Sephardic migrations in the early modern era. Connectivity between the eastern and western Mediterranean in Post-Byzantine times (XVI and XVII centuries)

Umesto da samo potvrđuje starije koncepte podeljenosti između kulturnih sfera različitih avramitskih religija u rano moderno doba, iskustvo sefardskih migracija između zapadnog i istočnog Mediterana, i nazad prema zapadu, tokom XVI i XVII veka zapravo podržava novije teorije o regionalnoj koheziji u različitim delovima mediteranskog sveta. Jevreji iz Sefarada koji su se nakon izgona 1492. godine naselili na istočnom Mediteranu bili su u stalnim i čvrstim vezama sa ostatkom jevrejske populacije u širem mediteranskom arealu i dalje u zemljama na zapadu i severu Evrope i lako su se kretali između hrišćanskih i islamskih zemalja u kojima su živeli i trgovali. Sefardski trgovci i intelektualci su uprkos strogim antijevrejskim merama i zabranama nastavljali da žive i prosperiraju u znatnom broju italijanskih gradova, u velikoj meri upravo zahvaljujući vezama koje su imali sa sunarodnicima u islamskom svetu. Međusobna povezanost sefardskih jevrejskih zajednica mediteranskog prostora svakako je imala veoma važnu ulogu u kreiranju i održavanju izbalansiranih odnosa italijanskih i francuskih gradova, pre svega velikih luka i trgovinskih centara, sa osmanskim svetom istočnog Mediterana. Sefardski Jevreji funkcionisali su sve do kraja XVIII veka kao deo jedinstvene, veoma peripatetične zajednice koja je povezivala istočni Mediteran pod osmanskom vlašću sa Italijom, Francuskom, Nizozemskom i Nemačkom, a odatle i sa novim svetom sa druge strane Atlantika. Mreže povezanosti te zajednice počinju da se kidaju u XVIII veku sa pojavom emancipacije Jevreja u zapadnoevropskim gradovima i sekularizacije jevrejske kulture koja nastaje kao posledica Prosvetiteljstva.Instead of simply offering confirmation of previously upheld concepts of dividedness between the Abrahamic religions and cultural spheres in the Early In the modern era, the experience of Sephardic migrations between the western and the eastern Mediterranean, and then back westward over the course of the XVI and XVII centuries actually supports the more recent theories of regional cohesion in the different parts of the Mediterranean world. Jews from the Iberian Peninsula who had, following their exile in 1492, populated the region of the eastern Mediterranean maintained constant and strong ties with other Jewish and especially Sephardic communities not only in that area but further east, north and west. Connected by religion and a common language, Judeo-Spanish or Ladino, they moved easily and crossed the borders of both the Christian and Islamic states in which they resided and thus formed successful and lasting commercial, rabbinic and familial networks. In certain Italian cities with flourishing Sephardic communities, like Livorno, they even enjoyed privileges and were allowed not only to develop trade and commerce but also to attend universities, receive degrees and bear arms. Many other Italian cities, even those with far more restrictive attitudes towards the Jews, maintained successful and balanced relations with the Ottoman world mostly as a result of the ties and networks of connectivity of their resident Sephardic communities with those in the eastern Mediterranean, in Asia Minor and North Africa. As part of a process which, in a manner of speaking, reflected the convivéncia among the Jews, Christians and Muslims of medieval Iberia, the Sephardic world of the XVI and XVII centuries functioned outside and regardless of strict political borders and demarcations were drawn between the Christian and Islamic states of the Mediterranean. Until the very dawn of the modern era, Sephardic Jews functioned as part of a unified and unique and highly mobile network of communities that brought together the eastern Mediterranean region under the Ottoman rule with Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and, from there, with the New World on the other side of the Atlantic. Networks of connectivity established in the XVI and XVII centuries began to tear apart with the emancipation and secularization of Jewish culture and identity in Western European cities and the onset of the era of Enlightenment.Ministarstvo prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja Republike Srbije podržalo je organizovanje naučnog skupa (the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia supported the organization of the scientific conference)