User:Antidiskriminator/Drafts of articles/Pope's secret anti-Ottoman diplomatic mission (1593–97)

The Pope's secret anti-Ottoman diplomatic mission (1593–97) was a secret diplomatic mission organized by Pope in period between 1593 and 1597 with the main aim to forge anti-Ottoman Christian coalition composed of predominantly Slavic populated European regions and territories of Moldavia, Wallachia and Catholic Albanians. The member of the mission traveled via Venice, Trent, Innsbruck and Vienna to Alba Iulia. Then he continued to Ancona, Hvar, Dubrovnik, Venetian Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria and finally Moldavia.

The mission was not successful. None of the countries accepted Pope's invitation. Except the Cossack excursions into Moldavia, the only effective result of this mission was series of Serb uprising against Ottomans, i.e. Banat Uprising, Serb Uprising in Metohija and Herzegovina Uprising. All of them suppressed by Ottomans with heavy casualties for the rebels and Serb civilan population which resulted with first of many waves of migrations of Serbs from Kosovo to Austria-Hungary. In an act of retaliation, the Ottomans burned the relics of Saint Sava, the patron saint of Serbia and Serbs and strangled the Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch and the spiritual leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church Jovan Kantul who supported the uprising of Serbs. To counter Serb anti-Ottoman threat the Ottomans populated pro-Ottoman Albanian Muslims to Kosovo and began significant changes of its demographic structure.

Background
At the end of January 1593 a bishop from Hvar sent a letter to the Pope inviting him to send envoys to Russia to forge a united Christian coalition against the Ottomans. In the same year a similar proposal was sent to the Pope by Komulović himself. An anonymous report from 1593, attributed to Komulović by many scholars, lists predominantly Slavic regions that could be mobilized to fight the Ottomans: Herzegovina, Slavonia, Croatia, Dalmatia, Serbia, Moesia, Bosnia, Rascia, Požega and Temeşvar.

Members of mission
The mission was led by Aleksandar Komulović who participated in the mission in its entire period between 1593 and 1597. Komulović and Giovanni Battista from Cres maintained extensive contacts with the Patriarchate of Peć. Another member of Komulović's mission was Thommaso Raggio (1531–1599), who returned to Italy in 1595 while Komulović stayed in the Balkans until 1597 and submitted a detailed report to the Pope upon his return. He travelled to Moscow and twice visited the court of the Russian emperor, in 1595 and in 1597, but failed to convince the Muscovites to accept his proposals.

Projected members of the anti-Ottoman Christian coalition
This coalition was to include all Christian Slavs, including Orthodox Russia. Komulović traveled via Venice, Trent, Innsbruck and Vienna to Alba Iulia. The purpose of this trip was to convince the Tsar of Russia, King of Poland (including Zaporozhian Cossacks), the Prince of Transylvania and Voivodes of Moldavia and Wallachia to join a western anti-Ottoman coalition. His aim was also to inspire Serbs to rise up against the Ottomans. According to some sources he continued his journey to Ancona, Hvar, Dubrovnik, Venetian Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria and finally Moldavia.

Serbs
In Pope Clement VIII's instructions to Komulović, the Serbs were explicitly praised as brave, while the neighbouring Bulgarians were said to be unwilling to fight. It is possible that these instructions were composed by Komulović himself. Still, the mission inspired a series of uprisings in Serb-populated territories, such as the Uprising in Banat and Uprising in Peć in 1594. All this uprisings were suppressed with heavy casualties for Serb civilian population. In an act of retaliation, Grand Vizier Koca Sinan Pasha ordered burning of the relics of Saint Sava, the patron saint of Serbia and Serbs. The Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch and the spiritual leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church Jovan Kantul who supported the uprising of Serbs was captured by the Ottomans and strangled in Istanbul.

Russia
Russia refused to participate using bad relation with Poland as justification.

Cossacks
In 1594 and 1595 Cossacks plundered Ottoman-held Moldavia and invaded Transylvania.

People from Albania
In 1593 a strange letter in Italian language was sent to Pope in which "elders from Albania" requested the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Poland to "move" against the Ottomans. Komulović was instructed to first travel to Venice to establish contacts with Albanians. In Venice he stayed in the house of notable Thomasso Pelessa from Albania. Komulović allegedly met representatives of "Albanians" in Venice. The Popes instructions and several letters Komulović had sewed in a cushion. When he left Venice he made tremendeous mistake and forgot the cushion leaving behind three letters written in lingua Serviana by the "people of Albania". The Venetian authorities got in possession of those letters and concluded they were forged by Komulović, which is also believed by modern Australian historian Zdenko Zlatar.

In July 1594, an assembly was summoned in a monastery in Mat, by Albanian tribal chieftains, joined by some Venetian subjects, of whom Mark Gjin was elected their leader. In 1595 he visited Rome to receive the Pope's support.

The Himara Revolt broke out in Albania in 1596, but it was easily suppressed after the Venetians convinced some of the chieftains not to join the rebellion.

Republic of Ragusa
According to some rumours, the Republic of Ragusa was ready to expel Komulović because the Ottomans offered them some benefits if they did. Ragusans were worried because of the anti-Ottoman actions of Ragusan Jesuits.

Holy Roman Empire
In 1597 Komulović began his return journey and stopped in Prague to propose to Emperor Rudolf II to re-capture Klis, which had a year earlier been briefly captured by the Uskoks.

Result
Komulović did not succeed in forming the anti-Ottoman coalition, as none of the countries accepted the Pope's invitation.