Papers by Dimitri Kastritsis
Crafting History. Essays on the Ottoman World and Beyond in Honor of Cemal Kafadar (eds. Rachel Goshgarian, Ilham Khuri-Makdisi, Ali Yaycıoğlu), 2023
Byzantine Greek and Ottoman Turkish historiographies of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries... more Byzantine Greek and Ottoman Turkish historiographies of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries provide precious insight into early Ottoman society in the broadest sense of the term, by preserving the stories that were circulating orally and in writing about foundation myths, fratricide, the Ottoman sultans, their courts, lawmaking and much else. Although these narratives are often treated as separate historiographical traditions on account of the language barrier, in many cases they were drawing from a common pool of source material. The stories that cross the linguistic divide are often politicized, and may allow us to reconstruct popular attitudes to the Ottoman state-building enterprise - although such reconstruction is not always easy or straightforward.
In the fragmented world of post-Fourth Crusade Byzantium and the post- Mongol “Lands of Rūm,” the... more In the fragmented world of post-Fourth Crusade Byzantium and the post- Mongol “Lands of Rūm,” the fictional hero of the medieval Alexander Romance functioned as familiar, if contested, cultural currency. Stories about the legendary empire-builder’s travels, conquests and diplomatic engagements with real and imaginary nations resonated strongly in different segments of society, and books recounting them came to function both as “mirrors for princes” and as lit- erature to be publically performed. In order to begin the systematic exploration of such questions for the foundation period of the Ottoman Empire, it is necessary to compare different versions of the Romance from different languages, genres and traditions. We will therefore begin with a brief examination of the prose vernacular Greek version made in this period, to show how it was clearly influenced by the culture and politics of the time. Then we will turn to a more detailed examination of some Turkish works composed around the same time. As we will see, the period in question was a golden age for the genre in Turkish, and some of these works can be understood along similarly historical lines.
Medieval Encounters, Jan 1, 2007
Books by Dimitri Kastritsis
This is the introductory section of my book-length annotated translation and study of the so-call... more This is the introductory section of my book-length annotated translation and study of the so-called Oxford Anonymous Chronicle (Bodleian Marsh 313), one of the earliest comprehensive Ottoman histories compiled in the late fifteenth century (ca 1484). My book has been reviewed in several major journals, and is now available as a paperback ($45). It is one of the few full-length translations available of an Ottoman source into English.
The compiler was an educated member of the Ottoman court (most probably the chancery), whose name has not survived because the title page is missing. This work is not to be confused with the unrelated, also anonymous 'Chronicles of the House of Osman' published by Giese, studied by Yerasimos and other scholars.
Sources of Oriental Languages and Literatures, 2007
This is my critical edition and translation of an epic account (completed ca. 1416?) of the explo... more This is my critical edition and translation of an epic account (completed ca. 1416?) of the exploits of Mehmed I, from the Battle of Ankara in 1402 to his defeat of his brother Musa Çelebi in 1413. The edition is based on the two main variants that survive incorporated verbatim into the chronicles of Neşri (Codex Menzel) and Oxford Anonymous (Bodleian Marsh 313). For an updated translation based on the Oxford manuscript, see Kastritsis 2017, An Early Ottoman History.
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Papers by Dimitri Kastritsis
Books by Dimitri Kastritsis
The compiler was an educated member of the Ottoman court (most probably the chancery), whose name has not survived because the title page is missing. This work is not to be confused with the unrelated, also anonymous 'Chronicles of the House of Osman' published by Giese, studied by Yerasimos and other scholars.
The compiler was an educated member of the Ottoman court (most probably the chancery), whose name has not survived because the title page is missing. This work is not to be confused with the unrelated, also anonymous 'Chronicles of the House of Osman' published by Giese, studied by Yerasimos and other scholars.