GENERAL BACKGROUND

Under Muslim Rule

WITH THE OTTOMAN CONQUEST of Anatolia, Greece and the Balkans from the Byzantines beginning with the capture of Bursa (Brusa) in 1326, the condition of Jews improved. They could now engage in business without restriction, purchase land and buy homes. They were, however, required to pay a poll-tax and a land-tax and thereby gained the protection of their person and property. Despite these costs Jewish life flourished and its community grew, thanks to the tolerant policies of the Ottoman sultans. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the native Romaniotes were joined by immigrants from central and western Europe.

The dhimmī status of Jews as a protected minority in the Ottoman Empire was extended by the ‘capitulation’ agreements with Christian monarchs introduced by Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-66) and renewed by his heir, Selim II (1566-74). Under these agreements, Jews living and doing business in Christian Europe enjoyed extra-territorial rights and were protected from attack on their person and property. As a result, Jews were attracted to Ottoman lands and the economic opportunities that they offered. Among the newly arrived immigrants were exiles from the Spanish expulsion who, together with the native Romaniotes, ushered in an epochal revival of Jewish learning in the region. A notable academy was founded by the Romaniote Elijah Mizraḥi, where both sacred and secular studies were pursued. Succeed- ing Elijah Mizraḥi as headmaster was Elia Ha-Levi, editor of the Maḥazor Romania. A student of Moses Capsali and Elijah Mizrahi, whom he succeeded as spiritual leader of the Romaniotes in Constantinople in 1525, R. Elia Ha-Levi was a leading figure in the renaissance of Jewish learning during the early Ottoman period. His responsa volume, Tana’ de-vey ‘Eliyahu, a part of which was published under the title Zeqan ‘Aharon (Constantinople, 1734) reveals that his correspondents included the notables Tam Ibn Yahya and Joseph Karo, author of the authoritative code of Jewish law, the Šulḥan ‘Arukh. Like his contemporary, Solomon b. Mazal Tov of Constantinople, R. Elia was active in editing classic works in Hebrew litera- ture and preparing them for publication on the printing press recently installed in the city by the brothers David and Samuel Ibn Naḥmias.