Theatine Missionaries against the Captive Slave Trade in Georgi

Abstract

In the early 17th century, Theatine missionaries, who had come from Italy to spread the Catholic faith in Georgia, felt for the thousands of people of different ages and sexes, including children, that were sold to Ottoman traders. The missionaries did much to convince the local nobles to cease this activity, naming it a great sin. They also called on the princes of the principalities of Western Georgia to prohibit the sale of Christian youths to the Ottoman Empire. The missionaries also tried, by various means, to save people, especially children, from being sold. For this purpose, they often gave shelter to those threatened with being sold abroad. Georgian Christians doomed to be sold, who could not be saved by the missionaries, were advised to firmly maintain their faith, even if they were affected by threats or tricked by cunning. Although such efforts achieved results in individual cases, the
existence of the captive slave trade in the region had strong social, political and economic foundations at the time, and its eradication was beyond the capabilities of the missionaries. The article gives many examples of the actions of the Theatine
missionaries against the slave trade, based on the reports of the missionaries themselves, among them Arcangelo Lamberti, Cristoforo Castelli, Giuseppe Giudice, and Pietro Avitabile.