Zeynep Nevin Yelçe's new project | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Ottoman Empire and the Circulation of Information in the Mediterranean in the first half of the 16th century

The project concentrates on the Mediterraneanwide circulation of information regarding the Ottoman Empire at a time when the latter consolidated its power over the Mare Nostrum. It focuses on the processes by which such information were transmitted throughout Europe and tries to analyze how they shape European perception of the Ottomans/Turks. The project aims to determine the dynamics behind the spread of information, focus on the information per se and engage in a comparative analysis of information stemming from different sources. The diaries of the Venetian statesman Marino Sanuto covering the period between 1496 and 1533 work will be read in a comparative manner not only with Ottoman, but also with European sources penned in French, Italian and German sources such as Priuli, Charrière, Gevay and Calendar of State Papers. This cross-reading will highlight the important role disinformation and misinformation (rumours) played in the realm of politics and diplomacy. It will also determine false and produced rumours that gained currency overtime to such an extent that they were considered today as historical facts.Digitization, summarized translation and the categorization of these primary sources will render them usable for Turkish scholars who could not benefit from these valuable sources due to linguistic barriers. With a user-friendly search apparatus installed in the website created as a part of this project, information extracted from these sources will be open to all scholars who are expected to use this rich warehouse of hitherto unexplored information for different fields of Ottoman history, ranging from art history to military history, from diplomatic history to history of technology.A comparative study will enable us to verify the information in circulation by a cross-reading of primary sources produced in different places and under different circumstances.

Project owner: Zeynep Nevin Yelçe, Sabancı University, FASS

Project consultants: Sabanci University, FASS Faculty Member Metin Kunt and 29 Mayıs University, Dean of the Faculty of Literature, Feridun Emecen

Researcher: Emrah Safa Gürkan fronm 29 Mayıs University

Assistants: Sabancı University, History Phd students Paris Tsekouras and Francesca Penoni