Bread from the lion's mouth : artisans struggling for a livelihood in Ottoman cities

The newly awakened interest in the lives of craftspeople in Turkey is highlighted in this collection, which uses archival documents to follow Ottoman artisans from the late 15th century to the beginning of the 20th. The authors examine historical changes in the lives of artisans, focusing on the craft organizations (or guilds) that underwent substantial changes over the centuries. The guilds transformed and eventually dissolved as they were increasingly co-opted by modernization and state-building projects, and by the movement of manufacturing to the countryside. In consequence by the 20th century, many artisans had to confront the forces of capitalism and world trade without significant protection, just as the Ottoman Empire was itself in the process of dissolution.-- Provided by publisher Contents List of Figures/Maps/Tables Preface Timeline Map Introduction: Once Again, Ottoman Artisans Part I: Artisans over the Course of Time 1 Tracing Esnaf in Late Fifteenth-Century Bursa Court Records 2 History, Meet Archaeology 3 Damascene Artisans around 1700 4 Mapping Istanbul’s Hammams of 1752 and their Employees 5 Surviving in Difficult Times 6 The Shoe Guilds of Istanbul in the Early Nineteenth Century Part II: Intra-guild Problems 7 Blurred Boundaries between Soldiers and Civilians 8 Rich Artisans and Poor Merchants? 9 Gedik: What’s in a Name? 10 Punishment, Repression and Violence in the Marketplace Part III: Artisans Confronting the Modernizing State 11 Some Observations on Istanbul’s Artisans during the Reign of Selim III (1789–1808) 12 Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire Glossary Bibliography List of Contributors Index