Diogenes ISSN 2054-6696 Issue 2 PDF

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Table of Contents
Editorial
Wei-sheng Lin............................................................................................................................1
Article
-
[The Thoughts of the Neo-Ottomans on Islam]
Murat Issi....................................................................................................................................2
The poll tax (cizye) in Cyprus during the 17th century: A depiction for the administration of
its revenue
Styliani Lepida.........................................................................................................................28
Expeditio Persica
[Views of self-referentiality in the poem Expeditio Persica of George of Pisidia]
Dimos Ntentos..........................................................................................................................48
Ceramics and Carpets: Icons of Cultural Exchange between Venice and the Ottoman Empire
in the 16th century
Gzde nder............................................................................................................................72
Review
Experiencing Byzantium: papers from the 44th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies,
Newcastle and Durham, April 2011
Rebecca Darley.........................................................................................................................91
The Byzantine Imperial Acts to Venice, Pisa and Genoa, 10th - 12th Centuries
Jason Fossella...........................................................................................................................96
(552-659 ..)
[The Turks between China and Byantium (552A.D.-659A.D.)]
Qiang Li....................................................................................................................................99
[The History of the Byzantine Empire]

Like Zhang.............................................................................................................................103
Supplementum
Byzantine Thirteenth Century Day Wrap-up, 13 May 2014
Annika Asp-Talwar / Jeffrey Brubaker / Matthew Kinloch / Wei-sheng Lin........................106
South-Western Turkey in the 13th and 21st Centuries
Matthew Kinloch....................................................................................................................108
Outreach Workshops in Ottoman History
Gemma Masson......................................................................................................................114
Cappadocia in Context 2014 a report
Andrea Mattiello....................................................................................................................118
Diogenes 2 (2014): 1
ISSN 2054-6696
Editorial
After the successful publication of the first issue in January 2014, a new section
Supplementum was introduced for contributions on postgraduate research activities
in related fields of study. The variety of the contributions, articles, reviews, and others,
for the second issue defies any common theme or categorisation, lack of which the
editor is pleased to accommodate.
For the articles, Murat Issi considers The Thoughts of the Neo-Ottomans on
Islam while Styliani Lepida, using archives from National Library of Sofia (Bulgaria),
analyses the Ottoman administration of Cyprus during the 17th century. Gzde nder
looks at the cultural exchanges between Venice and the Ottoman Empire through
ceramics and carpets, while Dimos Ntentos looks into Expeditio Persica and discusses
its self-referentiality.
Rebecca Darley reviews and provides thoughts on the contributions in
Experiencing Byzantium, the proceedings of the 44th Spring Symposium of Byzantine
Studies. Jason Fossella discusses the impact of D. Pennas The Byzantine Imperial
Acts to Venice, Pisa and Genoa, 10th - 12th Centuries. Qiang Li points out the
contributions of Stefanos Kordoses in
(552-659 ..). Like Zhang, meanwhile, reviews a general history of Byzantium in

Chinese by Zhiqiang Chen.
In this issue, there are also shorter contributions on various research activities by
the postgraduate students. Gemma Masson coordinated an Outreach Programme for
Year 9-10 classes on Ottoman history. Annika Asp-Talwar, Jeffrey Brubaker,
Matthew Kinloch, and Wei-sheng Lin sat down for a roundtable discussion on various
aspects of thirteenth-century Asia Minor and what it meant for the Byzantines. Over
the course of the summer, Matthew Kinloch embarked on a research trip in
south-western Turkey while Andrea Mattiello immersed himself in the historical
landscapes of Cappadocia.
The editor would like to acknowledge his gratitude towards the specialist editors,
without whose kind assistance it would have had been impossible to publish the
second issue: Jeffrey Brubaker, Alistair Davidson, Gemma Masson, Andrea Mattiello,
Yannis Stamos, Niki Touriki, and Onur Usta.
Wei-sheng Lin
General Editor
1
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
-
.
&
Abstract
The Neo-Ottomans were a group of intellectuals trying to save the Ottoman state,
which was already on the verge of disintegration in the second half of the 19th
century. They influenced the intellectual climate in the late Ottoman Empire so
fundamentally that they can be considered as the forerunners of todays Turkish
intellectuals. In June 1865, they founded a secret society called Society of the New
Ottomans (Yeni Osmanllar Cemiyeti) and supported the Ottomanist policy of unity
of [different ethnic and religious] elements (Ittihad- Anasr) under a constitutional
monarchy. The unions activities continued intermittently until the First
Constitutional Regime (1876). The texts and newspapers of the Neo-Ottomans played
an important role in the Tanzimat (literally reorganisation) period as well as the
First Constitutional era. Despite the short lifespan of the society, their works inspired
the intellectuals of the Second Constitutional Regime (1908) and even those of the
nascent Turkish Republic established in 1923.
- ,
, ,
, .
(Gen Osmanllar Cemiyeti),
(cemiyet) 1865, ittihad- anasr,
, (meruti) .

(merutiyet-1876), -
Murat Issi
-
(erutiyet-1908)
(1923).
,
. , ,

. erutiyet 1876. 1878
,
.
- 1
, -,
, -
. , ,2

- ( Hrriyet, Ulm).
- ,

- -
-..-es.le.me. : 1- , 2- / ,
, 3- / , 4- , 5-
. (El slm) 6 .
Bakara (): 2/128, Bakara: 2/131-132-133, Bakara: 2/136, l-i mrn ( ):
3/19, l-i mrn: 3/85, Mide ( ): 5/3, Enm ( , ): 6/125-126, Lokman (
): 31/22, Zmer (): 39/22, Saff ( ): 61/7.
mslim- (
mslman-).
, . Mustafa Sinanolu, slm, slam Ansiklopedisi, .
23, ed. Cemil Akpnar et al. (stanbul: Trkiye Diyanet Vakf, 2001), 1-2.
2
() .
( , = ).
1839 1876 ,
, : Glhane
Hatt- erif (1839) Hatt- Humayun (1856).
3
1
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
.3 (
,4 ,5 ,6 ,7 8 ..)
.
. ,
,
. ,
9
:
.
.10
-
: , ,
.
, .
hsan Sungu, Tanzimat ve Yeni Osmanllar, Tanzimat I, ed. A. H. Ongunsu, et al.

(: Milli Eitim Bakanl, 1940), 777-857.
4
erif Mardin, Yeni Osmanl Dncesinin Douu (: letiim, 2004), 95.
5
Musa adrc, Namk Kemalin Sosyal ve Siyasal Fikirleri, Osmanl Tarihi
Aratrmalar-OTAM 2 (: Ankara niversitesi yaynlar, 1991), 39-52.
6
Mmtazer Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak slamcln Douu (: Lotus Yaynlar, 2003),
173-209.
7
Mehmet Kaplan, Namk Kemal Hayat ve Eserleri (: brahim Horoz Basmevi,
1948), 111.
8
B. Stk Baykal, Namk Kemale gre Avrupa ve Biz, Namk Kemal Hakknda, University of
Ankara (: Vakf Matbaas, 1942), 200.
9

ttihad- slam
( + ) .
Modern Trkiyede Siyasi Dnce - slamclk, . Yasin Aktay, Murat
Gltekingil, Tanl Bora (: letiim yaynlar, 2004), . VI.
10
Namk Kemal, Hrriyet, 30 1868 hsan Sungu, Tanzimat ve Yeni Osmanllar, 802
( ).
3
Murat Issi
-
.11
.
. -
,
.12
.13
, . ,
Bab- li ( ) .

-. nkilab
-
- (nklap-Hrriyet).14
( ) ,
.15
,
.
, . erif Mardin, Din ve deoloji

(: letiim Yaynlar, 2004), 13-41.
12
Ebuzziya Tevfik, Yeni Osmanllar. mparatorluun Son Dnemindeki Gen Trkler
(: Pegasus Yaynlar, 2006), 27-40. , .
: Milletlerin
hukukunu tahdid u tayin eden din mezhep deildir ve din hakayk- ezeliye makamnda durup kalmazsa
yani umur- dnyeviye dahi mdahale ederse cmleyi itlaf eer ve kendisi de telef olur.
13
Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak, 68.
14
. : ; Trkne,
-: ( ) Kitab u snnete temessk eyliyor mu?
Hak tasarrufunu siyaset-i akliye ve eriyeye tatbik ediyor mu? Etmiyor (nklb, 13 1870).
Hrriyet : ,
Bab- li (Hrriyet, 7 1870, Cenevre).
15
.
.
:
.
: . . Mithat
Cemal Kuntay, Namk Kemal: Devrinin Olaylar ve nsanlar Arasnda (: Maarif
Matbaas, 1944), . I, 496.
5
11
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
, (...)
()
,
.16
, ,
, - ,
. ,

, ,
,
, -,

.
-
. ( )
(mderris)
. Keml, ,
( Lefkofal Galib)
Meclis
(Kadiri eyhi Osman ems).
(Bektai).17 ,
, ,
Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak, 73-74. Fakat imdi ahiretle mkafaatlandrma bahsi, davran
deitirebilir. Dnyann her yerinde olduu gibi Trkiyede de (
) bilgiden yoksun mutaassp insanlar
vardr: Bu gibi insanlarn fetvada sz konusu edilen sevaba layk olmak iin silah elde, cinayet
ilemeleri mmkndr.
17
Kaplan, Namk Keml Hayat, 18.
16
Murat Issi
-

.18
Mardin,19 -
dalet (),
biat ( ), icmai mmet ( ), meveret ..
.20
() ,
.
- ,
;
.
21 , ,
. Keml Voltaire,22 Rousseau,23
Montesquieu.24
. 25
Mardin, Yeni Osmanl Dncesinin Douu, 400. Muhbir,
- ,
. Zamann deimesiyle yeni yeni olaylar ortaya ksa
da fkh olduu yerde kalmaz, srekli geniler, . zdemir, . 86.
- Glhane.
(mukaddime)
Kuran hkmleri ve eriat kanunlarna balln zellikle son 150
ylda azalmas ... devletin mevcut durumdan kurtulmas iin er-i erife balanlmasnn ve yeni
kanunlarn karlmasnn gerei (...) Grsoy Aka and Himmet Hlr, Osmanl Hukukunun
Temelleri ve Tanzimat Dnemindeki Hukuksal Yeniliklerin Sosyo-Politik Dinamikleri, Sakarya
niversitesi
Trkiyat
Aratrmalar
Dergisi
19
(2006):
295-321,
http://sutad.selcuk.edu.tr/sutad/article/view/329.
19
Mardin, Yeni Osmanl Dncesinin Douu, 95.
20
Mardin
- (. Mardin, Yeni Osmanl Dncesinin Douu, 95-123,
).
21

. .
, Berkes, Lewis, Davison.
, .. : brahim irin,
Osmanl mgeleminde Avrupa (: Lotus Yaynevi, 2006).
22
Kuntay, Namk Kemal. Devrinin insanlar, . 1, 24.
23
Mardin, Yeni Osmanl Dncesinin Douu, 325. Kaplan, Namk Kemal Hayat ve Eserleri, 173.
24
25
- (Mehmet Bey), (Read Bey)
(Nuri Bey)- .
.
7
18
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
, ,
.26

-
. nklab
, .27
:
.
,
, ( )
.
( ),
.
, : ,
. ,
. : , ,
.
, ( Trkne, Siyasi
deoloji Olarak, 77).
26
Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak, 77. Trkne,
- , M. Kaya Bilgegil, Ziya Paa zerine Bir
Aratrma (: Atatrk niversitesi Basmevi, 1970), 103-104.
.
27
Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak, 78-79.
8
Murat Issi
-
ef , , reis
,
.
.
.
.

.
, ,
.
.
.
, .

.
,
. ,
( ),
( )
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
.
.28
. ,
.
( : -),
, respublica, (
), (
),
(
).
, -

, (hrriyet),
(adalet), (halk egemenlii)

. /
meveret, biat . ,
:
biat
meveret
.29
. ,
-, . ( Hrriyet)
( Ulum, Muhbir),
( nkilab).
29
Namk Kemal, Sadaret, Hrriyet, 1 1869, . 36.
28
10
Murat Issi
-
, , ,
.30
, , ,
, (mukavele)
/ ( ) .
: 31 )
. )
() -
: .1. .
. .2.
.
(hrriyet) .
: ) )
(vilaye-).
-
(mukavele).
()32 .
. 33
.

,
Namk Kemal, Yeni Osmanllarn Ecille-i Azasndan Ziya Beyefendi, Hrriyet, 6 1868,
no. 2.
31
,
: ) , ) .1-, .2- , ) , ) . . Hayrettin Karaman,
Fkh, slam Ansiklopedisi (: Trkiye Diyanet Vakf, 1996), .13, 1-14.
32
h-l-f (halefe)
. ,
, , , . Sleyman Uluda, Halife, slam Ansiklopedisi
(: Trkiye Diyanet Vakf, 1997), .15, 299-300.
33
Araf ( ): 39/7. Yaar Nuri
ztrk, Surelerin ni Srasna Gre Kuran- Kerim Meali (: Yeni Boyut, 2013),
81.
11
30
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
.
(Abu Bekir),
ashap34 , .
: biat ashap Abu Bekir

( )
(mukavele) .
,
.
.
(vilaye-) .
(vilaye)
vekil (). ,
vekil
.
( - 35)
.
: ,
;
. , (Al Farabi), (Al Gazali),

- (Nizam ul Mulk), - (Ibn-i Haldun),
(Ahmed Cevded Paa), (Namk Kemal)

.
,
( ) Kitb ()
Mzn (). , Kitb

Mzn, .
, .
, .
35
vekil -.
34
12
Murat Issi
-
Kitb Mzn
,
.

. .36
Mzn ( ) Kitb
( ) Demir (). ,
Kitb, Mzn Demir. Kitb
. , ,
.
Kitb , Kitb .
Kitb, .
. ,
.37
, ,
. 38
.
;
, ,
.
, , . Mardin,39

36
El Hadid, 112/57. http://kuran.diyanet.gov.tr/Kuran.aspx#57:1. Last modified October 27, 2014.

Ali nal, Kuranda Temel Kavramlar (: Nil Yaynlar, 2001), 254-255.
38
Fkh-: fe-ku-he.
: , ,
Kitap Snnet ,
( Hayrettin Karaman, Fkh, in slam Ansiklopedisi, 1-14).
, . Talip Trcan, slam Hukuk
Biliminde Hukuk Normu / Kavramsal Analiz ve Geerlilik Sorunu (: Ankara Okulu Yaynlar,
2003), 47-51.
39
Mardin, Yeni Osmanl Dncesinin Douu, 111-116.
13
37
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
(Knalzade).
,
Tsi (), kif Paa ( ), Celald-din-i Devvani (
- ), Ktip elebi ( ). Ahlak- Al,

erkan- erbaa (
): ,
askeri aristokrasi ( ), seyfiye (), mlk
() 40 tebaa. , ,
,
:41
1-
.
8-
7-
2-
tebaa
3-
6-
.
4-
.
tebaa.
5- ,
.
bn-i Haldun mlk ()

, Mardin, Knalzade
. bn-i Haldun mlk :
.
. Mehtap Soylu, bn Haldunda Sosyolojik Dnce (
, Gazi niversitesi Eitim Bilimleri Enstits, 2007), 60-69.
: aima Knalzade
bn-i Haldun . Taner Timur, Osmanl Kimlii (: mge Kitabevi, 2000), 117.
41
1-Adldir mucib-i salah- cihan, 2-Cihan bir badr divan devlet, 3-Devletin nazzm eriatdr,
4-eriate olamaz hi haris illa mlk, 5-Mlk zapt eyleyemez illa leker, 6-Lekeri cem eyleyemez illa
mal, 7-Mali cemeyleyen raiyyetdir, 8-Raiyyeti kul eder padiah- alemadil (. Mardin, Yeni
Osmanl Dncesinin Douu, 115).
40
14
Murat Issi
-
( ) .
, .
, , 4-5
, () 42
/ ,
/ (...)43
, 44
.
. er
hukuk ( ) , ,
er hukuk .

er mmet.
hukuk- tabiiye ( ),
Kuran- Kerim ().45
-
.46
;
;
Namk Kemal, Avrupallar ark bilmez, bret, 23 1872, . 7 Kaplan, Namk Kemal
Hayat ve Eserleri, 116-117.
43
Ziya Paa Bulunmazsa milletin efrad- beyninde
adalet / Geer bir gn zemine, ara ksa da paye-i devlet / Eder kesb-i terakki bezl sarf ettike
mahsuln / Umumun dani-i meksubudur sermaye-i devlet / Hma-y evc-i istina-y hikmettir dilim
Namk / Deildir mlteca-y iftiharm saye-i devlet. Mustafa zel, Tanzimat iirinde siyaset,
Yeni afak, 22 2007, http://yenisafak.com.tr/yazarlar/?t=22.07.2007&y=MustafaOzel.
44
Namk Kemal, Hukuk, bret, 19 1872, .5 M. Nihat zn, Namk Kemal ve bret
Gazetesi (: Remzi Kitabevi, 1938), 46-51.
45
Namk Kemal, Devlet-i Aliyye, Hrriyet, 24 1868, . 9.
46
15
42
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
- .
( ), rf
hukuk ( - ) kanunname, ferman,

adaletname, yasakname . , er rf hukuk
.47 , ,
er hukuk rf hukuk,
er hukuk . 48
.
, . .:
rf hukuk
( ) er.
, er,
rf.49
rf. rf ,
.50
,
,
.
. ,
, rf
. ,
. rf-i padih, rf-i
sultni, yas- pdih, siyaset, siyeset-i erye.
. Ahmed Akgndz, Osmanl Kanunnameleri ve Hukuk Tahlilleri, . I
(: Osmanl Aratrmalar Vakf, 1990). Halil nalck, Osmanl Hukukuna Giri,
rf-Sultani Hukuk ve Fatihin Kanunlar, Ankara niversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakltesi Dergisi 2
(1958): 102-126, http://dergiler.ankara.edu.tr/dergiler/42/376/3976.pdf. M. kif Aydn, Trk Hukuk
Tarihi (: Beta Basm Yaym, 1995), 89.
48
Akgndz, Osmanl Kanunnameleri, 51.
49
rfi hukuk 90%,
1%. Osman Kak, Adalet, Hukuk ve Yarg.
http://archiv.jura.uni-saarland.de/turkish/OKasikci1.html. Last modified 11 July 2014.
50
47
16
Murat Issi
-
er ( rf),
.
.51
rf hukuk . , ,
. rf hukuk
er hukuk,
() 19 . -
,
.
-.
,
.
. (Cevdet Paa),
(eyhlislam Arif Hikmet Bey) alim52
.53
, 54 ,
.55 - ,
. -

(Reid Paa) , ,

. (Hoca
Halil nalck, Osmanl Hukukuna Giri, Osmanl mparatorluu Toplum ve Ekonomi, ed.
Muhittin Salih Eren (: Eren Yaynclk, 1996), 319-341 Mardin, Yeni Osmanl
Dncesinin Douu, 119.
52
ilim ().
, , ,
, (, ,) .
53
54
, Mardin, Yeni Osmanl
Dncesinin Douu, 243-253.
55
-slamc : Halim Paa (1864-1921), Ali Suavi
(1839-1878), eyhlislam Musa Kazm (1858-1920), Mehmed Seyyid (Seyyid Bey 1873-1924), smail
Hakk zmirli (1868-1946) . Abdlhalim Yener, Son Dnem Osmanl Ulemasnn
Merutiyet
ve
Hrriyete
Dair
Grleri,
Kpr
dergisi
80
(2002).
http://www.koprudergisi.com/index.asp?Bolum=EskiSayilar&Goster=Yazi&YaziNo=87.
Last
modified 12 July 2014.
17
51
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
Tahsin Efendi)56 , 12 ,
-
.
,
(Sariyerli Hoca Sadk Efendi).

, -
.
(Cemiyet).57 ,
Cemiyyet-i lmiye, Cemiyyet-i Tedrisiyye-i slamiyye, Beikta Cemiyyet-i
lmiyesi Ercmen-i Dani. -, ,58
, , , .
-- , ,
/ .
- .
(Veliyyddin Efendi)
(Aksarayl eyh Hasan Efendi) -
.59 (Alim
smail Hakk Efendi).60
) . ,
- .
Hoca Tahsin Efendi 19

. , . Niyazi Berkes, Trkiyede
adalama (: Yap Kredi yaynlar, 2002); Osman Nuri Ergin, Trk Maarif
Tarihi, . I-II (: Eser yaynlar, 1977).
57
, . Ahmet Karaavu, Tanzimat Dnemi Osmanl Bilim Cemiyetleri
( , Ankara niversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakltesi, 2006).
58

-.
Cemiyyet-i lmiye (Mardin, Yeni Osmanl Dncesinin Douu, 248).
59
Kuntay, Namk Kemal, . II, 471.
60
Kuntay, Namk Kemal, . II, 167.
56
18
Murat Issi
-
ttihad- slam
,
- (ttihad- slam), ,
(Panislamizm) / -
(ttihad- slam).
.
Trkne, (
) Unity of slam, Islamic Union, Union
Islamique, Vereinigung des Islam. (Pan Islamisme, Pan

Islamismus) 61 .
-. -
, ttihad- Slav (- ) /
Panslavizm (), ttihad- Cermen (- ) / Pan Cermenizm
().62
,63
-,
. ,
1871, ( )
. .
, .

, tebaa,
ttihad- slam, Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak, 173-209;

smail Kara, Trkiyede slamclk Dncesi (: Kitabevi Yaynlar, 1997).
62
Kaplan, Namk Kemal Hayat ve Eserleri, 111; Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak, 176.
63
, Hrriyet, 10 1869, . 46. Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak, 176. Ali
Donbay, Namk Kemalin Hrriyet Gazetesindeki Makaleleri ( ,
Seluk niversitesi, 1992). ttihad- slam .
ttihad l mslimin ( ).
19
61
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
.
.

.
. ,

,
, .64
, ( )
.65
1870 Hrriyet (
bret) -
, 16 . ,
-
.66 .
(mtizac- akvam)67
Namk Kemal, nnellahe Yemuru bil Adli vel hsani [=
], Hrriyet, 21 1868, . 13, . Donbay, Namk Kemalin
Hrriyet Gazetesindeki Makaleleri, 261-284. Bu asrda devlet-i Osmaniyeden baka din-i
Muhammedinin mahmisi olmaa kabil ruy- arzda bir hkmet daha yoktur. Msr ve Tunus, elyevm
Devlet-i Aliyenin sayesinde yaamaktadrlar. ran ise hasbelmevki bir devlet-i kaviye tesisine kabiliyet
halinde deildir. Hindistan ve in Kt-alarnda iki yz milyona karib nfus- slamiye olduu halde,
Hristiyan ve Putperest hkmetler ellerinde mahkm olarak bir devlet-i mahsusa-i slamiye tekil
edememilerdir.
65
Namk Kemal, ttihad- slam, bret, 27 1872, . 11. zn, Namk Kemal ve bret
Gazetesi, 76: Avrupa ile ilk temas eden ve gzleri alan Osmanllar, slam leminin ve belki btn
asyann mealesi olmaldr. Mademki Hilafet buradadr ve mademki nisbette, mevkiin kabiliyetinde
ve halkn istidadna zamanmzn medeniyeti olan Avrupaya kurbiyette ve hatta servette, marifette
buras memaliki slamiyenin kffesine mukaddemdir. Bahsettiimiz ictiman elbette merkezi buras
olacaktr. te o vakit envar- marifet bu merkezden Asya ve Afrika cihetlerine dahi yaylr. O halde
Avrupann muvezenesene kar bir de ark muvazenesi hsl olur. O halde ise lem-i insaniyette bir
mizan- itidal vcuda geli. Memul ederiz ki bu ittifak imdi bulunduu cemiyet halinde kalmaz,
yaknda umum milletten ibaret olur ve slam bir kere u nokta-i hayr zerine burada itima ittikten
sonra pek ok zaman srmez dnyann her tarafnda birlei.
66
, Hrriyet, 10 1869 . 46.
67
mtizac- akvam, bret, 2 1872, . 14.
64
20
Murat Issi
-
ttihad- slam bret,
Ittihad- Islam .
.68
, , -
70,69
. :
-
,
.70
(ark
Mvazenesi) 71
.
.
- -
,
. ,
:
- .
Basiret ( , ttihad, Basiret, 13
1874) ( -)
ttihad- slam. o ttihad- Anasr ttihad- slam
.
69
Trkne, Devlet-i Aliye ve Avusturya
Basiret,
(.
Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak, 200-206).
70
. Namk Kemal, ttihad- slam, bret,
27 1872, . 11.
71
. stikbal, bret, 13
1872, . 1.
21
68
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
/ . ,

, .72
.

( ) ;
,
;
, ,

. :
, , ,
, .73
, -
, .

.74
( ) ,
( )
. (
),
Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak,

189 ().
73
Namk Kemal, stikbal, bret, 13 1872, . 1. ,
, Cezmi
. .
: Namk Kemal, Cezmi (: IQ Yaynclk, 2008).
74
Namk Kemal, ttihad- slam, bret, 27 1872, . 11.
72
22
Murat Issi
-
.
.75
,
, - .
()
()

.76
, 77
. ;
Trkne
. , , 78 -
(Mahmud Celaleddin Paa)-
(...) , ,
.
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.
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.
,
75
Kaplan, Namk Kemal Hayat ve Eserleri, 111.

Namk Kemal, ttihad- slam, bret, 27 1872, . 11 Namk Kemal, Osmanl
Modernlemesinin, 85 zn, Namk Kemal ve bret Gazetesi, 85-89.
77
,
-.
78
Osmanllk Sfat, Basiret, 13 1870. Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak, 185-187.
23
76
Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27
ISSN 2054-6696
,
-. ,
,
.79
, ,
- (
), , , .

,
-
.80
.
, . .
,
mslim-gayr- mslim . - :
79
80
.
Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak, 27-28.
24
Murat Issi
-

Basiret ()
ttihad, Basiret, 13 1874.
Osmanllk Sfat, Basiret, 13 , 1870.

Hrriyet ()
Yeni Osmanllarn Ecille-i Azasndan Ziya Beyefendi, Hrriyet, . 2, 6

1868.
Namk Kemal, Devlet-i Aliyye, Hrriyet, . 9, 24 1868.
Namk Kemal, nnellahe Yemuru bil Adli vel hsani, Hrriyet, . 13, 21
1868.
Namk Kemal, Sadaret, Hrriyet, . 36, 1 1869.

, Hrriyet, . 46, 10 1869.
bret ()
Namk Kemal, stikbal, bret, . 1, 13 1872.

Namk Kemal, Hukuk, bret, . 5, 19 1872.
Namk Kemal, Avrupallar ark bilmez, bret, . 7, 23 1872.
Namk Kemal, ttihad- slam, bret, . 11, 27 1872.

mtizac- akvam, bret, . 14, 2 1872.
&
Aka, Grsoy and Hlr, Himmet. Osmanl Hukukunun Temelleri ve Tanzimat
Dnemindeki Hukuksal Yeniliklerin Sosyo-Politik Dinamikleri. Sakarya
niversitesi Trkiyat Aratrmalar Dergisi, 2006.
Akgndz,
Ahmed.
Osmanl
Kanunnameleri
ve
: Osmanl Aratrmalar Vakf, 1990.
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Hukuk
Tahlilleri.
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Aktay, Yasin, Murat Gltekingil, and Tanl Bora, . Modern Trkiyede

Siyasi Dnceslamclk. . VI. : letiim yaynlar, 2004.
Aydn, M. kif. Trk Hukuk Tarihi. : Beta Basm Yaym, 1995.
Baykal, Stk. Namk Kemale gre Avrupa ve Biz. Namk Kemal Hakknda,
University of Ankara, 187-217. : Vakf Matbaas, 1942.
Berkes, Niyazi. Trkiyede adalama. : Yap Kredi yaynlar,

2002.
Bilgegil, M. Kaya. Ziya Paa zerine Bir Aratrma. : Atatrk

niversitesi Basmevi, 1970.
adrc, Musa. Namk Kemalin Sosyal ve Siyasal Fikirleri. Osmanl Tarihi
Aratrmalar-OTAM 2, (1991):39-52.
Donbay, Ali. Namk Kemalin Hrriyet Gazetesindeki Makaleleri.

, Seluk niversitesi, 1992.
Ergin, Osman Nuri. Trk Maarif Tarihi, . I-II. : Eser yaynlar,

1977.
nalck, Halil. Osmanl Hukukuna Giri, rf-Sultani Hukuk ve Fatihin Kanunlar.

Ankara niversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakltesi Dergisi 13:2 (1958): 102-126.
nalck, Halil. Osmanl Hukukuna Giri. In Osmanl mparatorluu Toplum ve

Ekonomi, edited by Muhittin Salih Eren, 319-341. : Eren
Yaynclk, 1996.
Kaplan, Mehmet. Namk Kemal Hayat ve Eserleri. : brahim

Horoz Basmevi, 1948.
Kara, smail. Trkiyede slamclk Dncesi. : Kitabevi Yaynlar,

1997.
Karaavu, Ahmet. Tanzimat Dnemi Osmanl Bilim Cemiyetleri.

, Ankara niversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakltesi, 2006.
Kak,
Osman.
Adalet,
Hukuk
http://archiv.jura.uni-saarland.de/turkish/OKasikci1.html.
11 2014.
ve
Yarg.
Kemal, Namk. Cezmi. : IQ Yaynclk, 2008.
Kuntay, Mithat Cemal. Namk Kemal: Devrinin Olaylar ve nsanlar Arasnda.

: Maarif Matbaas, 1944.
Mardin, erif. Din ve deoloji. : letiim Yaynlar, 2004.
26
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Mardin, erif. Yeni Osmanl Dncesinin Douu. : letiim,

2004.
zel, Mustafa. Tanzimat iirinde siyaset. Yeni afak, 22 2007.

http://yenisafak.com.tr/yazarlar/?t=22.07.2007&y=MustafaOzel.
12 2014.
ztrk, Yaar Nuri. Surelerin ni Srasna Gre Kuran- Kerim Meali.

: Yeni Boyut, 2013.
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et al., 1-2. : Trkiye Diyanet Vakf, 2001.
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Ongunsu, et al., 777-857. : Milli Eitim Bakanl, 1940.
Tevfik, Ebuzziya. Yeni Osmanllar. mparatorluun Son Dnemindeki Gen Trkler.

: Pegasus Yaynlar, 2006.
Timur, Taner. Osmanl Kimlii. : mge Kitabevi, 2000.
Trcan, Talip. slam Hukuk Biliminde Hukuk Normu / Kavramsal Analiz ve

Geerlilik Sorunu. : Ankara Okulu Yaynlar, 2003.
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Yaynlar, 2003.
nal, Ali. Kuranda Temel Kavramlar. : Nil Yaynlar, 2001.

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Grleri.
Kpr
dergisi
80
(2002).
http://www.koprudergisi.com/index.asp?Bolum=EskiSayilar&Goster=Yazi&Yaz
iNo=87. 12 2014.
27
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The poll tax (cizye) in Cyprus during the 17th century:

A depiction for the administration of its revenue
Styliani Lepida
PhD Candidate in Ottoman History
Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cyprus
Abstract
The imposition of the Ottoman administrative system in Cyprus, after its conquest by
the Ottomans in 1571, signaled the implementation of the Ottoman tax system, in
which the poll tax played a key role.1 This article deals with the poll tax in Cyprus
during the 17th century. Its revenues, as will be seen below, were used to serve
various functions in the Ottoman edifice, especially at a time when the
politico-economic context within the empire underwent transformations. The purpose
of this essay is to identify to which directions the revenue of the poll tax of the
Cypriots was channeled. The intention is, through the study of the management of the
poll tax in the province of Cyprus, to compose a picture of both the local and the
central government, and the connection and interaction between them. This research
was based on archival material, and particularly on firmans of the National Library
of Sofia (Bulgaria).
Introduction
The poll tax (cizye),2 constituted the oldest tax in the history of the Ottoman Empire
with which were charged exclusively its non-Muslim male subjects between the ages
of 14-75, capable of working.3 The poll tax belonged to the category of eri taxes
The tax system was regulated immediately after the conquest of Cyprus. The Sultan, through a
firman (October 1572), determined the rules of the taxation. See mer Ltfi Barkan, XV ve XVInc
Asrlarda Osmanl mparatorluunda Zira Ekonominin Hukuk ve Mal Esaslar, Kanunlar (Istanbul:
Brhaneddin Matbaas, 1943), 348-353.
2
The confusion between the terms of hara and cizye in the Ottoman documents has been pointed out
by many researchers. However, we need to clarify that these are two different taxes that belonged to the
same category, of taxes stipulated in Islamic law. See Halil nalck, Djizya, in Encyclopaedia of
Islam, vol. II, ed. B. Lewis, Ch. Pellat, and J. Schacht (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1991), 562-566.
3
Mbahat S. Ktkolu, Osmanl ktisad Yaps, in Osmanl Devleti ve Medeniyeti Tarihi, ed. E.
hsanolu (Istanbul: IRCICA, 1994), 534.
28
Styliani Lepida
The poll tax (cizye) in Cyprus during the 17th century
(tekalif-i eriye) (together with Zekat, Aar, Hara),4 i.e. those stipulated de jure by
Islam, and therefore its collection belonged to the jurisdiction of the kad (judge).5 It
was paid over time on an annual basis, at least with regard to the Ottoman Empire,
always in cash and addressed either in person or in residential units, known as hane
(households) or even in whole communities as a total amount (maktu). After the end
of the 17th century, and particularly after 1691, the poll tax was addressed to
individuals (alal-rus) and not in ensembles.6 Not the whole population was liable to
pay the poll tax in the Ottoman Empire. Instead, there were categories exempted from
paying the poll tax and these were, on the one hand, all Muslims, and on the other
hand, non-Muslim groups, such as women, the elderly, children, and those with some
kind of disability. 7 Poll-tax-exempt were also some individuals because of the
services they offered to the State, such as those employed in the Palace services or the
Royal Naval Station, some prelates like the patriarch, and some senior officials of
foreign diplomatic delegations.8 Those who paid the poll tax (haragzar), were
divided, in turn, into three categories, those with low (edna), moderate (evsat) and
high income (ala).9 According to Archimandrite Kyprianos, immediately after the
conquest of the island by the Ottomans in 1571, allocated the taxes to the taxpayers of
Cyprus: I say that people were divided into three classes, as many think both earlier
and today. The first class was ordered to pay eleven piasters (guru) annually for poll
tax or for hara, the second, weaker than the first, should give five and a half and the
third and poorest only three guru.10
lber Ortayl, Trkiye dare Tarihi (Ankara: Trkiye ve Orta Dou Amme daresi Enstits Yaynlar,
1979), 99-100.
5
nalck, Djizya, 562.
6
Bruce McGowan, Economic life in Ottoman Europe, taxation, trade and the struggle for land
1600-1800 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), 80-81.
7
Suraiya Faroqhi, Crisis and change, 1590-1699, in An economic and social history of the Ottoman
empire, vol. 2 (1600-1914), ed. Suraiya Faroqhi, Bruce McGowan, Donald Quataert, and evket
Pamuk (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 532.
8
A. R. Altnay, On altnc Asrda Istanbul Hayat (Istanbul: Enderun Yaynevi, 1988), 180-182;
, , . 2 (: . , 1990), 172.
9
Recep Dndar, Kbrs Beylerbeylii (1570-1670) (PhD diss., nn niversitesi, 1998), 252-256;
Linda T. Darling, Revenue-Raising and Legitimacy (Tax collection and Finance Administration in the
Ottoman Empire 1560-1660) (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1996), 82-83; , ,
169.
10
, , ,

. ,
. ,
(1788 Reprint, : , 1902), 447-448.
29
4
Diogenes 2 (2014): 28-47
ISSN 2054-6696
he role of the poll tax in the economy of the empire

The revenue of the Ottoman Empire came from a multitude of economic activities and
sources, of which taxation and especially the poll tax, paid on an annual basis
( / in Greek sources),11 was undoubtedly of

particular relevance.12 During the 16th century, it constituted perhaps the cornerstone
of the fiscal structure, while in the 17th and the 18th century it was one of the most
important sources of revenue for the budget of the empire.13 The budget for the years
1527-1528, which has been studied by Barkan, showed that the poll tax, which was
compulsory for the non-Muslims, who constituted one third of the total population of
the empire, was almost one fifth of government revenue, a proportion that later
evolved to two fifths.14 From 1528 until 1609 the expenditures of the central budget
of the Ottoman Empire increased. A reasonable explanation for this escalation in the
empires expenditures could be, of course, the decline of the timar system, which
occured from the end of the 16th century onward, the deficit in the Central Treasury,
the debasement of the silver coin (1580s) and finally the war campaign in Austria.
15
Increased expenditures caused an increase of the tax burden on the Ottoman subjects
and especially on the non-Muslims.16
In the 17th century, especially in the years 1660 to 1661, the poll tax revenues of
the empire amounted to 111,723,469 ake,17 almost three times bigger than those of
the previous century, but at the same time no population growth occurred. This may
indicate that the tax burden of each person (nefer) / household (hane) had grown
unevenly. Changes in the amount and denominations make it difficult to track the
prices of the poll tax. It is even more difficult to define a single measure for the poll
tax in order to have an overview of its progress, because on the one hand it differed
, , 163-164.
Halil nalck, The Ottoman Empire, The Classical Age 1300-1600 (London: George Weidenfeld
& Nicolson Ltd, 1973), 7.
13
Abdllatif ener, Tanzimat dnemi osmanl vergi sistemi (Istanbul: aret Yaynlar, 1990), 112-113.
14
mer Ltf Barkan, H. 933-934 (M. 1527-1528) Mali Ylna Ait Bir Bte rnei, FM. XV/1-4
(Ekim 1953 - Temmuz 1954): 269; , , 41-42; Ahmet Tabakolu,
Gerileme dnemine girerken Osmanl maliyesi (Istanbul: Dergah Yaynlar, 1985), 104.
15
nalck, The Ottoman Empire, The Classical Age 1300-1600, 47-52.
16
, , 47.
17
mer Ltfi Barkan, 1070-1071 (1660-1661) Tarihli Osmanl Btesi ve bir Mukayese, FM 17
(1955/56): 307.
11
12
30
Styliani Lepida
from region to region and on the other hand the value of the currency of the ake, was
not the same over time. There could be, therefore, the risk of making generalizations,
which would probably distort our conclusions.
The poll tax was paid in silver coin, known as ake,18 which was the most
common coin used in transactions. The amount of its value varied from place to place
and from time to time. So in the 16th century the cizye value might vary from 25 to
125 ake at the end of the century. For example, in 1560 in the administrative district
of Rumeli, as well as in Syria, the poll tax varied between 50 and 80 ake, while in
Anatolia it ranged between 25 and 55 ake. In 1592-95, however, there are records of
the poll tax reaching the amount of 100-122 ake.
Moving to the first half of 17th century to the present case, there is a notable
increase in the payments of the poll tax, which ranged between 200 and 333 ake. In
Trabzon in 1626, for example, the poll tax was set as 225 ake and twenty years later
(1646) the amount had increased by 100 ake, reaching the amount of 325 ake.19
However, as we have mentioned above, the amount of the poll tax differed from
region to region. So in 1632-1633, while the amount paid had risen in general to over
220 ake, Adrianople (Edirne) paid only 70 ake per hane. (See Table 1, according to
L. Darlings Table 6).20
Table 1. Cizye in different places of the Ottoman Empire during the 17th
century.
Place
Year / Cizye per hane

1614 / 220 ake
Bosnia
1617 / 230-290 ake

1640 / 95-333 ake
1645 / 280 ake
18
Ake was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. After 1687 it was replaced by guru which
became the main unit primarily used for accountancy purposes. For the Ottoman coins and their value,
see Sevket Pamuk, A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2000). Also see Philip Grierson, Numismatics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975), 43; H.
Bowen, Ake, in Encyclopedia of Islam, vol. I, ed. H. A. R. Gibb, J. H. Kramers, E. Levi-Provenal,
and J. Schacht (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1986), 317-318.
19
Darling, Revenue-Raising and Legitimacy, 108-111, Table 5.
20
Ibid., 111-113, Table 6.
31
Diogenes 2 (2014): 28-47
ISSN 2054-6696
1622-1626 / 225 ake
Trabzon
1646 / 285-325 ake

Selanik (Thessaloniki)
1622 / 370 ake
Ankara
1645 / 290 ake
Arabkir
1645 / 290 ake
Yeniehir (Larissa)
1645 / 339 ake
Edirne (Adrianople)
1632-1633 / 70 ake
Aleppo (Haleb)
1646 / 325 ake
Diyarbakir
1646 / 245 ake
unkes
1646 / 291 ake
rgp
1614 / 220 ake
As for the amount paid by each hane in Cyprus during the 17th century, this varies.
We know that the amount of cizye payable in Cyprus was 60 ake from the poor, 80
ake from the middle-class and 100 ake from the wealthy. The cizye of the first year
of the Ottoman administration in Cyprus, 1571-72, was collected, as we saw above,
from 23,000 hane, and totaled 23,220 gold pieces (or 1,393,213 ake).21 In 1636, as
we have seen, the amount required per capita was 560 ake. In 1642 this figure had
fallen to 446 ake, and this value lasted until 1652. In 1653 the value of this amount
was increased by 5 ake, reaching 451 ake, and remained so until 1658.22
The amount paid until the late 17th century did not concern individuals (nefer),
but housing units (hane). Cyprus was also subject to the same system of hane.23
However, the population data of non-Muslim taxpayers in Cyprus in the 17th century
were registered in hane and occasionally in nefer. As noted by Jennings, these two
terms were often confused by Ottoman officials, but he assured that, at least in the
case of Cyprus, references to the two terms above correspond to adult non-Muslims
21
Ahmet C. Gaziolu, The Turks in Cyprus, A province of the Ottoman Empire (1571-1878) (London:
K. Rustem & Brother, 1990), 177.
22
Dndar, Kbrs Beylerbeylii (1570-1670), 256.
23
Boris Christoff Nedkoff, Osmanl mparatorluunda Cizye, Belleten VIII/32 (1944): 599-652;
Oktay zel, Avarz ve Cizye Defterleri, in Osmanl Devletinde Bilgi ve statistik, ed. H. nalck and
. Pamuk (Ankara: T.C. Babakanlk Devlet statistik Enstits, 2001), 159-179.
32
Styliani Lepida
who were subject to the payment of the poll tax.24 It is difficult to ascertain to what
exactly it corresponds and how it may be interpreted in demographic terms. So we
must always be cautious in using them, particularly in drawing conclusions about
demography. The reason is that nefer refers to only one person but hane includes a
group of persons.
In order to have an approximation of the amount paid by the Cypriot reaya
(tax-paying subjects) as poll tax, besides the amount paid, we must have samples of
the population of the zimmi (non-Muslims) taxpayers. That means that we should have
arithmetical indications of hane or nefer. Right after the surrender of Famagusta on 6
August 1571 and the subsequent conquest of the island of Cyprus, the procedure of
the integration of the newly-conquered land in the Ottoman trunk (as mandated by
Ottoman standards) entered into force. The Sultan ordered that the male population
should be counted so as to be compiled in the tax registers. 25 Archimandrite
Kyprianos informs us that this first registration showed that there existed 85,000 men,
aged between 14 and 50 years old, including Greek-Orthodox Cypriots,
Latin-Catholics, Armenians, Maronites and Copts, who were recorded in the tax
registers, when they met the criteria to pay poll tax, except for women, children and
elderly people, as we mentioned above.26
According to Dndar, who studied a detailed poll tax register of Cyprus of the
year 1643, the non-Muslim subjects who were obliged to pay the poll tax were 18,050
(hane). He makes even a flashback to the time of the conquest and we learn that in
1572, one year after the occupation of Cyprus, taxpayers numbered 33,947 (hane). In
the period 1604-1608 taxpayers were about 30,000, by 1621 they were about 25,000,
and by 1631 their number had risen again to around 30,000, but by the years
1636-1641 only 16,500 hane paid poll tax in Cyprus.27 In 1647 the poll-tax-payers
increased to 17,838, while between 1653 and 1658 the number of hane was
approximately 12,000.28 With respect to the tax revenue, the amounts collected were
24
Ronald C. Jennings, Christians and Muslims in Ottoman Cyprus and the Mediterranean World,
1571-1640 (New York, NY: New York University Press, 1993), 191-197, Table 6.1; Darling,
Revenue-Raising and Legitimacy, 100-108.
25
Halil nalck, Ottoman Methods of Conquest, Studia Islamica 2 (1954): 103-129.
26
, , 446-447.
27
Recep Dndar, H.1053-M.1643 Tarihli 8428 Nolu Cizye Defterinin Tantm ve
Deerlendirilmesi, History Studies 4, no. 4 (November 2012): 125-146.
28
33
Diogenes 2 (2014): 28-47
ISSN 2054-6696
as follows: in 1636-1647 the total amount of the income of the poll tax stands roughly
at 90,000-100,000 guru (approximately 8,000,000 ake), while in the years 1653 to
1654 the cizye amount presents a vertical increase, reaching approximately
10,000,000 ake (while the number of the tax-payers decreased), which was reduced
by half during the subsequent years 1655-1658.29
Jennings, who also studied poll tax registers (mufassal, cmal), gives the
following figures for the non-Muslim taxpayers of Cyprus (See Table 2).30
Table 2. Tax payers (of cizye) in Cyprus during the 17th century.
29
30
Year
hane or nefer as indicated
1571-72
23,000 hane
1604
27,500 - 30,071 hane / 30,100 nefer
1606
30,120 hane or 30,069 hane
1607
30,569 hane
1608
29,616 nefer or 30,717 nefer (?)
1612
26,840 hane
1617
26,500 hane
1618
25,450 hane
1621
25,000 hane
1623-24
22,500 hane
1626
20,000 hane
1628
20,000 hane
1630-31
20,000 hane
1636
16,500 hane
1641
17,000 -17,500 hane
1643
18,050 nefer or 17,848 nefer
1647
17,848 nefer
1655
15,000 hane
1656
12,000 hane

Jennings, Christians and Muslims, 191-198.
34
Styliani Lepida
It is evident that, from the beginning of the 17th century to the mid-century, there is a
steady downward path in the number of taxable units. It is remarkable, however, that,
according to Theocharides (), in a 1648 document it is stated that those
subject to poll tax in Cyprus were approximately 10,000 hanes, while the previous
year, as mentioned above, taxpayers were about 18,000 nefer (17,848 nefer to be
precise).31 One wonders how 8,000 tax units disappeared within one year. Such
phenomena of discrepancy in the numerical data are not lacking in the demography of
Cyprus in the 16th-17th century. In our case, though, one should take into account the
fact that in the period we are studying, Cyprus had been plagued by natural disasters
(especially in the first half of the 17th century), such as locusts, malaria, plague as
well as famine, earthquakes and of course drought, 32 which decimated a large
proportion of the population and their crops and may account for the fluctuations in
the population data appearing in each source. In a document of 1647, however, it is
reported that because of the locusts and the ensuing famine, many people either died
or dispersed. This resulted in reducing the taxpayers by 7,500. The aforementioned
7,500 (dead or missing) would not be recorded in the tax records of the following year.
Perhaps this justifies the number of taxpayers in the following year, which
corresponds to 10,000.33
There are therefore fluctuations regarding the demographic data of Cyprus in the
16th-17th century, which complicate the drawing of conclusions about the taxable
population and consequently the dynamics of the poll tax of the island. It must also be
taken into account that the poll tax could often rise disproportionately, when required
by circumstances. These circumstances were usually a military campaign, in which
the needs of the empire for money were increased. In such cases, not only the
extraordinary taxes (avariz) propagated, but also the regular ones, like the poll tax,
could multiply by four or five times. This fact, in conjunction with the abundance of
taxes and the systematic paying in money rather than in kind, weighed heavily on the
taxpayers and hence caused dissatisfaction.34
. , ( 17 .), , .,
.1 (1987): 213, 219, 220.
32
Jennings, Christians and Muslims, 173-191, 391.
33
34
nalck, The Ottoman Empire, The Classical Age 1300-1600, 49-50.
35
31
Diogenes 2 (2014): 28-47
ISSN 2054-6696
The status of the poll tax collection
This link between central government and taxpayers, and consequently between the
sultan and his subjects, involved a peculiar sequence of events. This sequence appears
to be emanating from taxation, which was the pillar of the Ottoman edifice, but
extended to aspects of the Ottoman administration and directly affected the social
structures as well. The basis lies in the obligation of the subjects to pay to the Sultan
part of their income. This relationship of subordination that started from the tax
system was extended to other areas, such as concession of religious freedom, public
property, land etc. Very accurately, the nature of the fiscal system of the Ottoman
Empire has been characterized by N. Sarris (. ) as based on givings

() from the Ottoman subjects to the sultan.
35
The poll tax meets in the
word concession the philosophy of its function. We could say that the word giving
is not unknown in Ottoman terminology. Suffice it to glance at the meaning of the
word vergi (tax), which is used to attribute the significance of the tax so we can see
that its root derives from the verb vermek, meaning to give.36 So when we talk
about givings, we mean concessions on behalf of the subjects towards the sultan.
This could be also a view of how the administration was running in general.
Kyprianos in his chronicle clearly refers to the poll tax using the word giving
().37
Those responsible for the collection of the poll tax were employees of the sultan,
designated by the central government. In this way it has been considered that the
central government was able to fully supervise the whole of the Ottoman Empire. In
1689, a central system for collecting the taxes and a separate section specifically
designed for the poll tax, known as the Accounting Department of the Poll Tax (Cizye
Muhasebesi Kalemi), was organized. 38 The collection of the poll tax of each
administrative region (sancak, liva) was contracted out to a group of two people, an
, , 158.
Ibid., 158-159.
37
It is clearly stated by Archimandrite Kyprianos that after the surrender of the island they were
registered in order to pay the poll tax () (
). , , 447.
38
, , 171.
35
36
36
Styliani Lepida
emin (commissioner) and a katib (scribe).39 The involvement of the army in tax
collection had its own value and raises various interpretations, such as the benefits
reaped by the Ottoman central authority by keeping the soldiers busy, especially the
cavalry, in times when they were not on active duty. During the 17th century, there
were gradual variations in the tax collection system, which resulted in transferring the
sultans favor from one social group to another, while the central government
struggled to maintain control over the collection process of tax farming and to reduce
oppression. It is argued that the involvement of people from the ranks of the army in
tax collection to a large extent meant the parallel and increasing involvement of the
Janissaries in politics.40
Beyond the collectors, the kad (judge) was also responsible for the collection of
the poll tax and the enforcement of orders concerning the administration of its
revenues. The kad was an important person for the regional administration with a
multifaceted role. The addressees of the firmans, which are at our disposal, are almost
always the collector of the poll tax and the kad of Nicosia. However, depending on
the subject of the order, there were cases where the addressees of the firman could be
other persons too. Thus we see that the majority of the firmans was addressed, besides
the two aforementioned officials, to the beylerbey (governor of a beylerbeylik, an
administrative unit) of Cyprus as well as to the defterdar (head of the treasury).41 In
special cases, other persons, apart from those mentioned above, could be involved as
well. For example, the mtesellim (tax collector) of Cyprus, the garrison commander
and a mbair (for gunpowder) are also mentioned in some firmans.42 Nevertheless,
there are cases where the only recipient is the collector of the poll tax.43
A firman of 1636, published by Jennings, informs us that some reayas of Cyprus
had contacted the Sultan protesting against the tax pressure exercised by the poll
tax collectors. As a consequence of the pressure exerted on the Cypriot reayas, many
of them, about 3,500 hanes, left the island since they could not afford to pay the poll
39
The majority of persons appointed to positions of emin and katib often come from the military, and
specifically from the permanent military regiments of the Porte, the mteferrika guard and cavalry
regiments known as alt blk, Darling, Revenue-Raising and Legitimacy, 161-163.
40
Darling, Revenue-Raising and Legitimacy, 169-185.
41
ANLS: F.275, a.e.4, F.275, a.e.8, F.275, a.e.9, F.275, a.e.10, F.275, a.e.14, F.275, a.e.15, F.275A,
a.e.684.
42
ANLS, F.275A, a.e.684.
43
ANLS, F.275A, a.e.793.
37
Diogenes 2 (2014): 28-47
ISSN 2054-6696
tax anymore. It is indeed reported that, previously, there were 20,000 hanes, but after
the fleeing of the 3,500 reayas, the number of hanes fell to 16,500. Thereafter, the tax
collectors were recording in their registers 20,000 hanes, overcharging those who
remained against the fugitives. So they asked 720 ake from each hane, gathering a
total sum of 116,000 guru. According to the firman, of this total sum, an amount of
80,000 ake was sent to the Top Kap (Sublime Porte), another amount of 30,000 was
intended to pay salaries and cover other essential expenses (not mentioned though),
and as for the rest of this money, it was available to the collectors of the poll tax.
Upon the request of the reaya of Cyprus, who could not stand this pressure, the
sultan ordered that in the future the poll tax should be collected solely from the 16,500
hanes left, and the amount paid by each hane should not exceed the amount of 560
ake.44 Consequently, according to the imperial order, every year 60,000 guru would
be given to the Imperial Treasury. Of these, an amount of 30,000 would be disposed
for salaries and another amount of 2,000 for the tax collectors, as mentioned above.45
It should be kept in mind that some taxes, including the poll tax, were taken from
areas collectively, thereby charging the final amount. This worked to the detriment of
some taxpayers in case of depopulation or tax evasion.46
Through the data given to us by the firman above, it can be seen that, at least
officially, the sultan intended to eliminate phenomena of oppression. It is not
completely certified to what extent the will of the Sultan was implemented in practice
or whether it remained just a theory printed officially in a document of a firman.
However, the fact is that similar cases of undue pressure by the authorities seem
frequent in the Ottoman Empire, and particularly in the province, where the control of
the central authorities was less effective.47
Destination of the poll-tax incomes of Cyprus
The aforementioned persons were the recipients of orders from the Sultan and were
obliged to obey. In addition, it is worth examining the other side as well. Who were
44
Recep Dndar and Mesut Aydn, 3924 nolu Cizye Defterine gre Kbrs Eyaleti Baf ve Kukla
kazalarnda gayrimslimler (H.1061/M.1650-51), TBAR XXXI (Bahar 2012): 79-80.
45
46
, , 164-165.
47
Boa A. Ergene, On Ottoman Justice: Interpretations in Conflict (1600-1800), Islamic Law and
Society 8, no. 1 (2001): 79-81.
38
Styliani Lepida
those individuals or groups, who petitioned the sultan, asking for tax exemptions or
tax reductions? Moreover, let us examine the directions taken by the poll tax revenues.
Where was the money, collected by the poll tax, channeled?
The firman recipients included people representing local government in Cyprus.
They were usually those who begged the Sultan to issue a firman to satisfy their
claims regarding the incomes of the poll tax of the island. In 1654, for example, the
mutasarrf (governor of a sancak) of the sancak of Famagusta (Maosa), called
Hrrem, appealed to the sultan to ensure that the fixed amount covered routinely the
costs of warships. The money was coming from the income of the poll tax in Cyprus
from the previous year (1652-1653). It was an amount of 260,000 ake, which was
granted to the mutasarrf after the defters of the General Accounting (which were kept
in the Imperial Treasury) were checked. After checking the defters, the officers
verified that each governor of Famagusta was receiving annually the aforementioned
sum of 260,000 ake from the income of the poll tax of the island.48 This fact is also
verified by the data cited by Dndar, according to which for the years
1641(H.1051)-1658(H.1069), the amount paid to cover the costs of warships in the
province of Famagusta was consistently 3,250 guru / 260,000 ake.49 Covering the
costs of warships was one of the main purposes of the revenues of the poll tax in
Cyprus.
In 1656 the vizier, Mutafa Paa, begged Sultan Mehmed IV, to order that the
amount of 260,000 ake, traditionally available to cover the costs of ships, be given to
the former sancakbey of Famagusta, Hrrem Bey. This amount, as said before, was
drawn from the poll-tax incomes of the island of Cyprus. The sultans order
confirmed the payment of this amount to this former sancakbey of Famagusta,
Hrrem Bey, from the collections of the poll tax for the year 1653/54. The current
mir-i liva of Famagusta, Yuuf Paa, was paid from the income of the poll tax of the
year 1654/55.50
Similarly, Hasan, sancakbey of Paphos in 1654, begged sultan to be given the
money for the cost of warships, which corresponded to the amount of 200,000 ake.
48
49
50
ANLS, F.275, a.e.4.

ANLS, F.275, a.e.9.
39
Diogenes 2 (2014): 28-47
ISSN 2054-6696
This money, which he ultimately received, would be drawn from the poll tax of the
previous year (1652/53).51
In another firman, the applicant is the governor of Cyprus (mir-i miran),52 who
addressed the sultan in 1655, claiming the amounts set, salyane and ceraye, that were
entitled by each governor and which amounted to 800,000 ake for salyane and
260,000 for ceraye respectively. These amounts, according to the firman, were drawn
from the poll-tax incomes of Cyprus. So the above amounts were given to the
governor of Cyprus from the poll tax of the previous year (1653-1654).53 In the
firman of 1636, mentioned above, we learn that the Sublime Porte received from the
poll tax of Cyprus 60,000 guru. Another 30,000 guru collected were intended for
the salyane, i.e. salaries of officials of Ottoman Cyprus, and 2,000 guru were given
to the collectors of the poll tax. It is therefore understood that the payment of salaries
was fixed and a reasonably significant amount was covered, among others, by the poll
tax revenues. The payment of salaries was maintained as a regular expenditure, since
there are at least two references in a period of twenty years during the 17th century.
This evidence proves the duration of this financial activity.54
An interesting case is recorded in the firman of 1655 and it is related to the
incomes of the poll tax in Cyprus. This case has to do with the holy pilgrimages of the
Muslims. It seems that a portion of the income of the poll tax of Cyprus in the 17th
century was available for the needs of the most deprived persons of the two holy cities
of Muslims, Mecca and Medina. So in 1655 sultan Mehmed IV, ordered Behram Aa,
envoy (mbair) in Cyprus on behalf of the commissioner/foreman (mtevelli) of the
wakfs (charitable institutions) of the two cities, to be given the requested 4,250 guru.
This amount was given annually from the income of the poll tax of Cyprus for the
purpose mentioned above.55
The protection of both Muslim holy shrines (hajj) and the two Islamic holy cities
of Mecca and Medina, was traditionally one of the major goals of the Ottoman sultans.
Evliya elebi, who visited Mecca in 1671-1672, commented on the existence of many
51
ANLS, F.275, a.e.8; Dndar, Kbrs Beylerbeylii (1570-1670), 257.

Mir-i miran is the supreme commander. It is a military and political term synonymous with
beylerbey, provincial governor. See F. A. K. Yasamee, Mir-i Miran, in Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol.
VII, ed. C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W. P. Heinrichs, and Ch. Pellat (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1993),
95-96.
53
ANLS, F.275, a.e.6.
54
Jennings, Christians and Muslims, 204.
55
ANLS, F.275, a.e.10.
52
40
Styliani Lepida
laudatory inscriptions commemorating the reign of Sultan Mehmed IV, for his
donations. The sultans took care not only to grant money to the poor of the two cities,
as mentioned in the firmans, but also directed the establishment of wakfs and
buildings hosting pilgrims arriving there. Sultans also looked after the maintenance of
inns and hospices along the path leading from Cairo and Damascus to Hejaz. But even
other members of the Ottoman dynasty or the women of the harem made occasional
donations, which included mostly the creation of hospices, fountains and other
facilities for the pilgrims. The sponsorship of goods and money concerned facilitating
the daily lives of the deprived residents of Mecca and Medina, and conducted mainly
through charitable institutions or wakfs located in these cities and in Egypt. According
to Suraiya Faroqhi, donations and information about these can be found in defters
(accounting registers of financial services).56
In two firmans of 1654 and 1655, we are informed that part of the income of the
poll tax went to the Imperial Naval Station. In the first one, that of 1654, Sultan
Mehmed IV, through an order, guaranteed the payment of an amount of 200,000 ake
to the Emin of the imperial Naval Base in Istanbul, called alih, so that the officials of
the Naval Base would purchase 40,000 cubits of fabric for the uniforms of the
servants of the Imperial Naval Base. The amount given for this purpose each year
came from the income of the poll tax in Cyprus.57 The firman of 1655 confirms the
continuation of this status. The same amount of 200,000 ake, according to the
sultans order, would be given for the same purpose.58 From 1641 until 1658, this
amount did not change.59
The Imperial Naval Station was in need of supply of a variety of fabrics,
necessary for different purposes like the sails of ships, the uniforms of the captives,
etc. Regarding the uniforms of prisoners, Cyprus was the main source of supply. As
we may see in the budgets, since the conquest of the island an amount was allocated
each year intended to cover the costs of buying fabric for the Imperial Naval Station.
In 1585, 33,228 cubits of fabric were needed (7 ake per cubit) and between the years
1642 and 1669, 40,000 cubits were needed (5 ake per cubit). The money for the
56
Faroqhi, Crisis and change, 1590-1699, 610-612.

ANLS, F.275, a.e.14.
58
ANLS, F.275, a.e.15.
59
For the years H.1051 and H.1057, it is recorded the equivalent amount of 2,500 guru, see Dndar,
Kbrs Beylerbeylii (1570-1670), 257.
41
57
Diogenes 2 (2014): 28-47
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purchase of the necessary fabric was requested by the beylerbey and the kad of
Cyprus, who were responsible for ensuring the necessary amounts for this purpose.
The source for the requested money was the income of the poll tax of Cyprus.60
A document from the local accounting department of Cyprus, in 1681, shows
another case of disposal of the income of the poll tax in Cyprus. The document refers
to an amount of 1,064,800 ake, a portion of the poll tax of Cyprus for the year 1681,
which was intended to meet the needs of public kitchens and was deposited by Yahya
elebi, on behalf of the tenant Mehmed Efendi.61
Only the central Treasury had the authority to collect the cizye. The Sultan
distributed the greater part of the central Treasurys revenues to Janissaries and
kapkulu cavalry as salaries paid in cash. He spent the rest on the troops guarding
fortresses, Palace expenses, and the construction and repair of public buildings.62
In firman of 1628, the cizyedar (collector of the poll tax), the sole addressee of
the firman, was ordered by Sultan Murad to give Mustafa Arnaud Abdullah 3,716
ake from the poll tax. The firman further informs us that Mustafa Arnaud Abdullah,
was serving in 109 blk and received as daily wage 21 ake. Therefore, part of the
poll tax could also go into the payment of the salaries of Janissaries.63 Jennings, after
studying tax registers, gives us some ideas on the salary of the Janissaries in Cyprus
in the 17th century. According to these, the Janissaries of Cyprus numbered around
900 on average between 1617 and 1632, and annual expenses for salaries (ulufe), for
the maintenance of the corps, ranged from 400,000 to 500,000 ake annually.64
Another document of 1644 (3-12 October) concerns the payment of salaries of
soldiers who were charged with guarding the fortress of Ak Liman. In this document,
the delegate of the officers and soldiers of the fortress above, Es-seyyid Halil,
certified to the court that he had received 50,000 ake by Ridvan Aa, for covering
the payment of their salaries. For the payment of this amount a firman had been issued
in Istanbul on 11 September 1642 addressing to the beylerbey of Cyprus and the kad
of Nicosia, according to which they had to pay 50,000 ake for the salaries of soldiers
dris Bostan, Osmanl Bahriye Tekilat: XVII. yzylda tersane i Amire (Ankara: Trk Tarih
Kurumu Basmevi, 1992), 162.
61
. ,
, 1571-1878 (: , 1984), 63.
62
nalck, The Ottoman Empire, The Classical Age 1300-1600, 116.
63
ANLS, F.275A, a.e.793.
64
Jennings, Christians and Muslims, 115.
60
42
Styliani Lepida
of the aforementioned fortress. The firman was issued after the soldiers themselves
had applied to the Sublime Porte, asking to be given the amount required to pay the
salaries. They claimed furthermore, that the responsible officers postponed their
payment and finally did not pay them at all.65 Giving money for the payment of
soldiers is also evidenced by another case in 1669, when 189,566 ake were given in
order to pay 166 Janissaries who were in guard of the fortress of Budin (Budin
kalesi).66
Finally, apart from periodic requests for the same amount of money every year,
there were cases where it seems that the poll tax was even used for emergencies. Such
an example occurred in a firman of 1688, which concerned the transportation of war
material. More specifically, a sultans order addressed to the kad of Nicosia, the
mtesellim of Cyprus, the defterdar, the garrison commander, the mbair for
gunpowder and the collector of the poll tax for 1683/84, commanded them to ensure
that the black powder kept in Cyprus would be moved to Thessaloniki and the cost
of that transfer would be covered by the income of the poll tax.67
Dndar gives us the expenses, which were covered by the income of the poll tax
in Cyprus, listing fifteen categories in a table. He mostly refers to the cases we
encountered in our firmans above. We see that he refers to the payment of money to
cover expenses, such as the foundations of the holy Islamic pilgrimages, the salaries
of governors, administrative and military officials in Cyprus, the salaries of the
Janissaries and the soldiers of the fortresses, the purchase of fabric for the captives of
the Imperial Naval Station, and covering the costs of the warships in Famagusta. But
he reports other cases also, to which the income of the poll tax of Cyprus contributed,
such as the payment of the salaries of the soldiers (wearing a breastplate) in the island
of Kos (stanky), the costs of the warships in Paphos and finally the funding of the
extraction of salt from the salt marshes in Cyprus. The amounts of the poll tax are the
same as those given in the firmans we studied, without any discrepancy detected.68
, , 94.
Dndar, Kbrs Beylerbeylii (1570-1670), 257-258.
67
ANLS, F.275A, a.e.684.
68
For the above categories of expenses, Dndar gives numerical data for each category, for the years:
.1051, 1057, 1063, 1064, 1065, 1067, and 1069: Dndar, Kbrs Beylerbeylii (1570-1670),
257-258.
1.
Cihet-i Medine-i mnevvere
2.
Salyane-i mir-i miran- Kbrs
43
65
66
Diogenes 2 (2014): 28-47
ISSN 2054-6696
Conclusion
In conclusion, the incomes of the poll tax of Cyprus covered both regular and
extraordinary expenses of the Ottoman administration, both locally as well as in a
wider geographical framework. We may, therefore, observe that, above all, the money
emanating from the collection of the poll tax was channelled to pay the salaries of
officials of the Ottoman administration or the army as seen, e.g. in the case of the
mir-i miran of Cyprus or the Janissaries. It is certainly difficult in this essay to assess
the dynamics of the poll tax revenues of Cyprus regarding their contribution to the
overall financial data of the Empire. However, we can see that the cizye revenues,
were in fact the underpinning of the administrative and military structure in Cyprus
during the 17th century, since they were responsible for the payroll of its officials.
Furthermore, they constituted a stable source of income for the treasury of the central
government, supporting parts and functions of the military apparatus. In the same way,
the expenses of members of the dynasty were financed. The case study of Cyprus
highlights the existence of networks that connected the periphery with the center
through strong ties, which seem to be the poll tax. Such networks had lateral
significance. On the one hand, they functioned as a safeguard regarding the
imposition of the control of the center upon the subjects. On the other hand, however,
at times this proved to be a boomerang towards its own purpose, fueling reactions and
perhaps, in long term, setting the stage for transformations, revisions and new
balances, especially in the field of the administration.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Mesarf- batarda-i mirliva-i Maosa

Baha-i Krpas-i beray- sera
Mevacib-i neferat- Kal a i Aklman
Cihet-i cizyedar
Cihet-i mevacib-i yenieriyan- Kbrs
Cihet-i ceraye-i mir-i miran
Cihet-i mesarif-i ihrac- milh-i miri
Cihet-i mesarif-i kalite-i mirliva Baf
Cihet-i salyane ve cerene-i mirimiran- Kbrs
Cihet-i salyane-i mirliva-i Baf
b... (incomplete)
... cebeciyan- istanky (incomplete)
Cihet-i Kusur- hane 152
44
Styliani Lepida
Bibliography
Unpublished Primary Sources
Archives of National Library of Sofia:

ANLS, F.275, a.e.4
ANLS, F.275, a.e.6
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ANLS, F.275, a.e.9
ANLS, F.275, a.e.10
ANLS, F.275, a.e.14
ANLS, F.275, a.e.15
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47
Diogenes 2 (2014): 48-71
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Expeditio Persica
Dimos Ntentos
MA student in Byzantine Studies
Department of Medieval and Modern Greek Studies
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Abstract
The present article aspires to trace and present the axes/views of self-referentiality in
the epical-encomiastic poem Expeditio Persica, as the extensive composition of the
yzantine poet of the 7th century, George of Pisidia, is conventionally so entitled. It

attempts to localize some characteristics that are included in the literary term
self-referentiality; the direct and indirect presence of the poet himself in his own
creation, the reference to his ideas, technique, expressive means, etc. Whilst the use of
this term might be considered as an anachronism for the Byzantine texts, it is
worthwhile to approach a text of an older era with the literary terminology of the
recent decades. Such an approach will enlighten the work and the purpose of the poet,
since it will lead us to a deeper comprehension of his intellectuality, especially in the
parts of the poem where he was influenced by his predecessors, as well as to a
profound understanding of the audience in such matters. Furthermore, emphasis will
be given in the intertextuality between the examined poem and preceding texts. Last
but not least, the modern readers and researchers will have the opportunity to
approach the poem with the modern ways of reading and they will be capable of
making comparisons even with modern texts. For a better examination of all the
aspects of this subject, it is helpful to define specific categories and to include in them
all the references that derive directly and indirectly from the poem that is being
examined.
48
Dimos Ntentos
Expeditio Persica
1. .
1.1.
7
, .
, ,
( ),
() ,
. ,
. , ,
(622-623).
631 634 ..
1.2.
, Pertusi,
: 1) 619/620 630,
2) 630
.
,
.1
, ,
, ,

.
A. Pertusi, Giorgio di Pisida, Poemi I. Panegirici epici. Editio critica, traduzione e commento (Ettal:
Buch-Kunstverlag, 1959). ( : Pertusi. Panegirici.)
49
Diogenes 2 (2014): 48-71
ISSN 2054-6696
2:
1. In Heraclium ex Africa redeuntem:

(611-612)
2. Expeditio Persica:
(623)
3. In sanctam ressurectionem Jesu Christi Domini nostri:

(624)
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(627)
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7. In Hexaemeron: (629/630)
8. De vanitate vitae: (629/630)
9. In restitutionem Sancti Crucis:

(630)
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11. De vita humana: (630)
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. . . . (Thessaloniki: University Studio Press, 2007).
5
. : M. Whitby, George of Pisidias Presentation of the Emperor Heraclius and his
Campaigns: Variety and Development, The Reign of Heraclius (610-641). Crisis and
Confortation, ed. G. J. Reinink B. H. Stolte (Leuven: Groningen Studies in Cultural Change 2,
2002), 157-173; Aik. Christofilopoulou, . . 1 (: , 1998), 7-30.
51
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Preminger and T. V. F. Brogan, eds., The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993), 1037-1044 (Representation and Mimesis).
7
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Pisida, Poemi I. Panegirici epici. Editio critica, traduzione e commento (Ettal: Buck-Kunstverlag,
1959), 195. ( : Pertusi, Panegirici).
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M. Whitby, George of Pisida and the persuasive word: Words, words, words,
Rhetoric in Byzantium. Papers from the Thirty-fifth Spring Symposium of the Byzantine Studies, ed. E.
Jeffreys (Aldershot: Ashgate Variorum 2003), 173-174.
59
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60-65 ,
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, ,
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,
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.15
Christofilopoulou, Aik. . . 1. : , 1998.

Horandner, I. W. Court poetry: questions of motifs, structure and function. In
Rhetoric in Byzantium. Papers from the Thirty-fifth Spring Symposium of
Byzantine Studies, edited by E. Jeffreys, 75-85. Aldershot: Ashgate Variorum
2003.
Hunger, . . .
1. . . , . , . . , . . Athens: , 1987.
T.
-, . .
. : , 1991.
, .
. 31 (1971-1972): 244-263.
Lauxtermann, M. D. .
. . . . Thessaloniki: University Studio

Press, 2007.
Pertusi, A. Giorgio di Pisida, Poemi I. Panegirici epici. Editio critica, traduzione e

commento. Ettal: Buch-Kunstverlag, 1959.
Preminger, A., and T. V. F. Brogan, eds. The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry
and Poetics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993.
Rosenqvist, Jan Olof. 6

. . . . Athens: Kanaki, 2008.
. ,
, .
15
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Expeditio Persica
Tartaglia, L. Carmi di Giorgio di Pisidia. Turin: UTET, 1998.

Whitby, M. George of Pisida and the persuasive word: Words, words, words In
Rhetoric in Byzantium. Papers from the Thirty-fifth Spring Symposium of the
Byzantine Studies, edited by E. Jeffreys, 173-174. Aldershot: Ashgate Variorum
2003.
Whitby, M. George of Pisidias Presentation of the Emperor Heraclius and his
Campaigns: Variety and Development. In The Reign of Heraclius (610-641).
Crisis and Confortation, edited by G. J. Reinink and B. H. Stolte, 157-173.
Leuven: Peeters, 2003.
71
Diogenes 2 (2014): 72-90
ISSN 2054-6696
Ceramics and Carpets:

Icons of Cultural Exchange between Venice and the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century
Gzde nder
M.A. Student / Research and Teaching Assistant
Department of Archaeology & History of Art
Graduate School of Social Sciences & Humanities
Ko University
Abstract
The reciprocal relations of the Ottoman Empire with Venice thanks to the visits of artists,
merchants, ambassadors, travellers and pilgrims brought about the cultural interaction
between two as a consequence of their strong diplomatic and economic relations in the 16th
century. Decorative motifs and patterns on daily-used objects reflect the cross-cultural
exchange among these civilizations with the synthesis of not only the Islamic style of art in the
Italian culture, but also the Venetian artistic style in Ottoman art. Carpets and ceramics are
among the most significant art objects, reflecting this synthesis, since a large amount of
carpet and ceramic trade was made between the Ottomans and the Venetians. Therefore, this
paper will specialize on carpets and ceramics as the icons of the 16th century cross-cultural
exchange of the Ottoman Empire with Venice by making comparative analysis in their
decorative arts.
I.
Artworks in Ottoman Art Historiography
I am not interested in the notion of works of art reflecting ideologies, social relations
or history. Equally, I do not want to talk about history as background to the work of
art. I also want to reject the idea that the artists point of reference as a social being is
the artistic community. Lastly, I do not want the social history of art to depend on
intuitive analogies between form and ideological content.
Timothy James Clark1
Timothy James Clark, On the Social History of Art, in Image of the People: Gustave Courbet and the 1848
Revolution, by the same author (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982), 9-10.
72
Gzde nder
Ceramics and Carpets
In this quote Clark, as an art historian, separates an artwork from its historical, social, political,
and economic context. This means that art is for its own sake, rather than an instrument to
prove the ideological content of the time. Although Clark initially considered removing art
from its ideological content as the quotation implies, he later emphasized that he could not
avoid interpreting an artwork without its content. Hence, he became aware of the fact that art
and politics cannot remain separated from each other, which undoubtedly brings the study of
art together with other social disciplines. This is also the method recently applied in Ottoman
art historiography to advance more interdisciplinary studies. A typical example for the
politicization of art is the iconographic role of artworks as the representatives of
cross-cultural exchange among different cultures. Panofsky states that what I see from a
formal point of view is nothing, but the change of certain details within a configuration
forming part of the general pattern of colour, lines, and volumes which constitutes my world
of vision.2 It leads me to think that one of the reasons leading to configuration in artworks
through history is the cultural interactions originating from socio-political and economic
factors. The changes in the artistic style of artworks, particularly, motifs and patterns
appropriated from one culture to another through history as a consequence of mutual
interaction, are significant in order to understand cultural transfer. Filiz Yeniehirliolu
emphasizes that a floral or geometrical design does not explain a certain historical event, but
are icons of civilizations defining a particular design and creativity of the civilization.3 Even
though floral and geometrical motifs have been simply considered as patterns ornamenting
artworks, architectural structures and paintings, they have made significant contributions to
Ottoman art historiography. They were not only motifs decorating palaces, mosques,
pavilions and a variety of artworks, but also intermediaries providing intense cultural
exchange of the Ottoman Empire with other civilizations.
II. Venice and the Ottoman Empire in the Sixteenth Century
The expansion of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century, especially during the forty-six
year reign of Sleyman the Magnificent, led to changes in the balance of power in Europe.
The interest of the Europeans towards Ottoman culture, including both the Byzantine and the
2
Stephen Bann, Meaning/Interpretation, in Critical Terms for Art History, ed. Robert S. Nelson and Richard
Shiff (Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press, 2003), 88.
3
Filiz Yeniehirliolu, konografi, konoloji ve Osmanl Sanat, in Sanat Tarihinde konografik Aratrmalar
(Ankara: Hacettepe University, 1993), 589.
73
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Islamic heritage in its origin, increased, which consecutively brought a cultural exchange due
to political and commercial relations.
The Venetian culture was the one that the Ottoman Empire had intensive reciprocal
relations in the sixteenth century. The broad diplomatic, economic and cultural relations
conducted by the artists, merchants, ambassadors, dragomans, travellers, and pilgrims
produced an exchange of motifs and patterns ornamenting portable objects. This exchange led
to the introduction of not only the Islamic artistic style into the Italian culture, but also the
Venetian style into Ottoman territories. Therefore, this paper will focus on the artworks as
icons of cross-cultural relations of the Ottoman Empire with Venice, by making a
comparative analysis among two different cultures. I will first start with examining their
relation in the historical context and then concentrate on the economic base with regard to
their strong trade relations with each other. Lastly, I will examine the exchange of portable
objects, particularly carpets and ceramics, between Venice and the Ottoman Empire in the
sixteenth century.
III. Trade of Material Culture between the Ottoman Empire and Venice in the
Sixteenth Century
After the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed II in 1453, the Ottomans strengthened their
sea power and hegemony in the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean, and the Black Sea. The
increasing naval power of the Ottomans combined with the capture of the Golden Horn which
was a strategic port area jeopardized the predominance of the Venetians over sea.4 The
continual ambition and attempts of the Ottomans to enlarge their territories led to a series of
naval wars as such between the Ottoman Empire and Venice in 1463 concluded with the
capture of the Negroponte Island as a key base in the Aegean in 1470 and with the fall of the
Venetian colony of Scutari on the Adriatic in 1479.5 Even though the Ottomans signed a
peace treaty with the Venetians in 1479, the Ottoman ambition to expand its territories did not
stop. It captured Cyprus by coercing its Queens, a member of a Venetian noble family in
1489.6
Colin Thubron, Challenge from the Terrible Turks, in The Venetians, Colin Thubron and the editors of
Time-Life Books (Amsterdam: Time-Life Books, 1980), 101.
5
Thubron, Challenge from the Terrible Turks, 101.
6
Thubron, Challenge from the Terrible Turks, 102.
74
Gzde nder
What was interesting in the relation of Venice and the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth
century is that although the Ottomans had clashes and wars with the Venetians through many
years, Ottoman trade with Europe between 1450 and 1550 was dominated by Italian
merchants. The Ottomans did not grant trading capitulations to the French, English and Dutch
until 1569, 1580, and 1612, respectively, whereas, the Genoese received theirs as early as
1352 and the Venetians in the first decade of the fifteenth century.7 While the Ottomans
purchased weapons and armaments from the Venetians, the Ottoman carpets, fabrics,
ceramics, marbled paper and leather bindings found consumers in Venice.8 This distinctive
relationship is interpreted by Fernand Braudel as complementary enemies, because there
was the complementation of different practices in terms of diplomacy, economy, finance and
law in spite of naval conflict of the Ottomans with the Venetians.9 Because of the economic
dependence on sea trade, the Ottomans were the unique trade partner for the Venetians in
order to sustain their commercial existence in the Levant.
IV. Cultural Transfer between Venice and the Ottoman Empire
Deborah Howard, an expert in cultural transfer between the Ottoman Empire and Venice,
claims that the roots of the cultural transfer by circulating material goods were based on three
main channels: diplomacy, trade, and pilgrimage. As an important component of diplomacy,
gift-exchange and reception ceremony rituals played a significant role in the exchange of
material goods. For instance, the Venetian ambassadors presented rich textiles and clothes and
even quantities of Parmesan cheese to the Ottomans.10 Secondly, even though Venice and the
Ottoman Empire had a series of wars and conflicts as a result of their ambition to acquire the
sea power in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, it did not prevent them to establish a trade
relation with each other as mutual advantage. For instance, when one of the most successful
Turkey merchants trading from Venice, Carlo Helman, died, the inventory of his
Julian Raby, Court and Export: Part 1. Market Demands in Ottoman Carpets 1450-1550, Oriental Carpet
and Textile Studies 2 (1986): 31.
8
Gnsel Renda, Europe and the Ottomans: Interactions in Art, in Ottoman Civilization II, ed. Halil nalck
and Gnsel Renda (Ankara: Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture, 2004), 1097.
9
Vera Costantini, Bizimkiler Onlarda, Onlarnki Bizlerde Olduunda, in Venezia e Istanbulin epoca
Ottomano (Osmanl ve Venedik dneminde Venedik ve Istanbul), ed. Giandomenico Romanelli, et al. (Milan:
Electa, 2009), 50.
10
Deborah Howard, Cultural Transfer between Venice and the Ottomans in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth
Centuries, Cultural Exchange in Early Modern Europe: Forging European Identities: 1400-1700, vol. 4
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 142.
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Diogenes 2 (2014): 72-90
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possessions listed a profusion of Turkish artefacts as well as an impressive collection of

Venetian paintings.11 Lastly, the pilgrimage as an inseparable part of trade and diplomacy
was another channel for the acquisition of knowledge about the Islamic world with the
passage of religious items across the barriers of faith in Venice. For example, a Venetian
merchant, Stefano di Bossina, possessed many pilgrims souvenirs which included rosaries
from the Holy Land and images of Jesus inlaid with gold from Jerusalem.12
In addition to Howards three main channels, I think that another reason contributing to
the development of cultural transfer is the demand of the Ottoman Sultans to represent
themselves as a supreme power. For instance, the aim of the Sultan Sleyman the Magnificent
was to represent himself as a world power and proclaim his supremacy over the European
rulers, therefore the artworks representing his supremacy were produced as a result of the
sultans imperial patronage. Glru Necipolu states that the universal iconography that
focused on the world domination was articulated in diverse media and objects such as the
Sleymans Venetian-helmet crown, modelled on the papal tiara (Fig. 1).13 She adds that
since there was a fierce competition between Sleyman the Magnificent and the Hapsburg
Emperor Charles V, the Venetian-made helmet, featuring the four superimposed crowns,
iconographically advertised his universal sovereignty over the four quarters of the world.14
This rivalry between the Sultan and the Hapsburg Emperor implicitly brought about the
recognition of the Venetian-style helmet by the Ottomans.
V.
Icons of Cultural Exchange between Venice and the Ottoman Empire: Ceramics
and Carpets
According to Cemal Kafadar, the noticeable upswing of the Ottoman mercantile activity in
Venice started after the peace of 1573, and trade grew well into the 1600s with the visit of real
ambassadors charged with delivering messages and buying commodities for the court and
high officials.15 As a consequence of increasing Ottoman-Venetian trade relation in the
sixteenth century, portable objects, such as carpets, ceramics, textiles, glasses, and book
11
Howard, Cultural Transfer between Venice and the Ottomans in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, 154.
Howard, Cultural Transfer between Venice and the Ottomans in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, 170.
13
Glru Necipolu, Sleyman the Magnificent and the Representation of Power in the Context of
Ottoman-Hapsburg-Papal Rivalry, The Art Bulletin 71 (1989): 401-427.
14
Glru Necipolu, The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire (Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 2005), 27-28.
15
Maria Pia Pedani, Between Diplomacy and Trade: Ottoman Merchants in Venice, in Merchants in the
Ottoman Empire, ed. Suraiya Faroqhi and Gilles Veinstein (Paris: Peeters, 2008), 4.
12
76
Gzde nder
bindings were the most outstanding icons illustrating the cultural transfer among them. The
commercial network between the Ottomans and the Venetians was influential not only in the
introduction of portable objects from one to the other, but also the appropriation of new
motifs and patterns ornamenting artworks. What is discovered in these portable objects is that
traditional motifs ornamenting Ottoman artworks were introduced to the Italian objects which
subsequently caused the intermingling of Ottoman motifs with patterns peculiar to the Italian
culture. The term appropriation,16 used by Robert Nelson, is appropriate to describe the
influence of Ottoman decorative elements on the Venetian artworks; the Ottoman patterns,
adapted to the existing Italian decorative elements, paved the way for the new artistic style in
Italian artworks. This influence can be explicitly observed with the ceramics and carpets as
some of the most frequently traded commodities between the Venetians and the Ottomans in
the sixteenth century.
In the classical era of the Ottoman Empire, particularly in the second half of the
sixteenth century, the grand vizier Rstem Pasha under the rule of Sleyman the Magnificent
opened craft workshops to produce their own artefacts.17 This was an important breakthrough
for the Ottomans to find their own artistic identity, and therefore Rstem Pashas period can
be thought of as revolutionary due to the creation of a new aesthetic canon after the
establishment of court workshops. According to archival documents, the court workshops
included 36 communities of ehl-i href (people of talent) who included craftsmen from the
Timurid and Turkmen courts, from the Anatolian and Balkan provinces and from Austrian
and Frenk territories.18 This heterogeneous group of artisans from different cultures also
brought the intermingling of different motifs for the ornamentation of artworks.
16
According to the definition of Robert S. Nelson, appropriation means to make ones own and its
application to art and art history pertains to the artworks adoption to pre-existing elements. See. Robert S.
Nelson, Appropriation, in Critical Terms for Art History, ed. Robert S. Nelson and Richard Shiff (Chicago, IL:
University of Chicago Press, 2003), 160173.
17
Glru Necipolu, A Kanun for the State, A Canon for the Arts: Conceptualizing the Classical Synthesis of
Ottoman Art and Architecture, in Soliman le Magnifique et Son Temps, ed. Gilles Veinstein (Paris:
Documentation Francaise, 1992), 194-215.
18
idem Kafesiolu, The Visual Arts, in The Cambridge history of Turkey. Vol. 2, The Ottoman Empire as
a World Power 1453-1603, ed. Suraiya N. Faroqhi and Kate Fleet (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2006), 457-547.
77
Diogenes 2 (2014): 72-90
i.
ISSN 2054-6696
Ceramics
One of the most produced artworks in the sixteenth-century Ottoman craft workshops are
ceramics. Ceramics, as a part of the material culture, are not only functional objects, but also a
work of art due to their aesthetic value. Ceramics ornamented with the Ottoman floral design
in arabesque style were mostly produced in the court workshops in Iznik which in later
decades were to be inspired by the Italians for the use of style in Italian ceramics known as
maiolica. 19 The typical Italian maiolica, different from the Ottoman decorative art, are
elaborated with human figures, portraits, landscapes and terms symbolizing mostly
high-ranking people and historical events of Italy. For instance, in a Venetian deep dish
named An Abduction20 a significant scene particular to the Italian culture is depicted (Fig.
2). However, Italian maiolicas were influenced from the Ottoman artworks produced in Iznik
workshops,
and the typical Ottoman motifs - such as saz yolu, golden horn, carnation, tulip,
rumi, hatai and leaf motifs developed under the Huns, Gktrks, Ilhanids, Timurids and
Ottomans21 - were introduced to the Italian maiolica as decorative elements. For instance, the
appropriation of the Ottoman decorative element of the golden horn to the Italian maiolica
can be observed with the similarity between the sixteenth century Italian vessels (Fig. 3) and a
plate of the same century produced in Iznik (Fig. 4). Even though Ottoman motifs were
appropriated to the Italian vessels as in the previous example, what draws my attention is that
Italian craftsmen did not give up the use of their own traditional decorative motifs. Thus, apart
from the use of Ottoman designs, they also followed the tradition of Italian Renaissance
painting, including figural compositions as a decorative theme.22 For instance, the decoration
of this jar, as an example to the appropriation of the Ottoman motif for Italian maiolica,
illustrates the figure of King David at the center, his name behind his image in the medallion
19
Maiolica is a term used for a fine earthenware with coloured decoration on an opaque white tin glaze,
originating
in
Italy
during
the
mid-sixteenth
century.
See
Oxford
Dictionary:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/maiolica.
20
On the right, a woman kneels before a statue of Caesar or a God on a high pedestal. Behind her, a soldier
restrains a standing woman and, further to the left, another seizes a second woman. Further back are two men,
one of whom has a quiver on his back and looks into the distance. In the foreground to the left are a tree and
grass beside a stream and in the background, a tree, the sea and a shoreline with distant mountains. Round the
edge are two narrow blue bands with groups of short oblique strokes at intervals and a yellow band on the rim.
http://webapps.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/explorer/index.php?qu=abduction&oid=73392. This Italian maiolica is
originally painted in typical Italian maiolica colours, yellow and blue. See Julia E. Poole, Italian Maiolica and
Incised Slipware in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 419.
21
Cahide Keskiner, Turkish Motifs (Istanbul: Turkish Touring and Automobile Association, 2007).
22
Filiz Yeniehirliolu, Ottoman Ceramics in European Context, Muqarnas 21 (2004): 373.
78
Gzde nder
and the rest of the jar are covered with lotus as one of the favorite Ottoman motifs, together
with other Ottoman arabesque patterns. This exemplifies the harmonization of figural
representations with the arabesque motifs of the Ottomans. Additionally, I consider that this
figural representation by Italian craftsmen also implicitly contributed to the appearance of the
Ottoman figures in Italian maiolicas. Since Italian craftsmen ornamented maiolicas with
human figures, the Ottoman figures including sultans and ordinary people were also depicted
in Italian maiolicas which was ultimately evidence that the Europeans were aware of the
Ottoman society (Fig. 5-6). According to Filiz Yeniehirliolu, the representations of
Ottoman subjects are more commonly found on the Italian maiolica plates than on tiles.23 For
instance, the unique tile panel conserved in Muse de Nevers, France, illustrates Ottoman
figures in the frame of Europeanized figures (Fig. 7). She asserts that these subjects are not
imaginary, but they have been taken from the illustrations of a printed book and also copied
from engravings of the French geographer Nicolas de Nicolay (Fig. 8).24 It is also important
to emphasize that the appropriation of motifs and patterns were not only limited to the
influence of the Ottoman decorative elements on the Italian maiolicas. Since the Ottomans
had an interest in ceramic production, they also followed different ceramic styles produced in
Europe and East Asia. Particularly, Italian ceramic tondini
25
(Fig. 9) drew their attention,
and the Ottomans started to introduce this shape into the repertoire of the Iznik workshops.
Although the form of tondini is in Italian style, they are entirely ornamented with motifs
characterizing Ottoman decoration (Fig. 10). However, there are also tondino ceramics
illustrating the intermingling of the Ottoman motifs with Italian patterns, as in the examples of
Italian maiolicas (Fig. 11). Since the Ottomans had strong trade relations with Europeans,
especially with the Venetians, the cultural interaction between the Ottomans and the
Europeans are commonly examined in the light of artworks. However, the Ottoman ceramics,
beyond the Italian maiolica and tondino, were also affected by the Chinese and Japanese
decorative elements, such as dragos, simurg, cloud, and chintamanis, which were used
together with Ottoman motifs in the decoration of artworks. This implies that Ottoman craft
workshops were influenced not only by Europe, but also by East Asia as a result of increasing
political, social, and commercial activities of the Ottomans throughout the sixteenth century.
23
Yeniehirliolu, Ottoman Ceramics in European Context, 380.

Yeniehirliolu, Ottoman Ceramics in European Context, 380.
25
Tondino is a maiolica plate with a wide flat rim and deep centre; the shape was often used by
sixteenth-century istoriato (narrative) painters. See Oxford Reference: http://www.oxfordreference.com/.
79
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ii.
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Carpets
In addition to ceramics, other famous decorative artwork frequently used in the Ottoman
decoration is carpets. Since carpets have carried meanings of wealth, power, identity, learning,
taste, and sanctity, its use in Ottoman culture was very common.26 The best example to
illustrate the frequent use of carpets in Ottoman culture is to be found in miniatures depicted
by painters (nakka) of the time. For instance, the Sleymanname by Arifi in 1558, as a
manuscript illustrating events, settings, and personages of Sleymans reign is an effective
visual documentary record to observe the use of the carpet as a decorative element in Ottoman
culture. Specifically, Sleyman Receving the Crown of Hungary (Fig. 12) and The
Performance of Archers (Fig. 13) are two miniatures representing the historical and social
events of the empire. However, even though the primary aim of the painter was to depict the
event, he also painted the carpet on the background. This leads me to think that the carpet in
these manuscripts represents the splendour of the Ottoman Empire apart from its function to
ornament the manuscript itself. Similarly, the Hnername,27 a manuscript giving an account
of accessions, deaths, characters, interests and hunting-parties of the Ottoman sultans from
Osman Gazi to Selim I with historical events and wars of their times, illustrates many carpets
as a decorative element28. Their size is drawn bigger than the original and every motif
characterizing the traditional Ottoman carpet is depicted in depth. Once again, this proves the
significance of carpets in the Ottoman tradition; if the Ottomans attempted to depict carpets in
Ottoman miniature paintings, carpets were used to a large extent in Ottoman daily life, and
their extensive use undoubtedly caused the carpets to be easily recognized and appreciated by
foreigners.
The prominence of Ottoman carpets is easily understood from the increasing demand of
the Europeans towards carpets. Carpets, like ceramics, became a prestigious trade item
between the Ottoman Empire and Europe, particularly with the commercial network of the
26
Walter Denny, The Classical Tradition in Anatolian Carpets (Washington, DC: The Textile Museum, 2002),
15.
27
Hnername is a manuscript written by Seyyid Lokman and painted by six nakka Nakka Osman, Ali
elebi, Mehmed Bey, Veli Can, Molla Tiflisi and Bursal Mehmed. Seyyid Lokman began to write the text in
1579-1580 and finished in 1584-1585. See Nigar Anafarta, Hnername: Minyatrleri ve Sanatlar (Istanbul:
Doan Karde Basmevi, 1969).
28
For more images, see Esin Atl, Sleymanname: The Illustrated History of Sleyman the Magnificient
(Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1986). Nigar Anafarta, Hnername:Minyatrleri ve Sanatlar
(Istanbul: Doan Karde Basmevi, 1969).
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Ottomans with the Venetians. According to Rosamand E. Mack, there are two reasons that
encouraged the Venetians to conduct carpet trade during the Italian Renaissance. The first is
that only the most prosperous Europeans were able to purchase these carpets, because carpets
as luxury goods symbolized wealth and power. Secondly, the provision of carpets was limited,
which was most probably because the manufacturing of these hand-made carpets took a long
time, and this increased the attractiveness of the Venetians towards the carpets.29
Increasing interest among the Venetians in carpets, like their interest in ceramics, led to
the reputation of carpets as an icon of cultural exchange between the Ottomans and the
Venetians. However, the distinguishing feature of carpets from ceramics is that, while
ceramics was an artwork produced both in the Ottoman Empire and in Italy at their own
pleasure, carpet production remained unique to Ottoman culture. This means that ceramics
became artworks causing reciprocal interaction between the Ottomans and the Venetians, but
the spread of carpet from the Ottomans to the Venetians led to the emergence of one-sided
relation among them. That is, carpets produced in the Ottoman territories attracted the
attention of the Italians and were introduced to the Italian culture, which consequently
provided an opportunity to the Ottomans to present their own artistic production to the
different parts of the world. The adoption of Ottoman carpets into Venetian lifestyle can be
exemplified with the paintings depicted by Italian Renaissance artist. According to Gnsel
Renda, it is sufficient to look at the paintings of sixteenth-century artists such as Hans
Holbein, Lorenzo Lotto, Bernardino Pinturicchio and Sebastiano del Piombo to observe to
what extent the Ottoman carpets became widespread.30 In the literature, Ottoman carpets
from the sixteenth century are referred as Holbeins, Mellings, Lottos, Bellinis and Crivellis
because particular patterns of their individual groups appeared in paintings by those European
artists.31 For instance, the carpet in the painting of Lorenzo Lotto, The Alms of St. Anthony, is
classified as Lotto carpets whereas in the painting of Hans Holbein, The Ambassadors, the
carpet is named Holbein carpet (Fig. 14). The depiction of Turkish carpets is not limited to the
Italian paintings. In Dutch, Spanish, and English paintings carpets as decorative element are
also depicted in the following centuries. The value given to carpets by Europeans increased
29
Rosamond E. Mack, Bazaar to Piazza: Islamic trade and Italian Art, 1300-1600 (Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press, 2002), 126.
30
Gnsel Renda, Europe and the Ottomans: Interactions in Art, 1097.
31
Turkish Carpets from the 13th to 18th centuries, exhibition catalogue (Istanbul: Ahmet Ertu, 1996), xi.
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and, after the second half of the fifteenth century, this led to the presentation of carpets on
tables rather than on the ground (Fig.15-16).32
The representation of carpets in Italian paintings led to the appreciation of Ottoman
decorative motifs by the Europeans, so that they were intermingled with the artistic style of
European painters as in Holbein, Mellings and Lotto carpets. Remarkable is that geometrical
motifs were the most widespread decorative type in Ottoman carpets, compared with other
artworks, especially with ceramics ornamented with floral design. However, this discrepancy
was blurred after the appearance of Ushak carpets.33 According to Kurt Erdmann, Ushak
carpet led to a revolution in terms of motifs, compositions, colours, dimensions and
techniques in the sixteenth century, because the geometrical patterns were now replaced by
abstract floral motifs as well as the East Asian motifs such as the triple-spot, tiger-stripe,
chintamani, lotus-blossom and Chinese cloud-bands. 34 Particularly, medallion, star and
chintamani were some of the commonly used motifs not only in Ushak carpets,35 but also in
calligraphy, book-bindings, textiles and ceramics (Fig. 17-18).
VI. Conclusion
Although in this paper ceramics and carpets are attributed as icons of cultural exchange
between the Venetians and the Ottomans in the sixteenth century, cultural interaction is not
merely limited to them. As mentioned, motifs and patterns are fundamental indicators of the
cultural exchange among them. This indicates that this cultural exchange is not only the
exchange of the Venetians with the Ottomans, but also the exchange of the Ottomans with
China, Japan and other European countries, apart from Italy. Therefore, in my opinion, in
addition to diplomacy and trade, as main reasons for the appearance of cultural interaction
among them, European interest in the East, stimulated by trade in the sixteenth century, is
another significant motive in the emergence of a variety of artworks with patterns belonging
to different cultures. That is, the curiosity in the West towards the East encouraged the
32
Rosamond E. Mack, Bazaar to Piazza: Islamic Trade and Italian Art, 1300-1600 (Berkeley, CA: University
of California Press, 2002), 130.
33
More recent research has pushed the beginnings of the Ushak group back to the fifteenth century, while
analyses of designs have established a link with the Akkoyunlu Turcomans. See Turkish Carpets from the 13th to
18th centuries, exhibition catalogue, xii.
34
Turkish Carpets from the 13th to 18th centuries, exhibition catalogue, xii.
35
For the image, see Walter Denny, The Classical Tradition in Anatolian Carpets (Washington, DC: The
Textile Museum, 2002).
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appreciation of Ottoman culture by Europeans and symbolically led to the engagement of

Western patterns with Eastern motifs on artwork.
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Fig. 1 Sleyman the Magnificent with his

superimposed Venetian-made helmet, 16th
century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Harris
Brisbane
Dick
Fund,
1942.
www.metmuseum.org.
Fig. 2 An Abduction, deep dish, Venice,

workshop
1560-1570.
of
Domenego
da
Venezia,
c.
Reproduction by permission of the
Syndics of The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Fig. 3 Italian maiolicas decorated in golden

horn style, 16th century. Reproduction by the
permission of Filiz Yeniehirliolu.
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Fig. 4 Iznik plate decorated in golden horn

style, 16th century. Victoria and Albert
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Fig. 5 Italian maiolica, stove tile, Arianna

Museum, Geneva. Reproduction by the
Fig. 6 Tile detail in Muse de Nevers,

France. Reproduction by the permission of
Filiz Yeniehirliolu.
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Fig. 7 Panel of Italian maiolica tiles,

Muse
Nevers,
Municipale
France.
Frderic
Blandin,
Reproduction
by the
Fig.
Two
illustrations
from
the
engraving of Nicolas de Nicolay, Les

navigations
prgrinations
et
faicts
la
(1567-1568).
en
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voyages,
Reproduction by the permission of Filiz

Yeniehirliolu.
Fig. 9 Tondino plate, probably workshop

of Maestro Giorgio Andreoli, in first half
of the 16th century. The Metropolitan
Museum of Art. Robert Lehman Collection,
1975. www.metmuseum.org.
Fig. 10 Iznik tondino, 16th century.

Reproduction by the permission of Museo
Nazionale del Bargello.
88
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Fig. 11 Italian tondino with the decoration

of Ottoman motifs, 16th century. The
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Fig. 15 Dutch painter Hendrik M. Sorgh,

Portrait of Rotterdam Municipal Clerk at
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Fig. 16 Sebastino del Piombo, Cardinal Bandinello Sauli, His Secretary and two
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Fig. 17 Dish with Chintamani and Tiger-stripe

pattern, 16th century, Iznik. The Metropolitan
Museum of Art. Gift of William B. Osgood Field,
Fig. 18 Silk with Loom Width with Floral and

Tiger-stripe Design, 16th century, Bursa. The
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Review
Nesbitt, C., and M. Jackson, eds. Experiencing Byzantium. Papers from the 44th Spring
Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Newcastle and Durham, April 2011. Farnham: Ashgate,
2013. Pp. 406. ISBN 9781472412294. 85.00
Experiencing Byzantium represents the edited papers from the 44th Spring Symposium of
Byzantine Studies (Newcastle and Durham, April 2011). The success of any volume of
proceedings lies not just in collecting a series of papers around a theme but also, if possible,
enabling readers to experience (if you will) somewhat of the tenor of discussions which the
original event evoked. In this, the editors have made a number of commendable choices.
The introduction, outlining the context for the Symposium, generates a tangible sense of
this collection of papers as events rather than simply texts. Some concluding remarks about
debates, which emerged from or at the Symposium, rather than only those that informed its
choice of theme, would also have been appreciated. The arrangement of the book into sections
also preserves the feel of the original conference panels. Finally, the decision by the editors to
allow and perhaps encourage a wide variety of written styles, with some unusual moments of
informality and discursive conjecture, gives this volume the feel of a symposium and some of
its more startling and valuable insights.
The opening section, Experiencing Art begins with an examination by Liz James of
Projectas Casket, a Late Antique silver object now held by the British Museum, traditionally
viewed in terms of the images depicted upon it and their style. By focusing on the thingness
of the object, for example its awkward shape and bulk, James is able to reflect on the
difference between depicted and experienced reality. These insights are subsequently
expanded to consider icons as things and the role of object biography.
Warren T. Woodfins chapter also addresses replication, drawing together a diverse
range of evidence for the depiction of imperial and holy figures on textiles. He demonstrates a
general shift away from serialization of religious images post-843 AD. With respect to images
of the emperor, Woodfins argument turns on the significance of imperial portraits appearing
on cloth which was itself difficult to produce and highly sought-after serving to universalize
the imperial dignity and power.
The section Experiencing Faith contains three papers, all in some capacity related to
the church as space. Batrice Caseau on the experience of the sacred, and especially the
91
Rebecca Darley
Review
importance of touch and taste, draws together evidence on the use of curtains in church
interiors and explores the increasingly circumscribed role of touch in the Eucharist, as
celebrants moved from holding the Eucharistic bread to receiving it in their mouths. Ritual
kissing becomes another focus for this exploration, again demonstrating the increasingly
hierarchical use of touch in liturgical contexts.
The next chapter by Andrew Louth concerns frames of reference within which
Byzantine worshippers may have experienced liturgy. Louths repeated emphasis on the fact
that things might be done regularly without believers knowing why (p. 83) alludes to the
possible distinction between personal experience and personal knowledge, which could
perhaps have been unpacked more. It is, however, subsidiary to his main conclusion, that
liturgy must be understood in three temporal and spatial contexts: in real time and space, in
the extra-temporal and extra-spatial realm of the heavenly and also in the historical
framework of space and time which Jerusalem had provided for the Incarnation.
Finally, Nikolaos Karydis interpretation of the Church of St John in Ephesus develops
his own work to reconstruct the church. Karydis examines the architectural accuracy of
descriptions by Procopius and Ibn Battuta and outlines various phases of construction.
Especially in the analysis of the archaeological evidence, Karydis might have glossed various
architectural terms but his subsequent discussion of the literary aims and circumstances of
composition of the two texts also broadens his discussion into the contrast between
recreation and description in processing the memory of experiencing a building.
Experiencing landscape includes three papers, all addressing spiritual landscapes,
though readings of them are not purely theocentric. Nikolaos Bakirtzis paper on Locating
Byzantine monasteries examines the ways in which monastic foundations near Paphos in
Cyprus helped to maintain the persistence and credibility of the Byzantine religious tradition
on eleventh- and twelfth-century Cyprus. The second half of the chapter, focusing on northern
Greece, examines the role of large rural monasteries in bridging urban and rural space.
Katie Greens paper on Experiencing Politiko also takes Cyprus as its focus and
addresses, via Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC), the question of how religious
structures and routes were embedded into a wider landscape. The limitations of data are
severe and the application of HLC seemed at times to contribute very little and impair
reflection on the range of available sources, many of which are extremely late for the
Byzantine landscape analysis attempted. Nevertheless, some insight into the ways in which
the people of Byzantine Politiko may have perceived their landscape is extracted.
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Third, Vicky Manolopoulous paper separates litanies performed at a moment of trouble,

such as an earthquake, and litanies performed (usually annually) to commemorate the event.
Manolopoulou demonstrates that such litanies created continuity over time, and a means of
dispersing the immediate fear of an event into a regular reflection on Gods mercy and
protection. In the case of Constantinople, Manolopoulou suggests, litanies focused on the
Virgin throughout the year traversed, and thereby enacted, the protective role of the
Theotokos over her city.
Heather Hunter-Crawley and Sophie V. Moore provide two complementary though very
different papers to Experiencing Ritual. Hunter-Crawley addresses the use of the cross of
light as a symbol in Byzantium, exploring the use of crosses in silver liturgical vessels, which
she argues were left plain to maximize their reflectivity. Cross-shaped windows and lamps
with cross-shaped ornamentation are also combined with written evidence to demonstrate that
in Byzantine theology, the cross of light not only alluded to, but could stand for Christ
himself.
The next paper takes as its starting point the limited but visible evidence for shrouding in
Byzantine funerary practice. Without speculating unduly on who may have performed such
tasks, Moore pursues the implication that if images show a dead individual fully-clothed
subsequently being buried in a shroud, somebody must have stripped, washed and shrouded
the body. Moores explicit reference to the personal in this paper is one of the most effective
moments of informality. Moores interpretation is, she makes clear, underpinned by her own
experience of bereavement. The result remains sensitive to the possibly myriad and largely
unknown permutations of feeling for a Byzantine actor, but succeeds in suggesting some ways
in which the ritual of shrouding may have enabled mourners to navigate the personal,
communal and religious ramifications of death.
Iceland opens the scene for the next section, Experiencing Self, in which Scott Ashley
asks how Icelanders after the twelfth century experienced Byzantium as the setting of stories
about ancestral travel. The answer, woven skillfully from a range of written sources and,
where possible, material culture, seems to be as Iceland, but different. Ashleys analysis
exposes numerous instances in which, while Byzantium was perceived as a distant place to
which men had once travelled to gain honor and from which they had sometimes returned in
fine clothes, it was understood in squarely Icelandic terms. Where Byzantium is presented as
different it is not on the basis of detailed imaginings, but rather a more amorphous sense of
foreignness.
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Rebecca Darley
Review
Myrto Hatzaki, by contrast, begins with the iconic Byzantine mosaic depiction of Zoe
and Constantine Monomachos in the Hagia Sophia. The empress Zoe, in her sixties at the
point depicted, appears beautiful and flawless, and so Hatzaki embarks upon a careful
examination of the importance of beauty for a Byzantine understanding of imperial office,
including the implication in many sources that beauty fitted a person to rule. Returning to the
mosaics, however, Hatzaki demonstrates the importance of gender in these constructs, which
allowed greater personality to a male ruler than the formulaic beauty expected of an empress.
Middle Byzantine historiography provides the final space for considering the experience
of self, which Dion C. Smythe explores in the writings of Michael Psellos, Anna Komnene
and Niketas Choniates. Smythe, following Ruth Macrides, makes the point that self plays an
inevitable role in the writing of Byzantine historiography because of the importance of the
classical model of history writing, with its emphasis on autopsy. Smythe poses but does not
fully resolve the question of whether or not these three authors are, by virtue of being such
strong personalities, unusually present in their sources or merely the clearest examples of a
common phenomenon.
The final section of the book, Experiencing stories, features three papers which perhaps
fit least well together, though each is effective on its own terms. Margaret Mullets
examination of the Byzantine tent begins by presenting the evidence for the form and function
of tents in Byzantium. Beyond their existence, however, tents are discussed as sites of
experience both of and in texts. They might be used to establish living and administrative
quarters in new places, as in an imperial journey or, when built structures were available, in
order to provide greater flexibility or control of space. In both capacities tents served as
locations in which texts might be read or produced, but they also provide the means in stories
to demonstrate characters exploiting or dominating the space.
Georgia Franks paper explores the tension in the story of the Ascension between grief
over the departure of Christ and rejoicing at his return to the heavenly realm. In this context,
psalms are presented as vital for providing contemplative space and interpretative support in
conveying believers from one state of mind to the other. Sound and repetition thus become
crucial to the experience of faith.
The last paper in this volume, by Alexander Lingas on the changing musical soundscape
of Byzantine liturgy, is perhaps the most technical and includes long tabulations comparing
different musical forms. This is excellently balanced for historians not tackling Byzantine
musicology, however, by a discussion which draws out the general from the technical. In
particular, Lingas argument that the development of complex systems of Byzantine hymnody
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consciously mirrored theological developments reflects the broader theme of the

connectedness in Byzantine sacred experience of the intellectual and ritual.
One of the most noticeable features of this book, though not thematically addressed, is
the desire to use theoretical frameworks for approaching experience. Indeed, in the
introduction the editors suggest being informed by appropriate theoretical frameworks as an
answer to the question how can individual academics of the twenty-first-century world ever
hope to understand the lives of people living in a very different past? (p. 9). It is an answer
tested but never fully proven (or, at least, the appropriate frameworks have not always been
found). In some cases, theoretical approaches, such as that of sensory affordance by Heather
Hunter-Crawley or Thing Theory by Liz James have expanded the ways in which evidence
might be approached, but theoretical approaches particularly to the affective or emotive
register of past societies have, to this reviewers mind, more often gotten in the way of or
simply been redundant within analyses of landscape, text and material which appear to have
made greater advances simply on the basis of the standard who, what, where, when, why?
repertoire of questions of the material.
From a final thingness perspective, the book is attractively presented. Reproductions of
images are of good quality. There are more proofing errors than might be ideal but not enough
to hinder reading. Perhaps most problematic is the inconsistency in rendering Greek, which
appears in poly- and monotonic format and transliterated in a variety of ways, with and
without italicization. None of these minor issues, however, prevents this from being an
interesting and important contribution to Byzantine studies and one released sufficiently soon
after the event it records hopefully to contribute to live debates.
Dr. Rebecca Darley

Research Associate on Bilderfahrzeuge - Warburgs Legacy and the Future of Iconology
Warburg Insitute, University of London, in association with the Max Weber Stiftung (Bonn)
http://iconology.hypotheses.org/
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Penna, Dafni. The Byzantine Imperial Acts to Venice, Pisa and Genoa, 10th12th Centuries:
A Comparative Legal Study. The Hague: Eleven International Publishing, 2012. Pp. xvii, 344
p. ISBN 9789490947774. 61.50 / $ 92.50 / 57.00
This work, which was the authors dissertation, is a valuable contribution to Byzantine legal
and diplomatic history. Although the chrysobulls issued to Venice, Pisa and Genoa have been
studied in other contexts, Penna sets out to explain the place of these documents in the legal
history of the parties. Although this is not the first work to consider the legal implications of
some of these documents, it is the first not to focus on Venice, but to incorporate documents
from Pisa and Genoa, and the first to consider all the potential legal implications.1 None of
the documents studied are new, but they are placed in a new context.
This work is divided into six chapters: an introduction, a chapter each on Venice, Pisa
and Genoa, a comparative chapter discussing the legal issues common to all three cities, and a
short conclusion.
Pennas overarching goal is to determine how the Italians, both those who traded and
those who resided in Constantinople, dealt with the Byzantine legal system. Her conclusion is
that they had a unique but not unprecedented relationship with the State, not citizens but also
not aliens. It is clear that the Venetians received more privileges than the other Italians. Some
of the provisions granted to the Italians seem to have been requested by them, making it
apparent that some of these documents were not just chrysobulls granting privileges, but
treaties negotiated by both sides.2
In the three chapters on the documents themselves, Penna briefly addresses the historical
circumstances surrounding each document, citing past literature, and then moves swiftly to
the legal issues at hand, placing the documents in the context of the Byzantine legal system.
Where the surviving documents are in Latin, a cautious attempt is made to relate the words to
Byzantine legal terms. The sections on individual documents are helpful for an understanding
of the specific legal issues raised by each.
See, for instance, Donald Nicol, Byzantium and Venice: a study in diplomatic and cultural relations
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988) and Angeliki E. Laiou, Institutional Mechanisms of
Integration, in Studies on the Internal Diaspora of the Byzantine Empire, ed. Hlne Ahrweiler and Angeliki E.
Laiou (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1998), 161-181.
2
Dafni Penna, The Byzantine Imperial Acts to Venice, Pisa and Genoa, 10th12th Centuries: A Comparative
Legal Study (The Hague: Eleven International Publishing, 2012), 12.
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For instance, chapter 4, section 6 is an examination of the 1193 chrysobull issued by

Isaac II Angelos to the Pisans. 3 The first section addresses the specific circumstances
surrounding the document: an attack by Genoese pirates on a vessel carrying Byzantines, for
which the Emperor had ordered Genoese living in Constantinople to pay a fine. The Genoese
offered to locate the pirates, and asked that the fine be given back. The chrysobull contains
the negotiated agreement: the fine was to be held as a deposit, to be returned if the Genoese
located the pirates; otherwise, it would be given to the Byzantine merchants who had been
attacked.
Having described the situation, Penna addresses the legal issues: the types of deposits
and their regulations under both contemporary Byzantine law and the Roman legal tradition
common to Byzantium and Italy; the relationship of the language of the chrysobull to these
laws; the legal terminology surrounding deposits and debts; the apparent liability of Genoese
living in Constantinople for acts committed by their countrymen (a Western legal concept that
seems to have been imported into Byzantium); and finally the procedure by which the
agreement was ratified. This discussion fully addresses the legal issues and terminology,
without resorting to overly complex language or deep jargon. In general, the book is
extremely accessible without dumbing down the subject matter. It is also accessible for
historians who do not read Greek, as all passages are translated into English and Byzantine
legal terms are well explained.
In the fifth chapter, Penna synthesizes the discussions of the individual documents into a
discussion of the most important legal problems addressed by them: the granting of
immoveable property, criminal justice, maritime law, and oaths. She finds that Italians were
granted a unique status with regard to real estate, less than full ownership, and similar to but
different from emphyteusis or pronoia. In criminal justice, Penna concludes that the Venetians,
who were tried either before their own judges or the logothets tou dromou, were
considerably more privileged than other Italians, who dealt with regular imperial courts, and
that some of these privileges may have been requested by the Venetians.4
Another difference between the Venetians and other Italians comes in maritime law,
where the documents have provisions applying to the Genoese and Pisans, but not the
Venetians. For the Genoese, this may have been on account of their history of piracy. Penna
Franz Dlger, Regesten der Kaiserurkunden des ostrmischen Reiches von 5651453 (Munich: R. Oldenbourg,
1924), no. 1616.
4
Penna, The Byzantine Imperial Acts, 2313.
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believes the Pisans may have requested the shipwreck provisions themselves, although the
evidence is scanty.5 In the matter of oaths, Penna finds that, although the swearing of oaths
was culturally important both in Byzantium and in the West, and that Italians sometimes
swore loyalty to the emperor, there is no evidence that this was a feudal oath, in which
Italians become vassals of the Emperor.6
Penna compares the treatment of these issues in the Byzantine documents to their
treatment in two other sets of contemporary treaties: the acts of the Crusader states that
concerned Italian city-states, for immoveable property, maritime law and criminal justice; and
the Russo-Byzantine treaties, for maritime law alone. She also compares the property law
provisions to the grants made to Byzantine monasteries. These comparisons are extremely
illuminating, helping to explain how the law was applied on a daily basis. It also appears that
there was some cross-polination with documents granted to the Venetians in the Crusader
states.7 This work is a welcome addition to the history of the relationship between Italy and
Byzantium, for its inclusion of Pisa and Genoa, for its accessibility, and for its
contextualization of legal history.
Jason Fossella
PhD Student
Department of History
Saint Louis University
5
6
7

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Kordoses, Stefanos. (552-659 ..).
, [The Turks between China and

Byzantium (552 A. D. - 659 A. D.) their role in the Eurasian politics, diplomacy and strategy].
Athens: Poiotita, 2012. Pp. 488. ISBN 9789607803689. 23.76
When reading the history of Central Asia, at the beginning, some may be confused by the
term Turk, since it has a double meaning in English and other modern languages. What is
the double meaning? What are the differences between them? These questions are answered
in the reviewed monograph, (552-659 ..).
The monograph, written by Dr. Stefanos Kordoses, is adapted and expanded from his
doctoral dissertation Diplomacy, Strategy on Eurasian Steppes from the Middle of 6th
Century to the Middle of 7th Century: West Turks, Khazars and Persians from China to the
Aegean Sea which was finished at the University of the Aegean in 2007.
Beginning with an explanation of the double meaning of Turk, the author gives
specific emphasis to the medieval Turkic Empire, and its role among the super powers of the
period from the middle of the sixth century to the middle of the seventh century. When
reviewing the historical origins, he manages to explain to us the modern geo-political
situation in the Eurasian Steppes. The Turks were a powerful and influential force,
particularly active from the sixth to the seventh centuries CE in the Eurasian Steppes. They
conquered a vast territory, penetrating from west to east along the northern branch of the Silk
Roads, by-passing Persia and across the steppe connecting Constantinople with Central Asia
and China. This period of activity for the Turks coincided with a phase of frequent
communications among the three huge empires: Byzantium, Persia and China. Hence, the
special geographical position of the Turkic Empire allowed it to play a key role in the
relations among the three powers.
The book comprises of eight chapters with a short prologue and an introduction. In
addition, it also provides the following abundant information as supplement: an English
summary, a broad bibliography, five tables of the Emperors and Khans from Byzantium,
Persia, China and Turks, eight geo-political maps, a Greek term index, a Latin term index and
a comparative table of basic Chinese names in Pinyin, Wade-Giles and Chinese characters.
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At the beginning of the introduction, the author explains his intention for this work: the
relations of the Turks with the two superpowers, China and Byzantium, and mainly with
Byzantium, have not been sufficiently researched, especially in Greece.1 Hence, his research
is valuable for understanding the history of Turco-Byzantine relations directly relating to the
Greek history. Dealing with the Turks from their first appearance in the records of history will
be helpful to better understand the developments in subsequent periods, when Byzantium and
the New Hellenism engaged with the Seljuks and Ottomans and Turks of modern Turkey.2
The first chapter shows a general impression of the Turkic world and its modern political
formula in Eurasia. Firstly, the author expounds clearly the difference of the two terms:
Turkish and Turkic, between which the former means the modern nation-state and its people,
while the later means the people who live in Central Asia and speak similar languages
belonging to a branch of the UralAltaic Language family. On this basis, he continues to
discuss the relation of the modern Turkish people with the Turkic people, and the organization
of the Turkic people. He emphasises that the misunderstanding of the difference between the
two people led to the enlargement of the Pan-Turkism3 from the nineteenth century. After a
general description of the historical geographical distribution of the Turks, he turns to the
political formula of the nineteenth century in Central Asia with the discussion of the
Turanism4 and, later on, to the modern political picture in this area.
With the following four chapters, the author chronologically addresses the relationship of
the Turkic Empire with its neighbours, especially with China and Persia: the emergence of the
Turkic power in north China, its relations with the Chinese dynasties, and its neighbours the
Rouran Empire5, Persian Empire and Byzantine Empire; the military activities of the West
Turks in Central Asia and their diplomatic activities with Persia and Byzantium; and the
cooperation and antagonism between the Turks, China, Byzantium and Persia in light of the
Stefanos Kordoses, (552-659 ..).
, (Athens: Poiotita, 2012), 30.
2
Kordoses, , 21.
3
Pan-Turkism is a movement that emerged in the 1880s among the Turkic intellectuals of the Russian Empire
and the Ottoman Empire, with the aim of cultural and political unification of all Turkic peoples, see Jacob M.
Landau, Pan-Turkism: From Irredentism To Cooperation (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1995).
4
Turanism, or Pan-Turanism, is a political movement for the union of all Turanian peoples. It implies not
merely the unity of all Turkic peoples (as in Pan-Turkism), but also the unification of a wider Turanid race, also
known as the controversial Uralo-Altaic race, believed to include all peoples speaking Turanian languages, see
M. Antoinette Czaplicka, The Turks of Central Asia in History and at the Present Day (Newcastle upon Tyne:
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010), 19.
5
Rouran was the name of a confederation of nomadic tribes on the northern borders of Inner China from the late
fourth century until the middle of the sixth century, see Barbara A. West, Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia
and Oceania (New York, NY: Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing, 2008), 687. It has
sometimes been hypothesized that the Rouran are identical to the Eurasian Avars who later appeared in Europe,
see Carter Vaughn Findley, The Turks in World History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 25.
1
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resurgence and decline of the Turks. Through the four chapters, the author intends to provide
the history of Turks rise and fall, as well as their complicated relationships with Persia,
Byzantium, China, and other Turkic peoples through diplomatic and strategic activities.
Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 focus on the analysis of diplomatic activities. In Chapter 6, the
author examines the significance of the marriages to diplomacy, the approaches, rules and the
means of exchange of the embassies between Byzantium and Turks, as well as between the
Turks and China. In Chapter 7, the author pays attention to the trade from China to Byzantium
along the Silk Roads. He firstly describes the general conditions of the trades and warfare in
Eurasia from the middle of the sixth century to the middle of the seventh century; secondly
the focus is given on the trade through the northern part of the Silk Roads and the activities of
the Byzantines, Persians and Turks; he lastly analyses the role of the Persians and Sogdians in
trade.
Chapter 8, which is the longest of the whole work, analyses the diplomatic and strategic
activities of the Turks in Central Asia through the theory of modern international relations.
Although realising that there is a danger that the use of modern international theory, which
did not exist in the historical era, will lead to false conclusions, the author manages to
introduce the theories of Carl Schmitt, namely the theoretical tool of nomos and the bipolar
definitions of friend and enemy, which he believes suitable for explaining the conditions of
Eurasia in the sixth and seventh centuries CE without losing its value for explaining modern
international relations. Using this formula the author presents an overview of the current
antagonism of great powers over Central Asia and the modern Turkic nations in this chapter
with a prediction of a new political order in Central Asia.
From the perspective of sources, he uses an abundance of materials, from Armenia, Syria,
and Persia. Nevertheless, the main sources are Chinese. Thats because the Turks, especially
the East Turks, lived in the area near to China, and further they had very close relation with
Chinese Dynasties. Hence, their history intertwined with the Chinese history in Chinese
writings. The most frequently used Chinese sources are Book of Sui, Old Book of Tang and
New Book of Tang which are the official histories covering the period from the sixth to the
tenth centuries CE. As the work focuses on the relations of Turks with China and Byzantium,
the sources of Byzantium are also key to the research from the western perspective. The
Byzantine materials mainly include the works of Procopius, Menander the Protector,
Theophylact Simocatta, Theophanes the Confessor, etc. These writings mainly cover the
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history from the sixth to the ninth centuries CE and provide information about the Turks and
their relations with Byzantium.
The author masters a good knowledge of international theories from his undergraduate
and postgraduate studies. With this advantage, he provides us with an excellent historical and
geo-political picture of the Eurasian Steppes during the sixth and the seventh century CE. In
this picture, the image and the role of the Turks, being situated in the multi-relation among
Byzantium, Persia, and China, were well analysed. The authors proficiency of many modern
languages offers a vast global perspective to review the subject. Furthermore, his work also
contains a rich bibliography which is of good value to the readers who are interested in further
pursuing the subject. Though there are some small mistakes with Chinese spellings, they
cannot detract from the merits of this work.
Qiang Li
PhD candidate
Department of History and Archaeology
University of Ioannina
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Chen, Zhiqiang. [The History of the Byzantine Empire]. Shanghai:
Shanghai Academy of Social Science Press, 2013. Pp. 476. ISBN 9787552002485. 75.00
The study of Byzantium in China began in the 1950s. Only a few papers, mainly translated
from Russian, were published over the following decades. However, since the 1980s,
Byzantine Studies in China has made great progress. Several books and papers from all over
the world have been translated, and a certain number of works have been published in
Chinese.1 Some Chinese scholars of Byzantium have emerged, such as Zhiqiang Chen. The
History of the Byzantine Empire is one of his representative works.
The book consists of three parts: introduction, text and appendix. Three parts in the
introduction constitute a history of international Byzantine Studies, the history of Chinese
Byzantine Studies and a basic knowledge of Byzantium. To the overseas reader, I think that
the most important part is the second one, which occupies a large space.
In this part, Chen pointed out that in the 1950s, Chinese Byzantine Studies was seriously
affected by the Soviet Union. The achievements of the Soviet Union at that time were
introduced to China one by one.2 On this basis, some scholars were able to complete a few
papers. Overall, in this period, the opinions of Chinese scholars were mainly influenced by
those of the Soviet Union.
However, in the past three decades, the research of world history in China has taken a
new stage. With the progress of the whole society and increasing opportunities to
communicate with other countries, more and more scholars have realised the importance of
Byzantine Studies. In 1986, a paper, We should pay more attention to the research of
Byzantium, was published in the periodical World History Studies3. From then on, more
papers about Byzantine history were published and more space in universities teaching
Such as Jialing Xu, Byzantine Civilization (Beijing: The People Press, 2006); N. H. Baynes, Byzantium: An
Introduction to East Roman Civilization, trans. Zhiqiang Chen, Wei Zheng and Peng Sun (Zhengzhou: Elephant
Press, 2012); Xushan Zhang, A study on Relations Between China and Byzantine Empire (Beijing: ZhongHua
Book Company, 2012); Yanhong Cui, Procopius world (Beijing: Peking University Press, 2013).
2
Zhiqiang Chen, introduction to The History of the Byzantine Empire (Shanghai: Shanghai Academy of Social
Science Press, 2013), 13.
3
Qiang Ling, We should pay more attention to the research of Byzantium, World History Studies 11 (1986):
62-63.
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materials was devoted to Byzantine Studies 4. But at the beginning of this period, most
papers were mainly introductions about foreign scholars works, and not yet real research5.
Next, with the deepening of research and the widening of view, there was a variety of
results in China. For example, some subjects that had been just stranded at the theoretical
level were deepened into details6. Chen takes the discussion about Iconoclasm as an example.
Chen thought the discussion indicated that some Chinese scholars paid their attention to
Byzantine religious problems. With the widening of views, Chinese scholars broke through
limitations of the past to notice Byzantine political history7. More attention was paid to
Byzantine religion, culture, and the communications between Byzantium and ancient China.
One development that Chen points out is that Chinese scholars have noticed the continuity of
Antiquity in Byzantine culture. They call this kind of continuity tradition or complex of
Antiquity. It can be seen that there was a classical style in Byzantine literary, historical,
philosophical, architectural and cultural works8. And many papers about it were published,
like The relation of Byzantine culture and Western9 and so on.
Another remarkable change is the use of the comparative method. It helps Chinese
scholars to break through the restriction of area history10. Scholars have compared some
Byzantine issues with Western and Chinese historical problems, which makes Byzantine
history no longer merely an area history in peoples eyes.
Next, Chen pointed out that there was also progress in the use of Byzantine historical
materials. More and more Chinese scholars and students came to develop different language
skills as they were travelling abroad for study. It is now possible that Chinese scholars can use
first and second hand materials written in other languages effectively. At the same time, with
the development of research on Chinas ancient history, some relevant records also have come
to light, such as the communications between China and Byzantium. In addition, a number of
Byzantine coins have been found in China in recent years11, which provide new evidence for
the fact of communications between China and Byzantium.
Chen, introduction, 15.

Ibid.
6
7
Ibid., 18.
8
Ibid., 18-19.
9
Jianling Xu, The relation of Byzantine culture and Western, Journal of Henan University (Social Science) 2
(2001): 97-103.
10
11
Relevant papers: Zhiqiang Chen, Research of Byzantine coins in China, Acta Archaeologica Sinica 3
(2004): 295-316.
5
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Also, Chen lists some deficiencies about Byzantine Studies in China. For example, some
content of papers are still not original. The use of historical materials is not sufficient enough.
However, Chen believes that these problems will be solved. The future of Chinese Byzantine
study is bright.
Above is the second part of the introduction of the book. In my opinion, it is the
meaningful part for foreign readers, because Chen looked back on the history of Chinese
Byzantine Studies and introduced its current situation. It is a short history of Chinese
Byzantine Studies.
As to the text of the book, it consists of ten chapters. Chapters One to Eight are arranged
by chronology, whose names are the time of Constantine, the time of Justinian and so on.
Chapter Nine is Byzantine culture and the last one is Byzantine diplomacy.
As to the reason for the decline of Byzantium, Chens idea neither is wedded to
economic determinism, which affected the Chinese history for a long time, nor the decline of
military, culture or cities that is argued by some western scholars. Chen believes that the
reason is not a simple one, just as he thinks Iconoclasm is not just a religious issue. In my
opinion, some of Chen arguments are relatively fair, as another scholar, Dr. Yin Zhonghai
said: This is the advantage that Chinese scholars bring to Byzantine Studies, because they
can avoid the subjectivity that may be produced by realistic political and religious intentions
which can influence some Western scholars ideas12.
As to the deficiencies of the book, I think the content and the style of it is a little
outdated. As Alice-Mary Talbot said, Since about 1970, there has been a pronounced shift in
Byzantine studies away from political and diplomatic history to a much greater focus on
social, cultural, economic, and military history13. To this view, the books style is a little
old-fashioned, but it is still a representative work of Chinese Byzantine Studies.
Like Zhang
PhD student
Center for the World Civilization History
Northeast Normal University, China
12
Zhonghai Yin, Book review of The history of the Byzantine empire, World History Studies 2 (2005): 126.
Alice-Mary Talbot, Byzantine Studies at the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century, The Journal of English
and Germanic Philology 105, no. 1 (2006): 31.
105
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Byzantine Thirteenth Century Day Wrap-up, 13 May 2014
Annika Asp-Talwar (PhD Candidate in Byzantine Studies)

Jeff Brubaker (PhD Candidate in Byzantine Studies)
Matthew Kinloch (MRes Student in Byzantine Studies)
Wei-sheng Lin (PhD Candidate in Byzantine Studies)
Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies
University of Birmingham
The Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies is fortunate to host a multitude
of scholars and students who specialize in various periods of Byzantine history and frequently
cooperate with one another to further their research, but those who study the thirteenth
century are particularly collaborative. On 13 May 2014 four postgraduate students Matthew
Kinloch, Jeff Brubaker, Annika Asp-Talwar and Wei-sheng Lin, who all worked under the
supervision of Dr. Ruth Macrides gathered to discuss aspects of their own research, as well
as challenges relevant to the study of Byzantium in the thirteenth century.
The day-long workshop came about as the collective result of the four students interests
and frustration. Each was astonished by the fact that, even though they all studied
approximately the same period, they lacked a great deal of familiarity with the subjects the
others were pursuing. Matthew Kinloch focuses on the problems of political agency following
the Fourth Crusade questioning how success and failure have been measured in the
multitude of polities that formed after the fall of Constantinople in 1204. Jeff Brubaker studies
the evolving diplomacy of the period between Byzantine and Latin rulers. Following in the
proud tradition at Birmingham, Annika Asp-Talwar aims to explain developments in
Trebizond and its changing relationship with Constantinople in the late thirteenth century and
beyond. And Wei-sheng Lin grapples with the difficult questions facing the Anatolian
economy in the uncertain and politically turbulent period of the thirteenth century. The group
decided that the best solution to learn more about each others focus was with a day of
collaboration presenting their research to one another in the hopes of finding new answers
as well as questions.
Preparations and arrangements pursued by Matthew Kinloch allowed the event to go
smoothly. The group was also fortunate that Dr. Ruth Macrides, who supervises each of the
four students, agreed to chair the event. Dr. Macrides work on Byzantium in the thirteenth
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Supplementum
century especially her translation and commentary of the history of George Akropolites
makes her keenly qualified to discuss the events and problems in studying the period. The
students also benefited from the input and participation of Dr. Archibald Dunn, who offered a
unique and challenging perspective on the issues. The programme put forward by Matthew
Kinloch allowed each student ample time to present their research, followed by a stimulating
but relaxed discussion.
Several questions and themes appeared and reappeared through the various presentations,
echoing the problems one faces when attempting to discuss historical trends in general and
Byzantine Studies on the thirteenth century in particular. What terms should historians use to
name rulers and states? Is the period of the thirteenth century overburdened with a narrative of
decline? How does one quantify and qualify the relationships between states? Through a
lively series of discussions, along with a generous helping of debate, the group of students and
professors were able to more succinctly identify the goals of their work and the challenges
they face. The event embodies the ethos of the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern
Greek Studies supporting the cross-fertilization of subjects and promoting a scholarly
environment.
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South-Western Turkey in the 13th and 21st Centuries
Matthew Kinloch
MRes Student in Byzantine Studies
Antalya is full of tourists, but Byzantine (and Seljuk) Attaleia goes unnoticed by those busy in
the streets below, selling and sweating. Antalyas thirteenth-century fortifications in one street
are in the process of being tidied up to provide an appropriately atmospheric backdrop for
overpriced drinks and mediocre bands, in a new tourist bar. From a square above the modern
equestrian statue of the Seljuk sultan who captured Attaleia from the Byzantines and Franks
gazes towards the sea which had made the city one of the most important urban centres in the
Mediterranean. Today the harbour is full of mock Pirates of the Caribbean ships, a sight
which in one image captures the beauty and banality that travelled around south-western
Turkey with me for two weeks.
From Antalya I struck north through the Taurus mountains to the sites of Laodikea,
Hierapolis, Tripolis and Chonai (birthplace of Niketas and Michael Choniates), the
relationship between which is puzzling and as yet largely unexamined. The exact location of
thirteenth-century Laodikea is still uncertain, although the classical/early Byzantine city is
both well-known and abundant in snakes. The substantial fortifications at Hierapolis (Fig. I)
and Tripolis (Fig. II), which archaeologists have dated to the thirteenth century, leave almost
no trace in contemporary texts, despite seeming to have been far more substantial than
anything at Chonai (regularly mentioned by historians). These problems oozed out of the
landscape as I careered between sites, which it turned out had looked deceptively close
together in Tabula Imperii Byzantini in the library. An understanding of the sheer scale of the
areas controlled by men who have been dismissed as rebels and petty local lords by historians
is immediately apparent on the bus from Denizli to Alaehir (Byzantine Philadelphia). The
size of the Byzantine city walls are matched only by the kindness of the staff at the
appropriately named Philadelphia Hotel, who offered to drive round all the Byzantine
monuments of the labyrinthine modern city.
Arriving in the massive conurbation of zmir on the anniversary of Gezi Park, meant that
a massive display of police force stifled the bustle of the city. Nevertheless zmir proved a
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solid base for visiting Smyrna, Magnesia, Nymphaion and Sardis, although the citadel of the
latter, shrouded in an unsettlingly fierce thunderstorm proved inaccessible. The palace of
Nymphaion proved to be covered in appropriately Byzantinesque wooden scaffolding.
However, the Kastron strikingly positioned in the hills above the modern town of Kemalpaa
was perhaps the highlight of the trip, despite the chain-smoking urchins who tried to steal
everything (really, everything). The nationalists have done their best to ruin the Kastron of
Magnesia (Manisa) by erecting a luminous billboard of Turkey on what should be a protected
site, but even this was unable to completely ruin the atmosphere of the site.
From zmir I turned south to Seluk (Ephesus), where the classical remains
underwhelmed after the striking remoteness of Nymphaion. A truly frantic day took me to
Sampson (Priene), a stunning classical city framed beautifully by the woods which have
consumed it beneath a Byzantine acropolis (Fig. III), then the fortified theatre of Miletus and
finally to the massive temple of Didima. Despite a lack of willing lifts and consequently a lot
of walking, I travelled like a Byzantine pilgrim, to the holy mountain of Latros. The massive
mountain sanctuary looms above the inviting waters of Bafa Gl, although I was informed
by two conservationists from Istanbul who were testing the water that it is slowly being
poisoned. The mountain and lake are home to a vast array of Byzantine monasteries and
fortifications, some of which I was able to visit and to which I feel compelled to return (Fig.
IV).
After heading back north I turned east to follow the Maeander valley, stopping first at
Aydn (Tralles), where the archaeological park faced a large military complex, clearly
taking advantage of the hill, as strategically important now as it was when the Palaiologoi
decided to rebuild the city. While attempting to reach Kalesi Mastura, above Nazilli, I was
summoned to the smoky and strangely soviet office of a man who I think was the mayor of
Mastura, where I was threatened with the gendarmerie if I attempted to visit the
archaeological site. Needless to say I went and had a look anyway, albeit fairly briefly, before
hurriedly reboarding the dolmu to Nazilli, from where I set out for Aphrodisias, via the
stunning Kastron of Antioch-on-the-Maeander (Fig. V). Sitting on a tower at the confluence
of two river valleys it was easy to imagine the duel between Theodore Laskaris and
Kay-Khusraw in the lush fields below. It is unfortunate then that this duel is almost certainly
nothing more than a literary topos. The atmosphere at Aphrodisias was both metaphorically
and literally electric as I managed to arrive in time for yet another thunderstorm.
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Having been invited when visiting the fortifications of Tripolis to a wedding, I made a
slight detour going to Isparta via the tiny village of Yenicekent. There my newest friend, the
talented pide maker from the village took me first to a music festival in an adjacent village. A
sudden thunderstorm turned the streets into a river, flooding the street stalls, one of which it
turned out belonged to my friend. After saving the strange array of womens clothing for sale
we returned to Yenicekent laden with munitions and beer, both of which were used at the
wedding party where celebratory shots were fired into the thunderous rain by an army of
grinning villagers sheltering beneath the boots of their cars from the torrential downpour,
which anointed the young couple as they and the rest of the village danced in the streets
beneath leaking tarpaulins.
The following day I was eventually able to escape the hospitality of my friends and reach
Eirdir, via Isparta. This understated town sits on or around a spit of land jutting into a glassy
lake, which also, according to a very enthusiastic Austrian, has the added benefit of being the
home to a vast array of rare butterflies. The spit had been fortified by a Byzantine and later
Seljuk wall which in parts survives to demonstrate the tactical advantages of the site. Having
saved what turned out to be the best till last I finished the trip by visiting the Byzantino-Seljuk
border city of Sozopolis (Fig. VI). Kay-Khusraws old stronghold did not disappoint, poised
as it is more precipitously than Tintagel above (what I think is) an Ottoman bridge and a
collection of Seljuk mosques. The Imam of one having explained that it was founded by
Kay-Kaus proceeded to find a dedicatory plaque in a mixture of French and cobwebs.
Sozopolis was the final stop before traversing the Taurus again and returning to Antalya.
From the library in Birmingham, it is easy to detach the landscape from the history of
thirteenth-century Byzantium. This trip has enabled me to introduce new and important levels
to my study of a time which it is impossible not to find compelling. I would like to thank the
College of Arts and Law Graduate School, which through the Postgraduate Research Support
Fund enabled me to make this trip and thus add more concretely the topographical dimension
to my research.
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Fig. I Hierapolis. Photo: M. Kinloch 2014.
Fig. II Tripolis. Photo: M. Kinloch 2014.
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Fig. III Sampson/Priene. Photo: M. Kinloch 2014.
Fig. IV Bafa Gl from Mount Latros. Photo: M. Kinloch 2014.
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Fig. V Antioch-on-the-Maeander. Photo: M. Kinloch 2014.
Fig. VI Sozopolis. Photo: M. Kinloch 2014.
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Supplementum
Outreach Workshops in Ottoman History
Gemma Masson
PhD Candidate in Ottoman Studies
Introduction
The Postgraduate Workshop scheme is run yearly by the Student Recruitment and Outreach
Office, University of Birmingham. The programme is active across the whole University and
recruits and trains PhD students who apply to the programme to conceive and facilitate
interactive workshops with groups of secondary school children visiting the University on
open-days and other events such as History Quest. The target audience for these types of
events is usually the Year 9-10 classes (14-15 years old) and the challenge is to engage the
students in the researchers own, often narrow, specialism within their field. Most groups for
such events would consist of 15-30 schoolchildren.
The researchers all attended a training session in which advice was provided on how to
tailor workshop activities to different ages and learning styles. Additionally information on
the use of resources and managing a group of students and keeping them on task was offered
as well as tricks for engaging the more reticent members of a group. After this session
participants were asked to create their session and book a time to test it out upon a small
audience consisting of members of the outreach and recruitment teams for feedback before
restructuring and improving the sessions.
Workshop Content
Initial ideas for content on a workshop pertaining to Ottoman history took careful planning.
This is a field unlikely to have been encountered within the school curriculum and, despite
recent resurgence of BBC documentaries on the subject, is not yet part of the popular
historical awareness. Thus in order to introduce an unfamiliar subject the researcher decided
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to use a couple of warm-up activities to get students thinking before using an exercise in
primary and secondary source methodology using examples from Ottoman history.
Initially the plan was to use the idea of a mind-mapping exercise to get the ball rolling. It
was proposed to ask students for anything they associated with the word Turkey or
Ottomans. Based on feedback from the outreach team at the first draft of the workshop,
however, this was still starting out too deep. The researchers plan was to build around one
larger, key exercise with several smaller exercises to initially engage the students and get
them thinking in terms of the Ottoman world. The final workshop programme included four
introductory activities before the main sources exercises.
Firstly a jargon-busting activity was left on the desks for students to pick up and work
on as soon as they arrived. This had the advantage of being a settling exercise which meant
that it got students thinking about the session and engaging with it while at the same time
calming them down into a classroom type atmosphere ready to receive activity instructions.
The terminology defined in this exercise was basic military history words such as rebellion
and mutiny as well as several methodological terms i.e. primary source, and secondary
source.
The second exercise was a time-line activity to help the students situate Ottoman history
in their minds in relation to history they were already aware of. To achieve this a time-line of
Ottoman history was drawn upon the whiteboard and the students were then invited to add
their own favourite areas of history to the blank side of the time-line, thus allowing them to
see what was occurring in the Ottoman empire, for example during the reign of Henry VIII of
England. This, like the jargon-busting exercise was designed to provide students with an
outline of where Ottoman history fits into the wider field of history in general, before filling
in some more specific content with the following exercises.
Next was an activity which had been very popular with the outreach team from the
preliminary designs of the workshop. Students were divided into groups and each group was
given a certain scenario from Ottoman history and asked to guess what they would do in that
situation or what they thought might happen next.
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Example:
It is 1444. You are 12 years old, your father has abdicated the Ottoman throne to you, you
are in a state of warfare and many of your advisers do not trust you, considering you too
young and inexperienced for rule. What do you do?
Each group would consider their scenario before giving an answer to the whole group. The
real answers of what had happened in history would then be shown on the Power-point. For
the example scenario, a slide detailing the life and career of Fatih Sultan Mehmet II was
shown.
The final introductory activity was a group mind-map aimed at getting students to think
about the practice of history and led into the main methodological activity. The students were
asked two questions: What is history? and What is a historian? and encouraged to add
their answers to the mind-maps on the whiteboards at the front of the room. Following on
from this and leading into the methodology activity the answers were given that history was
about real people and their stories, and that a historian was, as per John H. Arnolds analysis,
a detective.1.
In order to frame the methodology activity in a way that would appeal to young people
the idea of the historian as a detective was linked to popular BBC TV drama Sherlock and the
main methodological activity framed as a criminal investigation in the Holmesian style.
Sheets were provided with both primary and secondary source materials on them and the
activity aimed to introduce the concept of critical thinking and using primary evidence to
either support or refute what is thought to be established fact. Using the key question from the
researchers project, namely the question of whether or not the janissary corps were as corrupt
as they have been portrayed. The first resource made available was a Fact sheet containing
details from established secondary historiography. Students were then invited to consider
what ideas and theories such information might suggest to them. The next step was proving
such theories and to this end a selection of primary source materials pertaining to the question
of janissary corruption was distributed. The students were encouraged to find correlation
between the secondary and primary sources and discuss whether the primary sources
supported or disagreed with any of the known facts.
John H. Arnold, History: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 45.
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The next stage in the key activity was to look at and analyse where the primary sources
were coming from. Remembering that humans are biased and students considered the primary
sources and whether their authors would have any specific prejudices on the question. Once
these ideas were added to the mix then a final conclusion on the question could be reached.
Future Directions and Development
There were a great many ideas for activities conceived by the researcher which could not be
included for reasons of time and resources. Each workshop delivered is tailored to the
individual requirements of that specific event and as such the methodology workshop was the
most suitable to History Quest. However the range of ideas does allow for the workshop to be
tailored to any length of time and groups of any size and age group. Suggested activities
include the use of props in the scenario activity as well as fancy dress games for younger
children. The only drawback of those ideas is that it would require some extra funding for the
resources which may need to be sourced independently. Other ideas included some teaching
of the Ottoman and Turkish languages which could be utilised in older groups.
In terms of the logistics of delivering the workshop the resources could be reworked in
order to make the activities clearer such as numbering the facts and primary sources to make
matching them easier. Also the layout of the rooms in the Arts building could be reworked,
from the traditional rows of desks all facing the front of the room, to groups by moving tables
together so groups faced inwards to each other and that would facilitate easier discussion
between group members on activities and also assist in helping them focus on the tasks.
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Supplementum
Cappadocia in Context 2014 a report
Andrea Mattiello
PhD Candidate in Byzantine Studies
We all know certain opportunities happen once in a lifetime. I have the feeling I just had one.
One early afternoon, while flying back to London from Istanbul, I went through the
photographic survey of my last few weeks in Cappadocia and I became increasingly aware of
the truly unique and academically valuable programme I just had the privilege of
experiencing.
The Cappadocia in Context field trip, organised by Prof Robert Ousterhout and Dr
Tolga Uyar, is indeed one of the rarest opportunities to investigate the cultural, architectural
and artistic heritage of this Anatolian region once a province of the Byzantine Empire
while immersing oneself into its naturalistic beauty. But we should be clear: this is not a
cultural holiday. Cappadocia in Context is a field study, conducted scientifically, and an
intense research trip, which merges the scholarship of the two group leaders with the
opportunity of direct exposure to the multifaceted and syncretic environment of Medieval
Cappadocia.
The 18-day programme starts with a two day introduction in Istanbul. It then moves on
to Mustafapaa, a small village located close to rgp in the centre of Cappadocia. The
programme includes a series of visits to some of the best known Cappadocian sites, but also to
other less known ones, still the subject of current scientific interest and scholarly research.
Prof Ousterhout and Dr Uyar conduct these visits in an excellent double act. While the
first is responsible for providing detailed analyses of the architectural features of both stone
carved and masonry built churches, as well as monastic, residential and agrarian complexes,
the second adds a broad and contextualised understanding of the pictorial programme
decorating most of the religious buildings. Lectures by the two scholars and participant
reports complement the visits to the sites, offering a comprehensive overview of the many
relevant aspects for the study of the art and the architecture of the region.
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This stimulating learning experience is then garnished by the culinary expertise of the
Chef of Gl Konaklar, a beautiful boutique hotel in Mustafapaa a village once known as
Sinasos that offers a rare opportunity to reside in a 19th century Greek mansion.
The programme allows participants to venture into the unique volcanic landscape of
Cappadocia, discovering incredible sites where naturally carved valleys and their rock
formations one cannot miss the suggestive cones topped by a rock, the so called fairy
chimneys have been transformed by centuries of anthropic activities that have invested the
region.
Even though the programme focuses specifically on Byzantine Cappadocia, the site visits
and the lectures allow students to develop an understanding of Roman and Seljuk occupation,
thanks to the participation in the programme of scholars such as Murat Glyaz of the Nevehir
Museum, and Prof Scott Redford, former director of the Research Center for Anatolian
Civilizations at Ko University, which sponsors the programme.
Churches and other selected architectures of Cappadocia constitute the most substantial
corpus of the objects of study. While accompanying the students through thorough in situ
investigations of these monuments, Prof Ousterhout also provides detailed analyses of their
architectural features with lectures ex cathedra. The buildings carved from tuff and soft
volcanic ash - main components of the petrographic spectrum of the region as well as those
built in masonry are considered in all of their constitutive parts, using stylistic and structural
analysis.
Based on this close examination Prof Ousterhout is able to conclude, convincingly, that
the design of a group of the Middle Byzantine Cappadocian churches is the result of an
adaptation process, which transferred architectural elements found in masonry-built churches
into rock-carved churches. According to this reading, elements found in Cappadocian
cross-in-square churches such as interior columns that are structurally over-dimensioned for
their purpose, or non-structural pendentives with carved decorations connected to domes,
which also show statically unsound solutions are the result of an architectural design
intended to establish a symbolic visual relation with known examples found in Constantinople
and other centres of the Empire. Exemplary in this respect are the cases of Karanlk Kilise,
arkl Kilise and Elmal Kilise in Greme, or the Aaalt Kilisesi in the Ihlara Valley. These
churches distinguish themselves in their plan from other solutions adopted in the region, such
as the early Christian single nave basilica, the three naves basilica, or a recurrent typology
in Cappadocia the double naves plan. The latter features in several cases and is well
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represented by two churches, both in the Soanl Valley, the Church of St Barbara and
Geyikli Kilise.
The analysis of churches, residential and monastic complexes is also done in the context
of the agricultural, pastoral and military activities of the region. Thanks to his broader
analytical approach, Prof Ousterhout has helped refine what were believed to be uses for some
of these complexes, previously thought of as only monastic, as is the case of the settlements
of anl Kilise and Ak Saray. According to Prof Ousterhouts extensive survey of the
settlement, the 23 areas with courtyard complexes in the proximity of the anl Kilise,
complete with halls, chambers, stables, chapels and cistern, are a military settlement. The
settlement developed alongside the fortresses of Akhisar and Sivrihisar, along the upper
portion of the root connecting the Lycaonian Plain, where the city of Aksaray is located, to
the highlands of Cappadocia and to mountain Hasan Da. The complex of Ak Saray is,
according to Prof Ousterhout, a horse farm, evidence for which can be found in the
architectural elements of several complexes comprising of halls and chambers, elements that
can be associated with large stables and annexed facilities.
Prof Ousterhouts rich and extensive architectural survey of the region is then
complemented by Dr Uyar's scholarship on the frescoes and interior decorations of the sites.
Dr Uyar provides introductory and in-depth explanations regarding the frescoed programmes
inside the churches. With developments covering the 9th-10th, 11th and 13th centuries, these
programmes present distinctive regional features, while showing a rich pattern reminiscent of
Constantinopolitan art of the Middle Period, as well as stylistic features and themes that can
be associated with Eastern visual and cultural traditions brought to Cappadocia at different
stages of its history.
Of particular interest in the churches of the 9th and 10th century is the recurrent
employment of a visual repertoire that scholars have named archaic programme. According to
this programme, the vault or flat roof covering the main nave of the church is decorated with
scenes taken from the life of the Theotokos and of Christ, organised in continuous bands
running one on top of the other. The scenes are chronologically arranged, and show
distinctive stylistic features in the rendition of the main characters and of their attributes. A
well-known case of this 9th/10th century typology can be found in the old nave of the Tokal
Kilise. In the same church, a later transformation added a transverse nave to the original one.
This transversal nave has frescoed decorations that still present a challenge in regards to its
dating: most scholars date these frescoes to the mid-10th century, while German scholars
postpone them to the 13th.
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The scholarship on this large and complex repertoire, originally started by French
scholars in the late 19th century and further developed in the 20th century, is extensive and
presents unresolved issues, which are debated in the field of Cappadocian Art History. Some
of these debates were the subject of instructive digressions on-site, and of extensive
discussions during lectures by Dr Uyar. Dr Uyar has contributed significantly to the study of
the art of the region while analysing 13th century figurative and decorative programmes found
in the church of St George in Ortaky, in the Eski Kilise Cami in Marvuan, and in the church
of the Archangel Michael in the Cemil Monastery. The frescoed programme of the latter bears
an inscription, which mentions the Nicaean Emperor Theodore Laskaris. According to Dr
Uyar, these exempla are a demonstration of the close connection between the Seljuk
Cappadocia and the Nicaean Empire. They also show iconographic and stylistic features that
relate their corresponding workshops to artistic Orthodox Christian visual standards, a sort of
lingua franca, that can be found during the 13th century in other regions of the East
Mediterranean such as Cyprus, the Mani region, some of Aegean islands, like Cythera or
Naxos, and that can probably resonate with the art of the Nicaean Empire of the same period.
Due to the word limit of this journal, in this short report I cannot digress into the
numerous academic issues debated by its organisers and participants. But hopefully I have
given the reader a taste for the extraordinary experience of immersing oneself in Cappadocia.
This unique Anatolian region can be fully appreciated and understood only if read in the
context of the cultures of its many historical inhabitants the Hittites, the Persians, the
Romans, the early Christian subjects of the Byzantine Empire, the Seljuks, the Ottoman
Turks who lived there and left many traces of their anthropic activities. These traces merge
into the beautiful and fragile Cappadocian natural environment, challenging scholars to
decipher and interpret them, while posing numerous questions for their preservation. Only
carefully conducted surveys and appropriate restoration and conservation campaigns can
guarantee the survival of these world heritage monuments. But such campaigns can only start
after appropriate research, scientific studies and informative workshops and field trips, of
which Cappadocia in Context is definitely one of the best, if not the only, example.
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2

[The History of the Byzantine Empire]

contributions of Stefanos Kordoses in

(552-659 ..). Like Zhang, meanwhile, reviews a general history of Byzantium in

Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27

Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27

hsan Sungu, Tanzimat ve Yeni Osmanllar, Tanzimat I, ed. A. H. Ongunsu, et al.

, . erif Mardin, Din ve deoloji

Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27

biat ( ), icmai mmet ( ), meveret ..

Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27

Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27

(adalet), (halk egemenlii)

Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27

: biat ashap Abu Bekir

. , (Al Farabi), (Al Gazali),

(Ahmed Cevded Paa), (Namk Kemal)

Mzn (). , Kitb

Kitb, Mzn Demir. Kitb

El Hadid, 112/57. http://kuran.diyanet.gov.tr/Kuran.aspx#57:1. Last modified October 27, 2014.

Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27

Tsi (), kif Paa ( ), Celald-din-i Devvani (

- ), Ktip elebi ( ). Ahlak- Al,

bn-i Haldun mlk ()

Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27

hukuk ( - ) kanunname, ferman,

Diogenes 2 (2014): 2-27

(Sariyerli Hoca Sadk Efendi).

Hoca Tahsin Efendi 19

) Unity of slam, Islamic Union, Union

Islamique, Vereinigung des Islam. (Pan Islamisme, Pan

ttihad- slam, Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak, 173-209;

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ttihad- slam bret,

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Trkne, Siyasi deoloji Olarak,

Kaplan, Namk Kemal Hayat ve Eserleri, 111.

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ttihad, Basiret, 13 1874.

Osmanllk Sfat, Basiret, 13 , 1870.

Yeni Osmanllarn Ecille-i Azasndan Ziya Beyefendi, Hrriyet, . 2, 6

Namk Kemal, Devlet-i Aliyye, Hrriyet, . 9, 24 1868.

Namk Kemal, Sadaret, Hrriyet, . 36, 1 1869.

Namk Kemal, stikbal, bret, . 1, 13 1872.

Namk Kemal, Avrupallar ark bilmez, bret, . 7, 23 1872.

Namk Kemal, ttihad- slam, bret, . 11, 27 1872.

: Osmanl Aratrmalar Vakf, 1990.

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