The problem of “Albanian nationalism” during the reign of Koca Mehmed Ragib Pasha (1757-1763) in the light of the venetian report

Abstract

This paper examines the position and actions of the Albanian population in certain sanjaks on the basis of published material of Venetian provenance. From the perspective of his position in Constantinople, Francesco Foscari, the Venetian ambassador (1757-1762) in the Ottoman Empire, followed with great interest the developments in connection with the actions of Albanians for several years, especially because their actions threatened to disrupt the Ottoman-Venetian relations. His correspondence is one of the major neo-Ottoman sources regarding the interests of Albanians and their relationship with the Ottoman authorities. This contemporary watched the events from the perspective of a man whose education, beliefs and manners did not belong to the Islamic (Ottoman) cultural sphere, which added credibility to his reports. The reports of Francesco Foscari are kept at the State Archive in Venice (Archivio di Stato di Venezia) and were published in 2007 due to the efforts of the publishing house La Malcontenta and editor Filippo Maria Paladini.