Α. Αναστασόπουλος και Χ. Κυριακόπουλος, «Ασθένεια και θάνατος στην οθωμανική Κρήτη: σταθερές και μετασχηματισμοί στις κοινωνικές αντιλήψεις και την κρατική πολιτική», στο Πεπραγμένα ΙΒ΄ Διεθνούς Κρητολογικού Συνεδρίου. Ηράκλειο, 21-25.9.2016, Εταιρία Κρητικών Ιστορικών Μελετών – Ιστορικό Μουσείο Κρήτης, [Ηράκλειο] 2018, σ.14

This essay tackles the issues of disease and death in Crete during the Ottoman period through the evidence primarily of Ottoman archival sources and epitaphs. It focuses on three aspects, namely state policy, medical services and social attitudes towards disease and death. As far as state policy is concerned, it is argued that an important criterion for the Ottoman state to intervene in matters of public health was when public or social order was threatened. Regarding medical practitioners, Ottoman sources differentiate between physicians (hekim, tabib) and surgeons (cerrah). People made use of their services, and even religious-minded texts, such as epitaphs, suggest that Cretans were much more active in fighting disease than is often assumed. Ultimately, the study of the questions of disease and death allows us to revise stereotypes about the fatalism of traditional societies. Even though there was belief in the inevitability of God’s will, submission to it was not unconditional.