys: 1615) and Franciscan documentation (Navis Peregrinorum, ed. Zimolong: 1938; Vernniero and Serino: 1929-39; Calahorra: 1694), the article investigates the function of anti-Catholicism in travellers' accounts. The article argues that in spite of the anti-Catholic assumptions, the encounters between the Franciscans and the Anglican visitors gave rise to a variety of situations that were mostly amicable, and that the travellers' anti-Catholic discourse was designed to testify to the travellers' loyalty to their own faith and country and to deny any contamination by the Catholics. This became even more necessary when travellers described their stay at the Franciscan monastery.
Mamluk Studies Review Volume XVI (2012)
Società e Storia, 138 (2012), 791-806, 2012
A more recent version has been published in Jesho 55(2014)
Quaderni storici, Jan 1, 2009
... Anche i legami familiari rappresentano un importante veicolo di propa-gazione della fede: ven... more ... Anche i legami familiari rappresentano un importante veicolo di propa-gazione della fede: vengono citate conversioni di fratelli dei turcimanni, come ... Le vicende del soriano Isa, che dopo la conversione, «non potendo i suoi parenti sopportare tal novità [...] lo fecero carcerare e ...
Books by Felicita Tramontana
Nel 1500 ebbe inizio il dominio ottomano sulla Palestina, destinato a durare fino all'inizio del ... more Nel 1500 ebbe inizio il dominio ottomano sulla Palestina, destinato a durare fino all'inizio del protettorato britannico. Quattro secoli nel corso dei quali gli equilibri di potere nella regione subirono enormi cambiamenti. Assumendo la Palestina come punto di osservazione privilegiato, il testo delinea la storia di scambi, connessioni e interazioni che contribuirono a legare i destini dell’Impero ottomano e dei suoi vicini. Aprendosi ai temi della global e della connected history, il volume restituisce un’immagine inedita di quella che oggi è la parte più contesa del Medio Oriente e affronta, in una prospettiva innovativa, le grandi questioni della storia ottomana e di quella del Mediterraneo.
Projects by Felicita Tramontana
A global economic organization in the early modern period: The Custody of the Holy Land through i... more A global economic organization in the early modern period: The Custody of the Holy Land through its account books (1600-1800) HOLYLAB PI: Felicita Tramontana The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land (Custodia Terrae Sanctae, established in the 13th century) is a global organization that, thanks to a complex system of alms gathering, has ensured throughout the centuries the maintenance of the Holy Sepulchre and the friars' presence in the Holy Land. Despite its importance in Mediterranean History, the Custody has remained understudied, and its rich archive scarcely exploited. Inspired by recent studies on Franciscan economic thought and accounting in Mediaeval convents, and deploying concepts drawn taken from organizational studies, HOLYLAB combines an analysis of economic practices on a local, regional and global level, with a study of the organizational structures and the mechanisms that enabled the Custody to function, attain its goals, survive organizational changes and maintain legitimation. The aim of the project is to study the Custody's economic organization in the early modern period and, in so doing, to address more general issues concerning the global circulation of people, money and objects and the organization of early modern institutions. In order to do so, the project's analysis will rely on a rich and unstudied corpus of account documents issued by the Custody's headquarters-the St Saviour convent in Jerusalemand its commissariats located in several Franciscan provinces. Methodologically, the project combines qualitative and quantitative approaches and bridges micro-and macro-levels of analysis by emphasising the meso-level of the organization. Thanks to the novelty of the subject, the use of unstudied account books, an interdisciplinary approach and an innovative methodology, HOLYLAB will both advance current research on Franciscan economic practices, and open new paths in research on the global circulation of people and objects, religious orders and sociology of organizations.
Edited Volumes by Felicita Tramontana
Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni (2. 2019), 2019
In the last decades, the emergence of a new research trend on the “early globalization” has influ... more In the last decades, the emergence of a new research trend on the “early globalization” has influenced the study of Early Modern History from many points of view.The great availability of sources written in different languages and the sharing of knowledge and linguistic skills among the international community of academics are changing the way we do history and the topics we focus on. It is not a coincidence that the study of religious relationships beyond the Holy War represents a cornerstone in this frame. As historians are stressing the routes of political, cultural and economic communications through lands, oceans and empires, a constantly-growing number of cross-cultural and trans- religious go-betweeners begins to populate the Early Modern centuries. We aim at highlighting themes that are still unexplored or deserve revision and throw light on the diverse trajectories of Muslim-Christian interactions and in a var- ied geographical context. Assuming the ancient liquidity as a moving step, we are focusing on the practical side of this story focusing on the individual experience and on the way it has been recorded and transmitted to us. For this reason, a certain micro-historical scent enters each essay and a selection of sources supports all our case studies.
Chapters in edited volume by Felicita Tramontana
Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni (2. 2019), 2019
In the last decades, the emergence of a new research trend on the “early globalization” has influ... more In the last decades, the emergence of a new research trend on the “early globalization” has influenced the study of Early Modern History from many points of view.The great availability of sources written in different languages and the sharing of knowledge and linguistic skills among the international community of academics are changing the way we do history and the topics we focus on. It is not a coincidence that the study of religious relationships beyond the Holy War represents a cornerstone in this frame. As historians are stressing the routes of political, cultural and economic communications through lands, oceans and empires, a constantly-growing number of cross-cultural and trans- religious go-betweeners begins to populate the Early Modern centuries. We aim at highlighting themes that are still unexplored or deserve revision and throw light on the diverse trajectories of Muslim-Christian interactions and in a var- ied geographical context. Assuming the ancient liquidity as a moving step, we are focusing on the practical side of this story focusing on the individual experience and on the way it has been recorded and transmitted to us. For this reason, a certain micro-historical scent enters each essay and a selection of sources supports all our case studies.
B. Heyberger, C. Windler et al. (eds.), Catholic Missionaries in Early Modern Asia: Patterns of Localization, Routledge 2019, 2019
S. J. G. Burton, M. Choptiany, P. Wilczek (eds.), Religious Minorities and Majorities in Early Modern Europe: Confessional Boundaries and Contested Identities, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Refo500 Academic Studies Series, 2019
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Articles by Felicita Tramontana
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/continuity-and-change/article/geographical-mobility-and-communitybuilding-in-seventeenthcentury-palestine-insights-from-the-records-of-bethlehems-catholic-parish/BDFE125C9855C5AB9CF9328B3EB439EB/share/f6d48bf202dc159ab5ab0942630cbd56b500a5a2
Abstract
This article focuses on the role played by local mobility in processes of confession and community building, taking the Catholic population in seventeenth-century Palestine as a case study. Works on the Reformation in Europe have acknowledged a connection between the strengthening of confessional identities and geographical mobility. Through the analysis of the parish records of Bethlehem, the article reveals some characteristics of seventeenth-century Catholic mobility in Palestine and shows how this mobility was bound up with the consolidation of a tiny Catholic minority and the establishment of a sacramental network. From a larger perspective, this research suggests that mobility plays an important role in the development and consolidation of small communities in a context of competing religion. From a methodological point of view, it also shows the importance of microanalysis in understanding the geographical mobility associated with religious practices and allegiances.
French abstract
Mobilité géographique et construction d'une identité communautaire en Palestine au XVIIe siècle: l'apport des registres paroissiaux catholiques de Bethléem
S'attachant au cas de la population catholique présente en Palestine au XVIIe siècle, cet article est consacré au rôle joué par la mobilité géographique dans les processus de construction d'une identité confessionnelle et communautaire. Les travaux sur la Réforme en Europe s'accordent à reconnaître un lien entre renforcement des identités confessionnelles et mobilité géographique. Grâce à l'analyse des registres paroissiaux de Bethléem, certaines caractéristiques de la mobilité catholique du XVIIe siècle en Palestine sont mises en lumière. L'auteur montre comment cette mobilité était liée à la consolidation d'une minuscule minorité catholique et à la création d'un réseau sacramentel. Dans une perspective plus large, cette recherche suggère que la mobilité joue un rôle important dans le développement et la consolidation des petites communautés dans le contexte d'une religion entrant en concurrence. D'un point de vue méthodologique, l'étude fait ressortir également l'importance de la microanalyse pour comprendre la mobilité géographique associée aux pratiques et allégeances religieuses.
German abstract
Geographische Mobilität und Gemeindebildung in Palästina im 17. Jahrhundert: Erkenntnisse aus den Akten der katholischen Gemeinde Bethlehems
Dieser Aufsatz dreht sich um die Frage, welche Rolle die lokale Mobilität im Prozess der Konfessions- und Gemeindebildung spielt, und wählt dafür die katholische Bevölkerung in Palästina im 17. Jahrhundert als Fallstudie. Arbeiten zur Reformation in Europe haben einen Zusammenhang zwischen der Bekräftigung konfessioneller Identitäten und geographischer Mobilität aufgezeigt. Aus der Analyse der Pfarrregister Bethlehems ergeben sich einige Charakteristika der katholischen Mobilität in Palästina im 17. Jahrhundert. Der Aufsatz zeigt ferner, wie eng diese Mobilität mit der Konsolidierung einer winzigen katholischen Minderheit und der Bildung eines sakramentalen Netzwerks verknüpft war. Aus einer übergreifenden Perspektiv deutet diese Forschung darauf hin, dass der Mobilität für die Entwicklung und Festigung kleiner Gemeinden im Kontext konkurrierender Religionen eine wichtige Rolle zukommt. Aus einem methodologischen Blickwinkel zeigt sich außerdem, wie wichtig die Mikroanalyse ist, wenn man die mit religiösen Praktiken und Loyalitäten verknüpfte geographische Mobilität verstehen will.
distinct secular contexts as well the phased evolution of localized networks for the administration of the cure of souls, the latter starting in the eleventh and sixteenth centuries, respectively. A consistently comparative approach reveals notable similarities—in terms of expanding spiritual provision and better record keeping—alongside
substantial differences—especially between the clearly demarcated territorial parishes in the Alps and a more punctual system of sacrament centers in Palestine. At Gersau, where diocesan structures were weak, the church operated under the close supervision of a commune with extensive powers stretching to the rights of advowson and
benefice administration. Around Jerusalem, the Franciscans—whose custos acted as the vicar apostolic—used material incentives to win over converts from other Christian denominations. Building on recent reassessments of the post-Tridentine Church, both examples thus underline the strong position of the laity in the confessional age and
the need to acknowledge local sociopolitical as well as organizational factors in the formation of early modern Catholicism.
Le présent article analyse les formes d’assistance disponibles pour la paysannerie ottomane, en prenant pour point de départ des cas dans lesquels le gouverneur de Jérusalem accorda des ventes à crédit de grain aux paysans. La première partie de l’article replace les documents juridiques qui enregistrent ces ventes dans leur contexte local, en les évaluant à la lumière d’une part des politiques du gouverneur local à l’égard de la population du district, et d’autre part de ses intérêts en qualité de bénéficiaire des recettes. L’article traite ensuite des ventes à crédit dans le contexte plus large des formes d’aide disponibles pour les habitants des zones rurales et du rapport entre l’État et ses sujets, en avançant la thèse que les formes d’assistance accordées aux paysans sont inextricablement liées aux mécanismes d’appropriation de l’excédent. L’analyse développe une réflexion plus large sur les limites des interventions de l’État auprès des habitants de la campagne ottomane.
http://journals.openedition.org/mefrim/3497
Keywords: Custody of the Holy Land, Franciscans, objects of devotion, network, missions.
im syrisch-palästinensischen Raum (17. Jahrhundert)
Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht Konversionen von Protestanten zum Katholizismus
im syrisch-palästinensischen Raum in der ersten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts
auf der Basis von Quellen franziskanischer Provenienz. Die Konversionsforschung
betont immer wieder die Integrationsfunktion von Glaubensübertritten. In den untersuchten
Fällen dienten Konversionen jedoch nicht der Integration in eine Gesellschaft
mehrheitlich anderen Glaubens, sondern sind auf ganz konkrete Bedürfnisse
zurückzuführen, die das Reisen in einem fremden Land mit sich brachte. Der Beitrag
zeigt, dass die Glaubensübertritte eng mit der starken Präsenz des Franziskanerordens
in dieser Region zusammenhingen. Die Mönche boten den Protestanten, die als Kaufleute
oder Reisende in einem fremden Land unterwegs waren, in Notlagen Beistand
und halfen ihnen in vielfacher Hinsicht. In den untersuchten Fällen waren die Konversionen
durch die Hoffnung auf kurzfristige Hilfe in prekären Situationen motiviert,
nicht durch theologische Überlegungen oder langfristige Strategien. Es bestand ein
enger Zusammenhang zwischen Mobilität und Konversion, der für den Mittelmeerraum
bislang nur unzureichend untersucht ist.
Books by Felicita Tramontana
Projects by Felicita Tramontana
Edited Volumes by Felicita Tramontana
Chapters in edited volume by Felicita Tramontana
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/continuity-and-change/article/geographical-mobility-and-communitybuilding-in-seventeenthcentury-palestine-insights-from-the-records-of-bethlehems-catholic-parish/BDFE125C9855C5AB9CF9328B3EB439EB/share/f6d48bf202dc159ab5ab0942630cbd56b500a5a2
Abstract
This article focuses on the role played by local mobility in processes of confession and community building, taking the Catholic population in seventeenth-century Palestine as a case study. Works on the Reformation in Europe have acknowledged a connection between the strengthening of confessional identities and geographical mobility. Through the analysis of the parish records of Bethlehem, the article reveals some characteristics of seventeenth-century Catholic mobility in Palestine and shows how this mobility was bound up with the consolidation of a tiny Catholic minority and the establishment of a sacramental network. From a larger perspective, this research suggests that mobility plays an important role in the development and consolidation of small communities in a context of competing religion. From a methodological point of view, it also shows the importance of microanalysis in understanding the geographical mobility associated with religious practices and allegiances.
French abstract
Mobilité géographique et construction d'une identité communautaire en Palestine au XVIIe siècle: l'apport des registres paroissiaux catholiques de Bethléem
S'attachant au cas de la population catholique présente en Palestine au XVIIe siècle, cet article est consacré au rôle joué par la mobilité géographique dans les processus de construction d'une identité confessionnelle et communautaire. Les travaux sur la Réforme en Europe s'accordent à reconnaître un lien entre renforcement des identités confessionnelles et mobilité géographique. Grâce à l'analyse des registres paroissiaux de Bethléem, certaines caractéristiques de la mobilité catholique du XVIIe siècle en Palestine sont mises en lumière. L'auteur montre comment cette mobilité était liée à la consolidation d'une minuscule minorité catholique et à la création d'un réseau sacramentel. Dans une perspective plus large, cette recherche suggère que la mobilité joue un rôle important dans le développement et la consolidation des petites communautés dans le contexte d'une religion entrant en concurrence. D'un point de vue méthodologique, l'étude fait ressortir également l'importance de la microanalyse pour comprendre la mobilité géographique associée aux pratiques et allégeances religieuses.
German abstract
Geographische Mobilität und Gemeindebildung in Palästina im 17. Jahrhundert: Erkenntnisse aus den Akten der katholischen Gemeinde Bethlehems
Dieser Aufsatz dreht sich um die Frage, welche Rolle die lokale Mobilität im Prozess der Konfessions- und Gemeindebildung spielt, und wählt dafür die katholische Bevölkerung in Palästina im 17. Jahrhundert als Fallstudie. Arbeiten zur Reformation in Europe haben einen Zusammenhang zwischen der Bekräftigung konfessioneller Identitäten und geographischer Mobilität aufgezeigt. Aus der Analyse der Pfarrregister Bethlehems ergeben sich einige Charakteristika der katholischen Mobilität in Palästina im 17. Jahrhundert. Der Aufsatz zeigt ferner, wie eng diese Mobilität mit der Konsolidierung einer winzigen katholischen Minderheit und der Bildung eines sakramentalen Netzwerks verknüpft war. Aus einer übergreifenden Perspektiv deutet diese Forschung darauf hin, dass der Mobilität für die Entwicklung und Festigung kleiner Gemeinden im Kontext konkurrierender Religionen eine wichtige Rolle zukommt. Aus einem methodologischen Blickwinkel zeigt sich außerdem, wie wichtig die Mikroanalyse ist, wenn man die mit religiösen Praktiken und Loyalitäten verknüpfte geographische Mobilität verstehen will.
distinct secular contexts as well the phased evolution of localized networks for the administration of the cure of souls, the latter starting in the eleventh and sixteenth centuries, respectively. A consistently comparative approach reveals notable similarities—in terms of expanding spiritual provision and better record keeping—alongside
substantial differences—especially between the clearly demarcated territorial parishes in the Alps and a more punctual system of sacrament centers in Palestine. At Gersau, where diocesan structures were weak, the church operated under the close supervision of a commune with extensive powers stretching to the rights of advowson and
benefice administration. Around Jerusalem, the Franciscans—whose custos acted as the vicar apostolic—used material incentives to win over converts from other Christian denominations. Building on recent reassessments of the post-Tridentine Church, both examples thus underline the strong position of the laity in the confessional age and
the need to acknowledge local sociopolitical as well as organizational factors in the formation of early modern Catholicism.
Le présent article analyse les formes d’assistance disponibles pour la paysannerie ottomane, en prenant pour point de départ des cas dans lesquels le gouverneur de Jérusalem accorda des ventes à crédit de grain aux paysans. La première partie de l’article replace les documents juridiques qui enregistrent ces ventes dans leur contexte local, en les évaluant à la lumière d’une part des politiques du gouverneur local à l’égard de la population du district, et d’autre part de ses intérêts en qualité de bénéficiaire des recettes. L’article traite ensuite des ventes à crédit dans le contexte plus large des formes d’aide disponibles pour les habitants des zones rurales et du rapport entre l’État et ses sujets, en avançant la thèse que les formes d’assistance accordées aux paysans sont inextricablement liées aux mécanismes d’appropriation de l’excédent. L’analyse développe une réflexion plus large sur les limites des interventions de l’État auprès des habitants de la campagne ottomane.
http://journals.openedition.org/mefrim/3497
Keywords: Custody of the Holy Land, Franciscans, objects of devotion, network, missions.
im syrisch-palästinensischen Raum (17. Jahrhundert)
Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht Konversionen von Protestanten zum Katholizismus
im syrisch-palästinensischen Raum in der ersten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts
auf der Basis von Quellen franziskanischer Provenienz. Die Konversionsforschung
betont immer wieder die Integrationsfunktion von Glaubensübertritten. In den untersuchten
Fällen dienten Konversionen jedoch nicht der Integration in eine Gesellschaft
mehrheitlich anderen Glaubens, sondern sind auf ganz konkrete Bedürfnisse
zurückzuführen, die das Reisen in einem fremden Land mit sich brachte. Der Beitrag
zeigt, dass die Glaubensübertritte eng mit der starken Präsenz des Franziskanerordens
in dieser Region zusammenhingen. Die Mönche boten den Protestanten, die als Kaufleute
oder Reisende in einem fremden Land unterwegs waren, in Notlagen Beistand
und halfen ihnen in vielfacher Hinsicht. In den untersuchten Fällen waren die Konversionen
durch die Hoffnung auf kurzfristige Hilfe in prekären Situationen motiviert,
nicht durch theologische Überlegungen oder langfristige Strategien. Es bestand ein
enger Zusammenhang zwischen Mobilität und Konversion, der für den Mittelmeerraum
bislang nur unzureichend untersucht ist.
https://jobs.fbk.eu/Annunci/Offerte_di_lavoro_A_Research_position_in_Digital_History_for_the_ERC_project_HOLYLAB_231744079.htm
Avviso di selezione pubblica per l'ammissione ai corsi di dottorato di ricerca (XL ciclo formativo-A.A.
Research project:
Negli ultimi decenni è cresciuto tra gli storici dell’età moderna l’interesse nei confronti dell’organizzazione delle missioni cattoliche nel periodo moderno. L'obiettivo del progetto è quello di esaminare il complesso rapporto tra le missioni e la circolazione globale di merci e persone. Un particolare attenzione verrà prestata alle istituzioni, e in primis ai network, che rendevano possibile questo movimento. Nel fare ciò il progetto mira, inoltre, ad affrontare questioni di portata più generale, come l'influenza della prima globalizzazione sulla diffusione delle missioni cattoliche e la circolazione di merci, informazioni e persone nel periodo moderno.
In recent decades, there has been a growing interest among historians in the organization of Catholic missions in the early modern period. The aim of the project is to examine the complex relationship between missions and the global movement of goods and people. Particular attention will be paid to the institutions, and first and foremost to the networks, that made this movement possible. In doing so, the project also aims to address more general issues, such as the influence of early globalization on the spread of Catholic missions and the circulation of goods, information and people in the modern period
Post-doc position within the ERC HOLYLAB
https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/49786
Sponsored by: Centre d'Histoire de Sciences Po, CIERA, CMMC, FMSH, CEU-IAS, IHMC.
Even though conversion certificates issued by the Ottoman courts have frequently been used as a source on conversion in different parts of the Ottoman Empire, issues arising from the text itself and from the recording procedures used have never been comprehensively addressed. The same consideration is valid also for the registers of conversions drafted by Franciscan missionaries. Up to now, moreover, no work has been concerned with evaluating the reliability of the two set of documents as a source on conversion. However, historians working on archival sources have long been aware of the importance of analysing the institutions that issued them, and of discerning the purpose of the recording and of the recording procedures. Works based on inquisitorial dossiers, for example, carefully consider the expectations of the inquisitors and the strategies of the victims in order to assess the truthfulness of the depositions. Where court records are concerned, Middle Eastern historians began many years ago to challenge the use of court records as if they were a mirror of reality and to question just how representative they really are, investigating rather the strategies of the claimants and the purposes underlying their use of the court.
Drawing upon the above suggestions, this paper analyses the records of conversions both to Catholicism and to Islam that occurred in the seventeenth-century district of Jerusalem, investigating the recording procedures, the purpose of the recording and the role played by the converts in the recording process. In so doing the chapter explains some of the features of the text itself and, conversely, elucidates how conversion was viewed by the Ottoman authorities and by the friars in the period under consideration.
Through a comparison between the two sets of documents and the recording procedures, the paper also highlights the differences between conversion to Catholicism and conversion to Islam in seventeenth-century Palestine. Indeed, conversion certificates drafted by the Ottoman court of Jerusalem and the registers of the Franciscans share an important similarity: they were both drafted with the specific aim of recording the converts’ change of faith. In none of them, moreover, are the actual words of the converts recorded, since conversions are invariably narrated by the Franciscans or by the Ottoman authorities. In spite of these similarities the motivations underlying the recording, the authors of the documents, the recording procedures and the role the converts played in the recording are different one from another. These differences, the article argues, are a consequence of the different legal value that conversion to Islam and conversion to Catholicism had in seventeenth-century Palestine, and also of the role evangelization played in the spread of Catholicism.
Finally, the analysis of the recording procedures enables us to evaluate the reliability of the documents as sources for the changes of faith that occurred in the district of Jerusalem. In this regard the article shows that the two sets of documents present the historian with equal and opposite challenges, since conversion might be over-recorded in the Franciscan documents and under-represented in the Ottoman court records.
This research is part (chapter 2) of the monograph : Felicita Tramontana "Passages of Faith. Conversions in Palestinian countryside (17th century)", Harrassowitz Verlag, 2014 (forthcoming).