Seeking redress at the Signoria: Ottoman merchants in dispute with the Republic of Venice in the early modern era

Abstract

In the early modern era the Republic of Venice hosted a vast cosmopolitan community of merchants from the Ottoman Empire. It was probably the most important place of Ottoman commercial deployment in Western Europe. While the presence of Ottoman merchants has recently been the subject of several studies, the latter have dealt mainly with the commercial dealings, the identity of the merchants, and the problem of housing. What is still little known are the legal framework that regulated the Ottoman trade with Venice and the perspective of the Ottoman authorities on it. This thesis analyzes three important legal disputes between some Ottoman merchants and Venetian subjects and authorities that took place between the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth century. It investigates the legal ways pursued by the aggrieved merchants in seeking redress against Venice, the attitude of the Ottoman authorities towards their cases, and the debate between the Ottomans and the Venetians over the contents of the ahidnames, the capitulations, during the unfolding of the disputes. Overall this study aims to question the assumption of most of the historiography on the Mediterranean trade during the early modern era that the Ottoman authorities were unconcerned with the international commercial ventures of their subjects and to shed some light on the legal framework that regulated that trade.