Honored by the Glory of Islam. Conversion and Conquest in Ottoman Europe

100 honored by the glory of islam

as it was not enlarged. New buildings or structures were not to be added to

preexisting church buildings. If an old church, monastery, or religious school

fell into disrepair or even a state of near ruin, its owners could still repair and

rebuild it so long as they added nothing to it and built on its original founda-

tion.^91 According to these opinions, not only would Christians and Jews be

allowed to rebuild their churches and synagogues if they adhered to these

conditions, but there would be no reason to grant permission to one group to

build new structures and not to another. An imperial decree claims that, ac-

cording to canonical law, burned churches were not to be restored. One would

infer that, since in 1 660 nothing at all remained of the burned churches and

synagogues, the state treasury was justifi ed in appropriating the property.

Another legal opinion, a copy of which appears in the Istanbul Shariah

court records, reveals why synagogues were not rebuilt. In the extraordinary pe-

riod following the great fi re, a fatwa stated that the lands of old synagogues that

had burned in the confl agration were to be taken over by the state treasury. An-

other court record refers to a fatwa that justifi es the actions of the state treasury

in appropriating the lands of burned churches in Galata.^92 In both cases, the

state treasury was able to acquire the land because, according to canonical law,

“there is no owner of the land of the burned old church (or synagogue),” or the

“builder of the old church (or synagogue) is not known.” In addition, Ottoman

authorities justifi ed razing the buildings because they had decided that Chris-

tians had broken their pledge not to rebuild churches but only homes and, by

extension, not to use those homes as churches. One is left wondering, however,

whether the Ottoman authorities believed the Catholics of Galata would not

rebuild their churches.

Two years after the fi re, Christians held on to six properties on which once

stood churches that had been destroyed in the confl agration. Two Catholic

churches, Saints Peter and Paul and Saint George, are used today.^93 The second

phase of Islamization of the built environment had the result that Christians,

while managing to hold on to approximately one-fi fth of their properties con-

taining burned churches, still lost nineteen.^94 In exchange for the property that

Ali Çelebi lost in Eminönü, he became the owner of property that had for-

merly been connected to a church and a Jewish apartment in Galata. Mehmed

Cemal Efendi son of Mahmud, who had lost properties to the valide sultan in

Istanbul, took over properties in exchange formerly belonging to Saint Mary

(Santa Maria Draperis) in Galata, a Franciscan Catholic church located near

Saint Francis Church (which was among the disappearing churches). The par-

ish relocated to Pera, where inside one can view a fi ve-hundred-year-old icon

of Mary that, despite being silver, which burns at a relatively low temperature,

miraculously survived the fi re of 1 660.