Women in Ottoman Empire in the Early Modern Period

U ovome se završnom radu razmatra društveni položaj i svakodnevnica žena u Osmanskom Carstvu. Prva poglavlja posvećena su kratkom prikazu društvenih i religijskih normi koje su uvelike utjecale na formiranje svakodnevice osmanskih žena. Naredno se razmatraju sličnosti i razlike između života žena na selu, u gradu te naposlijetku na sultanovu dvoru. U spomenutim se trima poglavljima iznose zapisi nekih ranonovovjekovnih putopisaca Osmanskog Carstva te također europskih aristokrata, ponajviše Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, koji su kroz svoju europsku prizmu uočavali te potom zapisivali pojedine aspekte društvenog života žena, posebice onih iz više klase, diljem Osmanskog Carstva. Iznose se također i neki zapisi sačuvani na osmanskim sudovima koje pokazuju kako su pojedine žene raspolagale svojom imovinom, tužile druge osobe na sudu i same bile tužene zbog nekih propusta. Osim društvenog aspekta, u radu se daje i kraći prikaz razdoblja vladavine žena, u kojem je utjecaj harema na politiku Carstva bio iznimno velik, zahvaljujući pojedinim (pre)ambicioznim sultanijama. U završnim poglavljima daju se pojedini zaključci oko sličnosti i razlika u životu žena različitih društvenih položaja.This paper examines the social position and everyday life of women in the Ottoman Empire. The first few chapters are devoted to a brief representation of the cultural and religious norms that greatly influenced on the formation of the everyday life of Ottoman women. Next, the paper discusses the similarities and differences between the lives of women in the countryside, in the city, and finally in the Sultan’s court. The three chapters contain records of some early new era travel writters and also European aristocrats, most notably Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who, through their European prism, observed and then recorded certain aspects of women’s social life, especially those of higher class, throughout the Ottoman Empire. There are also some records kept in Ottoman courts, showing that some women had and inherited property and assets, sued others in court and were sued for their omissions themselves. In addition to the social aspect, the paper gives a brief account of the period of women’s rule, in which the influence of the harem on the politics of the Empire was extremely large, thanks to some (over) ambitious Sultanas. The final chapters provide some conclusions about the similarities and differences in the lives of women of different social classes