YANNIS SPYROPOULOS (ed.) The Janissaries. Socio-Political and Economic Actors in the Ottoman Empire (17th-Early 19th Centuries) Halcyon days in Crete XII - A Symposium Held in Rethymno 12-14 January 2024
This volume presents the proceedings of the 12th Halcyon Days in Crete Symposium, held at the Institute for Mediterranean Studies in Rethymno from January 12-14, 2024, under the theme The Janissaries: Socio-Political and Economic Actors in the Ottoman Empire (17th–Early 19th Centuries). Both the symposium and this publication were funded as part of JANET: Janissaries in Ottoman Port-Cities: Muslim Financial and Political Networks in the Early Modern Mediterranean, an ERC project exploring Janissary networks within and beyond the Ottoman Empire as integral to broader Muslim political and economic activity in the region.
Drawing on diverse sources and perspectives, this collection offers a fresh and comprehensive examination of the Janissaries beyond their traditional military role: it considers them as key figures in imperial politics and economic networks, while also highlighting various aspects of their lived experiences and societal interactions.
The 16 papers included in the volume explore a wide range of topics, shedding light on the Janissaries’ financial and commercial ventures, credit mechanisms, and extensive networks – both within the provinces and across interprovincial and international frontiers. More importantly, rather than portraying them as relics of a declining empire, the studies present the Janissary Corps and its affiliates as dynamic agents of change who profoundly shaped the post-classical Ottoman world. — Cover Image: Jean Baptiste Vanmour, A Soldier of the Janissaries (c. 1700 –1737), Rijksmuseum.
ISBN 978-618-230-112-8, σχήμα 17 x 24 εκ., 480 σελ., τιμή: 21 ευρώ
Οι Αλκυονίδες Ημέρες στην Κρήτη είναι μια σειρά διεθνών οθωμανολογικών συμποσίων που διοργανώνονται από το 1991 στο Ρέθυμνο κάθε τρία χρόνια, τον Ιανουάριο, από τον Τομέα Οθωμανικής Ιστορίας του Ινστιτούτου Μεσογειακών Σπουδών του Ιδρύματος Τεχνολογίας και Έρευνας (ΙΤΕ). Οι Αλκυονίδες Ημέρες στην Κρήτη και οι δώδεκα εκδεδομένοι και υπό έκδοση τόμοι των πρακτικών τους θέτουν, αναδεικνύουν και επαναπροσδιορίζουν κρίσιμα ιστοριογραφικά ζητήματα του οθωμανικού παρελθόντος.
Το 2025 οι υπ’ αριθ. 4–9 και 12 τόμοι της σειράς έγιναν διαθέσιμοι ψηφιακά και δωρεάν στο ευρύ κοινό μέσω του διαδικτύου, πρακτική που θα συνεχιστεί και για τις μελλοντικές εκδόσεις των Αλκυονίδων Ημερών στην Κρήτη. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο, αυτή η σειρά-ορόσημο για τις Οθωμανικές Σπουδές καθίσταται ακόμα πιο προσιτή στους αναγνώστες παγκοσμίως.
Διαβάστε περισσότερα εδώ. Βρείτε τους τόμους των συνεδρίων εδώ.
Halcyon Days in Crete is a series of international symposia on Ottoman history have been held every three years, since 1991, in Rethymno, Crete, in the month of January. The symposia are organized by the Department of Ottoman History at the Institute for Mediterranean Studies of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH). The symposia and the twelve published and forthcoming volumes of their proceedings address, highlight, and redefine key issues in Ottoman history.
In 2025, volumes 4-9 and 12 of the series were made available online free of charge to the wider public, a practice that will continue for future Halcyon Days in Crete volumes. In this way, this landmark series in Ottoman Studies becomes even more accessible to readers worldwide.
Read more here. Find the published proceedings here.