The editors of this volume have gathered leading scholars on the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey to chronologically examine the sweep and variety of sociolegal projects being carried in the region. These efforts intersect issues of property, gender, legal literacy, the demarcation of village boundaries, the codification of Islamic law, economic liberalism, crime and punishment, and refugee rights across the empire and the Aegean region of the Turkish Republic.

Prof. Gábor Hamza contriƯbutes to the underƯstanƯding of the history of civil law, the diffeƯrent codiƯfiƯcaƯtion processes and its cross-border influƯence. CompaƯraƯtive legal studies, such as his, are not only invaƯluable for fathoƯming the various ways in which society can exist, but also pave the way for future legal experts to one day achieve the long desired co-exisƯtence and mutual respect between diffeƯrenƯcing cultures and reliƯgions. Cultural and reliƯgious diverƯsity is a safeƯguard against the so called 'clash of civiƯlizaƯtions', which seems to be such a problem nowaƯdays. A settled, law-abiding popuƯlaƯtion in every multi-ethnic country underƯmines the view that a place 'belongs' to just one faith or culture. The first step is to underƯstand the roots of our diverƯsity, upon which the founƯdaƯtions of society and its legal system rest. This anthoƯlogy gives us a little glance at this kind of compaƯraƯtive analysis, and enables the underƯstanƯding of how Western EuroƯpean legal deveƯlopƯment has influƯenced the legisƯlaƯtion of the Ottoman Empire and nearby terriƯtoƯries such as Cyprus and MaceƯdonia. The author also introƯduces us to the excepƯtional oeuvre of András Bertalan Schwarz, another speciaƯlist in Turkish-HungaƯrian legal relaƯtiƯonship.

Legislation Authority addresses issues of law, state violence, and state authority within the Ottoman and Turkish context.

This wide-ranging volume advances our understanding of law and empire in the early modern world. Distinguished contributors expose new dimensions of legal pluralism in the British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Ottoman empires. In-depth analyses probe such topics as the shifting legal privileges of corporations, the intertwining of religious and legal thought, and the effects of clashing legal authorities on sovereignty and subjecthood. Case studies show how a variety of individuals engage with the law and shape the contours of imperial rule. The volume reaches from Peru to New Zealand to Europe to capture the varieties and continuities of legal pluralism and to probe the analytic power of the concept of legal pluralism in the comparative study of empires. For legal scholars, social scientists, and historians, Legal Pluralism and Empires, 1500-1850 maps new approaches to the study of empires and the global history of law.

Contrary to the stereotypical images of torture, narcotics and brutal sexual abuse traditionally associated with Ottoman or 'Turkish' prisons, Kent Schull argues that, during the Second Constitutional Period (1908-1918), they played a crucial role in attempts to transform the empire.

The effects of the French Revolution reached far beyond the confines of France itself. The Ottoman Empire, ancient ally and major trading partner of France, was not immune from the repercussions of the 'Age of Revolutions', especially since it was home to permanent French communities with a certain legal autonomy. French Revolutionaries in the Ottoman Empire examines, for the first time, the political and cultural impact of the French Revolution on Franco-Ottoman relations, as well as on the French communities of the Ottoman Empire. The modern interpretation of revolutionary ideological expansionism is strongly influenced by the famous propaganda decree of 19 November 1792 which promised 'fraternity and help to all peoples who wish to recover their liberty', as well as the well-studied efforts to export the Revolution into the territories conquered by the revolutionary armies and to the various Sister Republics. Against all expectations, however, French revolutionaries in the Ottoman Empire exhibited neither a 'crusading mentality' nor a heightened readiness to use force in order to achieve ideological goals. Instead, as this volume shows, in matters of diplomacy as well as in the administration of French expatriate communities, revolutionary policies were applied in an extremely circumspect fashion. The focus on the effects of the French regime change outside of France offers valuable new insights into the revolutionary process itself, which will revise common assumptions about French revolutionary diplomacy. In addition, Pascal Firges takes a close look at the establishment of the new political culture of the French Revolution within the transcultural context of the French expatriate communities of the Ottoman Empire, which serves as a thought-provoking point of comparison for the emergence and development of French revolutionary political culture.