The City of Countless Names- Heads of State

The Sultan

In theory, the Sultan Abdulmejid rules the Ottoman Empire (like all Ottoman sultans before him) as an absolute monarch, responsible to no one but the Heavenly Host and the faith of the Nithamiyeen. In reality, Ottoman sultans have been deposed 11 times, since the start of their dynasty, and the combined power of the religious authorities, military establishment, and provincial rulers scattered through the empire, kept most Sultans in line. Because of the reforms and “disruptions” during Mahmud II’s reign, his son, Abdulmejid has more power and responsibility than an Ottoman Sultan has had in a long time. The Sultan (or Padishah, as the Turks call him) resides at Topkapu Palace, although he spends every spare moment checking the progress on the construction of his new palace in Beshiktash.

After the Sultan, the two most powerful men in the Ottoman Empire are his closest advisors: the Grand Vizier and the Grand Mufti.

The Grand Vizier

The Grand Vizier handles affairs of state, and directs the governance of the empire, turning the Sultan’s will into action (much like a Prime Minister). While some Grand Viziers acted as the real power behind the throne, the current Grand Vizier, Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha, believes in the modern reforms of the Sultan. In 1854, Mehmed Emin Ali came out of retirement to guide his Sultan through the War with Russia and the unrest in the Empire. The Grand Vizier keeps office in the palace known as the Sublime Port. 

The Grand Mufti 
Because the Ottoman Empire bases its laws and governance on the six pillars of the Nithamiyeen, the Grand Mufti, Meşrepzade Mehmet Arif Efendi, is the highest judicial authority. As the Sultan’s appointed ruler of all religious institutions, the Grand Mufti also holds a great deal of power over magical practices. Most practitioners in the Ottoman Empire are Turkish clergy or dervishes, and until the reforms of 1853 only followers of the Nithamiyeen faith could learn Thaumaturgy.

 Ministers 
The Council of Ministers meets in the in the Sublime Port. Other members of the council include the Grand Mufti, (lead by the Grand Vizier), and the Ministers of the Empire. They meet to coordinate their governance, to advise the Sultan and to implement his will. As any group of powerful men, infighting and the political maneuvering of its members plagues the Council of Ministers.  Among the Ministers are:
 

The Serasker Pasha or Minster of War, Hasan Rıza Pasha, commander of the Ottoman Army (possibly the fourth most powerful man in the Empire)

The Topdji Pasha or Master of Artillery, commander of the Empire’s fortresses and the artillery

The Capitan Pasha or Minister of Marine, admiral of the Ottoman Navy, and governor of a few Islands in the Aegean Sea

The Sader Azam Musteyshari or Minister of Interior, a close advisor to the Grand Vizier

The Hariciye Nezareti or Minister for Foreign Affairs,  a role of growing importance in a time of war

The Cavus Basi, or Minister of Justice, responsible for implementing and enforcing the Empire’s laws

Kadis

Most local governing falls to the Kadis, local judges in charge of towns, villages, and suburbs. In addition to their judicial responsibilities, Kadis collect taxes, conscript soldiers for the army, serve as notaries, and keep official records (such as marriages, births, property ownership etc.). They rule with some autonomy, but require higher authority (such as a governor) to implement their judgments. The Sublime port can remove a Kadi from power just as easily as it can appoint one.

Pashas and Beys

The title Pasha is an honorific bestowed by the Sultan (similar in prestige to the British knighthood) showing a high rank in the Ottoman hierarchy. Governors, ministers, military leaders, members of the Sultan’s family, influential friends of the Sultan, and even foreign dignitaries could be pashas. The only persons ineligible to the title were religious leaders.  The title comes after the owner’s name, (such as the Grand Vizier, Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha).

Pashas became a catch all term for the Empire’s higher orders, usually with great power and prestige. While many of the Pashas under Sultan Abdulmejid are honorable, in many eyes pashas have a reputation as a dishonorably corrupt class of wealthy criminals. Some pashas embezzle the government funds entrusted to them, work with corrupt Kadis to throw business rivals in jail, or pocket a portion of their subordinate’s wages. While the Sultan’s reforms limit the thier opportunities to misuse their authority, such activity runs rampant in the military, economic, and civic administrations.

A little lower in rank is the title “Bey”. Although, it originally referred to tribal chieftains, the title now belongs to the lieutenants, or subordinates, or sons of a Pasha. Bey can also be used as an honorific when talking to a person of higher standing, much like “mister” or “sir”.  Like Pasha, Bey always follows the owner’s name.

The City of Countless Names- Gardens of the Dead

Even in death, religion divides the people of Constantinople. Great Cemeteries surround the city, as small graveyards surround Constantinople’s places of worship. Most provide eternal rest to the dead of a specific religion or ethnicity, Turkish cemeteries for the Turks, Armenian for the Armenians, and Greek for the Greek. In Pera-Galata and the surrounding suburbs, the diversity of a cemetery’s inhabitants increases due to the greater mix of peoples and the growing cityscape.

The Turks of Constantinople do not treat their cemeteries as places of mourning. Instead, they use their cemeteries as a place to escape the bustle of the city, eat a quiet picnic, and smoke a pipe in peace. Children run and play between the graves.  Cows graze near the mausoleums of Ottoman nobles. Pedestrians take short cuts along the winding footpaths. There is too much life, to think about death. For this reason, the cemeteries of Constantinople feel more like gardens or parks, than a place of grief, except during a funeral.

The gravestones in Turkish cemeteries often bear a unique scar. While leafs, pomegranates, and other floral designs decorate the gravestones of Turkish women, sculptures of fezzes or turbans top the men’s gravestones. Those knowledgeable of Turkish culture can read a man’s status and profession by the folds of the turbans and color of the paint on his grave.

Quite a few graves lack these turbans. After the Sultan Mahmud II stopped the mutinous Janissaries in 1826, his followers knocked the turbans off every Janissary gravestone. These broken turbans lie shamefully on the ground near their owner’s graves, unless a European souvenir hunter, or worse, picks them up. Only the gravestones of Janissaries buried in the most rural cemeteries survive intact. 

Although custodians repair and clean some tombs and monuments, most graves remain disheveled and crumbling. Packs of feral dogs sleep in the shade of cypress trees,  columns lean, and statues lay broken. Entire graveyards disappear as city streets grow, their occupants moved to cemeteries in the suburbs. Some graves are so badly disturbed the departed are exposed.

Traditionally, mourners plant a cypress tree at a Turkish grave. While not every funeral follows this custom, some of the cemeteries around Constantinople are practically forests of the tall conic trees. Many cultures associate cypresses with death and life. The Greeks and Romans planted cypress trees in their graveyards too, but it was also a sacred plant to Apollo (A god of healing). The staff of another healing god, Asclepius, is of cypress wood. Some Turks say the odor of a cypress tree cleans poisons vapors and disease out of the air. The cypress is also associated with Hecate (goddess of witchcraft and necromancy), which may be why some believe the trees keep away evil spirits.

Important Cemeteries of Constantinople

Scutari

The British Cemetery (European)

The Karacaahmet Cemetery (Turkish)

Stambul

The Eyub Cemetery (Turkish)

Executioners Cemetery (Turkish)

Edirne Kapu Martyr's Cemetery (Turkish)

Merkezefendi Cemetery (Turkish)

Pera-Galata

The Grand Champs Des Morts (Turkish, Armenian, and European)

The Petit Champ-des-Morts, (Turkish)
Haskeui Sepharad Cemetery (Jewish)

The Orta Kui Jewish Cemetery (Jewish)

The City of Countless Names- Religions of Constantinople

Even more than nationality and ethnicity, religion divides the communities of Constantinople. In the beginning, the Byzantines worshiped the Greek gods, then the Greek gods became Roman gods. When Constantine took Byzantium the light of Aluminat faith spread over the city. From the Megarians to the Ottomans, each new conqueror added another layer of religious worship to the city’s already diverse mixture, creating a dizzying maze of churches, mosques, monasteries, temples, and tombs.

From the Norse gods of Emperor Basil II’s Viking mercenaries to Roman Aluminatism, every religion in Europe had a following in Constantinople.

To keep the city running, the religious communities of modern Constantinople (called Millets) tolerate their neighbor’s beliefs. A good example of their pragmatic acceptance is the three weekly Sabbaths observed across the city. For Nithamiyeen the Sabbath is Friday, for Yehudites it’s Saturday, and for Aluminates, Sunday. When holidays and feast days are added to the mix, it’s a wonder any business gets done.

Nithamiyeen

When the Ottomans took the city in 1453, its religious ideals changed Constantinople. Byzantine churches (such as St. Sophia, St. Irene, and St. Anastasia) turned into Mosques by Turkish architects and artist dot the city, along with Madaris (holy schools) and monumental tombs. Three times a day, Muezzins call faithful followers to prayer with their loud chants heard across the Constantinople sky. The Six Pillars of the Word rule the culture, commerce, and life of every Turk, and govern every citizen in the Ottoman Empire.

In 1854, the Sultan appointed Meşrepzade Mehmet Arif Efendi as “Grand Mufti”, the highest authority on Nithamiyeen laws,  teachings, and magic in the Ottoman Empire.  The Grand Mufti commands the Ottoman religious hierarchy, of Muftis (legal scholars), Kadis (judges), and Imams (leaders of the various worship practices).

Famous Mosques in Constantinople

Bayezid II Mosque (in Ak Serai)

Yavuz Selim Mosque (in Fatih)

Süleimaniyeh Mosque (in Süleimaniyeh)

Sultan Ahmed Mosque (in Sultanahmet)

Aya Sofya (in Sultanahmet)

The members of other religions (sometimes known by the slur “Giaour”, meaning infidel, in the impolite sections of Turkish society) freely worship in Constantinople with a few restrictions. For example, the Ottomans banned the use of church bells to call adherence to worship, so members stand outside their churches striking metal bars together announcing the beginning of their service.

Roman Aluminat

The “Great Schism” of 1054 AD separated the Aluminat faith into Western (Roman Aluminat) and Eastern Aluminat Churches. The Greek Aluminat Church and the Armenian Church follow Eastern Aluminat practices, leading to bitterness with Roman Aluminat worshipers (such as the sack of Constantinople by Crusaders, or the Massacre of the Latins in 1182) still evident in the 1850s.

The Apostolic Vicar of Constantinople, Archbishop Julian-Marie Hillereau, has little power over Catholics in Constantinople. Ambassadors from Catholic countries, such as France, carry the greatest say over worship.

Famous Roman Aluminat Churches

Church of SS Peter and Paul (in Galata)

San Luigi dei Francesi (in Pera)

Sant'Antonio di Padova Church (in Pera)

Ohan Voskiperan Church (in Pera)

Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (in Tatavla)

Greek Aluminat

Freed from the authority of the Vatican, the Greek Aluminat church grew under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire, but not without persecution. Although recent reforms brought rights to all Ottoman Citizens, remembrances of past wrongs (such as the Ottoman Reprisals after the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s) still fester in the Greek Aluminat church.

The current Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyril VII, leads the Greek Aluminat congregation from the Church of St. George. Some members of the Greek Aluminat church don’t trust their Patriarch and see the Czarina of Russia as the true spiritual leader of all Eastern churches.

Famous Greek Aluminat Churches

Church of St. Mary of Blachernae (in Aivan Serai)

Patriarchal Church of St. George (in Phanar)

Church of Saint Menas of Psamathia (in Psamathia)

Church of Saint Demetrios (in Tatavla)

Church of the Holy Savior in Chora (Edirne Kapu)

The Armenian Church

Adherents of the Armenian Church often boast of their faith’s long history, back to the first century when first Saint Simon Paul and Saint Matthias brought Aluminat teachings to Armenia. As a fellow branch of Eastern Aluminatism, the Armenian Church shares many beliefs and practices with Greek Aluminats, but many of its members share a mutual dislike. 
The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, Hagopos III, guides his church from Surp Asdvadzadzin Patriarchal Church. He also holds authority over the Armenians of the Roman Aluminat faith, at least in the eyes of the Sultan.

Famous Armenian Churches

Surp Krikor Lusavoriç Church (in Galata)

Surp Asdvadzadzin Patriarchal Church (in Kum Kapu)

Üç Horan Ermeni Kilisesi (in Tophane)

Surp Vortvots Vorodman Church (in Yeni Kapu)

Yehudite

Under Ottoman rule, the Jews freely follow Yehudist worship and rabbinical law with little persecution from the Turks. Shop sell food and other goods prepared according to Yehudite laws in the Jewish neighborhoods. Jewish children learn in the schools attached to their synagogues.

The Grand Rabbi, Hayyim ha-Kohen, represents his people in Ottoman politics and leads their worship with the help of a council of rabbis. Having no government or nation, the Grand Rabbi serves as the civil and religious authority for the Jews of Constantinople.

Famous Synagogues

Ahrida Synagogue (in Balata)

Zülfaris Synagogue (in Galata)

Etz Ahayim Synagogue (in Orta Kui)

Karaite Synagogue (in Haskeui)

Anglican Aluminat

Anglican Aluminates in Constantinople have few options for church. The Chapel in the British Embassy holds a service every Sunday at 11 am and an evening service at 4 pm. A chaplain of the British Army could also  lead services in a private residence if requested.

Whew, everyone got all that? I know it’s a lot but religion guides everything in this city.  Nothing remains untouched, and the fact that there are so many factions compounds the complexities and chaos. Next post we’ll look at the cemeteries of Constantinople.

150th Post: A Celebratory Scenario

I cannot believe we’ve already gone through 150 posts. It’s been great, and I hope you’ve seen improvements in ideas, style, research, and spelling, probably not spelling.  It’s been a learning experience for me each week, and I hope you've learned too. I also hope you enjoy using the resources on this blog in your own games as much I enjoyed creating them.

For this milestone, I’m taking a break from Constantinople this week to add the scenario “Six Stolen Ferns” to the Resources page.  As a player, there is nothing I enjoying more in an RPG than planning a heist. This scenario starts with a theft, and tasks the players to recover the goods by hook or by crook, although more likely crook. I also wanted to keep the stakes low, and the tone light. If you read any P. G. Wodehouse, you’ll know how to run this scenario. If you run or play “Six Stolen Ferns”, I’d love to hear how it went. Play test input is always welcome here.

Thanks to everyone reading my blog, you’re the reason we’re still going 150 posts later. Thanks to the creative team behind Victoriana for your wonderful game that inspires me to write. Finally, Thanks to Henry Mayhew, Lady Hornby, Google Books, and the Internet Archive for cataloguing the Victorian world.