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the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

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ABSTRACT<br />

THE BLACK DEATH IN EARLY OTTOMAN TERRITORIES:<br />

1347-1555<br />

Marien. Gisèle<br />

M.A. Department of History<br />

Supervisor: Prof. Dr Halil İNALCIK<br />

May 2009<br />

The aim of this <strong>the</strong>sis is to analyze <strong>the</strong> possible impact of <strong>the</strong> Black Death on<br />

<strong>the</strong> <strong>early</strong> Ottoman society. Firstly, a temporal and spatial analysis of <strong>the</strong> outbreaks was<br />

established us<strong>in</strong>g contemporary Ottoman, Byzant<strong>in</strong>e and Lat<strong>in</strong> sources. In view of <strong>the</strong><br />

territorial expansion of <strong>the</strong> Ottoman state <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> period studied, <strong>in</strong>formation on <strong>the</strong><br />

adjacent <strong>territories</strong> was <strong>in</strong>cluded.<br />

The response towards plague was <strong>the</strong>n evaluated tak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to account <strong>the</strong><br />

<strong>in</strong>formation obta<strong>in</strong>ed on <strong>the</strong> frequency and geographical distribution of <strong>the</strong> disease<br />

and contrasted with certa<strong>in</strong> previous <strong>the</strong>ories on <strong>the</strong> impact of plague on Ottoman<br />

society.<br />

The study reveals that <strong>the</strong> high frequency of plague outbreaks identified by<br />

this study can be l<strong>in</strong>ked to a behavior of overall acceptance and to specific actions of<br />

an adm<strong>in</strong>istrative and religious nature.<br />

Keywords: plague, epidemic, Black Death, social response, policy, chronology<br />

iii

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