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The Question of the Ragusan Chapel in Edirne

Even though there was no official Ragusan colony in Edirne, as one of the main trade centres of the Balkans, it attracted Ragusans as well as other foreign and domestic merchants. In order to suit the needs of envoys, the Republic of Dubrovnik maintained a residence in the city from the mid-16th century, if not before. In addition to the residence, there was a chapel that served the needs of diplomats and other Ragusans, as well as the wider Catholic “Frenk” community. The existence of the church within the residential complex was in accordance with Ragusan privileges but contradicted postulates of Islamic law. This brought about a series of litigations from the end of the 16th to the beginning of the 18th century, ranging from petitions for the church repairment, to disputes with Jewish neighbours. Interestingly enough, the dispute over the chapel in Edirne correlated with disputes Ragusans had in other Balkan colonies with competing local merchants, such as Orthodox Serbian merchants in Sarajevo, Muslim merchants in Novi Pazar, and co-religious Bosnian Catholic merchants in Belgrade, indicating that the Edirne’s dispute was more complex in nature, than a bigoted inter- confessional clash.

Ottoman Empire, Dubrovnik, Edirne, church, merchants, diplomats

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