ABSTRACT
The janissaries are probably one of the most famous military corps in world history. Nevertheless, they were only a part of the Ottoman army and not even the most numerous one. At any period in the Ottoman history, they coexisted with a series of other military units, some of them created earlier (hence the name of yeni çeri, meaning “new troops”), others emerging in later times. All of these corps were of different natures as regards their modes of recruitment, the status of their members, their specific role in war, their method of remuneration, and so on. I shall concentrate on the corps (ocak) of the janissaries. 1 Over several centuries, they were both a cause of terror and a source of admiration for the West, but they were also a danger for the Ottoman rulers themselves, due to their tendency to rebel. Beyond these stereotypes, one has to keep in mind that they did not offer only one face during all their long history. On the contrary, they were in a process of constant change, especially as far as their recruitment sources and military value were concerned.
