Conversion Among the Dragomans and the Language Boys of the Venetian Republic in Istanbul (1596-1709)

Abstract

Conversion was an event that had social, political and economic dimensions besides being a religious fact for both Muslim Ottoman Empire and Christian Venetian Republic. From a social point of view, the diversion from the existing traditions of society and the peculiar rules that shaped the social morality was an unacceptable situation for the societies of both states. However, the mobility and intense interactions between societies made the fact of conversion ordinary. From a political point of view, the two states that experienced an intense rivalry in putting the Mediterranean coasts under the influence considered the transfer of their own subjects to the side of the rival state as an unfavourable and risky situation for their spheres of influence. From an economic point of view, it can be seen that certain personal interests, the struggle of the Venetian subjects for releasing from their debts, the attraction of the Ottoman patronage, a plan of career which was founded on the basis of the bonds with the Ottoman ruling élite and society are effective over the conversion of the dragomans of the Venetian Republic. The conversion realized in the framework of religious ideas, principles, and rules on both the Ottoman and Venetian sides. The Ottomans saw the invitation of a non-Muslim person to Islam as a very propitious event from the aspect of religion. The convert person, the one who found the true path with their expression, was assumed to have returned not to a new religion but to the original one which was existent in his or her natality. The acception of the oneness of Almighty and the prophecy of the Prophet Mohammad and the reciting of the kalima shahadah were adequate for the conversion.and no ceremony was held. As for Catholicisim which included the Venetian Republic, being Catholic was possible through the divinal benevolence and mercy. In Catholicism, the reasons of conversion were expressed as a fear of death, an inner conflict, and a struggle with the person’s own will. According to Catholicism, the divinal benevolence of God and the spiritual entity of the Prophet Christ made human being come back to Christianity. The person who would convert to Catholicisim should have behaved under the guidance of his/her intellect. He/she should have carried the wish of faith inside him/her. He/she should have declared that he/she believed that the Catholic Church evangelised the word of God. When these three conditions were fulfilled, the ceremony of baptism woul be held. By swearing on the Bible he/she stated that he/she believed in Catholicism and would abide by the orders. In this article, all these social, political and economic reasons and their outcomes in the presence of the states will be explained through the events that happened and the dragomans who were mentioned. This will help us to have at least partial information about the spiritual and te material worlds of the dragomans. The sect-based conversions will be evaluated rather with their effects over the Ottoman and the Venetian rulers and societies and with the way that these conversions directed the relations between them. During this evaluation, the time period between 1596 and 1709 which are the dates of the earliest and the latest example cases, are taken as a basis.