Saint Vincent and Islam

Masthead Logo Volume 43 Number 4 Vol. 43, No. 4-5 Vincentiana Article 8 7-1999 Saint Vincent and Islam Yves Danjou C.M. Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentiana Part of the Catholic Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, History of Christianity Commons, Liturgy and Worship Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Danjou, Yves C.M. (1999) "Saint Vincent and Islam," Vincentiana: Vol. 43 : No. 4 , Article 8. Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentiana/vol43/iss4/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Vincentian Journals and Publications at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in Vincentiana by an authorized editor of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact , . - 10 - Saint Vincent and Islam By Yves Danjou, C.M. Province of Paris In St. Vincent’s time Islam was both a far-off, and a near at hand, reality. 1 For centuries Muslim forces had been taking over the Mediterranean basin and threatening the whole of Christian Europe. The seizure of the island of Chios in 1566 by the Turks, and a few years later their capture of Cyprus, was still fresh in people’s minds. People often referred to the victory of Lepanto, October 7, 1571, to show that that the Muslim forces were not invincible. In his letter to Firmin Get, Superior at Marseilles, Saint Vincent wrote: “Thank you for the great news you gave me of the naval victory of the Venetians and the Order of Malta over the Turks. (This was the battle that took place at the entrance to the Dardanelles on June 23, 1656). “O Mon Dieu, Monsieur, what a motive for praising God for such a prodigious victory, surpassing even that of Lepanto.” 2 (VI, 61-62). The importance of Islam in the time of St. Vincent The problem of Islam is more or less overshadowed by the spread of Protestantism which seems all the more dangerous because at that time it was regarded as a perversion of Christianity coming from within that religion itself. Yet in spite of everything, in St. Vincent’s time, the Muslim thrust is still on the agenda. When Corneille, in 1636-1637 puts on his tragedy “Le Cid”, the spectators hardly need to have the history of the Reconquest of Spain explained to them. From time to time the idea of a Crusade against the Turks is proposed again. Father Joseph, the unofficial influential figure behind Cardinal Richelieu, praises the holy war against Islam in his 4, 037 line poem “La Turclade” written in Latin. Together with Prince Charles of Gonzague-Nevers, he establishes the “Christian militia” which recruits volunteers from the nobility of all Europe with the aim of reconquering the Ottoman Empire. In 1626 the parlement of Provence reminds the king who is a fervent Christian, that the Mediterranean brought him “the most salutary gift” he could ever receive: “That sea, Sire, made you a Christian. Make it Christian once again.” In his political testament Richelieu recommends the building of a fleet of galleys, not only for the purpose of standing up to Spain but also to overawe the Grand Sultan. The Turkish threat is an every day reality, at least in those regions bordering the Mediterranean. St. Vincent is not mistaken when he speaks about “the Turkish brigantines that lie in wait in the Gulf of Lyons to catch the ships coming from 1 This text is taken in part from my article with the same title, published in the “Bulletin of the Vincentians in France”, n°98, February 1985 2 The references in this text are taken from P. Coste, Vincent de Paul, Correspondence, Conferences, Documents – 14 Volumes, Paris, 1920--1925 - 10 - Beaucaire”. (1,4). Nobody is safe from this danger, neither the Knights of Malta (VII, 87), nor the servants of the household of Cardinal Antonio Barberini (V,31). St. Vincent speaks about the dangers facing some confreres as they travel by ship from Marseilles to Genoa and to Rome, dangers that come “from the Turkish expeditions in those seas.” (XII, 67). Jean Barreau, in Algiers, conjures up the same danger when he writes on June 5, 1655:“never have so much violence and insolence been witnessed as at present. The Algerians are relying on thirty-six to forty ships that they have under their control, manifesting a general contempt for all the Christians in the world, except for the English, who have shown them that they have just as many and more powerful ships.” (VIII, 536). When we read St. Vincent we are amazed at the number of slaves and the wide variety of places they come from. They are from Cape Breton, Agde, Boulogne, the Basque region and Paris ( V, 3,1); from Le Havre, Nancy, NogentSur-Seine, Saint –Jean-de Luz (VII, 182-183); from Dieppe, Amiens….(VIII,540)..We can understand St. Vincent’s concern: “God grant”, he writes to Jean Barreau, “that the Turks may stop capturing so many prisoners.” (V, 3,1). The Turks are organised and they know where to find the best prey. They are supplied with good information from renegades and unscrupulous traders; they have their tactics and when they set off for a raid they leave so suddenly that no foreigner can possibly know where they are heading. Jean Barreau apologises for the delay in sending his letter of June 5, 1655, a delay caused by two ships , ready for Leghorn, “being delayed because of the galleys that left yesterday to go privateering.” (VIII, 535). Relations with Islamic countries It is true that the whole of Christianity trembles at the threat posed by the Turks. However, this does not prevent many political, economic and even social contacts continuing with Islamic countries. France has firm relations with the Ottoman Empire after the concessions made in 1535 between Francis I and Suliman the Magnificent led to the setting up in Paris of the Royal College, later to become the College of France, where Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish were taught. These concessions were renegotiated some years later. St. Vincent refers to them in his letter to Jean Barreau in 1651, explaining the efforts he is making to have him set free after his unjustifiable arrest in Algiers: “It has finally been decided”, he tells him, “to write to Constantinople, and the King will register a complaint with the Porte [the French referred to the Turkish government as the Sublime Porte] about your imprisonment, asking that the articles of peace and alliance agreed upon by Henry IV and the Grand Turk in the year 1604 be put into effect. When this is done, the Turks will have to stop their raids on the French and give back the slaves they have”. (IV, 140). - 10 - St. Vincent is even more explicit in the petition he addresses to Jean de la Haye –Vantelay, the French ambassador in Constantinople, asking him to recognise Martin Housson as consul in Tunis: “I beg you to accept it, and also, My Lord, to be allowed to add my own very humble supplication to the letter which the King has written to you, (...truncated)