[ Konferenz | Conference ]

The Faculty of History at University of Sofia Sv. Kliment Ohridski welcomes the audience to its conference on Power and Influence in South-Eastern Europe in the 16-19th Centuries beginning on October 8, 2010.

In the Early Modern Period and during the nineteenth century the southeastern corner of Europe is the meeting point for three Imperial models – the Ottoman, the Habsburg and the Russian. Despite the different religions to which the ruling dynasties belong, their ways of exercising power in Southeastern Europe demonstrate many similarities. This specific characteristic remains on the whole unchanged even after the emergence of the newly established, autonomous and independent states in the Balkans, where modern European institutions co-exist with the traditions of informal power and authority. The task of this academic conference is to examine the history of the different forms of power and influence, of authority and informal might in South-Eastern Europe. The broad chronological sweep of four hundred years will allow us to distinguish long term tendencies as well as to locate processes with a shorter life span. The Peninsula, on the other hand, is a contact centre between the Ottoman Balkans, Habsburg Southeastern Europe and the Russian lands bordering on the Lower Danube. This is also the place where non-imperial statehood could exist – small autonomous lands, vassal principalities and independent monarchies. The established social order in that region, which displays varied patterns of confession and civilization, is moving along the road of modernization, though at different speeds. South-Eastern Europe, however, still preserves those elements of formal and informal power and influence which bring the region closer to the Levantine-Oriental traditions typical for the Eastern Mediterranean than to the more structured and, in terms of power, more clearly defined societies of Central and Western Europe.

PROGRAM 9.30 – 9.45

Opening speech: Prof. Ivan Ilchev, Rector of Sofia University
Opening by: Assoc. Prof. Kostadin Grozev, Assoc. Prof. Ivan Parvev

 

I Session Chair: Prof. Elizabeth Frierson

9.50 – 10.10 Arno Strohmeyer (University of Salzburg)
Power and the Changing Faces of Habsburg-Ottoman Friendship (16th-17th centuries)

10.10 – 10.30 Christo Matanov (University of Sofia)
The Power of the Saint’s Relics. The Relics of St. Spyridon, the Bulgari Family, Corfu and Venice in the 16th-18th centuries

10.30 – 10.50 Ivan Parvev (University of Sofia)
Might without Power, Power without Might. The Habsburg and Russian Influence in the Balkans during the 17th – 19th centuries as a Comparison

Discussion: 10.50 – 11.10
Coffee Break: 11.10 – 11.30

11.30 – 11.50 Metin Kunt (Sabancı University, Istanbul)
The Sultan’s Progress, Istanbul to Szigetvar

11.50 – 12.10 Milena Petkova-Encheva (Sofia University)
The Deportation of Prisoners of War in the Context of Demographic Seizure of Territories: Hungarians in Thrace in the 16th century

12.10 – 12.30 Gábor Kármán (GWZO, Leipzig)
The Chances to Establish a Local Power Base among the Tributaries of the Ottoman Empire: György Rákóczi II of Transylvania

Discussion: 12.30 – 13.00
Lunch: 13.00 – 14.00

IІ Session Chair: Prof. Christo Matanov

14.00 – 14.20 Nedim Zahirović (GWZO, Leipzig)
Habsburg Spies at the Sublime Porte in the 16th century

14.20 – 14.40 Domagoj Madunić (CEU, Budapest)
Secret War: Venetian Intelligence and Espionage Activities during the War for Crete (1644-1669)

14.40 – 15.00 Viorel Panaite (University of Bucharest)
“… Our reign is granted by Turks…” Sultans and Tributary Voyvodas of Wallachia and Moldavia (16th – 18th centuries)

15.00 – 15.20 Maria Baramova (Sofia University)
Did the Danube Exist in Habsburg Power Politics in Southeastern Europe before 1699? Discussion: 15.20 – 15.40
Coffee Break: 15.40 – 16.00

16.00 – 16.20 Elizabeth Frierson (University of Cincinnati)
“Port Cities” as an Analytical Concept for Understanding Istanbul/Constantinople, Izmir/Smyrna, Salonica/Thessaloniki

16.20 – 16.40 Grigor Boykov (Bilkent University, Ankara)
Architecture as a Symbol of Power: Some Thoughts on the Ottoman Architectural Heritage of Plovdiv (Filibe)

16.40 – 17.00 Nora Anani (Université de Provence)
The Power of Dervishes in the Ottoman Balkans through the Shakâ’ik al-Nu‘maniyya, Bibliographical Dictionary of Tashköprüzade Ahmed (1495-1561)

Discussion: 17.00 – 17.20
Break: 17.20 – 17.40

17.40 – 18.00 Ifigenija Draganić (University of Novi Sad)
Turcicae epistolae: Busbecq’s Views on Power of the Ottoman Empire in his Letters

18.00 – 18.20 Dzheni Ivanova (University of Sofia)
The Image of the Sultan’s Ally Imre Thököly in the Ottoman Historical Writings. According to the histories of Silâhdar Mehmed Ağa and Defterdar Mehmed Ağa.

18.20 – 18.40 Elena Marassinova (Russian Academy of Sciences)
On Political Discourse in Russia in the Second Half of the 18th century

Discussion: 18.40 – 19.00
Reception: 19.30

Saturday, 9th October
III Session Chair: Assoc. Prof. Ivan Parvev

9.00 – 9.20 Paulina Andonova (Sofia University)
Power and Influence of the Ottoman Ruling Class in the Land Property. The Case of “Askeri” Chiftliks in the Region of Sofia, 16th – 18th centuries.

9.20 – 9.40 Alexander Antonov (Sofia University)
Currier Organization and Logistics on the Danube River at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries

9.40 – 10.00 Snežana Vukadinović (University of Novi Sad)
A Portrait of a Forgotten Serbian Sava Vladislavić Raguzinski

10.00 – 10.20 Igor Fedyukin (New Economic School, Moscow)
A Secret History of the Order of St. Catherine: Scenarios and Power at the Court of Peter I

Discussion: 10.20 – 10.40
Coffee Break: 10.40 – 11.00

11.00 – 11.20 Vjeran Kursar (University of Zagreb)
Non-Muslim Communal Divisions and Identities in the Early Modern Ottoman Balkans and the Millet System Theory

11.20 – 11.40 Stoica Lascu (University of Constanţa)
Balkan Vlachs - Autonomies and Modernity

11.40 – 12.00 Andreas Liberatos (Institute for Mediterranean Studies, Rethymno)
The Application of the Tanzimat and its Political Effects: Glances from Plovdiv and its Rum Millet

Discussion: 12.00 – 12.20
Lunch: 12.20 – 13.30

IV Session Chair: Prof. Markus Koller

13.30 – 13.50 Angelina Vacheva (University of Sofia)
The Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 in the Russian Poetry of the 18th century and the Making of Mythology of Power in Russia

13.50 – 14.10 Elena Smilianskaya (Russian State University for Humanities, Moscow)
“Protection” or “Possession”: How Russians created a Greek principality in 1770-1775

14.10 – 14.30 Jovan Pešalj (University of Belgrade)
Ottoman Subjects as Foreigners in the Habsburg Monarchy in the Second Half of the 18th century.

14.30 – 14.50 Plamen Mitev (University of Sofia)
Sublime Porte in the 18th century. The Revealed and Veilled Faces of the Ottoman Empire

Discussion: 14.50 – 15.10
Coffee Break: 15.10 – 15.30

15.30 – 15.50 Eleonora Naxidou (Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini)
Traditional Aspects of Modernity in the 19th century Balkans: The Ecclesiastical Dimensions of the Bulgarian National Movement

15.50 – 16.10 Manos Perakis (University of Crete)
The Implementation of Tanzimat in Crete: The New Political Model of Chalepa (1878-89) as a Catalyst for Social Reversals

16.10 – 16.30 Dobrinka Parusheva (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Family Matters: Using Social Capital for Political Ends in the Nineteenth Century Balkans

Discussion: 16.30 – 16.50
Break: 16.50 – 17.10

17.10 – 17.30 Ibrahim Koremezli (Bilkent University, Ankara)
Intelligence Activities in the Balkans during the Crimean War (1853-1856)

17.30 – 17.50 Ljubinka T. Karpowicz (Rijeka). Influence of Hungarian Liberal-Free-Massons on Modernisation in corpus separatum of Fiume 1875-1906

17.50 – 18.10 Momir Samardžić (University of Novi Sad)
Serbian Emigrants Issue (1883-1885) as a Test of Power and Influence of Austria-Hungary and Russia on the Balkans.

Discussion: 18.10 – 18.30

Sunday, 10th October
V Session Chair: Dr. Andreas Lyberatos

9.00 – 9.20 Rossitsa Tasheva (University of Sofia)
The French Revolution and the Ottoman Empire: The citoyen Descorches in Constantinople

9.20 – 9.40 Gülay Tulasoğlu (University of Heidelberg)
European Consuls as Power Broker in the Ottoman Empire on the Eve of the Tanzimat: The British Consul Charles Blunt in Salonica

9.40 – 10.00 Alexandar Rastović (University of Niš)
British Diplomats about Russian Influence in Serbia in the 19th century

10.00 – 10.20 Konrad Clewing (Südost Institut, Regensburg)
Consuls and Nation-Building in Late Ottoman ‘Albania’

Discussion: 10.20 – 10.40
Coffee Break: 10.40 – 11.00

11.00 – 11.20 Markus Koller (University of Giessen)
Ottomanism and Russification – Imperial Reform Concepts in the 19th century

11.20 – 11.40 Darin Stephanov (University of Memphis)
The Origins of Modern Public Celebration of the Monarch in Southeastern Europe: Mahmud II, Alexander Ghika, Wallachia and Beyond

11.40 – 12.00 Selim Aslantaş (Hacettepe University, Ankara)
The Russian Influence on the Ottoman Empire in the Context of the Expansion of Serbian Autonomy According to the Ottoman Archival Documents (1829-1833)

12.00 – 12.20 Vania Racheva (Sofia University)
The Lost History of one Book or about the Political Engineering in the 19th century

Discussion: 12.20 – 12.40
Lunch: 12.40 – 14.00

VI Session Chair: Prof. Elena Smilianskaya

14.00 – 14.20 Tolga Esmer (CEU, Budapest)
Co-opting a ‘Kărdzhali Dynasty’ and the Construction of the Balkan Nation-State

14.20 – 14.40 Mariya Shusharova
Some Specific Characteristics in the Local Self-government Structures Development in the Ottoman Empire. The Ayan Institution (ayanlık) in Rumeli, 17th–18th centuries

14.40 – 15.00 Silvana Rachieru (Romanian Cultural Institute, Istanbul/ University of Bucharest)
Ottoman Representatives in Romania: Diplomatic and Consular Network of the Sultan in a Former Vassal State

15.00 – 15.20 Bülent Bilmez (Bilgi University, Istanbul)
Ottomanism as a Modern Imperial Collective Identity: An Ideology as a Means of Power Sharing and/or Power Legitimization

Discussion: 15.20 – 15.40
Coffee Break: 15.40 – 16.00

16.00 – 16.20 Nadia Manolova (Sofia University)
Spain and the Crimean War 1853–1856

16.20 – 16.40 Zorka Ivanova (Oriental Archive, Bulgarian National Library)
On the History of the Textile Factory in Sliven. An Ottoman Register of 1861

16.40 – 17.00 Voin Bozhinov (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
The Palaces of the Balkan Monarchs as a Representation of Power

17.00 – 17.20 Moshe Maggid (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Live in Eastern Rumelia and Dream of Palestine

Discussion: 17.20 – 17.40
Closing speech: Assoc. Prof. Plamen Mitev, Dean of Faculty of History

Contact:
Maria Baramova, University of Sofia “Sv. Kliment Ohridski” Faculty of History
15 Tzar Osvoboditel Blvd.
1504 Sofia, Bulgaria
+359 2 9308 223
+359 2 9463022
Email: baramova@clio.uni-sofia.bg