Radu Dipratu, Visiting the Noble Jerusalem: Catholic Pilgrims in the Ottoman Capitulations of the Seventeenth Century
This article analyses how the Catholic pilgrimage to Jerusalem was represented in the Ottoman capitulations of the seventeenth century. Religious articles were first encountered in capitulations granted to Catholic European states (France, Venice and the Holy Roman Empire), but later also in the ones granted to the Protestant Dutch Republic and to the Orthodox Russian Empire. Focusing his research on Ottoman texts, the author has identified three problematics raised by the scarce formulation of these articles: the pilgrims’ political allegiance, their religious affiliation and travel conditions. The study has concluded that the capitulations revealed a close link between commerce and pilgrimage, that they refrained from endorsing one Christian faction over the other, and that the Russian treaties actually contained more detailed provisions regarding travel conditions to Jerusalem.