the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

In the above example, the Venetians were careful not to transmit the
epidemic to the Ottomans. However, as Maria Pia Pedani 384 points out, they were
eager to protect their republic from any traveller that could bring the epidemic to
them, be he a nobleman or a beggar. Whenever the Ottomans sent their envoy
called a çavuş or dragoman accompanied by other members of the central
Ottoman bureaucracy, they had to endure the same procedure as anybody else.
From 1423 onwards, it became a regular practice that those arriving from an
infected area were denied immediate access to the city. Whether nobleman,
merchant, pilgrim or vagabond, the rule was applied indiscriminately that they had
to stay for a certain period in the plague hospital, the Lazzaretto Vecchio. In 1468,
this policy was improved upon when the Lazzereto Nuovo came into use. In this
hospital would stay those that were only suspected of plague without showing any
of its symptoms. The period anyone had to stay in this lazzaretto was about forty
days (quarantine) whenever cases were reported on board of his vessel or when the
ship had visited a harbour that was contaminated. When this was not the case, the
waiting period was only two weeks. The Ottoman diplomats underwent the same
treatment as everyone else. However, in order to minimize their discomfort, and
especially in the 16th century, they could undergo this period of isolation in any
harbour of the Venetian Dalmatian coast. 385 Proof that they had completed the
period of isolation was delivered in the form of the fede di sanità, a document that
had to be presented upon arrival. He who could not produce this document had to
spend the proscribed days in the lazzaretto. A similar procedure is described in a
letter from Syo to the Venetian senate, dated August 1518, which mentions that :
384
Maria Pia Pedani. In Nome del Gran Signore. Inviati Ottomani a Venezia dalla Caduta di
Costantinopoli alla Guerra di Candia, 57.
385
From the 17th century onwards, it was preferred that they would pass through the Venetian
lazzaretto.
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