Bringing together Eastern Catholics under a Common Civil Head.The Agreements between the Syriac and Chaldean Patriarchs and the Civil Head of the Armenian Catholic Church in Constantinople. 1833-1871

By the mid-18th century, the Ottoman Empire was increasingly involved in numerous internal and external political and military conflicts that progres- sively threatened the existence of the empire itself and its control and author- ity over territories located on three different continents. On the one hand, the growth of a new mercantile class, mostly of Christian origin, favouring the integration of the Ottoman economy into the world economy; the pro- gressive emergence of Muslim and Christian provincial administrative elites; and Istanbul’s need to reassert central authority over local ayans (strong local military leaders) sparked the revolutions and uprisings that broke out during the first decades of the 19th century. These events are considered responsible for the evolutions and developments occurring from the 18th century on.