ОСМАНО-ПАПСЬКІ ВІДНОСИНИ ТА ЗАГАЛЬНОЄВРОПЕЙСЬКИЙ КОНТЕКСТ ЧЕРЕЗ ПРИЗМУ ЧИННИКА ПРИНЦА ДЖЕМА

Abstract

The traditional view of historiography that the relations between the Ottoman Empire and the classical West were consistently hostile is partly justified, but still in a large part of aspects it does not correspond to reality. This can best be traced on the example of its relationship with the Holy See, which ideologically was its main opponent, as well as the center responsible for the organization of the crusade against the Ottomans and the organization of the entire anti-Ottoman struggle. Nevertheless, the Roman Popes did not hesitate to enter into political agreements with the Ottoman Sultan when the question arose of keeping his brother Jem in honorary captivity. Moreover, the Prince Jem factor caused an increase in internal contradictions within Christendom, leading to a direct confrontation between Pope Alexander VI Borgia and the French King Charles VIII, resulting in the Pope entering into a de facto alliance with Bayezid II. During these events, the Holy See lost a significant part of its authority among the states of Christian Europe, which, moreover, did not hesitate to protect their interests to its detriment, in particular, demanding Jem to bypass the Vatican in order to play their own political-diplomatic game with the Ottomans. These events show how deep intra-European contradictions were and how much they affected the general system of diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire. In addition to this, from now on the Ottoman Empire took its place in the pan-European system of international relations, ceasing to be the image of an all-encompassing enemy, and becoming a very real situational partner and an organic element of inter-European diplomacy, which was actively used for mutual blackmail and sometimes as an effective lever of a peculiar system of restraints and counterbalance within Christendom.