the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

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In 1464, plague would again arrive from Central Asia according to the testimony of Hasan-ı Rumlu for the year 868 (1463-64) : "Yine bu yılda Semerkand beldesinde çıkan taun yüzünden kalabalık bir topluluk hayatını kaybetti." 269 Plague then followed the Ottoman army on the way to the siege of Ragusa. According to Biraben, the Ottomans refused to enter the city at the end of the siege, knowing it was infected by the disease. Maybe as the continuation of the previous one, yet another outbreak took place in 1466. This outbreak coincided with the campaign that Mehmed undertook against Kroues in today's Albania, and which was reported upon by Kritovoulos. The chronicler described that after an unsuccessful siege, Mehmed disbanded the troops and left for the capital. However, upon receiving news that plague was rampant everywhere in Thrace and Macedonia and that even Istanbul had not been spared, he changed his mind and spent the autumn in the area around Nikopolis and Vidin. In order to remain informed, messengers arrived almost every day with reports on the situation in the capital. 270 In his article Pushing the Stone Uphill 271 , Lowry interprets this event as a proof of the less pious and more pragmatic attitude of the Ottoman ruler, which he contrasts to the "more traditional Islamic views on the subject that had come to prevail in the Ottoman capital as well" under the rule of Süleyman. However, it has to be considered that the example of Mehmed pitching camp in Vidin is in observance with one of the major tenets of the traditional Islamic view on plague : that Muslims should not enter any area infested with plague. Therefore, Mehmed II's behaviour was hardly at odds with orthodox Islamic principles. As Lowry observed, the ruler travelled to the highlands of the Balkans to escape from 269 Hasan-ı Rumlu, Ahsenü't-tevârîh, 418. 270 Kritovoulos, History of Mehmed the Conqueror, 222, as quoted by Lowry, Pushing the Stone Uphill, 110. 271 Lowry, Pushing the Stone Uphill, 130-131. 71
plague on several other occasions, namely in 1471, 1472, and 1475. 272 However, Mehmed II did not leave whenever important matters required his presence. In 1469, the merchant Piero Dolfin observes in his letter that ‘the Ottoman fleet is being prepared in Constantinople and in spite of the danger created by the plague outbreak, the Turkish ruler has arrived in person to follow up his affairs.’ 273 Three years later, in the summer of 1472, plague was again rampant in Istanbul and Mehmed and his court went to Sweet Waters at the north-eastern side of the Golden Horn. However, the ruler returned to the city in August to supervise the building of a wooden dock at Beşiktaş. 274 Mehmed's son and successor Bayezid II would continue the habit of moving his court whenever an outbreak was imminent. Hasan-ı Rumlu reports in his chronicle Ahsenü't-Tevârih that in the year 895 (1489-90) Bayezid II wanted to leave on a campaign against the Mamluks. After his emirs successfully persuaded him to abandon the idea because winter was approaching, and having heard that the Mamluks had retreated from the Karaman region he decided to leave for Edirne as in Istanbul a plague outbreak had started. 275 This story is repeated by the anonymous chronicles : Bu vak'adan sonra irtesi Sultan Bâyezid dahi Beşiktaş'a kondı. Cümle begler ulular anda hâzır olup tanışık itdiler. Sultan Bâyezid'i Anatolı'ya geçmege komadılar. "Bi-vaktdür, ol taraf kızlıkdur. Şimdiki halde leşkere revâ de bulunmaz" didiler. Bu aralıkda Arab leşkeri de dahi dönüp gitdi. Sultan Bayezid dahi yaylaka vardı. Yayladan gezerek Edrene'ye vardı. Ol taraflar gâyet de tâûn idi. Tâûn oldugı sebebden bir yire karâr idemeyüp İpsala'ya vardı. Ol taraflarda hacılar bayramın eyledi, hicretün 895 yılında. Andan gine Edrene'ye vardı. Edrene'de bir hafta karâr itdi. Heman azm-i Kostantiniyye eyledi, hicretün 896 yılında muharremün evvelinde. Safer ayınun âhirinde Kostantınıyye'de karâr eyledi. 276 272 Lowry, Pushing the Stone Uphill, 103. 273 Domenico Malipiero. Annali Veneti dall’ anno 1457 al 1500. edited by Gio, Pietro Vieusseux (Firenze, 1843), pp. 44-45. 274 Franz Babinger, Mehmed the Conqueror and his time, 309. 275 Hasan-ı Rumlu. Ahsenü't-tevârîh. Mürsel Öztürk. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, 2006, 591. 276 Giese, Anonim Tevârîh-i âl-i Osman, 128. 72
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THE BLACK DEATH IN EARLY OTTOMAN TE
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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
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CHAPTER II A BIOLOGICAL AND HISTORI
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continents. 15 However, because of
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not. 22 Wendy Orent postulates that
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the disease. 31 During this outbrea
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common during winter, whereas the b
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CHAPTER III HISTORICAL SOURCES AND
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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 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: travels also allowed him to become
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
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Tafur, Pero. 1926. Pero Tafur: Trav
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Research Centre for Islamic History
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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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