CHAPTER XII.

Avedick—His Origin—His Protector, the Grand Mufti, Feizoulah Effendi—The two Churches, schismatic and catholic, exist in perfect concord—Fall of Mustapha II.—Death of the Mufti—Avedick is deposed and imprisoned—The Armenians ransom him—Ferriol’s persistent Hatred—His stubborn Animosity against Avedick—He succeeds in getting him deposed a second Time—Avedick’s Abduction at Chio—He is imprisoned on board a French Vessel—Incidents of the Voyage—Avedick endeavours to give Tidings of his Fate to the World—Insuccess of his Attempt—His Arrival at Marseilles.

Sprung from the ranks of the people, and belonging to a poor and obscure family of Tokat,[248]Avedick[249]had been early admitted into the number ofvertahieds, or doctors charged with preserving and teaching the doctrines of the Armenian Church. Quickly becoming bishop, and then archbishop, he had distinguished himself by his firmness, which Ferriol terms impudence, in supporting the interests of his co-religionists. The commencement of his long struggle with the French ambassador, in which the oneshowed a becoming loftiness and the other an extreme violence, and which was to terminate for Avedick by a terrible catastrophe, dates from a period earlier than the arrival of Ferriol as ambassador at Constantinople. The latter being in Hungary in the Turkish camp, and having heard of some disrespectful speeches of Avedick with reference to Louis XIV., had used his influence with the Grand Vizier to get the daring archbishop exiled.[250]But in December, 1701, the excessive rigour of this punishment was made amends for in a striking manner. The Grand Mufti, Feizoulah Effendi, nominally charged with spiritual affairs, but who in reality governed the entire Ottoman empire, by means of his ascendancy over the Sultan Mustapha II.,[251]was formerly, while at Erzeroum, where he had been Cadi, intimately acquainted with Avedick, like himself an inhabitant of this town. Sufficiently powerful to make and overthrow Grand Viziers, this chief dignitary of the Mussulman faith was able to create his friend “Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople and of Jerusalem.” In vain did Ferriol demand from the Grand Chancellor of the empire and from the Kiaya of the Grand Vizier the confirmation of Avedick’s exile. These two high personages answered the French ambassador[252]that the Mufti’s power was supreme, his will in this instance irrevocable, and that it was as useless to wish to offer opposition to his determination,as any endeavour to shake his credit would be dangerous.

There remained to Ferriol nothing but submission. But he, as well as his ardent inspirers, conceived against the Armenian Patriarch, from that period, an implacable resentment, of which we find the proofs in every one of his despatches. Time increased this animosity, the effects of which were not slow in exhibiting themselves. Still at first nothing in the conduct of the chief of the Armenians justified this enmity. No doubt he showed himself less docile with regard to their pretensions than the Jesuits would have wished. No doubt he deceived the hope which they had conceived of buying him over to their side. But in spite of the obstacles raised by Avedick’s co-religionists against the treaty of union which Ferriol had proposed, Avedick exhorted them to peace,[253]and for several years the two Churches maintained the most perfect concord. “The liberty allowed the Catholics is so great,” writes Ferriol, May 1, 1703, “that every one admits that they could not enjoy more in a Christian country. The reverend Jesuit Fathers at Easter made the procession of Sainte-Anne, in the middle of Galata, carrying the cross, the banners, and the relics, with an infinite number of lighted candles and a prodigious assemblage of people. Formerly this ceremony was only performed within the walls of the church.”[254]Instead of giving Avedick credit for this prosperous condition of affairs, Ferriol availed himself of the first pretextto attempt his overthrow. But it was in vain that he denounced him to the Kiaya of the Grand Vizier as having corrupted a courier and intercepted Louis XIV.’s despatches.[255]This offence, then very common in Turkey, and for which, moreover, the exile demanded by Ferriol would have been a great deal too severe a penalty, remained unpunished, and the high protection of the Mufti continued to screen the Patriarch.

But on this stage of sudden revolutions and unforeseen overthrows, supreme power was then nearly always followed by a profound fall, brought about most frequently by a laconic order from the seraglio, though at times the clamour of the irritated populace was sufficient to precipitate the favourites of a day from the pinnacle of power, and in these frequent catastrophes the axe of the executioner was never inactive. At the moment when Avedick appeared likely to enjoy for a long time the powerful support of the Mufti, a formidable revolution broke out at Constantinople. Two hundred thousand men in arms demanded the presence of the Grand Seignior, insisting upon the observance of the law according to which he was not permitted in times of peace to absent himself from the capital; all the troops uniting with the people and the men of law, the troops to complain of not having been paid, the people to attribute their misery to the residence of the Sultan at Adrianople, the men of law to protest against the cupidity of the Mufti.[256]The latter had his throat cut, the Sultan, Mustapha II., wasdeposed, and his brother, Achmet III., was drawn from the recesses of the seraglio and placed on the throne: such was the rapid revolution which all at once deprived Avedick of his protector and delivered him up to Ferriol’s resentment. Indeed, less than two months afterwards, the Armenian Patriarch was deposed and imprisoned in the fortress of the Seven Towers,[257]and then, on the repeated entreaties of the ambassador, exiled to Abratadas in Syria. The Armenians refused to obey the new Patriarch, Kaisac, and demanded in vain their beloved chief.[258]Ferriol’s influence was sufficiently great to allow him to indulge in the most minute and cruel precautions. Cast on a barren rock, far from Constantinople, the ex-Patriarch still seemed redoubtable. Ferriol, therefore, rendered his imprisonment as painful as possible, and with a barbarity the proofs of which one would hesitate to admit, if they did not emanate from him who was guilty of it, he considered it necessary to have his victim shut up “in a dungeon full of water, and from which one could not see the daylight.”[259]Ferriol mentions this refinement of cruelty in his despatches, without in the least appearing to regret it, and in his account, as well as in the replies of the King and the Ministers to whom he addresses himself, one seeks in vain, on the one hand, for an attempt at a justification, and, on the other, for a disavowal, or at least for an expression of surprise. Inconsequence of this silence the Government of Louis XIV. bears its share of responsibility for the barbarous conduct of its ambassador.

But the affection of the Armenians proved more powerful than Ferriol’s hatred. The enormous sum of four hundred purses[260]was collected by the schismatics, and tempted the cupidity of the Grand Vizier and his principal officers. The promises made Ferriol were forgotten, and, a year after having been deposed, Avedick re-ascended the patriarchal throne.[261]“He has united himself with the Greeks,” wrote Ferriol to Pontchartrain, “and I foresee terrible persecutions against the Catholics.”[262]And, before assuring himself that there was any foundation for these fears, the ambassador, whose mind is fruitful in vigorous measures, immediately proposes a means, not of preventing persecution, but of avenging himself for it in advance, and continuing to set his enemies an example of violence. He requests the Popeand the Grand Master of Malta to arrest the Greeks and Armenians who navigate the waters of the Archipelago, or who may be found in the islands, and to take possession of their effects and guard their persons. As they had a very large number of vessels, and the isles were open and without defence against a sudden attack, the ambassador foresaw that the repression would necessarily be formidable.[263]

Which is the persecutor? This man so industrious in contriving these rigorous measures, so prompt in taking advantage of his enemies, or the Armenians, faithful to the religion of their fathers and withstanding an impassioned and ardent proselytism? Which are the persecuted? That since his exile to Abratadas, Avedick had conceived a violent hatred against the Catholics must be admitted, and one cannot be astonished at his having done so. But it is undeniable that, having quitted his prison and resumed his position as head of the Armenians, he dissimulated his resentment and lived in peace with the Catholic population. “He makes no move,” wrote Ferriol on January 20, 1705, and on March 11: “He behaves with great respect, and religious affairs are very tranquil here.” “Avedick causes no annoyance to the Catholics,” we read in a despatch of August 13. But the ambassador immediately adds, “I hope that he will burst forth, and I shall not lose the occasion of destroying him.”[264]“I shall not give him,” writes he to the Cardinal de Janson, “a moment of rest; knowing him to be a very wicked man and capable of great dissimulation.”[265]

With the view of consolidating a peace which he believed might be made definitive, Avedick proceeded, on December 26, 1705, to the French embassy.[266]He presented himself there neither as a suppliant nor out of bravado. Accompanied by three hundred Armenians of good standing, he came to propose to the representative of the Protector of the Catholic religion in the Levant to forbid in his churches the anathemas launched against certain heretics, and he asked that the Jesuits, who had long since received permission to preach in the Turkish language in the Armenian places of worship, should do so without passion and with moderation. Far from being disarmed by this proud but by no means provocatory proceeding, Ferriol characterized it as impudent,[267]and avowed that if he had not previously given him a safe conduct, he should certainly have had the Patriarch arrested. His aversion suffered neither truce nor repose. Not feeling himself sufficiently powerful to arrive single-handed at his ends, he stirred up among the Armenians themselves adversaries to his enemy. He encouraged the ambitious patriarch of Sissem, who aspired to replace Avedick as Grand Patriarch, receiving him in the palace of the embassy,[268]supporting him with his influence and aiding him with his counsels. At length, after a year of constant efforts, of corruption practised among the officers of the Divan, of threats, intrigues, and underhand manœuvres of every kind, Ferriol had the satisfaction of being able to announce to Louis XIV.[269]that Avedick had been deposedfor the second time, and for the third time sent into exile.

It was, then, with the view of rendering this fall final, and in order to disembarrass himself for ever of his enemy, that Ferriol imagined, in the middle of the eighteenth century, one of the most violent and strangest acts that a representative of a civilized nation could ever have dared to commit. It was he who had the sad honour of having conceived the plan. But a despatch,[270]which tells overwhelmingly against the Catholic missionaries, proves clearly that their incitement induced Ferriol to regard this act as indispensable, and that, by never ceasing to recall to the ambassador the pretended dangers which the Patriarch, exiled and powerless, still offered, they determined him in his resolution to have recourse to an abduction.

Avedick was deposed on February 25, 1706. Two months afterwards he was carried into exile. On April 20, he left Constantinople, which he was never to see again, and his beloved Armenians, from whom he was this time being separated for ever, and for whom, during the whole of their lives, he was about to become the object of anxious care, of constant regret, and of incessant but fruitless researches. Ferriol had bought over theChiaouxin charge of the ex-Patriarch, and had forwarded instructions to the Sieur Bonnal, vice-consul at Chio, on his passage throughwhich Avedick had to stop for a few hours.[271]It was here that a most audacious crime against the law of nations was committed. Bonnal, assisted by Father Tarillon, a Jesuit,[272]had, according to Ferriol’s injunctions, chartered a small merchant-vessel, commanded by a Frenchman, who received orders to proceed to Marseilles. On his arrival at Chio, the bribedChiaouxdelivered up the great personage committed to his charge, and the representative of Louis XIV., accompanied by the Jesuit Tarillon, took possession of the Sultan’s subject and imprisoned him on board the French ship. There was no obstacle to the abduction, and the protestations of the old man against this abuse of force were vain, and remained without response. During the voyage no pirates were encountered as Ferriol feared there might be,[273]and as, doubtless, the prisoner hoped for, since to fall into their hands would have been a hundred times preferable to the treatment which was reserved for him in France. Nevertheless it was given to him to indulge in some hope. Contrary winds drove the vessel to Genoa.[274]There Avedick, watched over as he is by his gaoler, eludes his vigilance and confides to a Greek, named Spartaly, two letters, one addressed to Maurocordato, first interpreter of the Porte, the other to the ArmenianTheodat, in which he names the persons concerned in his abduction and demands vengeance. But misfortune seems to have been inexorable to the ex-Patriarch. Spartaly sailed to Smyrna on board an English ship, and was about to proceed to Constantinople with the revelatory letters, when he meets and imparts his secret to Justimany, another Greek of Chio, who forthwith sells his compatriot’s secret to the French consul.[275]The latter, perfectly understanding the importance of the revelation, sends for Spartaly, buys him over in his turn, and detains him at Smyrna. Whilst he is sending to Ferriol the intercepted letters, which, instead of saving the prisoner, are about to draw down upon him greater rigour, Avedick, indulging in the belief that he can count upon their happy effect, and anticipating an early release, arrives at Marseilles, is delivered into the hands of M. de Montmor, intendant of the galleys, and thrown into the dungeons of the Arsenal.[276]

FOOTNOTES:[248]Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey,Déclaration Authentique de M. Pétis de la Croix, Secrétaire-Interprète du Roi en Langues Turque, Arabe, et autres Orientales, which will be quoted hereafter.[249]Avedick or Arwedik, or Aviedik. In the present work Ferriol’s orthography has been adopted.[250]Unpublished despatch of Ferriol to the Cardinal de Janson, April 10, 1702:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 37.[251]Ibid.“At this moment the Grand Mufti, so to speak, governs the empire.”[252]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Louis XIV., December 31, 1701:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 37.[253]Unpublished letters of Ferriol to Count de Pontchartrain, May 11 and June 8, 1702, and to Louis XIV., October 2, 1702:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 39.[254]Unpublished letter of Ferriol to Louis XIV., May 1, 1703:—Ibid.[255]Unpublished letter from Ferriol to the Kiaya of the Grand Vizier, May 14, 1703:—Ibid.[256]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Louis XIV., July 23, 1703:—Ibid.The revolt commenced July 17.[257]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, September 18, 1703. The fortress of the Seven Towers was at that time the principal State prison of Constantinople.[258]Unpublished despatches from Ferriol to Louis XIV., November 9, 1703, and from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, November 11, 1703:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 39.[259]Despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, June 12, 1704.[260]Or in money of to-day, 880,000 francs (35,200l.) There used to be purses of silver and purses of gold, the latter much the less common and worth 6,750l.sterling, or 148,500 livres (francs). There can be no question that purses of gold are not referred to, since four hundred of these would amount to an exorbitant sum, beyond the resources of the richest Armenians. Moreover, when the wordpurseis used alone, it is to be understood in the sense of purse of silver:—Encyclopédie des Sciences, des Arts, et des Métiers, vol. x. p. 655; Edition of 1765. According to theNotices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du Roi, vol i. p. 191, note S, the purse was worth 500 piastres. This piastre not being an imitation of the Spanish piastre, but a piece of money peculiar to Turkey, which in 1753 was worth 4fr. 40 c.; we thus get for the 400 purses, the sum collected by the Armenians, and mentioned in the despatch, the figure of 880,000 francs.[261]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, December 16, 1704:—Archives of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 41.[262]Ibid.[263]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, of December 16, 1704:—Ibid.[264]Letters from Ferriol to Louis XIV. and to Cardinal de Janson.[265]Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 41.[266]Letter from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, December 17, 1705.[267]Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 41.[268]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Cardinal de Janson, September 16, 1705.[269]Despatch of February 25, 1706.[270]Unpublished letter from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, February 2, 1708. “I have examined myself attentively, and if any one has urged me to a violent resolution against Avedick, I should say that it was Father Hyacinthe alone, who every day exaggerated to me his wickedness and crimes:”—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 45.[271]Despatches from Ferriol to Louis XIV., May 6 and June 1, 1706, already given by the Chevalier de Taulès, with six others which we shall indicate when we have to make use of them.[272]Memorandum of the Marquis de Bonnac, French ambassador to Turkey in 1724:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[273]Letters from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, May 6, and to Louis XIV., June 1, 1706.[274]Unpublished letter from Ferriol to Ponchartrain, February 19, 1707:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 45.[275]Royer by name. All these details are taken from the unpublished despatch already quoted. Royer placed Justimany under the protection of France with the view of preventing him from being molested in the event of his treason being discovered.[276]Letter from Ferriol to Louis XIV., June 1, 1706. Letter from Louis XIV., November 10, 1706.Correspondance Administrative du Règne de Louis XIV., vol. iv. p. 255, collected by M. Depping and finished with much care by his son, M. Guillaume Depping, of the Bibliothèque Impériale. In this work several despatches relating to Avedick are given, of which we shall continue to indicate the source as we make use of them. It is by means of these despatches, and of the unpublished ones from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that we are enabled to relate the Patriarch’s end, even to the smallest details.

[248]Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey,Déclaration Authentique de M. Pétis de la Croix, Secrétaire-Interprète du Roi en Langues Turque, Arabe, et autres Orientales, which will be quoted hereafter.

[249]Avedick or Arwedik, or Aviedik. In the present work Ferriol’s orthography has been adopted.

[250]Unpublished despatch of Ferriol to the Cardinal de Janson, April 10, 1702:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 37.

[251]Ibid.“At this moment the Grand Mufti, so to speak, governs the empire.”

[252]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Louis XIV., December 31, 1701:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 37.

[253]Unpublished letters of Ferriol to Count de Pontchartrain, May 11 and June 8, 1702, and to Louis XIV., October 2, 1702:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 39.

[254]Unpublished letter of Ferriol to Louis XIV., May 1, 1703:—Ibid.

[255]Unpublished letter from Ferriol to the Kiaya of the Grand Vizier, May 14, 1703:—Ibid.

[256]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Louis XIV., July 23, 1703:—Ibid.The revolt commenced July 17.

[257]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, September 18, 1703. The fortress of the Seven Towers was at that time the principal State prison of Constantinople.

[258]Unpublished despatches from Ferriol to Louis XIV., November 9, 1703, and from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, November 11, 1703:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 39.

[259]Despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, June 12, 1704.

[260]Or in money of to-day, 880,000 francs (35,200l.) There used to be purses of silver and purses of gold, the latter much the less common and worth 6,750l.sterling, or 148,500 livres (francs). There can be no question that purses of gold are not referred to, since four hundred of these would amount to an exorbitant sum, beyond the resources of the richest Armenians. Moreover, when the wordpurseis used alone, it is to be understood in the sense of purse of silver:—Encyclopédie des Sciences, des Arts, et des Métiers, vol. x. p. 655; Edition of 1765. According to theNotices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du Roi, vol i. p. 191, note S, the purse was worth 500 piastres. This piastre not being an imitation of the Spanish piastre, but a piece of money peculiar to Turkey, which in 1753 was worth 4fr. 40 c.; we thus get for the 400 purses, the sum collected by the Armenians, and mentioned in the despatch, the figure of 880,000 francs.

[261]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, December 16, 1704:—Archives of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 41.

[262]Ibid.

[263]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, of December 16, 1704:—Ibid.

[264]Letters from Ferriol to Louis XIV. and to Cardinal de Janson.

[265]Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 41.

[266]Letter from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, December 17, 1705.

[267]Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 41.

[268]Unpublished despatch from Ferriol to Cardinal de Janson, September 16, 1705.

[269]Despatch of February 25, 1706.

[270]Unpublished letter from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, February 2, 1708. “I have examined myself attentively, and if any one has urged me to a violent resolution against Avedick, I should say that it was Father Hyacinthe alone, who every day exaggerated to me his wickedness and crimes:”—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 45.

[271]Despatches from Ferriol to Louis XIV., May 6 and June 1, 1706, already given by the Chevalier de Taulès, with six others which we shall indicate when we have to make use of them.

[272]Memorandum of the Marquis de Bonnac, French ambassador to Turkey in 1724:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

[273]Letters from Ferriol to Pontchartrain, May 6, and to Louis XIV., June 1, 1706.

[274]Unpublished letter from Ferriol to Ponchartrain, February 19, 1707:—Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, section Turkey, 45.

[275]Royer by name. All these details are taken from the unpublished despatch already quoted. Royer placed Justimany under the protection of France with the view of preventing him from being molested in the event of his treason being discovered.

[276]Letter from Ferriol to Louis XIV., June 1, 1706. Letter from Louis XIV., November 10, 1706.Correspondance Administrative du Règne de Louis XIV., vol. iv. p. 255, collected by M. Depping and finished with much care by his son, M. Guillaume Depping, of the Bibliothèque Impériale. In this work several despatches relating to Avedick are given, of which we shall continue to indicate the source as we make use of them. It is by means of these despatches, and of the unpublished ones from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that we are enabled to relate the Patriarch’s end, even to the smallest details.

Back to Index Next