Renegade Women: Gender, Identity, and Boundaries in the Early Modern Mediterranean

by Eric R. Dursteler

This book uses the stories of early modern women in the Mediterranean who left their birthplaces, families, and religions to reveal the complex space women of the period occupied socially and politically. In the narrow sense, the word "renegade" as used in the early modern Mediterranean referred to a Christian who had abandoned his or her religion to become a Muslim. With Renegade Women, Eric R Dursteler deftly redefines and broadens the term to include anyone who crossed the era's and region's religious, political, social, and gender boundaries. Drawing on archival research, he relates three tales of women whose lives afford great insight into both the specific experiences and condition of females in, and the broader cultural and societal practices and mores of, the early Mediterranean.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Grad School, Read For School, Book Club

239 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 11, 2011

About the author

Professor of History at Brigham Young University

Reviews

[Elif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitap, 16. yüzyılda kendi hayatlarını şekillendirebilmek için toplumsal, politik, dini engellere rağmen dinlerini, yaşadıkları coğrafyayı değiştiren kadınları anlatıyor. Kadınların hikayeleri Akdeniz’le içe içe geçmiş.
Basımda dipnotların ve sözlüğün en sonda olması okuma kalitesini biraz düşürüyor.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dursteler profiles four women in early modern Mediterranean history, all converted between Islam and Christianity or mitigated a situation that would have caused them to convert in order to protect themselves and their children. These women lived in areas between the Venetian coast, the Dalmatian coast, Greece, and the Ottoman Empire.

Beatrice Michel, a young Venetian woman became a widow at a young age. She would go on to marry a Venetian merchant and end up in an unhappy marriage. She would eventually convert to Islam and marry an Islamic man to nullify her Christian marriage.

Elena Civalelli was a young woman born in Zara on the Dalmatian coast (present-day Croatia). Through a series of events, her parents would travel to Istanbul and convert to Islam. When they attempted to have Elena brought to them, the young girl sought asylum in a Catholic convent, protected by the Venetian government. Her story centers around her relationship with her parents and her desire to remain a Christian.

Mihale Satorovic was a young girl born on the lower Dalmatian coast of Turkish parents. She was "kidnapped" when she was young and taken to the Christian side of the border. Her story revolves around the question of whether Mihale, later known as Catterina after she converts to Christianity, willing or forcefully left her parents in order to convert. Like Elena, Catterina would take refuge in a Venetian convent, until her situation was resolved.

Maria Gazzadine was a Christian woman married to a Muslim man. Cross-religious marriages were not unheard of but were often complicated. Maria would have three daughters through her marriage to Hassan Aga and eventually, Maria longed to return to her Christian roots. She and her daughters abandoned Hassan Aga, fleeing for Venetian territory. Her story revolves around Hassan and Ottoman authorities trying to find out whether the women were coerced to leave or if they left of their own free will.

This book highlights the complicated political and religious connections that women had to navigate in the early modern Mediterranean. Understanding both political and religious law could help or hinder one's circumstances and women often had very few choices to better their lives. These four women were able to take advantage of the law and religious customs to protect themselves and their children.

This is a very well-researched book drawing on letters and court archives to tell the story of these four women. Gender historiography in this era, especially in regards to captivity is sparse. Dursteler helps fill that void and his writing is superb.

[Jenifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

February book club feat. The Author! We had a great book club discussion about this month's selection and I am just honored to be able to talk about books with women who are intelligent, fair-minded, and open to looking at the world in different ways. Mr. Dursteler was engaging and very easy to relate to, sharing his considerable knowledge with us while showing a great interest in our opinions and ideas. One of my favorite parts was hearing him tell about the cover art, which I find beautiful and intriguing.

As a book club pick in general I think this is a little bit highbrow, but then, it wasn't written for book club. As text for a history class, I would give it five stars - 4 for being better than most textbooks, and 1 for being short! Too bad I'm not a student. Can I get extra credit anyway?

My imagination was sparked by the idea of these brave, passionate women making choices for themselves that went against the mores and traditions of their cultures. They were willing to use whatever means were available to them, specifically religion and religious laws and customs to change the trajectories of their lives. They truly lived outside their comfort zone! With the backdrop of the Mediterranean landscape how could this not make a fascinating and beautiful historical novel?

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book you would want to grab at the library for a quick read. This is a scholarly look at women of the Mediterranean who followed their own path and not one their father or husband had planned for them. For a history book, I found this rather easy to read and I particularly enjoyed the story of Catterina, whose father finally realized how happy she was with the life she chose and decided to support her decision to stay in the convent. I have to admit I would never have picked up this book were it not a selection for my book club. For people studying the Mediterranean in the 15 and 1600's, I think this would be a great addition to their studies. I got a bit bogged down at times with the names (there were many to keep track of and they changed their names) and some of the history, but that is mostly because I am not very familiar with this time period in the Mediterranean.

[Merve K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitap, tarihte dinden dönen bazı kadınların hikayelerini konu alıyor. Bazısı islamdan Hristiyanlığa bazıları hristiyanlıktan islama dönmüş kadınlar. Bu kadınların hepsinin de Osmanlı'yla bağlantısı var.
İlk hikaye Nurbanu Sultan'ın en güvendiği harem ağalarından Gazanfer'in kız kardeşi Beatrice'in Fatma'ya dönüşmesini anlatıyor mesela. Tarihi gerçekler yazarın yorumlarıyla da birleşince müthiş bir kitap çıkmış ortaya. Çok akıcı, sade, tarih kitabı okumayı sevmiyorum diyenin bile elinden bırakamayacağı kadar güzel bir kitap. Mutlaka okuyun.

[Chrishna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book and the conclusions the author makes! He did a lot of research to uncover the stories of these medieval women who were able to find some freedom by switching religions. This books contains stories of intrigue, passion, fortunes, men acting badly, and women trying to save themselves, their money, and their children. Fascinating! A non fiction book I could not put down.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

/excellent required reading for my Mediterranean Encounters class at Muhlenberg College. Follows true stories of women in the era.

[Gülşah · Rating 2 out of 5]

kitabın ismi clickbait

[Saila Buser · Rating 2 out of 5]

i think i would’ve liked this book better if i wasn’t forced to read it

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a challenging read and I really debated 3 or 4 stars. In the end I went with 4 because I try to rank each book within its own genre. This is a college textbook and for that genre this is a great read. I was fascinated with the 3 women from the 1600's whose lives have been recorded in such detail. It was so interesting to see the actions they took so that they could be in charge of their own destinies. They had the determination to avoid or to get out of bad marriages and change their own lives.

It was such a wonderful experience to have the author come to our book club and talk through how he researched and found these women. It is amazing to me that he was able to find out so much about these women in that time period. On one hand I think it would be amazing to get to explore the depths of some of the old libraries of Italy but what a daunting task to try and piece together someone's life from tidbits here and there among such a vast amount of material in a time before indexing.
In the end I am really glad that people like Eric are willing to dig so that I can enjoy seeing a slice into the women of the past.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Club February 2012. The author came to our meeting!

Two things about this book: the book itself and our book club meeting.

First, the book. This book opened a window into a time period and geographical area I knew nothing about had never thought about. It is scholarly, and I am not a scholar. But it sparked my imagination and created tons of ideas and questions in my mind. I love that in a book, and that's one of the reasons I read. Students who are assigned this book in a class are going to really enjoy it. The art work is a great asset, and the maps are very helpful. The renegade's stories were unique and memorable to me.

Second, book club. Best ever. The author was fantastic, and we had a delightful time asking questions and hearing his stories. Adventures in the archives, academia, travel... ahhh. So interesting! Thanks to the Book Club ladies for your adventurous personalities that created such an absorbing discussion, and thanks to the author for educating and entertaining us.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this book for my French women studies class, and compared to the other assigned readings this was by far the easiest. I gained a lot of insight on the differences between Muslim and Christian cultures during the early modern period. I also learned how each culture liberated while also limiting women. This book was really interesting and I think the stories of Elena Civalelli and Mihale Satorovic touched me the most and truly speak upon the representation of a renegade woman.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably would have not read this book if weren't for our book club but I am glad I did. It is a non fiction historical that takes place on the Mediterranean in the 1600's. For it being non fiction historical all written from old documents, it is an engaging story and I enjoyed learning more about woman during that era in that particular part of the world.

[Nyssa Silvester · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish there was more to this book, because by the end, I was fascinated. Dursteler did some meticulous research and presented three stories of women at the locus of politics, religion, and gender relations. Makes me want to learn about the Mediterranean more.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are great stories, they leave you wanting to know more! Great bit of sleuthing by the author to piece together the events of the lives of these remarkable women.

[Gina Gifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am generally a novel type reader, so this was a bit different for me. I did like the stories and found it very interesting. I loved the description of the area and people.

[Alisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched historical analysis into the lives of Renegade women living around Balkan region. Narrative structure facilitates connection with an average reader.