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Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: the Ottoman Experience

Year 2016, Volume: 48 Issue: 48, 482 - 486, 27.07.2016
https://doi.org/10.18589/oa.588176

Abstract

Most visitors will be struck by the multitude of cats that seem to dominate the cityscape of modern Istanbul. Despite whatever municipal attempts to control the feline population have been carried out in the past and present, one senses that Istanbulites regard cats not as nuisances but rather as benign and welcome components of the urban fabric. The ubiquity of street cats is often anecdotally-linked to the observation that in comparison with comparable world cities such as New York, Istanbul is relatively rodent-free. This mundane aspect of life in Istanbul today attains new meaning alongside a reading of Nükhet Varlık’s groundbreaking Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World. In her discussion of disease in the early Ottoman Empire, Varlık documents the city’s long and intricate relationship with plague and the rats that facilitated its spread, leading this reviewer to ask whether Istanbul’s love affair with cats is just as much a question of epidemiology as it is of emotion.  

References

  • Nükhet Varlık, Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: the Ottoman Experience, 1347-1600, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016, 336 pp., ISBN 978-110-7013-38-4.

Nükhet Varlık, Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: The Ottoman Experience, 1347-1600

Year 2016, Volume: 48 Issue: 48, 482 - 486, 27.07.2016
https://doi.org/10.18589/oa.588176

Abstract

Most visitors will be struck by the multitude of cats that seem to dominate the cityscape of modern Istanbul. Despite whatever municipal attempts to control the feline population have been carried out in the past and present, one senses that Istanbulites regard cats not as nuisances but rather as benign and welcome components of the urban fabric. The ubiquity of street cats is often anecdotally-linked to the observation that in comparison with comparable world cities such as New York, Istanbul is relatively rodent-free. This mundane aspect of life in Istanbul today attains new meaning alongside a reading of Nükhet Varlık’s groundbreaking Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World. In her discussion of disease in the early Ottoman Empire, Varlık documents the city’s long and intricate relationship with plague and the rats that facilitated its spread, leading this reviewer to ask whether Istanbul’s love affair with cats is just as much a question of epidemiology as it is of emotion.

References

  • Nükhet Varlık, Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: the Ottoman Experience, 1347-1600, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016, 336 pp., ISBN 978-110-7013-38-4.
There are 1 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Chris Gratien This is me

Publication Date July 27, 2016
Published in Issue Year 2016 Volume: 48 Issue: 48

Cite

APA Gratien, C. (2016). Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: the Ottoman Experience. Osmanlı Araştırmaları, 48(48), 482-486. https://doi.org/10.18589/oa.588176
AMA Gratien C. Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: the Ottoman Experience. OA. July 2016;48(48):482-486. doi:10.18589/oa.588176
Chicago Gratien, Chris. “Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: The Ottoman Experience”. Osmanlı Araştırmaları 48, no. 48 (July 2016): 482-86. https://doi.org/10.18589/oa.588176.
EndNote Gratien C (July 1, 2016) Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: the Ottoman Experience. Osmanlı Araştırmaları 48 48 482–486.
IEEE C. Gratien, “Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: the Ottoman Experience”, OA, vol. 48, no. 48, pp. 482–486, 2016, doi: 10.18589/oa.588176.
ISNAD Gratien, Chris. “Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: The Ottoman Experience”. Osmanlı Araştırmaları 48/48 (July 2016), 482-486. https://doi.org/10.18589/oa.588176.
JAMA Gratien C. Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: the Ottoman Experience. OA. 2016;48:482–486.
MLA Gratien, Chris. “Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: The Ottoman Experience”. Osmanlı Araştırmaları, vol. 48, no. 48, 2016, pp. 482-6, doi:10.18589/oa.588176.
Vancouver Gratien C. Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: the Ottoman Experience. OA. 2016;48(48):482-6.