The Ottoman Empire and the World Around It - Course Information

~ OF PRISONERS, SLAVES AND THE CHARITY OF STRANGERS ~ 131
received aid from ‘Greeks’ (Orthodox) and Catholics alike; aside from money,
clean linen and other supplies, this included the conveyance of letters, which
much helped the prisoner to keep up his interest in life. In addition to quite a few
unnamed individuals, the author mentioned Bishop ‘Mattheus Bernakovick’ and
the pater guardian of a Belgrade convent. Among laymen he was very appreciative
of the rich Dubrovnik merchant Francesco Calogero, who not only provided
material aid but also psychological support. 48 Furthermore, in spite of war conditions,
Muslim women sometimes also sent alms to prisoners of war, de Martelli
mentioning the wife of the Belgrade fortress commander (dizdar), who secretly
made a contribution. 49
~ The ‘extra-curricular’ labours of galley – and other – slaves
When the galleys were laid up for the winter, some of the prisoners were
employed in the naval arsenal as artisans; they might be engaged in shipbuilding
itself, but also in the auxiliary crafts, such as blacksmith’s work or the installation
of masts and sails. In sixteenth-century Algiers, Tunis or Tripolis, such
specialists were always in great demand, and if a man was known to be versed in
one of the crafts useful to the arsenal, it was notoriously difficult to exchange or
ransom him. 50 But on the other hand, specialist skills might also be of help to a
prisoner. The English soldier of fortune Edward Webbe, who has left a brief
account of his adventures, including a number of years as a slave in the Istanbul
arsenal during the 1580s/987–98, records how, as an expert gunner, he was
ordered to help with the fireworks display which enlivened the princely circumcision
festivities of 1582/990–1. This enterprise earned him some money, and
thereby a chance to alleviate the conditions of his captivity. 51
The contributions of charitable men and women and what the arsenal – or, in
the case of privately owned slaves, the relevant owners – doled out in the way of
food, needed to be supplemented by work. Here everything depended upon circumstances.
In the Ottoman context, some private owners permitted their slaves
to work on their own account and thus ransom themselves. This could take the
shape of a binding promise, documented in the kadi’s court, that the slave was to
be freed after a certain period of service, or else after having performed a given
amount of work: weaving a certain number cloths was a popular condition in
sixteenth-century Bursa. 52 In other instances, what was earned by work might
suffice only for some extra food. Once again, Michael Heberer’s account is quite
illuminating; he made occasional money by writing congratulatory poems for
assorted European dignitaries visiting Istanbul. 53 In this age before copyright, the
person so honoured, both in European and Ottoman societies, was expected to
reciprocate with a gift. More modestly, Heberer learned from a fellow captive to
shear sheepskins, which could be bought cheaply, spin the wool, and knit it into
hosiery; this activity made it possible not only to buy better food, but also to give