Browsing by Author "Tezcan, Selim"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Open Access
Curing the body, curing the society : the miracle stories of Gregory of Tours in the service of ascetical socio-moral reform in sixth-century Gaul
(2004) Tezcan, Selim
The saints in Gregory of Tours’s miracle stories frequently transfer such values as peacefulness, charity and mercy from theory into public action by their miracles. This exemplary function of the miracles in the Histories has lately been acknowledged in the literature. However the stories in the miracle books, especially the healing miracles, have been neglected in this respect. The main question of the thesis is whether the entire corpus of the miracle stories can be fitted into the perspective of the socio-moral reform found in the sermons of Caesarius of Arles, in the canons of Merovingian Church councils, and in the works of Gregory of Tours himself. The ideal society envisioned by Gregory of Tours and Caesarius of Arles, like the monastic community on which it was expected to model itself, was one that embraced ideal values such as charity, humility and obedience. Considering that the envisioned reform was of an ascetical character, the authors’ ideal values and proposed methods for realizing them are investigated and brought into relation with the miracle stories within the framework of the ascetical stance and practice as found in Late Antique Gaul. It is observed also in the miracle books that saints take an active part in the realization of the ideal values by exemplifying them and by punishing the transgressors. Moreover, they help the bishops in transferring these values into public action and in persuading their flock to preoccupy themselves with their future salvation instead of the present world. Another important result is that the healing miracles in which the patient undertakes some sort of ascetical practice before the cure or vows never to commit sins afterwards can be similarly considered in the context of socio-moral reform.
Open Access
Jihad in a context of shifting alliances and enmities : study on the relations of the early Artukids and crusaders as reflected in contemporary Muslim and Christian historiography, 1098-1124
(2013) Tezcan, Selim
This thesis is a study of the relations of the early Artukids with the Crusaders, with the aim of seeing how they fit into the general context of the reaction of the Muslim world to the Frankish presence in the Middle East. On the one hand, it reveals that emirs like Ilghazi played a kind of diplomatic chess game and allied with whoever was necessary to preserve their possessions and interests, without regard for their religion. On the other hand, it argues that the Artukids may stil have seen their warfare as jihad whenever they happened to clash with the Franks for these strictly practical and strategic aims. It aims to historicise the jihad concept within the early twelfth century, inquiring what jihad might have meant for the early Artukids and other contemporary emirs, and compare this with the approach of later leaders like Nur al-Din and Saladin. Finally, the study examines what advantages and disadvantages were brought to the Artukids by their contiguity with the Franks, by their conflicts with them on their own behalf as well as by their collaborations. The method followed throughout is to compare the close-readings of related pieces of source text, rather than solely individual pieces of evidence, and in doing so always to consider the standpoint of the source or even the group of sources from which the examined text issues. An approximate reconstruction of the course of events is then allowed to emerge from such a procedure of close-reading and comparison.
Open Access
The Predicament of the Crimean Tatars, past and present
(Ahmet Yesevi University, 2016) Kireçci, M. Akif; Tezcan, Selim
This article demonstrates how, with the rise of Russia as a major power in Caucasia and the Black Sea regions, the people of Crimea lost their independence and homeland. In the fifteenth century, two centuries after its conquest by a grandson of Genghis Khan, the Crimea came to house an independent Khanate. Inner struggles in the Khanate and its rivalry with the Genoese traders along the coast led to its vassaldom to the Ottomans. The rivalry that subsequently developed with Russia caused the contested regions to keep changing hands for the next two centuries. By the mid-seventeenth century, the Russians had gained considerable power throughout East Europe. The Russians’ increasingly harsh policies and systematic dispossession encouraged the mass emigration of Tatars, who eventually found themselves a minority in their fatherland. The dispossession process ended with the deportation of the entire Tatar population from the Crimea in May 1944. Although the Tatars began returning to the Crimea in large numbers after the collapse of the Soviet Union, they met with a hostile reception and continued to be excluded from the ranks of government.
Open Access
Realpolitik and jihad: Najm al-Din Ilghazi's relations with the early crusader states
(Ahmet Yesevi University, 2014) Tezcan, Selim
This study evaluates the policies of the Artukid emir of Mardin and Aleppo, Najm al-Dīn Ilghāzī, against the Crusader states. In the literature, Ilghāzī is commonly regarded as an emir who won a victory against the Franks of Antioch, but then wasted the golden opportunity to take it for lack of vision. On the other hand, on account of this policy that was directed at preserving his interests and included collaborating with Franks, it is rejected that his clashes with them could be regarded as jihād. This study first shows that the emir's strategies were consistent and directed at certain practical aims from the start, and that his "failure" to attempt taking Antioch stemmed from a judicious strategy. The second part argues that although Ilghāzī thus applied a pragmatic policy and sometimes collaborated with the Franks, this did not necessarily prevent him from regarding his clashes with them as jihād.