Obeying Ottoman Sultans in Southeastern Europe Full Article Language: En Indien Anders: Engelse Articletitle: 0
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_full_alt_author_running_head (neem stramien B2 voor dit chapter en nul 0 in hierna): 0 _full_articletitle_deel (kopregel rechts, vul hierna in): Obeying Ottoman Sultans in Southeastern Europe _full_article_language: en indien anders: engelse articletitle: 0 94 Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Obeying Ottoman Sultans in Southeastern Europe: a Chronological Survey Sources mention frequent instances of non-Muslim communities and polities across Southeastern Europe accepting tribute payments and submitting to the Ottoman sultans. For instance, the cities of Thessaloniki and Christopolis be- came tribute-payers between 1387 and 1391, enjoying “a condition of privileged vassalage,” according to A. E. Vacalopoulos. This meant that Murad I did not opt to incorporate the two cities into his empire but only demanded the pay- ment of the customary poll-tax and the maintenance of a small Ottoman gar- rison. These “peaceful and privileged conditions” were abrogated after the towns’ conquest following the death of John V (February 1391).1 In 1453, after the inhabitants of Galata have submitted “willingly” to Mehmed II as subjects, the sultan “imposed upon them the Islamic poll-tax (harac) which they pay each year as other non-Muslims do.”2 As narrative and documentary sources indicate, the capitulations of Christian towns in Southeastern Europe and Anatolia generally implied, in terms of Islamic law, imposing șeriʿat-stipulated taxes, cizye and harac, and transforming obedient non-Muslims into zimmis. The decisions of Christian rulers to accept to pay tribute is particularly im- portant for the topic at hand. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries provides us with several clear-cut examples of tributary states (haracgüzars): Byzan- tium between 1372–1453; Serbia between 1372–1459; the Bulgarian tsardoms in the 1380s and 1390s; Bosnia in the period 1389–1463; Albania from 1385–1478, with interruptions; the Morean Despotate in the fifteenth century; the North Aegean islands of Lesbos, Lemnos and Imbros in the fifteenth century. These cases can be adopted as a point of reference for the fifteenth-century legal and political position of Moldavia and Wallachia. 1 A. E. Vacalopoulos (Bakalopoulos), History of Macedonia. 1354–1833, Translated by Peter Megann, Thessaloniki: Institute for Balkan Studies, 1973, 64–67. 2 In the ʿahdname of June 1453 (Inalcık, “Galata,” 18; Critobul, Mehmed II, 148). On the fortresses surrounding Kaffa (Tursun bey, Tarih, in Crestomație turcă, 198). © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004411104_006 _full_alt_author_running_head (neem stramien B2 voor dit chapter en nul 0 in hierna): 0 _full_articletitle_deel (kopregel rechts, vul hierna in): Obeying Ottoman Sultans in Southeastern Europe _full_article_language: en indien anders: engelse articletitle: 0 Obeying Ottoman Sultans in Southeastern Europe 95 1 The Byzantine Empire In regard to Byzantium, historians have generally agreed that in summer 1372, following the Ottoman victory at Çirmen (26 September 1371), Emperor John V Paleologus, became a “tributary to Amurat, following him in any of his expedi- tions,” as recorded by Chalcocondylas.3 This event was but one episode from a prolonged history of war and peace spanning over a century. It began in 1348 when Anna of Savoy acquiesced to presenting to Orhan, among other things, “a great sum of money” as a single payment, whereas John VI Cantacuzino be- stowed “plenty of gifts” upon the Ottomans who had assisted him during the civil war. Once on the Byzantine throne, John V Paleologos (in 1379) and John VII Paleologos (in 1390) institutionalized yearly payments of “many hundreds of gold and silver coins” to Murad I and Bayezid I, respectivly. However, in the span of merely three decades following 1424, Byzantine–Ottoman relations took a sharp turn to the detriment of Byzantine rulers, which eventually led to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and of Trebizond in 1461.4 2 Albania Ottoman–Venetian rivalry over Albania played an essential role in the region’s historical evolution, in a manner similar to the parallel Ottoman–Hungarian competition for Wallachia. According to Ottoman chronicles, the first instance of submission by Albanian lords took place following the defeat and death of Balša II during the battle of Savra in 1385. One of Murad I’s tribute-payers was Gjergj Stratsimirović, Balša’s heir in Scutari and Dulcigno. A curious development that merits attention is that, in order to keep their tributaries on their side, the Ottomans guaranteed the possession of their lands as timars. Nonetheless, it was only after almost a century of conflict, truces and conquests – Skanderbeg’s career being the most known episode during this time – that Mehmed II succeeded in bringing all of Albania under Ottoman direct administration.5 3 Chalcocondil, Expuneri, 42. See also Dölger, Regesten, no. 3136; Danișmend, OT Kronolojisi, I, 55–56; G. Ostrogorsky, “Byzance, État tributaire de l’Empire turc.” Zbornik Radova (Novi Sad), vol. v, (1958): 49–58. 4 The Byzantines paid Murad i and Bayezid i 30,000 hiperpers (i.e. 15,000 Venetian ducats or 480,000 akçes), and after 1424 Murad ii, 9,090 ducats or 300,000 akçes (Ducas, Istoria, VIII/1, IX/1–2; Chalcocondil, Expuneri, 35, 54–55; Melissenos, Memorii, I/13; Octavian Iliescu, “Le montant du tribut payé par Byzance à l’Empire Ottoman en 1379 et 1424),” RESEE, IX, 3, 1971, 427–432). 5 For details see H. Inalcık, “Arnawutluk,” EI-2, I, 650–658; Critobul, Mehmed II, 246; .