Sultan’s charter granting freedom of worship, property rights, and freedom of movement to the Catholics living in the Ottoman Empire, Constantinople, 5-14 October 1700

Hüve Tuğra Nişān-ı şerīf-i ʿālī-şān-ı sāmī-mekān-ı sulṭānī ve ṭuġrā-yı ġarrā-yı cihān-sitān-ı ḫāḳānī hükmi oldur ki Ḳıdvetü ümerāʾi’l-milleti’l-mesīḥiyye Romā īmperātorınuñ āsitāne-i saʿādetümde olan büyük ilçisi Vūlfānḳūs Ġrūf Eyūtingen ḫutimet ʿavāḳibühū bi’l-ḫayr südde-i saʿādetüme ʿarẓ-ı ḥāl gönderüb biñ elli ṭoḳuz senesinde virilen ʿahdnāme-i hümāyūnda münderic olduġı üzere pāpişde meẕhebinden olan pāpāslar ve ruhbānlar ve Yezūvītelere ẓulm ü teʿaddī olunmamaḳ üzere mesṭūr olub ve bundan māʿadā daḫı ḳaradan ve deryādan varub gelüb sākin olduḳları meskenlerine kimesne taʿarruż eylemeyüb ve evlerini taʿmīr eyledükde kimesne daḫl eylemeye ve āyīn ve ʿibādetlerin Lātīn dīni üzere eyledüklerinde beglerbegiler ve begler ve ḳaḍīlar ve sāʾir ḥükkāmdan yollarda ve meskenlerinde ve ḳadīmden berü żabṭ eyledükleri kelīsālarında kimesne daḫl ü taʿarruż itmeyüb ve nāsuñ ṣadaḳasından ġayrı geçinecekleri olmamaġla ticāret içün getürdükleri eşyādan ġayrı gendülerin esbāblarından resm-i bāc ve ḫarāc ve sāʾir tekālifden birini ṭaleb itmeyeler ve aralarından birisi mürd olduḳda es̱vāb ü eşḳāllerine beytü’l māl emīni ṭarafından daḫl olunmaya ve mürd olduḳlarında ṣandūḳ aḳcası nāmıyla gendülerden bir şey ṭaleb eylemeyeler ve sākin olduḳları maḥallerde ḳan düşer ise ḳan behāsın edā eylemek bahānesiyle ḥabs olunmayalar ve ẕikr olunan ruhbānlar ve Yezūvīteler ve sāʾir Lātīn pāpāsları Rūm ve Ṣırf ve Bulġār pisḳoposlarından daḫl olunmayub ḳadīmden berü ḥāl-i żabṭlarında olan kelīsālarında ve gendülerine tābiʿ olan reʿāyānuñ ḫıdmetlerinde olub anlar gibi bunlardan daḫı gendü kelīsālarında Lātīn dīni üzere āyīn ve ʿādetlerini idüb Rūmdan ve Sırfdan kimesne daḫl ü taʿarruż eylemeye ve varub gendülerine ġamz idüb aḳcelerin aldırmayalar diyü sene sitte ve sebʿīn ve elf Cemādiyü’l-ūlāsı evāḫirinde nişān-i ʿālīşān virildügin bildürüb tecdīdin ricā itmegin mūcibince tecdīd olunub bu nişān-ı hümāyūnı virdüm ve buyurdum ki fīmā-baʿd daḫı vech-i meşrūh üzere ʿamel olunub ḫilāfına rıżā ve cevāz gösterilmeyüb min baʿd şerʿ-i şerīfe ve muḳaddemā ve ḥālā virilen nişān-ı hümāyūna muġāyir kimesneye iş itdirilmeye şöyle bileler ʿalāmet-i şerīfe iʿtimād ḳılalar taḥrīren fī evāḫiri şehr-i Rebīʿul-āḫir sene is̱netā ʿaşera ve mīʾe ve elf

This is the command of the noble, illustrious, lofty sultanic sign and the illustrious, world conquering, imperial tughra: The grand ambassador of the Roman emperor at my felicitious threshold,Graf Wolfgang (IV) zu Oettingen(-Wallerstein)—may he end his days propitiously—submitted a petition to my court: As written in the imperial letter of agreement (ʿahdnāme-i ḥumāyūn) that was issued in 1059, the priests, clery, and Jesuits who belong to the papal denomination shall not be mistreated and oppressed. Besides, they shall travel to and from their residences over land and sea and no one shall molest them. When they repair their houses, no one shall interfere. As they conduct their rites and worship according to the Roman Catholic religion (Lātīn dīni üzere), no one from among the provincial governors, judges, and other administrators shall interfere and molest them on roads, houses, and churches in their possession since old days. Since they do not have anything to live on other than the charity of people, except for the commodities they brought for trade, [the aforesaid officials] shall not demand tax, tribute and contribution, and other levies from their own requisites. When someone among them dies, the superintendent of the inheritance department at the public treasury shall not interfere with the deceased person’s garments and personal possessions. When they die, nothing shall be demanded from them on the pretext of treasury money (ṣandūḳ aḳçası). No blood shall be shed in quarters where they live and they shall not be jailed on the pretext of paying blood compensation. The Greek, Serbian, and Bulgarian prelates shall not interfere with the aforesaid clergy, Jesuits, and other Roman Catholic priests (Lātīn pāpāsları). Just as the Greek, Serbian, and Bulgarian churches, the Roman Catholics too shall perform in their own churches, which they have owned from the old days to the present, their rites and prayers as per the Roman Catholic faith in the service of the subjects that follow them. No one from among the Greeks and Serbians shall interfere and molest them or get their money by fraud. The ambassador reported that an imperial charter (nīşān-ı hümāyūn) dated November 29 – December 8, 1665 and, after that, another one dated 5 to 15 October 1700. He thus requested its renewal. It has been renewed and I issued the present imperial charter. I command that, from now on, [all] shall act in the described way and no consent or permission shall be shown to the contrary. From now on, no one shall [be allowed to] do a thing in violation of the canonical law of Islam and the imperial charters that were issued formerly and the one issued now. Thus shall they know and have confidence in the noble mark! Written on 5-14 October 1719