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The French Catholic Missionaries in Lebanon Between 1860 and 1914

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The French Catholic Missionaries in Lebanon Between 1860 and 1914 THE FRENCH CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES IN LEBANON BETWEEN 1860 AND 1914 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY SERKAN GUL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY MAY 2015 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Ömer Turan Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _______________________ Prof. Dr. Ömer Turan Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Seçil K. Akgün (METU, HIST) Prof. Dr. Ömer Turan (METU, HIST) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jeremy Salt (BILKENT, POLS) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Şahin (GAZI, IR) Asst. Prof. Dr. Güçlü Tülüveli (METU, HIST) PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Serkan Gül Signature : iii ABSTRACT THE FRENCH CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES IN LEBANON BETWEEN 1860 AND 1914 Gül, Serkan Ph.D., Department of History Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ömer Turan May 2015, 322 pages This thesis aims at analyzing the French missionary activities in Lebanon during the Ottoman Era between 1860 and 1914 within the context of their role in the French religious protectorate system in the Levant. Religious protectorate was a system that emerged in the 16th Century with the indication of the Latin Catholics in the capitulation agreements between France and the Ottoman Empire and became a significant factor of the Franco-Ottoman relations in the following centuries. By relying upon its increasing diplomatic and economic influence over the Ottoman Empire, France gave a new meaning to religious protection and made effort to extend its protection from the Latin Catholics to the Catholic subjects of the Ottoman Empire. In this framework, the thesis will firstly explain establishment of French religious protection in the Ottoman Empire. Secondly, the French Catholic missionary congregations and their significant institutions in Lebanon will be introduced. Also their relations with the French diplomats and their contributions to French cultural and political prestige in the region will be analyzed. Thirdly, rivalry between the French Catholic missionaries and the Protestant missionaries will be evaluated. Thus the strengths and weakness of the French missionary existence in Lebanon will be discussed in comparison with the Protestant missionary existence. iv This chapter will also reveal how the missionary activities were perceived as a factor of cultural and diplomatic rivalries in a given region. Finally, the thesis will focus on attitude of the Ottoman administration towards the French Catholic missionaries and their activities, and will be revealed the weakness of the Ottoman administration in the control of the French missionary activities and institutions. Keywords: France, Catholic, Missionary, Lebanon, Ottoman v ÖZ LÜBNAN’DA FRANSIZ KATOLİK MİSYONERLER, 1860-1914 Gül, Serkan Doktora, Tarih Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ömer Turan Mayıs 2015, 322 sayfa Bu tez Osmanlı Döneminde 1860 ve 1914 tarihleri arasında Lübnan’daki Fransız Katolik misyonerlerin faaliyetlerini Doğu’daki Fransız dini himaye sistemi içindeki rolleri bağlamında analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Dini himaye, 16. Yüzyılda Fransa ve Osmanlı İmparatorluğu arasında yapılan kapitülasyon anlaşmalarında Latin Katoliklerin zikredilmesiyle ortaya çıkmış ve ilerleyen yüzyıllarda Fransız- Osmanlı ilişkilerinin önemli bir etmeni haline gelmiştir. Osmanlı İmparatorluğu üzerinde gittikçe artan diplomatik ve ekonomik etkisine dayanarak, Fransa dini himayeye yeni bir anlam vermiş ve Latin Katolikler üzerindeki himayesini Osmanlı vatandaşı Katoliklere de genişletmek için çaba harcamıştır. Bahsedilen bu çerçevede, bu tez öncelikle Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Fransız dini himayesinin kurulmasını açıklayacaktır. İkinci olarak, Lübnan’daki Fransız Katolik misyonerlerin faaliyetleri ve önemli kurumları tanıtılacak ve Fransız yönetiminin bunlara verdiği destek değerlendirilecektir. Burada ayrıca Fransız misyonerlerin Fransız diplomatlarla ilişkileri ve Fransa’nın bölgedeki kültürel ve politik prestijine sundukları katkılar analiz edilecektir. Üçüncü olarak, Fransız Katolik misyonerler ve Protestan misyonerler arasındaki rekabet değerlendirilecektir. Bu şekilde, Lübnan’daki Fransız misyoner varlığının Protestan misyonerlere karşı güçlü ve zayıf yanları tartışılacaktır. Ayrıca bu bölüm, herhangi bir bölgedeki vi misyonerlik faaliyetlerinin nasıl kültürel ve diplomatik rekabetin bir öğesi haline gelebileceğini gösterecektir. Son bölümde ise Fransız Katolik misyonerlere ve onların faaliyetlerine yönelik Osmanlı yönetiminin tavrına odaklanılacaktır. Burada Osmanlı yönetiminin Fransız misyonerlerin faaliyetleri ve kurumları karşısındaki zayıflığı gösterilecektir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Fransa, Katolik, Misyonerlik, Lübnan, Osmanlı DEDICATION vii To Serap viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation to those who have contributed to this thesis and supported me throughout the process. First of all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Ömer Turan for his guidance, advice, criticism, encouragement and insight throughout the research. I would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Seçil Akgün and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jeremy Salt, who were the members of the thesis committee and thesis jury, and Asst. Prof. Dr. Güçlü Tülüveli and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Şahin, who took part in the thesis jury, for their invaluable suggestions and comments. It is not possible to indicate all names but I would like to thank all the staff of archives and libraries that I studied throughout my research such as Archives du Ministère des Affaires Etrangères in Paris, the Archives des Œuvres Pontificales Missionnaires in Lyon, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the Archives of Beirut American University in Beirut, the Prime Ministry’s Ottoman Archives in Istanbul, the library of Turkish Historical Association in Ankara, etc. I would like to thank the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) for its generous doctoral research grant which made my research in France possible for six months from February to August 2011. My colleagues at the Department of History, Bozok University were always supportive and they made everything to facilitate my research and writing processes. I would like to sincerely thank all of them. My family has always been by my side throughout my life and I am very grateful for all their unwavering support. ix Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my beloved wife, Serap. This is not a casual remark. From the beginning to the end, she has always been by my side during all stages of the study. We conducted all library and archive researches together in France. Serap made everything to reduce my workload. She took pictures of documents and photocopied books. She also classified and arranged them in computer to make ready for my use. She also read the final copy of my thesis and made language corrections. I am really indebted to her too much. It is sure that this study could not be finished without her support and encouragement. Although all these names supported me with their invaluable comments and suggestions, all the ideas and flaws in this study are mine. x TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ............................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iv ÖZ… ........................................................................................................................... vi DEDICATION ........................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ xi LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xiv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................... xvi CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 2. FRANCE’S POLICY OF PROTECTING CATHOLICS IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 The Origins of the French Protection in the Levant ........................................... 8 2.2 The 16th Century: Beginning of the Franco-Ottoman Relations and the First Capitulations .......................................................................................................... 11 2.3 The 17th Century: Strengthening of the French Religious Protection .............. 19 2.4 The 18th Century: Establishment of the Religious Protection .......................... 30 2.5 The French Revolution and the Crisis of
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