In 1621, the Custody of the Holy Land acquired the John the Baptist Monastery in Ein Karem.
The Custody of the Holy Land (Latin: Custodia Terræ Sanctæ) operates as an independent administrative unit within the Franciscan order. Papal bulls from the 14th century endowed the Custody with rights and duties for protecting and maintaining the Roman Catholic Church’s properties in the Holy Land. After the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Roman Catholic Church almost lost all its rights in the region and has faced significant challenges in reclaiming its property, caring for its congregation, and hosting pilgrims for centuries.
At the beginning of the 16th century, there was a significant shift when the Custody of the Holy Land managed to acquire lands in Nazareth, on Mount Tabor, and in Ein Karem, and also succeeded in expanding their rights at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Basilica of the Nativity. Much of this progress was due to the efforts of Brother Tomasso Obicini da Novara during the reign of the Druze Emir of Beirut, Fakhr-al-Din II.
In this note, I’ll highlight the forces that Tomasso Obicini had to negotiate with to acquire land in Ein Karem.
Tomasso Obicini, a distinguished scholar-linguist, arrived in Jerusalem in 1612 and was later sent to Aleppo, where he stayed until 1620, continuing his travels across the Middle East. In 1620, he returned to Jerusalem and spent two years there. During this period, under his leadership, the Custody secured rights to several plots. This was made possible through his contacts with the Druze Sheikh Fakhr-al-Din II. The Emir of Lebanon from the Maanid dynasty, who began his rule at the end of the 16th century, significantly expanded his controlled territory after 20 years. Thanks to his wise and tolerant policies, he contributed to the prosperity of the region. The Ottoman Empire, concerned by his autonomous policies, sent a 50,000-strong army to the Lebanese mountains under the command of Damascus Pasha Ahmed Khafez to suppress him.
Knowing the sultan wanted his head, Fakhr-al-Din left Lebanon, leaving negotiations to his brother, who was less irritating to the sultan. Fakhr-al-Din headed to Italy and traveled around Europe trying to form an anti-Ottoman coalition. After Osman II ascended to the throne, Fakhr-al-Din managed to negotiate an amnesty and returned to Lebanon in 1618. In the following years, alternating between making peace and waging wars, he expanded his influence. It was after Fakhr-al-Din’s return from Europe that Tomasso Obicini succeeded in acquiring several plots in the Holy Land. It’s worth noting that even at the height of his influence, Fakhr-al-Din’s power did not extend to Jerusalem.
While Jerusalem was part of the administrative division under the Pasha of Gaza, Ahmad Ridvan (Radwan/Rizvan) held the position. The founding father of the ruling Ridvan dynasty was Kara Sahin Mustafa Pasha, a Janissary of Bosnian origin appointed as the ruler of Egypt in 1560. From 1570, he served as the governor of Gaza, and later this position was passed on to his son. Ahmad Pasha, Mustafa Pasha’s grandson, was appointed as the ruler, the Sanjak of Jerusalem and Nablus. The Ridvan dynasty solidified its position in Gaza in the second half of the 16th century, where its members continuously held key positions throughout the entire 17th century.
Fakhr-al-Din had influence over the Ridvan family, but Tomasso Obicini also needed to negotiate with the emirs of Gaza. According to the Custodia Terrae Sanctae website, church services in Ein Karem were resumed in 1675, half a century after acquiring rights to the partially destroyed monastery. It’s unclear if the Ridvan family from Gaza could guarantee the safety of the Catholic mission in Ein Karem. Politics in the region were built on a complex system of balancing interests, where the Ridvan clan had to find common ground with the Husayni clan and representatives of other aristocratic Muslim families in Jerusalem. For instance, when Ahmad Pasha constructed the halva in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the dedicatory inscription mentioned the name of the architect Abd al-Muhsin from the senior branch of the Husayni.
Moreover, the village in Ein Karem was populated by people from the Maghreb, and a third of the harvest and income was given, according to the waqf of Abu Madan, to the maintenance of religious institutions in the Maghrebi Quarter of Jerusalem. For the Custodians, it became necessary not only to prove in court but also to convince the sheikhs of the Maghrebi Quarter and people from Ein Karem village that the plot with the semi-destroyed medieval monastery was not part of the waqf. This took fifty years.
Neighboring pashas and emirs, including the Ridvan family, continuously complained to the sultan that Fakhr-al-Din supported Christians, thereby infringing upon the rights of Muslims. In response, the Porte announced the formation of another punitive expedition and sent a fleet to the shores of Lebanon. Various sources cite Fakhr-al-Din’s year of death as either 1632 or 1635. The Custody of the Holy Land was able to preserve the plots acquired by Tomasso Obicini, but a similar volume of acquisitions became possible again only in the 19th century.
The portrait of Tomasso Obicini is taken from his dedicated Wikipedia page. The overall photograph of the top of the John the Baptist Monastery complex in Ein Karem is by Vitaliy Vinarov. All other photos are by the author. The article was written by the tour guide Denis Zlatopolsky and first published on March 3, 2024.