Slave sale from "Turkish Tyranny"

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From a German woodcut of 1593, the sale of captured Christians as slaves. The prisoners are led in a coffle, before being stripped naked, examined, put through their paces under the whips of drivers, and then paid for.

This is just one part of a larger woodcut, showing the process of subjugating a newly conquered European territory to Ottoman Turkish rule. In this period, the Ottoman Turks occupied much of south eastern Europe, and were aggressively trying to expand. Their practice was to subjugate and take slaves from the non-Muslim occupants of conquered territories, and the whole woodcut shows the burning of cities and churches, the torture and massacre of civilians, and in one corner (shown here) the sale of captured Christians as slaves. The prisoners are led in a coffle, before being stripped naked, examined, put through their paces under the whips of drivers, and then paid for.

The Coffles section has woodcuts of Turks leading slaves to this kind of slave-sale; and there is also a second Turkish slave market woodcut.

Last modified 8 Dec 06, 12:16 AM by Tanos