Pashas and nobles : Paweł Benoe and Ottoman-Polish encounters in the eighteenth century

Abstract

This dissertation explores Ottoman-Polish encounters in the eighteenth century through an actor-based, microhistorical perspective. It discusses in topical chapters seven case studies: of border management, cross-border networking, border making, diplomatic travel, sociability, multilingualism, and gift-giving. The read-thread binding it together is Paweł Benoe aka Paul Benoît (ca. 1685-1745), an information master and diplomat. A half-French, half-Polish diplomat, Benoe mastered Turkish, married a Greek Phanariot woman, made a career in Poland-Lithuania as an expert in things Ottoman, and left behind an extensive, previously unexplored archive. Beginning with the provocative placing of southern Poland-Lithuania within the Ottoman Mediterranean, this dissertation provides evidence for the integration of Polish nobles into the Ottoman cultural world. Divided into two parts of four chapters each, part one examines the borderland and part two Istanbul. This dissertation rethinks the relations between center and periphery in Eastern Europe and Ottoman Europe to draw a complex image of interdependencies between the borderlands and elite centers in Warsaw and Istanbul. In a bottom-up initiative, Ottoman and Polish borderland actors created a joint court of justice to settle minor conflicts. This was possible thanks to Ottoman-Polish-Moldavian cross-border networks that flourished in the eighteenth century. Borders were far from fixed after the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) and necessitated a long process of mediation and territorial claiming to change zonal frontiers into linear borders. Ottoman and Polish travelers crossing the border produced travelogues that were copied, disseminated, stored, and used by future travelers. Their travels created an Ottoman-Polish sociability in Istanbul, facilitated by multilingual dragomans and diplomats. Finally, Ottoman pashas and Polish nobles influenced each other’s material cultures and tastes through the regular exchange of gifts. With topical chapters addressing these issues, this dissertation provides a completely new understanding of Christian-Muslim relation in eighteenth century Europe.