Sytuacja kustodii Ziemi Świętej w II połowie XVII wieku
The situation of the custody of the Holy Land in the second half of the 17th century

Summary/Abstract: The activities of the Friars Minor in the Holy Land in the 16th and 17th centuries depended largely on the support of Western European countries. Had it not been for their help, the Turkish authorities would probably not have restored the partial or total supervision of the holy places to the Friars. It found expression in the correspondence between the Franciscans and Catholic rulers. Not always, however, the support of France or Austria granted the Franciscans a praedomnium over loca sancta. Sometimes the situation was complicated by the following factors: an incor-rect translation and demands from a hostile religion further supported by substantial sums of money. Behind all this were Greeks – the subjects of the Sultan, who agreed to their demands. This is why, from 1631, the Franciscans began to lose individual holy places to the Orthodox; and they regained them only under the Sultan's decree of 1690. This does not mean that the Franciscans failed to recover some of the places. It should be remembered, however, that each of such decisions required an appropriate sum of money, as the Sublime Porte did not issue documents for free – each of them (depending on length) had its price. Everyday life in the Holy Land in the second half of the 17th century was quite difficult for the Franciscans and brought many challenges. Persecution by the Ortho-dox did not cause them to cease exercising supervision over holy places. Significant malpractice took place especially when the two nations competed for loca sancta in Sepulchrum Domini. Despite these adversities, the Franciscans eventually managed to achieve some success. It consisted in obtaining the right to worship in the following holy places: churches of St. John the Baptist and of the Visitation of St. Elisabeth in Ain Karem, Annuntiationis of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Nazareth and Gethsemane.

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