THE MEDRESE AND IMARET OF HAYREDDIN BARBAROSSA ON THE ISLAND OF LESBOS/MIDILLI: A LITTLE-KNOWN ASPECT OF THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF SAPPHO'S ISLAND UNDER THE OTTOMANS (1462–1912)

Document Type : research articles

Author

Emeritus Professor of Islamic Architecture and Civilization, Senior Fellow of the Netherlands Institute in Turkey (NIT)

Abstract

The historiography of many places in Greece have, generally spoken, a big "Black Hole" as the Greek historian Stephanos Gerasimos called it. The biggest hole is in the four or five centuries of their history in the Ottoman centuries. This is not only the case in Greece but also in the literature produced in Western countries. Famous Encyclopaedians like the German Brockhaus Enzyklopädie might the cited as a good example. The equally famous Encyclopaedia Brittanica is not better either, etc. In the last 20 years the picture is slowly changing for better, resulting that in many places it now looks like Swish Chees, punctured with many small holes that almost every year gets less. In the present study at least one hole with be eliminated with help of a new, hitherto fully unknown document.
It begins with a two page survey of the main outlines of the history of the great Greek island of Lesbos, also known as Mytilini. It is followed by a short overview of the Ottoman administrative records about the island.
The central piece is a large document found in the still difficultl to enter Archive of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul which describes in details the functioning of the greatest Ottoman foundation on the island: the Medrese, Imaret and Derwish convent all three accomodated in one monumental building in the middle of the great Castle of Mytilini. In three pages it gives an aside view of the functioning of the compound, how the staff was financed and especially the large amounts of foodstufs (rice, wheat, vegitables, honey etc.) consumed day to day and gives a representative view of an institution that played such an important role in the social contact of the island's population. We should not forget that on the island were a number of these soupkitches. The Imaret founded by the Lady Üm Gülsüm in 1792 distributing food and new dresses for poor children and distribution of sweet dishes to everybody during the Bayrams and other festivities.(B.O.A. "Vakfiyeler, Dosya 1, Gömlek 29.) It should also be remembered that as a rule nobody was refused entrance, neither “rich or poor, Muslim, Christian, Jew or pagan” as the western traveller found to their great astonishment.

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References

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