Oriental Europe? The Black Sea Region in the Early Modern Period

fakultatywne
ogólnouniwersyteckie

w sali

This lecture explores the Early Modern history of the Black Sea as a “historical meso-region,” following scholars like Braudel, Stoianovich, and Özveren. It examines how the Black Sea served as a crossroads of diplomacy, trade, and cultural exchange among major powers (Ottoman, Russian, Polish-Lithuanian, Swedish) and smaller entities (Circassians, Cossacks, Tatars, Moldavians, Wallachians). It highlights cross-border patronage networks that shaped regional policies and investigates social and ethnic relations—especially interactions between nobles, Jewish, Greek, and Armenian merchants, and serfs. Drawing on my ongoing archival research, the lecture reveals how political, social, and religious dynamics evolved from the 16th to the 18th century.

The primary subject of this lecture is the history of the Black Sea Region in the Early Modern Period. The lecture begins by examining the idea of the Black Sea as a historical meso-region, drawing inspiration from scholars such as Fernand Braudel, Traian Stoianovich, and Eyüp Özveren. It further delves into the various roles played by the region on both regional and global scales. It focuses on the Black Sea as a crossroads for diplomacy, trade, and the exchange of knowledge and ideas. It discusses political interactions not only between the major regional powers (Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, Poland-Lithuania, Sweden) and other European actors, but also shed light on the role of the minor players (Circassian chieftainships, Zaporozhian and Don Cossacks, Crimean Tatars, Hungarians, Moldavians and Wallachians). Furthermore, the lecture proposes a closer examination of cross-border patronages and networks that connected the elite members of various state affiliations, highlighting their significance in shaping the policies of the Black Sea region. The objective is to reveal the dynamics and changes in political relations within the region from the early 16th century to the late 18th century.

Additionally, the lecture delves into social relations by examining the interactions between the nobility of various origins with other social groups, including the Jewish, Greek, and Armenian merchants, as well as serfs. The intricate religious and ethnic dynamics in the region are further examined through carefully selected case studies that draw upon the lecturer's research conducted in the Polish, Russian, Turkish, Austrian and Italian archives.

List of topics:

• General overview of political interactions in the region (major powers: Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, Poland-Lithuania, Sweden , minor players: Circassian chieftainships, Zaporozhian and Don Cossacks, Crimean Tatars, Kalmyks, Nogai, Hungarians, Moldavians and Wallachians), other European actors);

• Human landscape of the Black Sea highlighening the ethnic and religious diversity;

• Networks connecting elite members of various state affiliations; cross-border patronage systems;

• Diverging „contact zones” between the inhabitants of the region; the role of different groups of intermediaries;

• Multilinguistic character of the local chancelleries;

• Porous borderlands in the Northern Black Sea region;

• Slavery as a global and regional phenomenon.

• The status on nobility in various Black Sea state as a regional phenomenon.

The lecture chronological scope is the Early Modern Period (15th-18th centuries)

• King, Charles, The Black Sea: A History. Oxford: OUP, 2004.

• Kármán, Gabor and Lovro Kunčević (eds.), The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Leiden/Boston 2013.

• Kármán, Gabor (ed.), Tributaries and Peripheries of the Ottoman Empire. Leiden/Boston 2020.

• Królikowska-Jedlińska, Natalia, Law and Division of Power in the Crimean Khanate with Special Reference to the Reign of Murad Giray (1678-1683). Leiden/Boston 2019.

• Matthee, Rudi, Persia in Crisis. Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan. London/NY 2012.

• Wasiucionek, Michał, The Ottomans and Eastern Europe: Borders and Political Patronage in the Early Modern World, London/NY 2019.

• Yaşar, Murat, The North Caucasus borderland. Between Muscovy and the Ottoman Empire, 1555-1605. Edinburgh 2022.

By the end of this course, students will acquire a deeper historical understanding of the dynamic political, social, and religious transformations that shaped the Black Sea region from the 15th to the 18th centuries.