the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

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scenario seems to have repeated itself during the siege of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror in 1453. Sphrantzes reports that : "Even before the Sultan had arrived, the fortresses and castles in the vicinity of the city that were spread in the villages and over the fields and to which people had fled in the wake of the sudden approach of the enemy were taken after a short siege. Some of the people were sold as slaves, others succombed to plague and bad treatment." 223 Later in the 15th century, yet another siege by the Ottomans was accompanied by a plague outbreak. In 1456, Mehmed undertook the siege of Belgrade - and failed to take the stronghold. Here again, the siege ended and plague started: John Hunyadi, the commander of the fortress, died of plague soon after the siege of Belgrade. 224 The crusader army which had come to support the defenders likely took plague back home, for in 1456 and 1457, North and Central Italy were once again experiencing a plague epidemic. 225 The disease had been brought along by the Ottomans who had suffered from a bad outbreak in 1455 as documented by Doukas. The outbreaks continued to take their toll in the Ottoman empire in the second half of the fifteenth century, much to the discontent of Mehmed the Conqueror, who delivered an uphill struggle to repopulate his newly conquered capital Istanbul after each outbreak. 226 At the close of the century, Bursa would suffer a major outbreak that lasted for several years and which left its trace in the judicial records of the city 227 . Likewise, the diaries of Marino Sanudo show that Istanbul knew several outbreaks in that period as well. Though plague treatises commonly warned about the causative effect of earthquakes, the great 223 see Sphrantzes, Die letzten Tagen von Konstantinople, 44. 224 Finkel, Osman's Dream, 59. 225 Luigi Capasso and Arnaldo Capelli. Le Epidemie di Peste in Abruzzo dal 1348 al 1702. Cerchio Aquila: Adelmo Polla Editore, 1993, 45. 226 See also the discussion of the evidence concerning Mehmed's repopulation efforts as treated by Lowry in Chapter IV, policies and politics. 227 Osman Çetin. Bursa mahkeme sicillerine göre: ilk Osmanlı hastanesi. Istanbul. 2006, page 134. See also the entries of the Bursa judicial records of death of devşirme of plague as transcribed in Çoşkun and Necdet Yılmaz, eds. Osmanlılarda Sağlık. Vol. II - Arşiv Belgeleri. Istanbul: Biofarma, 2006,26 et passim. 57
earthquake that destroyed much of Istanbul in 1509 was not followed by an outbreak. In the year 1513, however, there would be again a devastating plague outbreak in Istanbul, killing that year no less than sixty thousand people according to the Venetian Baylo. A special case of presumed plague death would be that of the Ottoman ruler Selim in 1520. Selim's sudden death on the way between Edirne and Istanbul caused turmoil all over Europe. Sanudo records that when the news was read in public in Venice that Selim had died, there was a great turmoil. 228 The exitement was not caused by the fact that he apparently had died of plague - the Venetians were quite accustomed that the disease took the lives of their citizens, both prominent and common - but that it seemed too good to be true. Selim's agressive and expansionary policy had been a great cause of concern for the Venetians. 229 Of course, a single message could not be relied upon. The death of Turkish rulers had been wrongly announced before, such as Bayezid's death in June 1502 230 and Sanudo himself often remained sceptical about the veracity of such announcements. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Venetian chronicler recorded all available sources of this important news. That Selim had died of plague seemed in fact a very plausible explanation. For in his previous messages dated the 24th of August and the 1st of September, the Venetian Baylo, sir Tomà 228 Sanudo, I diarii di Marino Sanuto, vol. 29, col. 303 “A dì 21, Domenega. La matina se intese queste letere contener la morte del Signor turco da peste apresso Andernopoli, e la terra fo piena.” 229 It was a great relief when the new Signor Turco, Süleyman was reported to be a studious scholar, - and most importantly, peaceful. Sanudo, , I diarii di Marino Sanuto, vol. 29, col. 392 Di Constantinopoli, dil Baylo nostro, date in Pera, a dì 15 Octubrio. “... se dice esser savio Signor, à piacer di studio, tutti sperano bene del suo governo.” Sanudo, vol. 29, col. 490 letere dil Bailo nostro di Constantinopoli, di 3 Novembrio. “Come il Signor era homo pacifico ...” 230 Sanudo, , I diarii di Marino Sanuto, vol. 4, col. 267 Da Constantinopoli. “Come è molti zorni il signor turco non ha tenuto Porta, ne è persona la habbi veduto; et si judichava fusse morto...” 58
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THE BLACK DEATH IN EARLY OTTOMAN TE
Page 3 and 4:
ÖZET KARA ÖLÜM VE ERKEN OSMANLIL
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........
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subject is evident, plague has been
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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 and 38: He was captured after Constantinopl
Page 39 and 40: Latin sources The first category of
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: Yusuf's insistence to become a Chri
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
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asis or had indeed any policy at al
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Bertrandon de la Brocquière fulfil
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as to whether the Ottomans systemat
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present as well in the period under
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surprising as both European and Ott
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Primary Sources unpublished Ottoman
Page 125 and 126:
-----.Les Regestes des Actes du Pat
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Tafur, Pero. 1926. Pero Tafur: Trav
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Research Centre for Islamic History
Page 131 and 132:
Columbia University Press, 2004. Sc
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APPENDIX I ENTRIES FROM THE DIARY O
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Da Sybinicho, fo leto una lettera,
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morto do fioli da peste, pur Idio l
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61. vol. 28, col. 232 Da Constantin
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incolorò, dove la saltò la peste,
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E venuto nova il magnifico Perì Ba
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Idem, by two slaves who escaped fro
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MDX, APRILE (April 1510) 27. vol. 1
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There is an enormous plague outbrea
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... that there, in Constantinople,
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Paragraph over the statement (made)
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a carbuncle, which is a sort of gia
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From Constantinople, from sir Piero
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