@article{article_1684378, title={Representation, Politics and, Economy: Patriarchal Appointments in 17th-Century Ottoman Jerusalem}, journal={Bulletin of Palestine Studies}, pages={29–60}, year={2025}, DOI={10.34230/fiad.1684378}, url={https://izlik.org/JA27NM48MS}, author={Avşin Güneş, Gülcan}, keywords={Palestine, Jerusalem, holy lands, Ottoman Policies}, abstract={This article examines the complex structure of Christian patriarchal institutions in 17th-century Ottoman Jerusalem, highlighting their functions that extended beyond mere spiritual authority to include political, economic, and administrative roles. The study aims to analyze patriarchal appointments within the triad of “economy–representation–authority,” and to historically reveal how these processes were embedded in both the legitimacy strategies of the Ottoman central administration and the dynamics of inter- and intra-sectarian competition. The research is based on primary sources such as şer‘iyye sicilleri (Islamic court records/sharia sijills), miscellaneous documents, and chronicles (vekayinâme). Drawing on this material, the study argues that patriarchal appointments evolved into a multidimensional field of representation, encompassing not only religious authority but also material and administrative responsibilities such as the management of waqf institutions, tax collection, oversight of international donation networks, and supervision of provincial order. In particular, the practice of pîşkeş (gift offering) positions the patriarchal office as a symbolic bearer of both legitimacy and economic obligation within the center–periphery relationship. The article analyzes the connections between Jerusalem’s identity as a sacred space and the Ottoman state’s mechanisms of economic consent production and political control. It demonstrates that patriarchs were not merely intra-communal leaders but also key actors in the Empire’s governance over the provinces within its multi-religious order. In this context, the study reconceptualizes the institution of the patriarchate as a distinctive historical case in which religious representation intersected with political economy in the Ottoman context.}, number={18}