Abstract
The article analyzes the issue of the ethnic, national, and cultural affiliation of Mehmed Pasha Sokollu (c. 1505–1579), one of the most outstanding grand viziers of the sixteenth-century Ottoman Empire. The background of the study is the complex political and religious situation of the Balkans, which at that time constituted a space of intense intercultural contact and identity conflicts. The aim of the research is to present various interpretations of Sokollu’s origin found in Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Turkish, and European historiography, and to demonstrate how this figure was used in shaping national historical narratives. The analysis is based on studies by nineteenth- and twentieth-century historians, as well as on Turkish, Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian sources, including diplomatic reports and contemporary chronicles. The author employs a comparative method of source and interpretation analysis, focusing on the evolution of Mehmed Pasha’s image in relation to changing ideological and national needs. The findings show that the figure of Sokollu became a symbolic focal point in the dispute over the cultural heritage of the Balkans. Depending on the narrative, he was regarded as a Serb, Croat, Bosnian, or even a Turk. At the same time, his political activity - such as the renewal of the Patriarchate of Peć and the development of infrastructure—proves that he functioned beyond ethnic and religious boundaries. The article concludes that Mehmed Pasha Sokollu represents a historical example of a statesman who balanced loyalty to the Ottoman Empire with a remembrance of his Balkan roots, becoming a figure that unites rather than divides diverse cultural traditions.
References
Alberi E., Le relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti durante il secolo XVI, seria II, t. I, Firenze 1839.
Bašagić S., Znameniti Hrvati, Bošniaci i Hercegovci u Turskoj Carvini, Zagreb 1931.
Bataković D., The Kosovo Chronicles, Belgrad 1992.
Cynarski S., Zygmunt August, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków–Gdańsk–Łódź 1988.
Ћоровић В., Мехмед-паша Соколовuђ, Народна енциклoпедиjа СХС, t. IV, Zagreb 1925–1929.
Dopierała K., Stosunki dyplomatyczne Polski z Turcją za Stefana Batorego, Warszawa 1986.
Duczmal M., Izabela Jagiellonka. Królowa Węgier, Warszawa 2000.
Dziubiński A., Stosunki dyplomatyczne polsko-tureckie w latach 1500–1572 w kontekście międzynarodowym, Wrocław 2005.
Felczak W., Wasilewski T., Historia Jugosławii. Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków–Gdańsk–Łódź 1985.
Goltz T., An Anti-Etnic Diatribe, „The Washington Quarterly” 1999, Autumn, s. 113–125. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01636609909550427
Hadrovics L., Le peuple Serbe et son Èglise sous la domination Turque, Paris 1947.
Hammer-Purgstall J. von, Historie de lʽEmpire Ottoman, t. VI: Depuis de premier traité de l'altriche avec la Porte Ottomane jusqu’a la morte de Sélim II. 1547–1574, tłum. J.J. Hellert, Paris 1836.
Imamović M., Historija Bosnjaka, Sarajevo 1997.
Imber C., The Ottoman Empire 1300–1650. The Structure of Power, New York 2002.
Jireček K., Der Grossvezir Mehmed Sokolović und die serbischen Patriarchen Makarij und Antonij, Archiv für Slavische Philologie, t. IX, 1886.
Klaić V., Povijest Hrvata. Od najstarijih vremena do svršetka XIX stoljeća, t. III, cz. 1, Zagreb 1911.
Kołodziejczyk D., Islam a chrześcijaństwo: obcowanie wyznań w bałkańskich prowincjach Porty Otomańskiej w XVI XVII wieku [w:] Stosunki międzywyznaniowe w Europie Środkowej i Wschodniej w XIV-XVII w., red. M. Dygo, S. Gawlas, H. Gral, Warszawa 2002, s. 95–103.
Kołodziejczyk D., Kryzys Turcji w XVII wieku – prawda czy fikcja, „Mówią wieki” 2002, nr 11, s. 18–24.
Koran, z arabskiego przekład polski Jana Murzy Tarak Buczackiego, Tatara z Podlasia, t. I, Warszawa 1858 [reprint].
Lamb H., Suleiman the Magnificent, New York 1957.
Luccari G., Copiso risteretto degliannali di Ragusa, Venezia 1605, cyt za: D. Mandić, Bosna i Hercegovina. Povijesno kritička istraživanja, t. III (Etnička povijest Bosne i Hercegovine), Toronto–Zürich–Roma-Chicago 1982, s. 408–409.
Mandić D., Bosna i Hercegowina. s. 409–410, cyt. za: Stephan Gerlach des älteren, Tage-Buch der... an die ottomanische Pforte zu Constantinopel abgefertigten und durch David Ungnad vollbrachten Gesandtschaft, 1573–1578, Frankfurt 1674.
Mandić D., Hrvati i Srbi. Dva različita naroda, Chicago–Roma–Zürich–Toronto 1980.
Pavličević D., Historia Chorwacji, tłum. Ł. Danielewska, Poznań 2004.
Peçevî Efendi I., Peçevî Tarihi, t. II, Ankara 1992.
Pelikán J., Havlíková L., Chrobak T., Rychlík J., Tejchman M., Vojtěchovskŷ O., Dějiny Srbska, Praha 2004.
Podhorodecki L., Lepanto 1571, Warszawa 1993.
Refik A., Sokollu, Istanbul 2001.
Reychman J., Historia Turcji, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków–Gdańsk–Łódź 1973.
Rychlík J., Kouba M., Dějiny Makedonie, Praha 2003.
Samardžić R., Mehmed Sokolović, tłum. B. Ryś, t. 1–2, Łódź 1982.
Şeref A., Sokollu Mehmed Paşa ʽnin Emil-i Ahvali ve kalesi Hakkında Bazı Malumat, „Tarih-i Osmani Encümeni Mecmuası” 1332/1914, nr 29, s. 257–265.
Shaw S.J., History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, t. I: Empire of the Gazis. The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire 1280–1808, Cambridge 1997.
Solakzâde M., Tarih-i Solakzâde, c. I, İstanbul 1989.
Veinstein G., Sokollu Mehmed Pasha [w:] The Encyclopaedia of Islam, t. IX, red. C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs, G. Lecomte, Leiden 1997, s. 706–711.
Weithmann M.W., Balkan 2000 let mezi východem a západem, Vyšehrad–Praha 1996.
Wójcik Z., Historia powszechna XVI–XVII wieku, Warszawa 1995.
Byкићвић M., Знаменитu Cpбu Муслмани, Београд 1906.
Kaшић Д., Српска црква под Турцима [w:] Српска православна црква 1219–1969. Споменица о 750-годишњици аymoкефалносmи, Бeoгpaд 1969.
Мантран P., Hcmopuja Османкoг Царства, Бeоград 2002.
Нилевић Б., Српска православна црква у Босни и Херцеговини до обнове neћкe nampujapшuje 1557 године, Capajeвo 1990.
Самарцић Р., Веселиновић Р.Л., Поповић Т., Иcmopuja Српског Народа, ks. III, t. 1: Срби под туђинском влaшђy 1537–1699, из. 2, Бeoгpaд 1994.
Слиjeпчeвић Ђ., Иcmopuja српске православне цркве. I књига: Од покрштавања Cpбa до кpaja ХVIII века, Минхен 1962.
License
© by Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of History, Poznań, 2009
OPEN ACCESS