the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

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Constantinople pour porter cet ordre et l'on envoie de Venise un navire à Constantinople, par Coron. 391 Trade had an influence on the appearance of outbreaks, conversely plague stood in relation to the availability of wheat and other food supplies. When an outbreak struck the rural population of a wheat-producing region, it killed or caused the flight of the rural labour force. Accordingly, harvests could not be made, which lead to shortages in supply. The local authorities understood this situation well and they tried to prevent shortages by buying elsewhere. The recordings of the deliberations of the Venetian Senate once again provide an example of this situation. The entry for the 29th of March, 1457 recorded the measure taking to prevent famine after plague had struck: As the plague has made most parèques (peasants who had no obligation to remain on their land) flee from Modon, we have to prepare for a bad harvest: we order the provéditeurs of wheat to send 500 staia of wheat (about 417 hl). 392 It is clear from the diaries of Sanudo that wheat shortages continued in Venice into the beginning of the 16th century and that the Ottomans were an important supplier. Plague did not only influence the supply of grain, it caused sudden changes in demand if major urban centres such as Istanbul or Venice were subject to a major outbreak. However, as stated above, the yearly fluctuations in the grain trade were influenced by a number of other factors, such as political instability, war, the influence of the weather on the harvest and competing demands. Illustrative of the complex relation between these factors is the fact that although prices of grain increased greatly after the outbreak of 1347, the first spike in grain 391 Thiriet, Régestes des délibérations du Sénat de Venise concernant la Romanie. tome premier: 1329-1399, 61. 392 Thiriet, Régestes des délibérations du Sénat de Venise concernant la Romanie. tome troisième: 1431-1463, 1961, 216. 105
prices did occur four years before the arrival of the plague due to deteriorating political conditions. 393 The grain trade was a profitable business, in which the Ottomans were involved from early on. Bithynia provided the Byzantines with wheat in 1343 when the Tatars closed the ports of the Black Sea. The Venetians were also buying Ottoman wheat and prepared to pay well. Their dealings with Murad I, Bayezid and Süleyman Çelebi provided those rulers with important tax revenues. 394 İnalcık enumerated the important grain-growing regions for Istanbul (and by extension for the Venetians and others who wanted to engage in trade in times of shortages) as being : the plains of Thrace, the Danubian basin, Bulgaria, the steppe region from the Dobruja to the Don river, the plain of Thessaly, western Anatolia and Egypt. 395 Obviously, controlling these regions meant that a good profit from the grain trade could be ensured. Unfortunately, commerce did not remain limited to an exchange of goods and money; a direct effect of trade was that it spread plague as well. Although all shipping could transmit plague through an infected crew, grain shipments could bring infected mice and their fleas along with their cargoes. Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo who was member of an embassy to Timur Lenk, described how they received news that plague was present when they arrived in Anatolia in 1403 396 : ... A vessel arrived in the port of Tenio, and they sent to ask where she came from. She was from Gallipoli, a place belonging to the Turk, but on 393 Elizabeth A. Zachariadou. "Prix et marchés des céréales en Romanie (1345-1405)." in Romania and the Turks (c. 1300- c. 1500). London. Variorum Reprints. 1985, 294 . 394 Zachariadou. "Prix et marchés des céréales en Romanie (1345-1405)." in Romania and the Turks (c. 1300- c. 1500), 300. 395 İnalcık, "An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire". (Volume 1: 1300-1600), 180-183. 396 The outbreak is confirmed by Doukas as quoted by Lowry (2003: 99) : In the spring of 1403 a dire famine and pestilence struck all the provinces where the feet of the Scythians had trodden. 106
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THE BLACK DEATH IN EARLY OTTOMAN TE
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ÖZET KARA ÖLÜM VE ERKEN OSMANLIL
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........
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subject is evident, plague has been
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also consulted. In view of this cla
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CHAPTER II A BIOLOGICAL AND HISTORI
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continents. 15 However, because of
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not. 22 Wendy Orent postulates that
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the disease. 31 During this outbrea
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common during winter, whereas the b
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CHAPTER III HISTORICAL SOURCES AND
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which will be critically examined i
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contested by Zeynep Korkmaz on the
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Ahmedi's Gazavâtname. 64 He lived
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The tarih was written as a way to p
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'Hakk-teâlâ gayûr bir pâdişâh
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Ottoman ruler and his conquests, bu
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and 1460. 106 However, of these, al
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He was captured after Constantinopl
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Latin sources The first category of
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elatives and friends ensured him of
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period of one or more seasons, name
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Bir hastalık ki halk arasında sar
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CHAPTER IV THE OUTBREAK AND THE DIF
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that had happened in these lands, s
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"What can we not all say about flie
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of Pera in 1453, was to become of g
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as Karesi, Saruhan, Aydın, Menteş
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A possible explanation is that no w
Page 59 and 60: Crete. 209 That the Brachea Chronik
Page 61 and 62: Yusuf's insistence to become a Chri
Page 63 and 64: earthquake that destroyed much of I
Page 65 and 66: of two carboni and a jandusa al sca
Page 67 and 68: CHAPTER V THE RESPONSE TO PLAGUE 5.
Page 69 and 70: Cydones obviously did not appreciat
Page 71 and 72: mention that "... Bursa şehrinde b
Page 73 and 74: Ve dahi ol yılda Bursa'da tâ'un-
Page 75 and 76: travels also allowed him to become
Page 77 and 78: plague on several other occasions,
Page 79 and 80: epidemics, or was at the very least
Page 81 and 82: 5.2. Religious response In times of
Page 83 and 84: in Europe as a response to the epid
Page 85 and 86: the Orthodox believers and many of
Page 87 and 88: Hak te'âlâ'nun fazlı yitişüp k
Page 89 and 90: were implemented at one time or ano
Page 91 and 92: Islamic religious terms, a more pro
Page 93 and 94: in heaven's name not to touch the c
Page 95 and 96: "Ve dahi ol yılda Bursa'da tâ'un-
Page 97 and 98: quite a few of its regular visitors
Page 99 and 100: notables of Cairo transferred. Whil
Page 101 and 102: his people and the Genoese for thei
Page 103 and 104: death toll to 160 000 or about 1300
Page 105 and 106: suffered great losses through famin
Page 107 and 108: In the above example, the Venetians
Page 109: while later his brother. They were
Page 113 and 114: asis or had indeed any policy at al
Page 115 and 116: Bertrandon de la Brocquière fulfil
Page 117 and 118: as to whether the Ottomans systemat
Page 119 and 120: present as well in the period under
Page 121 and 122: surprising as both European and Ott
Page 123 and 124: Primary Sources unpublished Ottoman
Page 125 and 126: -----.Les Regestes des Actes du Pat
Page 127 and 128: Tafur, Pero. 1926. Pero Tafur: Trav
Page 129 and 130: Research Centre for Islamic History
Page 131 and 132: Columbia University Press, 2004. Sc
Page 133 and 134: APPENDIX I ENTRIES FROM THE DIARY O
Page 135 and 136: Da Sybinicho, fo leto una lettera,
Page 137 and 138: morto do fioli da peste, pur Idio l
Page 139 and 140: 61. vol. 28, col. 232 Da Constantin
Page 141 and 142: incolorò, dove la saltò la peste,
Page 143 and 144: E venuto nova il magnifico Perì Ba
Page 145 and 146: Idem, by two slaves who escaped fro
Page 147 and 148: MDX, APRILE (April 1510) 27. vol. 1
Page 149 and 150: There is an enormous plague outbrea
Page 151 and 152: ... that there, in Constantinople,
Page 153 and 154: Paragraph over the statement (made)
Page 155 and 156: a carbuncle, which is a sort of gia
Page 157: From Constantinople, from sir Piero
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