the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSIONS
The evidence collected within the framework of this thesis supports the
view that in order to assess the impact of the Black Death on the Ottomans, it is
primordial to understand the recurrence of the disease in the region inhabited by
the latter. Aspiring completeness of its chronology would be utopic, but the results
of the research clearly show that for the last decennium of the fifteenth century and
the first three decennia of the sixteenth century, allowing for seasonal fluctuations,
the disease was virtually permanently present in both Bursa and Istanbul. It should
be emphasized that this spatial and temporal limitation in no way reflects an
epidemiological reality, but the scope and the availability of the sources
investigated. Indeed, even in the first decennia of the Black Death pandemic,
Byzantine sources attest to a higher frequency of plague in Constantinople than
commonly cited. This seems to indicate that already in the early years of the
pandemic, plague was a regular visitor of the region. Istanbul's strategic position
on the trade route with the Black Sea undoubtedly explains this phenomenon. The
ports on the shores of the Black Sea, like Caffa, with its flourishing trade in
potentially contagious commodities such as fur and grain, and especially slaves,
formed the link with wild foci of plague that had its origins in the steppe of Central
Asia. Since Iran still harbours plague reservoirs, it can be assumed that these were
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