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TheEarlyRelationsbetweentheOttomanStateandtheOrthodoxChurch:AnInstanceofIstimâlet
9
Nextheorderedthatthosepartsofthewallwhichhadbeendestroyedbythecannonshouldallbe
stronglyrebuilt,andthatwhereverelsetheyhadbeendamagedbytheravagesoftime,alongtheland
oralongthesea,theyshouldberepaired.Healsolaidthefoundationsoftheroyalpalace,choosing,as
Isaid,thefinestandbestlocationintheCity.Hefurtherorderedtheconstructionofastrongfortress
neartheGoldenGatewheretherehadformerlybeenanimperialcastle,andhecommandedthatall
thesethingsshouldbedonewithallhaste.
HecommandedalsothattheRomanprisonersshouldwork,andshouldreceiveadailywageofsix
aspersormore.ThiswasinawayapieceofwiseforesightonthepartoftheSultan,foritfedthepris-
onersandenabledthemtoprovidefortheirownransombyearningenoughtopaytheirmastersthus.
Also,whentheyshouldbecomefree,theymightdwellintheCity.Notonlythis,butitalsoshowed
greatphilanthropyandbeneficence,andprovedthemagnanimityoftheSultan.5
CritobulusexplicitlypointsoutthatChristiansparticipatedinrestoringand
repopulatingConstantinopleaswell,whichtheOttomanauthorsdonotmention.
OnlyUrsunbegreportsthat“prisonersfromthesurroundinglandsoftheinfidels,
subjectedbythesword”weretransferredtothecity.6DervişAhmedAşıkpaşazadein
hisMenâkıb-ıorTevārīḫ-iĀl-i<Osmān(TheDeedsorTheChronicleoftheHouse
ofOsman)referstotherestorationofthecitybyimmigrantsbutignoresthefactthat
Mehmedalsoinvited-orforced-Christianstomovethere.Hementions,however,
thatMehmed’smeasureswereboundtofailbecauseherequiredthenewcomersto
paytaxes.7Hewasforcedtorepealthetaxesbutlaterintroducedthemagainatthe
suggestionofoneofhisviziers,thesonofan“infidel,”who,inordertosecretlykeep
thecityfortheChristians,allegedlywantedtodiscourageMuslimsfromsettlingin
Constantinople.Afterrenewedprotests,thetaxeswererepealedagain.8
ThetaxcontroversyapparentlymadeadeepimpressiononOttomanhistorians;it
ismentioned,forexample,byMehmedNeşri.9ItshowsthatMehmedinitiallyintended
torepopulateConstantinoplewithTurksorMuslims;Christianswereasecondchoice.
Moreover,therepeatedlevyingoftaxes,despiteallprotests,suggeststhatMehmed
neededmoney.Theshortageofcashmayhaveinducedhimtorepopulatethecityalso
withChristiansandJews,who,inadditiontobeingusefulasartisansandconstruction
5Kritovoulos,HistoryofMehmedtheConqueror,ed.andtrans.CharlesT.Riggs,Westport,CT:
GreenwoodPress,1970,92,http://macedonia.kroraina.com/en/kmc/index.htm[accessedNovember11,
2022];originalGreek:CritobuliImbriotaeHistoriae,ed.DietherRoderichReinsch,Berlin:DeGruyter,
1983,90.“Roman”heremeansByzantineorGreek.
6Tursunbeg,Tarih-iebü’l-feth[HistoryoftheConqueror],quotedbyFriedrichGiese,“Diege-
schichtlichenGrundlagenfürdieStellungderchristlichenUntertanenimosmanischenReich,”Der
Islam.ZeitschriftfürGeschichteundKulturdesIslamischenOrients19(1)(1931),271.
7[AhmedAşıkpaşazade],VomHirtenzeltzurHohenPforte.FrühzeitundAufstiegdesOsma-
nenreichesnachderChronik„DenkwürdigkeitenundZeitläuftedesHauses<Osman“vomDerwisch
Ahmed,genannt<Așık-Pașa-Sohn,ed.andtrans.RichardF.Kreutel,Graz-Wien-Köln:VerlagStyria,
1959,200-1.
8Giese,“DiegeschichtlichenGrundlagen,”264-77.
9MehmedNeżri,Ogledalonasveta.Istorijanaosmanskijadvor[Themirroroftheworld.Ahistory
oftheOttomancourt],ed.andtrans.MarinKalicin,Sofija:Otečestvenfront,1984,271-2.
