Childhood in Ottoman fatwa collections in the second half of the 17th century

The studies on the history of childhood, which started with Philippe Ariès, increase in recent years in our country too. However, the studies of childhood history in the Ottoman Empire would be incomplete if they are not studied through fatawa. In this study aiming to examine the Ottoman childhood history based on the fatawa given by the Ottoman Shaykh al-Islams in the second half of the 17ᵗʰ century; the fatwa compilations "Fatawa al-Ali Efendi" by Çatalcalı Ali Efendi, "Fatawa al-Fevziyye" by Feyzullah Efendi, and "Fatawa al-Abdürrahim" by Menteşzade Abdürrahim Efendi are used. While the fatwas regarding children were in various sections of the fatwa compilations, it is observed that the majority of them are concentrated under the topics related to family law. Particularly, the fatwas concerning family law were detected, and topics like "boundaries of childhood, care and protection of children, and children's marriage" were studied. In this study, the fatwas are shown in contemporary language rather than the transcription of the original texts. It is understood through the recurrence of similar fatwas concerning children throughout the century that certain issues in society were prominent and continuity was maintained. Keywords: Ottoman, Fatwa, Fatwa Collections, Childhood, Childhood History