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 The Making of Ottoman Law:  The Agency and Interaction of Diverse Groups in Lawmaking, 1450–1650

The Making of Ottoman Law (OTTOLEGAL) is a five-year ERC-funded project that investigates the formation of law in the Ottoman Empire between 1450 and 1650 through the religio-legal opinions (fetva) of scholars and decrees of sultans (kanun). It aims to expose the hybridity of Ottoman law and to explore the agency and interaction of diverse groups in the lawmaking process, moving beyond the well-known role of such actors as the government (the sultan and his representatives) and scholars to better understand the role of other, lesser-known actors like local groups with entrenched interests, non-Muslim communities, common people, founders of endowments, merchants, guilds, and others.

OTTOLEGAL is an ERC (European Research Council) funded project at Sabancı University.

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