the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

and 1460. 106 However, of these, all but two took place outside the borders of
Ottoman territory. 107 Of these two, one is dated 1403, the period of great turmoil
and fraternal strive between Bayezid's offspring and the Ottoman chroniclers can
be forgiven for concentrating on the important political events of that time. Again,
a broad spectrum of sources was consulted to verify the presence or absence of
plague.
The History of Mehmed the Conqueror by Kritovoulos. 108 Kritovoulos, who
successfully served under Mehmed II, was a member of a prominent Byzantine
family who had received an appropriate education. This classical erudition reflects
in his description of the plague outbreak in Istanbul, which clearly bears the
influence of Thucydides' account of the epidemic (of uncertain nature) that
ravaged Athens in the 5th century BC. 109 This should not be surprising in view of
the fact that a similar influence on the plague description of the 1347-48 outbreak
by the emperor Cantacuzenos has been demonstrated. 110 Like Thucydides and
Cantacuzenos 111 , Kritovoulos starts by explaining where the disease came from. 112
Then he proceeds to the effects it had on the population. Here again, the example
of the classical author is obvious. 113 Kritovoulos' clinical description bears
106 Lowry, Pushing the Stone Uphill, 104 -105
107 Earlier Byzantine sources were likewise totally mute when outbreaks in Ottoman territory were
concerned, as will be observed later.
108 Kritovoulos. 1954. History of Mehmed the Conqueror. translated by Charles T. Riggs. New
Jersey: Princeton University Press. The subject of plague in the work of Kritovoulos was discussed
extensively in Lowry's article, Pushing the Stone Uphill.
109 Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. translated by Steven Lattimore. Indianapolis: Cambridge,
1998, 97-101.
110 H. Hunger. 1976. "Thukidides bei Johannes Cantacuzenos. Beobachtungen zur Mimesis."
Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik 25, 1997, 181-193 and A. Vasiliev. History of the
Byzantine Empire.324-1453. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1952, 626.
111 John Cantacuzenos. The History of John Cantacuzenos (Book IV): Text, Translation,
Commentary. Unpublished PhD thesis by Timothy S. Miller. Washington, D.C., 1975.
112 In fact, Vasiliev also observes that "Kritoboulos, unsuccessfully imitating Thucydides,
composed a eulogistic history of Muhammed II, in the years from 1451 to 1467." History of the
Byzantine Empire.324-1453. page 693.
113 Thucydides: ...since even relatives, overcome by the prevailing misery, finally grew tired of the
lamentations of the dying.
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