While recent years have seen an increase in scholarly interest towards the history of Catholicism in the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire, with emphasis on Hungary, Bosnia, Istanbul, and the Greek Archipelago, Anatolia (Asia Minor) remains a less explored setting. With the forthcoming 300th anniversary of the Melkite Catholic Church of Antioch, it is time to examine more closely the history of Catholicism in places such as Antakya, Iskenderun. This is also a perfect occasion to examine the history of Catholic Churches and communities across Anatolia, from Izmir to Trabzon, and from Mersin to Samsun across the longue durée. With original and innovative interdisciplinary perspectives from established as well as early-careers scholars and postgraduate researchers, this volume will go beyond a simple positivist history of the Communion of Eastern Churches with Rome and to provide in-depth social, economic, and religious inquiries into the Catholic communities of Asia Minor from the late Byzantine to the early Republican periods.
We invite contributions from a variety of perspectives and fields that include but are not limited to:
- The evolution of ecclesiastical organisation of Anatolia across the centuries
- Its interaction with Ottoman local and central authorities
- The impact of the Ottoman conquest of Anatolia on local Catholic communities
- The perception of the Ottoman administration of Catholic communities in Anatolia in relation to those in other provinces
- The impact of foreign missionaries and the Communion of Eastern Churches with Rome on the local Catholic communities
- Relations between different Catholic communities and with their Orthodox counterparts
- Muslim intellectuals and religious scholars’ interest in polemics between Catholics and Eastern Christians
- Support received by Catholic communities in Anatolia from Western European powers and its connection to their commercial interests in the area
- The role of women within Catholic ecclesiastical and lay communities of Anatolia
- The impact of late-Ottoman and early Republican conflicts and forced migrations
- The status and preservation of former Catholic Church properties in Anatolia.
- Catholic churches as shared spaces.
Submission Guidelines and Deadlines
Abstract submission in English, French, or Italian (250 words) & biography (150 words): 01 December 2023
Notification of acceptance or rejection: 15 January 2024
Workshop (hybrid in English): March 2024
Full text submission (English, French, or Italian): 30 June 2024
Publication (The Isis Press): December 2024