Series | Knowledge Hegemonies in the Early Modern World
Monograph | Verifying the Truth on Their Own Terms
Chapter | 2 • The Ottoman Age of Scholarly Debates
2 • The Ottoman Age of Scholarly Debates
Cultures of Patronage, Pride, and Merit in Fifteenth-Century Scholarship
Abstract
Sultan Meḥmed II’s second reign (855/1451‑886/1481) signaled the beginning of a new phase in Ottoman scholarship. With an imperial program that developed a highly structured bureaucratic system, Meḥmed II’s new establishment set rigid rules that regulated the scholarly path by establishing prestigious institutions based on merit, codifying a hierarchical order, and creating opportunities for a lifetime career in academia that crossed paths with politics. The Ottoman formation of a new learned class in the fifteenth-century also coincided with (albeit not entirely shaped by) a turning point with the conquest of Constantinople/Ḳosṭanṭiniyye in 857/1453, namely the creation of a new capital distinctly imperial and universalist Muslim in character.
Abstract
Sultan Meḥmed II’s second reign (855/1451‑886/1481) signaled the beginning of a new phase in Ottoman scholarship. With an imperial program that developed a highly structured bureaucratic system, Meḥmed II’s new establishment set rigid rules that regulated the scholarly path by establishing prestigious institutions based on merit, codifying a hierarchical order, and creating opportunities for a lifetime career in academia that crossed paths with politics. The Ottoman formation of a new learned class in the fifteenth-century also coincided with (albeit not entirely shaped by) a turning point with the conquest of Constantinople/Ḳosṭanṭiniyye in 857/1453, namely the creation of a new capital distinctly imperial and universalist Muslim in character.
Submitted: Sept. 30, 2021 | Accepted: Aug. 23, 2022 | Published March 7, 2023 | Language: en
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