Turks leading captives

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Two female slaves lead by Turks with rope halters on their necks.

This German woodcut from 1529 shows two female slaves taken by Turkish sipahis or landed cavalry officers, similar to medieval knights. In this period, the Ottoman Turks occupied much of south eastern Europe, and were aggressively trying to expand. When they did, their practice was to take slaves from the non-Muslim occupants of conquered territories.

The Slave Markets section has two woodcuts of Turkish markets; and there is also a second woodcut of slaves being led with iron collars rather than rope halters.

Last modified 8 Dec 06, 12:20 AM by Tanos