PlagueandEmpireintheEarlyModernMediterraneanWorld TheOttomanExperience,1347–1600 This is the first systematic scholarly study of the Ottoman experience ofplagueduringtheBlackDeathpandemicandthecenturiesthatfol- lowed.Usingawealthofarchivalandnarrativesources,includingmed- ical treatises, hagiographies, and travelers’ accounts, as well as recent scientificresearch,Nu¨khetVarlıkdemonstrateshowplagueinteracted withtheenvironmental,social,andpoliticalstructuresoftheOttoman Empirefromthelatemedievalthroughtheearlymodernera.Thebook argues that the empire’s growth transformed the epidemiological pat- terns of plague by bringing diverse ecological zones into interaction andbyintensifyingthemobilitiesofexchangeamongbothhumanand nonhumanagents.Varlıkmaintainsthatpersistentplagueselicitednew formsofculturalimaginationandexpressionaswellasanewbodyof knowledgeaboutthedisease.Inturn,thisnewconsciousnesssharpened theOttomanadministrativeresponsetotheplague,whilecontributing tothemakingsofanearlymodernstate. Nu¨khetVarlıkisAssistantProfessorofHistoryatRutgersUniversity– Newark.Sheistheauthorofseveralarticlesandiscurrentlyeditinga collectionofessaystitledPlagueandContagionintheIslamicMediter- ranean. She is the recipient of an NEH Fellowship by the American Research Institute in Turkey, a Senior Fellowship from Koc¸ Univer- sity’sResearchCenterforAnatolianCivilizations,andaTurkishCul- turalFoundationPost-DoctoralFellowship. Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World The Ottoman Experience, 1347–1600 NU¨KHET VARLIK RutgersUniversity–Newark 32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107013384 (cid:2)C Nu¨khetVarlık2015 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2015 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Varlık,Nu¨khet. PlagueandempireintheearlymodernMediterraneanworld:theOttomanexperience, 1347–1600/Nu¨khetVarlık(RutgersUniversity–Newark). pagescm Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. isbn978-1-107-01338-4(hardback) 1.Plague–Turkey–Epidemiology–History. 2.BlackDeath–Turkey–History. 3.Plague–Environmentalaspects–Turkey–History. 4.Plague–Social aspects–Turkey–History. 5.Plague–Politicalaspects–Turkey–History. 6.Imperialism–Socialaspects–Turkey–History. 7.Turkey–History– OttomanEmpire,1288–1918. 8.Turkey–Environmentalconditions– History. I.Title. rc179.t9v37 2016 614.5(cid:3)73209561–dc23 2015006206 isbn978-1-107-01338-4Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurlsfor externalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot guaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. To Ben, with love and gratitude Contents Figures,Maps,andTables page ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xv NoteonTransliterationandDates xvii Introduction 1 part i. plague: history and historiography 1 ANaturalHistoryofPlague 17 2 PlagueinOttomanistandNon-OttomanistHistoriography 55 3 TheBlackDeathandItsAftermath(1347–1453) 90 part ii. plague of empire 4 TheFirstPhase(1453–1517):PlagueComesfromtheWest 131 5 TheSecondPhase(1517–1570):MultiplePlague Trajectories 160 6 TheThirdPhase(1570–1600):IstanbulasPlagueHub 185 part iii. empire of plague 7 PlagueTransformed:ChangingPerceptions,Knowledge, andAttitudes 207 8 TheStateofthePlague:PoliticsofBodiesintheMakingof theOttomanState 248 Epilogue 292 Bibliography 295 Index 327 vii