Interfaith marriage in the early modern Ottoman Empire: Legal and social aspects | Erken Modern Dönem Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda İnançlararası Evlilik: Hukuki ve Toplumsal Yönleri

İnançlar arası evlilik, erken modern Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun farklı dinlerden toplulukların yaşadıkları şehir ve bölgelerinde gündelik hayatın bir gerçekliği idi. En yaygın inançlar arası evlilik türleri, Müslüman erkeklerin Müslüman olmayan kadınlarla ve Avrupalı yabancıların yerel Hristiyanlarla evliliğiydi. Bu tür evlilikleri çeşitli kaynaklar aracılığyla biliyoruz ve konunun bazı yönleri şimdiden tarihçilerin dikkatini çekmiştir. Bu makale, erken modern döneme odaklanır ve inançlar arası evliliklere imkân veren yasal dayanaklara, bunlarla ilgili mahkeme uygulamalarına ve Ortodoks Kilisesi’nin inanç dışında evli kadınlara karşı tutumu ile ilgilenir. Makale, Osmanlı, Yunan ve Avrupa kaynaklarına dayanarak, Ortodoks Kilisesi’nin kilise hukuku ve Ortodoks olmayan biriyle evlenme kısıtlamalarını da içeren yasaklarını uygulama gücünü araştırarak, sürmekte olan bir araştırmanın ön sonuçlarını sunmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Osmanlı, evlilik, aile, Rum Ortodoks Kilisesi, şeriat mahkemesi, kadı sicilleri, kilise hukuku, İslam hukuku, kebin, nikâh

Interfaith Marriage in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire: Legal and Social Aspects

Marriage in the Ottoman Empire was regulated by religious law, sultanic decrees, and local custom. In the multiethnic and multireligious realm of the sultans, men and women were expected to marry within their own religious community, according to the latter’s rites and in conformance with its rules, observances, and traditions. This social expectation, however, did not preclude interfaith marriages as long as the latter were sanctioned by the religious authorities concerned or were concluded in a way permissible under Ottoman law, namely with an Islamic marriage contract registered at a kadi court. The most common kinds of interfaith marriage were unions of Muslim men with non-Muslim women and of European foreigners with local Christians. We know about such unions from a variety of sources and some aspects of the issue have already drawn the attention of historians. This article focuses on the early modern period and is concerned with the legal underpinnings that allowed interfaith marriages, the judicial practice concerning them and the stance of the Orthodox Church towards women married outside the faith. The article presents the preliminary results of an ongoing research based on Ottoman, Greek and European sources that investigates the power of the Orthodox Church to implement canon law and its prohibitions, which also includes the prohibition to marry a non-Orthodox person.

Keywords:

Ottoman, marriage, family, Greek Orthodox Church, Sharia court, kadı sicilleri, canon law, Islamic law, kebin, nikâh,

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