Abstract Book of the 3rd International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities in the 21st Century
Year: 2025
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The Proposed Safavid Tolerance Model in The European Travel Narratives Against Religious Conflict Between Catholics and Protestants
Dr. Gunay Heydarli, Dr. Gunel Rahimli, Ulkar Imanzade
ABSTRACT:
In a period of religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants, the officials of the Safavid Empire were distinguished by their tolerant behavior towards the Christians who came to the country. At the turn of the seventeenth century, the concept of tolerance was seen as an essential and positive impetus against religious violation by both Protestant and Catholic authors. Catholic missionaries Fr. Sanson, Alexander Rhodes, Fr. Bernard from Carmelites, and Capuchin friar Gabriel de Chinon proposed the Safavid tolerance model which the government demonstrated towards Christian minorities. Traveller Pietro della Valle noted that harmony between confessions was entirely based on the equity of the monarch. Moreover, Jean Chardin indirectly criticized the hostile attitude of Catholic France through his praise of the Safavids. We can relate it with that J. Chardin suffered French religious policy as a Protestant and desired restoration of faith unity. It is not surprising that the works written about the Safavids influenced the French intellectuals as well, and their works used the Safavids as an example to fight against religious intolerance. For instance, Voltaire idealizes Safavid’s tolerance in the Safavid coffeehouse description from Chardin’s travel account: “there was no monarchical country where the rights of humanity were more enjoyed.” This research paper examines the description of the Safavid tolerance model in the travel accounts and how this proposed model influenced European society.
Keywords: Safavid Empire, Catholic Missionaries, Chardin, tolerance