Chapter 8 Making Recommendations: Azmîzâde and the Mahzar for Vücûdî Efendi, 1608
In: Dimensions of Transformation in the Ottoman Empire from the Late Medieval Age to ModernitySearch for other papers by Christine Woodhead in
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Abstract
Over the course of four decades, Vücûdî Mehmed Efendi (d.1612) alternated between two supposedly distinct Ottoman career paths. Having begun as a müderris in the mid-1570s, he then transferred to a military role and spent several years on campaign. In 1598, he re-entered the scholarly profession as teacher and müfti in a medrese in his home region of Larende. In 1608, following a successful mahzar (round-robin petition) supported by senior judicial officials in Istanbul, he was also appointed kadı of Larende and elevated to mevleviyet status on an ad hominem basis. Vücûdî’s varied career is a useful example of the professional and social flexibility possible for an Ottoman provincial scholar in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries. It demonstrates the value of carefully cultivated patronage links with members both of the ulema – in Vücûdî’s case with the Kınalızade family in particular – but also of the ümera. The chapter concludes with a transcription and an English translation of the contribution by Azmizade Haleti (d.1631), a major literary stylist, to the mahzar of 1608.