The role of Dmitry Kantemir’s writings for the Western educational historiography (a case study of the manuscript “The History of Turkey” of the 18th century)

Abstract

The article uses a case study of the manuscript The History of Turkey written by an anonymous author in French in the 18th century and kept in the Bern City Library archives, to discuss West European writers’ evaluation of Dmitry Kantemir’s works. Dmitry Kantemir was not only a prominent political leader and diplomat, but also one of the most educated people in Eastern Europe of his time. When living in Constantinople, he attended a theological school, then studied history, philosophy, literature, art, theology, and ancient languages (he knew eight languages). Highly regarded in Russia, his writings attracted attention in the West and were used as sources by European historians. As an outstanding scientist and diplomat in Eastern Europe, Dmitry Kantemir earned the recognition of his Western European contemporaries as well as historians of later periods, who highly appreciated his works. This article analyses one historical plot, which has not been in the focus of scholarly studies so far: Kantemir’s History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire is mentioned as one of the main sources in the manuscript The History of Turkey and repeatedly quoted there.