THE ‘IMPERIAL SIGNS’ (NIŞAN-I HÜMAYUN): FRAMING MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY MEDITERRANEAN
THE ‘IMPERIAL SIGNS’ (NIŞAN-I HÜMAYUN): FRAMING MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY MEDITERRANEAN

Summary/Abstract: The Ottoman Empire framed its relations with non-Muslim states through peace agreements known as capitulations. While their renewals also came with additional articles, in the early seventeenth century the Ottoman-Venetian peace agreements took a unique twist: the capitulations’ texts remained unchanged, with new articles being implemented through separate documents labelled as “imperial signs” (nişan-ı hümayun). In this paper, I will argue that two such documents, granted to Venice in 1604 and 1639, differ both in form and function from other nişans and that they played a crucial role in the peace-making process, along with the capitulations.

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