კრისტოფორო კასტელი - ელენე ათაბაგის სულიერი მამა (ახალი წყაროები, ფაქტები, დასკვნა)
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Date
2024-02-14
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ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტის გამომცემლობა
Abstract
Based on the reports of the Theatine missionary Don Cristoforo de
Castelli, which have not yet entered scientific circulation, it was possible
to introduce many new facts related to this topic and revise previously
drawn conclusions. Let’s formulate them point by point:
1. Atabeg of Samtskhe, Manuchar III (1591-1625) went to Istanbul in
1625 to declare his obedience to the Sultan. Before leaving, he sent his
young daughter Elene to her uncle, the head of Guria, Malachia II, to avoid
the expected political threat from the Sultan. Therefore, it is a mistake
to assume that for political reasons Manuchar tried to offer Elene to
Shah Abbas I as a wife for his grandson.
2. Cristoforo Castelli first met Elene in Guria not in 1633, but in 1634
at the request of Catholicos Malachia II. During his stay in the Gurian
principality of Kastelli (1634-1640), Elene Atabeg was his spiritual daughter
and the latter shared the Catholic faith. Elene, known for her beauty,
became the object of great political bargaining during her stay in Guria.
The Sultan demanded that she be sent to Istanbul, and Shah Safi I (not
Shah Abbas I) to Iran to marry her. The principals of Guria and Odishi
preferred to make Elene the queen of Iran. It fell to Levan II Dadiani to
carry out this task, obviously due to his great authority, influence and
goals at that time. Therefore, after 1639, Elene was sent from Guria to
Odishi.
3. Elene knew perfectly well about the intentions of the Sultan and
Shah. His confidant Castelli convinced her: it was better to die a Christian
than to accept the Muslim crown. Catholic Elene, inspired by Castelli,
chose immediate death rather than the change of her faith. Filled with
this faith, Elene demanded in Odishi that Father Castelli be brought to
her. This greatly contributed to the official transfer of Kastelli from Guria
to Odishi (1640).
4. Arriving in Iran (1642), Elene wrote with heartache to Father Castelli
in Odishi that she could not resist Islamization. If he had been near
her, she would have avoided this. If he came to him then, she would receive
him with joy, and the Shah would give him permission to found a
mission. Probably, at the end of October 1643, Castelli wrote a letter to
Elene and promised her that he would definitely come to Iran, and if he could not do this when leaving Odishi, it was because of his illness. Obviously,
there was a different reason, namely: without a permission from
Rome, he could not leave the Odishi mission and could not go to Iran on
his own.
5. Between 1643-1646, Castelli repeatedly tried to obtain permission
from Rome to establish a mission in Iran. In 1646, Castelli complained to
Rome that in these five years he had achieved a lot in Iran. He was ready
to glorify the Lord and sacrifice his life in the service of Elene.
6, probably in 1647, the Shah of Iran and Elene made a new request
to Pope Innocent X (1644-1655) to grant Castelli permission to establish a
mission in Iran. In the same year, the Shah and Queen Elene asked Levan
Dadiani, through their ambassador Avtandil Manvelishvili, to send Castelli
to Iran. The principal assured the ambassador that this was not his
right and he could not force Father Castelli to submit to his will.
7. it is unreasonable to think that Father Castelli had different feelings
for Elene. True, Castelli, fascinated by the beauty of Georgian women,
often had to fight his feelings; he could not be a superman, but he,
as a missionary, probably wanted to leave an indelible mark on the history
of missionary activity.
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თბილისის უნივერსიტეტის დაარსებისადმი მიძღვნილი სამეცნიერო კონფერენცია. თსუ 106, თეზისები, 2024, გვ.: 83-87 / Scientific conference dedicated to the foundation of Tbilisi University. TSU 106, Abstracts, 2024, pp.: 83-87