Education Activities of Jesuit Missionaries in Kayseri During the Reign of the Abdulhamid II


Tekin Z., Karaca A. M.

TARIH KULTUR VE SANAT ARASTIRMALARI DERGISI-JOURNAL OF HISTORY CULTURE AND ART RESEARCH, no.4, pp.508-525, 2019 (ESCI) identifier

Abstract

In the late sixteenth century, Catholic Jesuit Missionaries who were active in the Ottoman Empire lands gained momentum after capitulation regulation concerning religious freedom and protection. They opened new schools and educational institutions in the suitable places as a results of the agreement. Missionary activities and schools run by Jesuit Missionaries in the Ottoman Empire considerably increased during the Sultan Abdulhamit II. Jesuit Missionaries, who took responsibility to protect the French people, continued their educational activities in Kayseri, one of the old and historic cities of Anatolia. They bought or rent lands and then erected buildings in Kayseri to continue their educational activities. They obtained permission and certificate from the goverment to legalize their presence. Then these constructions bought by the missionaries were turned into schools in oder to operate their activities in Kayseri. The purpose of this study is to uncover missionary activities which has long been the missing topic in the Ottoman studies. This paper mainly concerns reactions of Ottoman goverment towards Jesuit Missionaries, their activities and developments in the Kayseri by uncovering new and different archival and monographical sources.