the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

surprising as both European and Ottoman treatises were the continuation of the
pre-Black Death Arab tradition of the plague treatise genre. Outside the circle of
Ottoman academia, plague was not considered to be a stigmatising event, either.
Tombstones occasionally mention plague as a cause of death, succinctly, without
alluding to doom and damnation. By the sixteenth century, and judging by the
writings of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu certainly still in the seventeenth century,
plague had become a deadly nuisance to Ottoman society.
Did the Ottomans try to engage actively in combating plague in other ways
than imposing quarantine ? In view of their well-oiled administration, it would
seem inconceivable that they had not, from early days onwards, tried to limit the
effect of the disease. Of course, many measures could have been imposed without
any explicit reference to plague at all, leaving us to wonder in how far for instance
the building of the Dar-üş-Şifâ hospital by Bayezid I in Bursa was a response to
the recurring plague epidemics that struck the city from 1348 onwards. If, as we
have argued above, plague had become a local, albeit serious health problem, it
seemed logical that the Ottomans would treat it this way, that is, as yet another
health issue. Not dedicating any hospital facilities uniquely to plague is yet another
indication that the Ottomans did not consider the disease to be an external danger,
but something that had become in every sense, part and parcel of their society.
This does not mean that they would not try to shield themselves from it: those who
could, fled the disease-stricken areas, be they humble peasants or Ottoman rulers.
Mehmed the Conqueror would flee plague if the situation allowed, but
nevertheless let affairs of state predominate. His descendant Suleyman would not
act differently, staying put when the situation required him to do so, but leaving
for healthier surroundings when the option was available.
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