Memoirs of a Janissary

141 Pages·2010·8.555 MB·English

by  Konstantin Mihailovic, Svatopluk Soucek (ed.), Benjamin A. Stolz (ed.)

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F. V. Mares, The Origin of the Slavic Phonological System.
Muscovite Judicial Texts. Compiled and translated by H.W. Dewey.
Slavic Transformational Syntax. Edited by R. D. Brecht and C. V.
Chvany; introduction by H. G. Lunt.
Readings in Russian Poetics (in Russian). Edited by L. Matejka.
Orest Somov, Selected Prose in Russian. Edited by J. Mersereau,
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R. W. Bailey and L. Dolezel, An Annotated Bibliography of Statis
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B. M. Ejxenbaum, 0. Henry and the Theory of the Short Story.
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Rene Wellek. The Literary Theory and Aesthetics of the Prague
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Jan Mukafovsky, Aesthetic Function, Norm and Value as Social
Facts. Translated by M. E. Suino.
Roman Jakobson, Studies in Verbal Art (in Czech and Slovak).
MICHIGAN SLAVIC TRANSLATIONS
John Amos Comenius, The Labyrinth of the World and the Para
dise of the Heart. Newly translated by Matthew Spinka (with a
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Czech Poetry: A Bilingual Anthology. Translated by A. French;
introduction by Rene Wellek. :i'
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MEMOIRS OF A JANISSARY
X
manuscript-and became increasingly skeptical about the primacy
of the Polish redaction. Two things were clearly necessary: a trans
lation and edition of the oldest Czech text of the Memoirs; and
the collaboration of an Ottomanist qualified to examine the text CONTENTS
both historically and linguistically. Fortunately, both soon proved
possible. The Czech Museum, Prague, graciously supplied a micro
film of M and Lin 1972 which enabled me to work with previous List of Illustrations ......................... , ........ , xv
ly unavailable materials. At the same time my colleague, Dr. Svat
Soucek, undertook the historical analysis of the text; his contri Introduction .... ................ ' ................. . xix
butions to the present volume include the annotations, the histori
cal bibliography, and the index, as well as the second half of the Foreword to the Text ..... . . . . . . . . . . ' ....... ' ........ '
introduction. I myself carried out the transliteration and transla I. Concerning the Ignoble Heathens 3
tion, and bear sole responsibility for all errors in them.
Without the generous help of numerous other colleagues and II. Concerning Mohammed and His Helper Ali .......... . 7
friends I could not have completed this work. Professors James
Ill. How the Heathens Are in Regard to Their Temples
Ferrell and David Welsh went out of their way to provide impor
and Religion ................ , ............. . 11
tant bibliographical data, while Professors Josip Hamm and Robert
Auty lent rare books from their private libraries. On a visit to IV. Concerning the Second Temple 17
Belgrade in 1971 I profited from a lengthy discussion with Pro
fessor Dorde Zivanovic. Professor Ladislav Matejka, managing edi V. Concerning the Second Sermon 21
tor of Michigan Slavic Publications, provided encouragement and
VI. Concerning Their Councils . ....... , ............. , 27
insight.
Finally, I take pleasure in noting a debt of gratitude to the VII. What the Heathens Call in Their Language the Angels,
American Council of Learned Societies for a summer grant etc. . ... , ......................... . 27
enabling me to carry out initial research on this subject, and for a
subsidy (through the Joint Committee on Eastern Europe) which VIII. Concerning Turldsh and Heathen Justice ............ . 29
made this publication possible.
IX. Concerning the Ancestors of the Turkish Emperor ...... . 31
Benjamin Stolz
X. Concerning the Rule of His Son Mustaffa . , .......... , 35
XI. Concerning Aladin, Mustaffa's Son 35
XII. Concerning Morat, Aladin's Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
XIII. Concerning Sultan, Morat's Son ............ , . . . . . . 37
XIV. Concerning the Greek Emperor 39
XV. Concerning God's Punishment for Our Sins . . . . . . . . . . . 41
XVI. How It Went in the Serbian or Raskan Kingdom . . . . . . . 47
XVII. Concerning the Reign of Emperor Baiazit . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
XVIII. Concerning the Great Khan and His Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
XIX. Concerning the Great Khan and Emperor Morat 59
XX. Concerning the Reign of Emperor Morat 61
xi
MEMOIRS OF A JANISSARY CONTENTS xiii
xii
XXI. How King Vladislav Marched with the Despot Against XLV. Concerning the Organization of a Turkish AssauJt 185
the Turkish Emperor Mora! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
XLVI. Concerning the Christians Who Are under the Turks . . . . 189
XXII. Concerning the Turkish Emperor Moral: How He
XLVII. Concerning Turkish Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Fared Later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
XLVIII. The Imperial Names in the Turkish Language . . . . . . . . 195
XXIII. Concerning King Vladislav: How His Majesty Fared
Later Against the Heathens ................... , . 75
Concerning the Unity of the Two Most Illustrious and High-Born
XXIV. How Voivode Janko Marched Against the Turks 83 Kings ...................................... , .... . 197
XXV. Concerning the Rule of Emperor Machomet ........... 87 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....................... 199
XXVI. How Emperor Machomet Deceived the Greek Emperor ... 89 Selected Bibliography . ' ....... •. .. ' ............. ' .... . 239
XXVII. How Emperor Machomet Deceived Despot Durad ....... 97
.
XXVIII. What Happened to the Despot at the Hands of J anko ..... 103 Index . . . . . . . . . ' . . . . ' ' . . . . . . ' ................. ' 251
XXIX. How Emperor Machomet Attacked Belgrade ........... 107
XXX. How Emperor Machomet Deceived the Marean Despot . .. 111
XXXI. How Emperor Machomet Marched Against Trebizond ..... 117
....................... 123
XXXII. Concerning Uzun Hasan
XXXIII. Concerning the Wallachian Voivode Dracula ........... 129
XXXIV. How the Bosnian King Tomas Sent to the Turkish
Emperor Concerning a Truce ..................... 137
XXXV. How Emperor Machomet Marched Back to Bosnia ....... 141
XXXVI. How Emperor Machomet Ordered a Lord to Count
the Imperial Treasure ........ , ... , . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
XXXVII. How the Two Brothers Dealt with Each Other . . . . . . . . . 149
XXXVIII. Concerning the Organization of All Turkish Lands: ...... 151
XXXIX. Concerning the Organization of the Imperial Court .... , . . 157
XL. Concerning Pitched Battle or Warfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
XLI. Concerning Organization: Whoever Wishes to Fight
with the Turks, etc ............. , .............. 171
XL!!. Concerning the Turldsh Raiders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
....................... 183
XLIII. Concerning the Sarachori
XLIV. Concerning the Martalusy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
•
1. Constantinople. From Hartmann Schedel, Liber Chroni-
carnm, Nuremberg, 1493 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv-v
2. From table of contents) Czech Museum ms. of Konstan-
tin MihailoviC'sMemoirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
3. Turkish archer. From Hans Sachs, Forty4wo plates illus
trating the costumes of the Turkish empire, Nuremberg, I
i
1572 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
I
4, A beheading. From TUrckische Chronica, Frankfort on
Main, 1577 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
I
5. Belgrade. Antoine Geuffroy, Der Hoffhaltungdes tiirck- '
:' '
kischen Keisers, Basel, 1578 .... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . xviii
'
'
6. Prince Lazar of Serbia. Church of St. Nicholas, Hilandar '
'
'
Monastery, 1667 ............. , . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxi '
7. Opening line of foreword to Czech Museum ms. of
Konstantin MihailoviC'sMemoirs . . . . . . . . . . xxxii ''
i
8. Mosque. Woodcut after Melchior Lorichs, 1570, from
Wolgerissene und geschnittene Figuren . ... The Metro I
politan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 32-
86. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
9. Mosque. Woodcut after Melchior Lorichs, 1570, from
Wolgerissene und geschnittene Figuren .... The Metro I
politan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 32-
I
86 ... ,................................. 15
10. Burial scene. Woodcut after Pieter Coecke van Aelst,
from Ces Moeurs et fachons de faire de Turcz.
(Antwerp?), 1553. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 28.85.5 ..................... 18-19
11. Battle scene. From Tiirckische Chronica, Frankfort on
Main, 1577. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
12. Battle scene. From Tiirckische Chronica, Frankfort on
Main, 1577 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
13. Turk with scepter. From Marinus Barletius, Scanderbeg,
Frankfort on Main, 1577 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
14. Hungarian noble. From Marinus Barletius, Scanderbeg,
Frankfort on Main, 1577 ..... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
15. John Hunyadi. From Johannes de Turocz, Chronica
Hungarorum, Augsburg, 1488 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
xv
3 Turkish archer.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Constantinople. From Hartmann Schedel, Liber Chroni-
carum, Nuremberg, 1493 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv-v
2. From table of contents, Czech Museum ms. ofKonstan-
tin MihailoviC'sMemoirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
3. Turkish archer. From Hans Sachs, Forty-two plates illus
trating the costumes of the Turkish empire, Nuremberg,
1572 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
4. A beheading. From Tiirckische Chronica, Frankfort on
Main, 1577 ................ , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
5. Belgrade. Antoine Geuffroy, Der Hoffhaltung des tiirck-
kischen Keisers, Basel, 1578 . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii
6. Prince Lazar of Serbia. Church of St. Nicholas,Hilandar
Monastery, 1667 ................... , . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxi
7. Opening line of foreword to Czech Museum ms. of
Konstantin MihailoviC'sMemoirs ......... , . . . . . xxxil
8. Mosque. Woodcut after Melchlor Lorichs, 1570, from
Wolgerissene und geschnittene Figuren . ... The Metro
politan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 32-
86. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
9. Mosque. Woodcut after Melchior Lorichs, 1570, from
Wolgerissene und geschnittene Figuren .... The Metro
politan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 32-
86 ... ,................................. 15
10. Burial scene. Woodcut after Pieter Coecke van Aelst,
from Ces Moeurs et fachons de faire de Turcz. . . .
(Antwerp?), 1553. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 28.85.5 ...... , ..... , ........ 18-19
11. Battle scene. From Tiirckische Chronica, Frankfort on
Main, 1577. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
12. Battle scene. From Tiirckische Chronica, Frankfort on
Main, I 577 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
13. Turk with scepter. From Marinus Barletius,Scanderbeg,
Frankfort on Main, 1577 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
14. Hungarian noble. From Marinus Barletius, Scanderbeg,
Frankfort on Main, 1577 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
15. John Hunyadi. From Johannes de Turocz, Chronica
Hungarorum, Augsburg, 1488 ................ . 80
xv
3 Turkish archer.
xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
16. King Vladislav I (Ladislas, Ulaszlo) of Hungary. From
Johannes de Turocz, Chronica Hungarorum, Augsburg,
1488 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
17. Siege of Constantinople, 1453. A miniature from David
Aubert, Chronique des Empereurs, 1462 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94-95
18. KljuC. From Benedict Curipeschitz (KuripeCic),Itinerari-
um, 1531 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
19. Belgrade. From Johannes de Turocz, Chronica Jlun-
garorum, Augsburg, 1488 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
20. Spahi. Woodcut after Melchior Lorichs, 1576, from
Wolgerissene und geschnittene Figuren .... The Metro
politan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund,
32.86 ........... ········ ············ 120
21. Turkish warriors. Tiirckische Chronica, Frankfort on
Main, 1577, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
22. Signature of Matthew Corvinus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
23.- Map of Balkans. From Sebastian Munster, Cosmogra-
phey, Basel, 1598 ............................. 154-155
24. Turks with captives. Sixteenth-century woodcut . . . . . . . . . 174
25. "Janissaries" (a Turkish military band). From Bernhard
von Breydenbach, Peregrinationes in Terram Sanctam,
Speyer, 1502 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
26. Artillery used against the Turks. Sixteenth-century
woodcut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
27. Turkish raiders. From Joerg von Nuremberg,Anzeygung,
Nuremberg, 1500. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
28. Turks leading captives. From Bartholomaeus Georgievitz
(Bartol Durdevic), De afflictione tarn captivorum quam
etiam sub Turcae tributo viventium christianornm,
Antwerp, 1544 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
29. Captives being punished after attempted escape. From
Bartholomaeus Georgievitz, De afflictione tarn capti
von.tm quam etiam sub Turcae tributo viventium chris-
tianorum, Antwerp, 1544 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
30. Tugra (stylized official signature) of Sultan Mehmet II 194
31. Description in Turkish of the conquest of Novo Brdo.
From Kemal Paia-zade (d. 1534), Tevarih-i Al-i Osman . . . . . 198
32. King Matthew Corvinus of Hungary. From Johannes de
Turocz, Chronica Hungarorum, Augsburg, 1488 ........ . 238
4 A beheading. From Tiirckische Chronica, Frankfort on Main,
33. Description in Turkish of the battle of Varna. From 1577.
Mehmet Neiri (d. 1520),Kitab-i Cihannuma ............ . 250
INTRODUCTION
I. Background. -While chronicles, memoirs, and travel accounts
L;lr >: 2? have ceded their primacy in historical research to archival sources,
! they nevertheless retain their importance. Those that concern the
~~ffenbm~ Ottoman Empire of the fifteenth century still represent the back·
bone of every treatise dealing with that period.' As a rule, the
closer such a source is to the period described, the more welcome
it is; and if the author claims with some degree of credibility to
have been an eye-witness or a participant in the events, his account
is especially important. The Memoirs of a Janissary by one
Konstantin, son of Mihail Konstantinovic of Ostrovica (Serbia) is
such a document. Konstantin Mihailovic of Ostrovica, the lone
Slavic memoirist to set down his personal experiences among the
Ottoman Turks of the fifteenth century, has peen largely neglected
in the West, probably because his work has never appeared in a
widely-known language. Tb.e present translation is the first in any
non-Slavic language, with the exception of isolated passages quoted
in a few history texts:' and it is the first translation of the early
sixteenth-century Czech Museum manuscript M.
Like many a document of Balkan and Turkish history,
Konstantin Mihailovic's Memoirs are a curious paradox. Although
the author was a Serb by birth, his work has come down to us
-- only in old Polish and Czech versions, from which two modern
Serbo-Croatian translations have been made. Moreover, scholarly
polemics have touched almost every aspect of the work: the
country of its provenience, the original language, the filiation of
the Czech and Polish manuscript traditions, the composition and
structure of the text, and recently the very identity of its authors.
Konstantin 's origins. -Konstantin Mihailovic himself remains some·
thing of an enigma. Scant data about the man can be gleaned from
1 An excellent survey of this type of source is given in Franz Babinger, Die Aufzeich
nungen des Genuesen Jacopo de Promontorio de Campis Uber den Osmanenstat um
1475, Bayerische Akademie des Wissens.chaften, Philosophisch-historische Klasse,
Sitzungsberichte, Jahrg.1956, Heft 8 (Munich, 1957) 5-28.
5 Belgrade. From Antoine Geuffroy,Der Hoffhaltungdes tiirck• 2Babinger, p. 13, mentions a recent French translation; apparently publication was pro
kischen KeiSers, Basel, 1578.
jected by the Hungarian Academy but subsequently cancelled.
xix
XX MEMOIRS OF A JANISSARY INTRODUCTION xxi
the Memoirs, our only known record concerning his life. Even also calls Konstantin a Greek, although he fails to explain his
after 1845, when Wladyslaw Trebicki published a description of view.8
the manuscript that gave the author's full name,3 he was erro
neously called Mihail Konstantinovic (in fact, his father's name). Konstantin's biography.-A rough outline of Konstantin Mihailo
Konstantin's birthplace is also disputed. Ostrovica (or Ostrvica) is vic's biography can, nevertheless, be sketched from the Memoirs.
a fairly common Serbo-Croatian toponym. A number of scholars His date of birth, like the place, has never been precisely deter
have taken it to be the well-known medieval city approximately mined. If we accept the testimony of the text, Konstantin took
65 kilometers south of Belgrade near Rudnik. Others have sought part in the siege of Constantinople in 1453 as a member of the
a place further south, close to Novo Brdo, where Konstantin Serbian contingent sent by Despot Durad Brankovic, and it would
Mihailovic and his two brothers were captured by the Turks in therefore seem likely that he was born no later than the last half
145 5. Recently it has been suggested that Konstantin's father of the 1430's. An earlier date is also ruled out, for he relates that
was a native of Ostrovica, but that the author himself was from following his capture at the fall of Novo Brdo in July, 1455, he
Novo Brdo. Konstantin tells us nothing about his parents in the and his fellow prisoners were too young to escape from their
Memoirs, a fact that has been interpreted to indicate that they had Turkish captors. Nevertheless, a group of youths, including Kon
died before the period covered in his work. Moreover, the Memoirs stantin Mihailovic, made an abortive attempt to flee; swiftly re
offer no direct information about his social or ethnic background. captured, they were taken "across the sea." Although many
Scholarly opinion differs widely here. Konstantin's position in the scholars have called him a Janissary, he never claims explicitly to
Ottoman service and his brother's office in the sultan's treasury have been one; instead, he implies that he had some function in
have been presented as evidence.that the Mihai!ovici were members the Janissary corps, and we shall quote from him later to show
of the privileged educated class prior to their capture.• Alexander what it could have been. Since Konstantin states that as early as
Briickner, however, calls Konstantin a "little man,"5 and another 1456, a year after he was taken prisoner, he took part in Mehmet
argues that he was of low birth, perhaps a miner, who received ]I's siege of Belgrade, he obviously could not have gone through
his first schooling under the Ottoman Turks.' Although the text the routine longer period of training and education for service in
of the Memoirs appears to show unambiguously that Konstantin the ocak. He accompanied the sultan also in the campaign against
was a Serb, various notions concerning his nationality, some pat Trebizond, in that against the Wallachian voivode Viad Drakul
ently erroneous, have sprung up. Careless reading of the text led (Dracula) and ultimately in the Bosnian campaign of 1463 at the
certain nineteenth-century observers to call the author a Pole or a end of which he was left with a garrison of Janissaries in the
Slovak, even though earlier published editions of the Memoirs fortress of Zvecaj in Bosnia. King Matthew Corvinus of Hungary
clearly identified him as a Serb or Bosnian. Konstantin Ji)'ecek (Matyas in the text) captured the fortress and our Konstantin
believed the author to be of Greek descent, based on his name and Mihailovic returned to the Christian fold, rich in experience and
on the use of Greek glosses in the Zamoyski manuscript;' Babinger memories. With this event he abruptly concludes the description
of his life and experiences among the Turks. From here to the end
of the work he says practically nothing of value for the reconstruc
3"Uwagi nad wydaniem Warszawskiem Pami?tnik6w Janczara 1828 r.," Biblioteka tion of his biography, and he is totally silent about his life subse
Warszawska, 3 (1945), 229-296, quent to 1463. Everything that has been written about Konstantin
4Jan Safarik, ed. and transl., Mijaila KonstantinoviCa, Srbina iz Ostrvice, Jstorija iii Mihailovic's life after his return to the West, then, has been based
ljetopisi turski, spisani oko godine 1490, Glasnik srpskog uCenog drustva, 1, No. 18
either on the evidence of a single manuscript (M, reporting only in
(Belgrade, 1865), 29.
its title that the author had visited the King of France and the
5 "Wremennik serbskoturecki," Slavia, 2 (1923-24 ), 310.
Holy Roman Emperor) or on sheer hypothesis. Three sets of
6Dorde ZivanoviC, ed. and trans., Konstantin MihailoviC iz Ostrovice, JaniCarove
uspomene ili turska hronika, Srpska akademija nauka, Spomenik, 107, Odeljenje
drustvenih nauka, Nova serija 9 (Belgrade 1959), pp. xxxiv, xxxvi. 8Franz Babinger,Mehmed der Eroberer und seine Zeit, Weltensti.irmer einer Zeitenwende
7Konstantin JireCek, Istorija Srba, II (Belgrade, 1952), 376. (Munich, 1953), p. 457.
xxii MEMOIRS OF A JANISSARY INTRODUCTION xxiii
theories have been put forward concerning the remainder of Kon however, since the destruction of the library and the removal of
stantin's life. Occam's razor must be applied. Konstantin Mihailovic most of its contents to the now defunct Rumjancev Museum in
supposedly: 1) a) served in Hungary for a time before traveling to Moscow, the manuscript has vanished; likewise, nothing has re
Poland, where he spent the last two or three decades of his life and mained of Zakrzewski's notes. 10 Thus, while the likelihood of a
wrote his Memoirs; b) left Hungary very early and lived for a Serbo-Croatian manuscript tradition is enhanced by both the
time in Bohemia and Moravia before settling in Poland; c) spent above sources, we are still left in the realm of speculation.
some time in Hungary and may have lived in Poland; 2) lived in Two of the best-known Slavists to examine the question agree
Hungary among the Serbian colony and never set foot in Poland; that the Memoirs must have been written originally in Serbo
3) disappeared from view after 1463, and his path cannot be traced Croatian. Alexander Bruckner, stressing the folklore elements evi
in the material presently at our disposal. Of these, the last is surely dent in what he called "the most interesting work of all Balkan
the least speculative. It can be slightly amended to state that historical literature," believed that Konstantin composed the
Konstantin must have spent some time in Hungary immediately original in Serbian Cyrillic." Vatroslav Jagic, who wrote a concise
following his capture by Matthew Corvinus. and sober review of Los's critical edition of the Zamoyski manu
script, was the first to note the widespread use of Konstantin's
JI. Controversial issues. -Closely linked with the question of Kon mother tongue in the Ottoman army and administration as a
stantin's movements in the years following his return are two linguistic background against which the original might be set. 12
controversial issues: the language of the original text and the fil Aside from the Serbo-Croatian forms of a number of Balkan per
iation of the extant manuscripts and sixteenth-century published sonal and place names that appear in the Memoirs (in themselves
versions. Czech, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, and (Serbian) Church insufficient to indicate the language of the original), there is, how
Slavic have all been posited as the original language. Barring the ever, only circumstantial evidence that the work was first com
discovery of additional manuscripts, the language of the proto mitted to paper in vernacular-based Serbo-Croatian.
graph may never be known with certainty, but a case can be made
for Serbo-Croatian. As for the filiation of the texts, recent contri Manuscripts and six teenth-cen fury printed texts. - Letter designa
butions to the literature on this problem have cast serious doubt tions were assigned by Jan Los' to thirteen texts:13 (I) Z, Zamoyski
on the primacy of the Polish redaction. Both of these areas deserve Library, Warsaw; sixteenth-century Polish; (2) K, Zamoyski Li
to be explored briefly. brary, Kc\rnik; sixteenth-century Polish; (3) M, Czech Museum,
Prague; early sixteenth-century Czech, generally agreed to be the
Language of the original. -Independent sources point to the oldest extant text; (4) W, Vilnius (Wilno) Museum; a large manu
existence of one or more Cyrillic manuscripts, now lost. First script containing, among other things, thirteen chapters of the
there is the cryptic note that concludes the Polish Zamoyski Memoirs; seventeenth-century Polish; (5) H, Vaclav Hajek,Kronyka
manuscript: "Ta krojnika pisana naprzod litera Ruska lata Narod czeskd, 1541, a printed Czech book containing parts of Konstantin
zenia Bozego 1400" ("This chronicle was written first in Russian Mihailovic's Memoirs; the earliest dated attestation of a Czech ver
letters in the year of our Lord 1400," a date clearly resulting from sion; (6) C, Czartoryski Library, Cracow, late sixteenth-century
a scribal error). This has been interpreted to refer to a Russian, Polish version; (7) S, Smogulecki, formerly Public Library, St.
Church Slavic, or Serbian manuscript. Sometime before 1831, a Petersburg; contains only part of the Memoirs; sixteenth-century
gymnasium teacher named Jan Zakrzewski copied excerpts from a Polish; (8) P, formerly Public Library, St. Petersburg, now in the
Cyrillic manuscript of the Memoirs in the Dereczyr\ski Library;
M .. Malinowski examined the excerpts, and J. Bartoszewicz con 1°Cenek, Zibrt, "Michala Konstantina z Ostrovic Historia neb Kronika Tureckll. 1565,
cluded that the manuscript was in Serbo-Croatian.9 Unfortunately, 1581." Casopis Musea kr<llovstvi Ceskciho, 86 (1912), 433-434.
11 "Wremennik serbskoturecki,'' pp. 311, 318.
9Jan LoS, ed., Pamif;tniki Janczara czyli Kronika turecka Konstantego z Ostrowicy
napisana mi(1dzy r. 1496 a 1501, Wydawnictwa Akademii umiej~tnoSci w Krakowie, 12A rch iv fiir slavisc{Je Philologie, 34 (1913), 279.
Biblioteka Pisarz0w polskich Nr. 63 (Cracow, 1912), pp. xxx-xxxi. 13P amif;tniki Janczara czyli Kronika turecka, pp. xi-xxxii.
xxiv MEMOIRS OF A JANISSARY
INTRODUCTION XXV
National Library, Warsaw; contains only part of the Memoirs;
Later published versions. 16-The publishing history of the Memoirs
late sixteenth-century Polish; (9) A, City Archive, Cracow; first
is very old, dating back to the sixteenth-century Czech versions
half of seventeenth century, Polish; (I 0) L, an expanded Czech
(H and L). Although the existence of numerous Polish manuscript
version published by Alex. Oujezdsky (Augezdsky), Historya neb
versions of the Memoirs proves the popularity of the work in
Kronyka Turecka od Micha/a Konstantina z Ostrowicze etc.,
Poland, it did not appear in print there until the nineteenth cen
Litomysl, 1565; the body of the text is extremely close to M;
tury, when the Czartoryski manuscript (C) was published three
(11) N, originally in the Zaluski library, taken to St. Peters burg in
times: by Antoni Galezowski in Warsaw, 1828, and by Karol
1796 and returned to Poland in 1928; apparently destroyed during
Pollak in Sanok, 1857 and 1868. These editions present a translit
World War II, it contained only part of the Memoirs; first half of
eration of the original and a translation into modern Polish on
seventeenth-century, Polish; (13) D, Dereczyr\ski Library; this
facing pages. In 1864 the publisher Adam Zawadzki brought out
manuscript, lost before Los' could examine it, was in Cyrillic.
at Wilno the entire manuscript W under the title Stanislawa
In addition to those above, Angiolo Danti and Gordana
Laskiego, wojewody sieradzkiego prace naukowe i diplomatyczne.
Jovanovic have discovered and classified five more manuscripts: 14
The first translation of the Memoirs into a modern foreign lan
(I) A, now in the Provincial Archive, Wawel; seventeenth-century
guage was carried out by the noted Czech Slavist Jan Safai'ik,
Polish; (2) U, now in the Cracow division of the Polish Academy
whose Serbo-Croatian version (Belgrade, 1865) is based on
· of Sciences; seventeenth-century Polish; (3) 0, Ossolineum Library,
Oujezdsky's 1565 Litomysl text.
Wroclaw; seventeenth-century Polish; (4) Cn Czartoryski Library,
Cracow; seventeenth-century Polish; (5) Cm, also Czartoryski
Scholarly editions. 17 -Several capable scholars dealt with the
Library, Cracow; seventeenth (or eighteenth) century, Polish.
Memoirs during the nineteenth century, but the first-and thus far
The data above are summarized in the following chart:15
only-attempt at a critical edition of the text was produced by
Jan Los' in 1912. His introduction gives a description and filiation
of the manuscripts and printed versions then known. As a basic
Polish redaction Czech redaction text he uses the Zamoyski manuscript Z, a relatively corrupt
Century 16th 17th 18th 16th Polish version of the sixteenth century, presenting it in modern
orthography and supplying variant readings from other sources.
Original
Following the edited Zamoyski text Los' provides samples of other
redaction Z,K,C w - M
versions from the sixteenth century as well as addenda from
Expanded seventeenth-century adaptations. An index, a glossary of archaic
text p A - L Polish words, and a glossary of Turkish expressions are appended.
An excellent new translation into Serbo-Croatian was pub
Adaptation of
expanded text s - lished by Dorde Zivanovi6 in 1959 (and again in 1966, with revi
sions, in smaller format). Los's 1912 Polish edition of Z, which
Adaptation of
appears in parallel columns in Zivanovic 1959, is his basic text.
original Cn,J Cm,0 H
Besides the translation he provides a long and detailed introduc
N,U,An tion covering the various texts, the scholarly literature on the
Memoirs, Konstantin Mihailovic's biography as it can be re
constructed from the text, and the language of the original.
14 Zivanovic's introduction presents a refinement of the Los' 1912
"Siedemnastowieczna przerdbka Pamil,!tnikow Janczara w Swietle piyciu nowych
rykopist1w," Ruch literacki, No, 4 (July-Augusti 1968), 223-229. theses: I) that Konstantin Mihailovic spent the last years of his
15
Reproduced from Gordana Jovanovid, Studia nad if!zykiem Pamif)tnikdw Janczara,
Zeszyty naukowe Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego, 283, Prace jyzykoznawcze, 3 (Cracow, 16see Bibliography for details of publication.
1972), p. 11. 17 See Bibliography for details of publication.