Information about the Church vak?fs in the 18th Century in Ottoman Documents from the Fund “Piskopos Kalemi”

The research is based on the yet unpublished Ottoman archive documents from the fund “Piskopos kalemi”, the earliest of which is from 1701 and the latest one is from 1777. In this rich archive fund of the Ottoman Archive in Istanbul at the General Directorate of State Archives in the Republic of Turkey are kept documents from the so called department Piskopos mukataas? kalemi (“The chancellery of the Bishop’s matters”) part of the defterhane called Piskopos halifesi kalemi in the 19th c. It addresses the various issues concerning Christian churches and keeps all documents concerning the Orthodox clergy, the Christian churches and monasteries. The information contained in the Patriarchal pleas (arzuhals) selected for the purpose of the study, compiled by the Patriarchs of Constantinople Kalinik II, Gavriil III, Jeremiah III, Paisios II; the Serbian Patriarchs Moses and Ioannikios III and the Ohrid Archbishop-Patriarch Joasaph II, concerning the collection of church taxes and fees, provide an opportunity for a research and real interference in the discussed Ottoman studies about the so called church vak?fs. The comparative analysis of the available and newly translated sources from the fund “Piskopos kalemi” shows that the Christian vak?fs most often turn into church vak?fs.