the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

effectively be considered to be a kind of quarantine. As it was a centrally ordered
measure, it can be understood that Ottoman authorities reacted in response to the
fact that plague was raging in other parts of the Ottoman empire, such as
Trabzon. 321 Moreover, the seventeenth-century traveller Evliya Celebi describes
how the castle of Yedi Kule was used in Byzantine times to keep individuals
coming from plague-stricken places for seven days under quarantine. They were
not allowed entry into the city otherwise. 322 However, none of the travellers'
accounts consulted mention such a procedure for the period under investigation.
The diary of Marino Sanudo, which spans the period of 1497 to 1533 and deals
extensively with the maritime contacts between Venice and Istanbul does not
reveal its existence, either. It does, however, records an event that probably was
the result of an administrative decision, namely the closing of all inns (hans) in the
Istanbul. A letter from the Venetian baylo from Constantinople, dated 25 July and
6 August 1513 reports that :
The ruler is in the countryside, but here there such an outbreak of plague
that the inns (presumably hans) are closed and it is incredible how many
die. 323
It is understandable that the plague epidemics would cause considerable loss for
the hans, bozahaneler, hammans and other establishments open to the public,
either because they were obliged to close for religious or preventive reasons or
because their customers simply would stay away. In that case, an official request
was made for a reduction of the taxes due. The measure of closing inns might have
been due to a prohibition of wine-drinking. Although this can be interpreted in
321 Plague was present in Trabzon in 1565-1566, as documented by Ronald C. Jennings. Studies on
Ottoman Social History in the 16th and 17th Century. Istanbul: The Isis Press. 1999, 669 et passim.
322 Evliya Çelebi, Seyahatnamesi, Vol. 2, 92. Interestingly, Evliya Çelebi reports that after the
conquest, Mehmed the Conqueror moved the slaughterhouses and tanneries to this area. The stench
and pollution produced by these activities was traditionally considered to be a hazard for plague
according to the miasma theory.
323 Sanudo, I diarii di Marino Sanuto, Vol. 17, Col. 37 and 38
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