Intra-European Litigation in Eighteenth-Century Izmir

Tijl Vanneste, Ph.D. (2009), researcher at the Portuguese Institute of International Relations (IPRI) of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. His current research is about women’s labour in the diamond industry. He has worked extensively on early modern cross-cultural trade networks.

• AcknowledgementsList of IllustrationsIntroduction1 The Dutch in the Levant1 The Early Development of Dutch Levant Trade1.1 Straatvaart: Dutch Navigation into the Mediterranean1.2 The Directorate of Levant Trade and European Competition2 The Dutch Levantine Institutional Context2.1 A Short History of the European Capitulations2.2 The Dutch Consular System in the Levant3 The Dutch Consulate of Izmir3.1 The Evolution towards Stability3.2 The Consular Protection of Jews3.3 Purchasing Protection: The Beratlıs or Honorary Dragomans4 The Dutch Trading Community of Izmir in the Eighteenth Century4.1 A Community of Competing Traders4.2 Levantine Commission Trade2 The Dutch Consular Court of Izmir1 Consular Jurisdiction1.1 Adjudication in the Capitulations1.2 The Establishment of Consular Jurisdiction1.3 A Proposal to Codify Adjudication in the Levant2 The Dutch Legal Context2.1 Sources of Roman-Dutch law2.2 The Diversity of Jurisdictions and the Similarity of Courts3 Procedures in Commercial Litigation3.1 Dutch Regulations on Procedure3.2 Summary Procedure and the Merchants’ Style3.3 Summary Procedure at the Dutch Consular Court of Izmir3 The Adjudication of Commercial Disputes within the Dutch Community1 Adjudication amongst Peers: The Use of Arbitration1.1 The Friendly Settlement of Local Troubles1.2 A Failed Attempt at Arbitration2 The Mother of Levantine Trade Quarrels: Disputing Commission Trade2.1 The Principal-agent Problem2.2 Commission Trade Gone Wrong2.3 Whose Responsibility Is It?3 Friendship on Trial3.1 The Bond between Merchants3.2 The Mutual Pursuit of Profit3.3 International Support for the Merchants’ Style4 Intra-European Litigation1 Belonging to a European Trade Nation Abroad1.1 Forum Rei and a Clash of Laws1.2 Competition from within: The Prussian Company1.3 A Local European Dispute without Any Dutch Involvement1.4 The Possibility of Appeal2 Unravelling the Web of Commission Trade in Court2.1 Crossing Physical Distance by Power of Attorney2.2 The Trial2.3 A Complicated Web of Entanglement2.4 Invoking ‘National’ Law versus the Merchants’ Style3 Litigants at Sea and Maritime Jurisdiction5 Ottomans at the Dutch Consular Court1 Levantine Confrontations with the Law1.1 Sequesters in 16861.2 Central Courts in the United Provinces1.3 The States General and Ottoman Justice2 Legal Issues of Dutch Protection and Subject Status2.1 Beratlı Problems2.2 Ottoman-Dutch Intercultural Partnerships3 The Most Cosmopolitan Form of Quarrelling3.1 Gerrit van Brakel’s Bill of Exchange3.2 Ottoman justice and European Protection4 An Islamic Merchants’ Style?4.1 European Fear of Ottoman Abuses4.2 Greek Community Resolutions4.3 The Merchants’ Style through Muslim EyesConclusionBibliographyIndex