the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

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devastating plague outbreak in the Balkans, was discussed in detail by Lowry 119 . The rather sardonic tone with which Doukas describes this episode can be read as an expression of the animosity he felt for the Ottoman ruler. We see that the Byzantine and post-Byzantine sources register plague outbreaks more often than their Ottoman counterparts. For this, several reasons can be mentioned. Letters, which are lacking for the Ottoman review, form an important part of the text material. By their very nature, they reveal events that have a direct impact on the writer's life and the devastation caused by plague figures prominently in it. The Byzantine chroniclers, too, had a good reason not to downplay plague, for it offered an explanation for Byzantine failure against their enemy. 120 In contrast, the Byzantine church showed an almost total lack of interest in the disease, if the regestes are a guideline 121 . A prayer for the deliverance from the Barbarian invasions, the civil war, famine and plague is the only trace the outbreaks left, mentioning the disease as the last of a depressing list of problems. 122 Unlike the Venetians, the Byzantine writers were no Ottoman watchers. 123 Although they had ample opportunity to observe them, they either were indifferent to the condition of their adversaries/allies seemed to have escaped them, or they did not care to record it. 119 Lowry, Pushing a Stone Uphill, 103-104. See also Chapter IV of this thesis, the discussion on flight. 120 Caroline Finkel makes a similar observation for the description of earthquakes by the Byzantines and the Ottomans. Caroline Finkel, Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923. London: John Murray, 2005, 16. 121 The enactments of the Patriarchate of Constantinople for the period 1310-1453 do not mention the outbreak even once - not even indirectly, as a cause of personnel or materials shortage. J. Darrouzès. 1979. Les regestes des actes du Patriarcat de Constantinople. Vol. I. Fasc. V, VI, VII. 122 Les regestes des actes du Patriarcat de Constantinople. page 19. 123 Kritoboulos, although Greek, in fact became a loyal Ottoman subject himself in joining the services of Mehmed II. 33
Latin sources The first category of sources that was examined were the works of early European travellers. 124 The earliest work consulted, that of Johann Schiltberger 125 , was written by a rather involuntary traveller. As a youth, Schiltberger was captured by the Turks during the battle of Nicopolis in 1394. During the campaign of Timur Lenk, he was captured by the latter during the battle of Ankara in 1402. He then served under different different masters, before finally returning to Germany in 1427, where he subsequently wrote his autobiography. 126 Although Schiltberger mentions hardship, he nowhere mentions plague outbreaks explicitely, although according to Doukas, plague followed the army of Timur Lenk throughout Anatolia 127 . Likewise, Guillebert de Lannoy 128 , Bertrandon de la Broquière 129 and Joos van Ghistele 130 do not mention any encounters with the disease during their visits throughout the fifteenth century. Possibly such details were left out of their narrative because they were not exotic enough, or the travellers had the good sense of embarking on their journeys when no outbreaks were signalled in the countries they wished to visit. However, Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 131 , who went on a diplomatic mission to the court of Timur Lenk in 124 The choice was based upon the listings of such sources as enumerated in Heath Lowry. 2004. Seyyahların Gözüyle Bursa. Istanbul: Eren. pp. 128-130 and Stephane Yerasimos. Les Voyageurs dans l'empire Ottoman (XIV-XVI siècles). Ankara: Imprimerie de la société turque d'histoire, 1991. 97-134. 125 Schiltberger , Johannes. Als Sklave im Osmanischen Reich und bei den Tataren: 1394- 1427. edited by Ulrich Schlemmer. Stuttgart: Thienemanns Verlag, 1983. 126 Stephane Yerasimos. 1991. Les Voyageurs dans l'empire Ottoman (XIV-XVI siècles). page 101. 127 Doukas. Decline and Fall of Byzantium the Ottoman Turks by Doukas. Detroit. p. 112, as quoted in Lowry. 2003. Pushing the Stone Uphill. pp. 99-100. 128 De Lannoy, Guilbert Voyages et ambassades de messire Guillebert de Lannoy, 1399-1450. C.P. Serrure, ed. Mons. 1840. 129 De la Broquière, Bertrandon. Le voyage d'Outremer de Bertrandon de la Broquière. Ch. Schefer, ed. Paris: Ernest Leroux. 1892. 130 Van Ghistele, Joos. Voyage naar den lande van belofte. Antwerpen: Boekengilde Die Poorte. 131 "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, a place belonging to the Turk, but on Grecian land and was bound for Chios with a cargo of wheat, and she brought news that a great pestilence raged at Gallipoli." in Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo. Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo to 34
Page 1 and 2: THE BLACK DEATH IN EARLY OTTOMAN TE
Page 3 and 4: ÖZET KARA ÖLÜM VE ERKEN OSMANLIL
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........
Page 7 and 8: subject is evident, plague has been
Page 9 and 10: also consulted. In view of this cla
Page 11 and 12: CHAPTER II A BIOLOGICAL AND HISTORI
Page 13 and 14: continents. 15 However, because of
Page 15 and 16: not. 22 Wendy Orent postulates that
Page 17 and 18: the disease. 31 During this outbrea
Page 19 and 20: common during winter, whereas the b
Page 21 and 22: CHAPTER III HISTORICAL SOURCES AND
Page 23 and 24: which will be critically examined i
Page 25 and 26: contested by Zeynep Korkmaz on the
Page 27 and 28: Ahmedi's Gazavâtname. 64 He lived
Page 29 and 30: The tarih was written as a way to p
Page 31 and 32: 'Hakk-teâlâ gayûr bir pâdişâh
Page 33 and 34: Ottoman ruler and his conquests, bu
Page 35 and 36: and 1460. 106 However, of these, al
Page 37: He was captured after Constantinopl
Page 41 and 42: elatives and friends ensured him of
Page 43 and 44: period of one or more seasons, name
Page 45 and 46: Bir hastalık ki halk arasında sar
Page 47 and 48: CHAPTER IV THE OUTBREAK AND THE DIF
Page 49 and 50: that had happened in these lands, s
Page 51 and 52: "What can we not all say about flie
Page 53 and 54: of Pera in 1453, was to become of g
Page 55 and 56: as Karesi, Saruhan, Aydın, Menteş
Page 57 and 58: 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 and 110:
while later his brother. They were
Page 111 and 112:
prices did occur four years before
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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