Hypothesis for the Construction of the First Bulgarian Temple in Constantinople. Was the Bulgarian Nation Recognized in 1849?...

Authors:

Pages: 243-261

Abstract:

The 19th-century Bulgarian attempts for religious emancipa tion from the Patriarchate of Constantinople are a most considered issue in modern Bulgarian historiography. Well-grounded is the thesis that the firman (ferman, royal decree) of 27 February 1870, which recognized the Bulgarian Exarchate, was also official recognition of the independency of the Bulgarian nation within the Ottoman Empire. Some researchers even assumed that it happened earlier – with the firman of 1849 permitting the construction of St. Stephen, the first Bulgarian church in Constantinople. Until now, the issue was researched mainly based on memories of contem poraries, preserved Bulgarian and Greek documents, as well as data from the periodical press. The Ottoman context was completely excluded, as were preserved Ottoman documents. This article presents a different perspective on what happened in Constantinople in 1849. Based on documents stored in the Ottoman archives in Istanbul, the thesis that the recognition of the Bulgarian nation was not the result of ecclesiastical struggle, but a conse quence of the recognition of its economic and political elite, is backed with arguments. The article maintains the fact that in 1849 no independent Bul garian nation was recognized and presents a hypothesis for the permission of the construction of the first Bulgarian temple in the Ottoman Empire cap ital. Even though many of the preserved Ottoman documents have long been known, they have not been placed in an Ottoman context until now, and their publications have not been analysed in comparison to their originals.

Keywords:

Ottoman Empire, ferman, irade, tezkere, Patriarchate of Con stantinople, millet, Bulgarian Exarchate.

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