Slavery touched many aspects of Mamluk society. This volume focuses on the role of slaves
within the family from birth to purchase liberation and death. It investigates domestic
slavery in Syrian and Egyptian society from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century. Jan
Hagedorn focuses on the agency of slaves in the context of master-slave relationships within
households and in wider society. He argues that the ability of slaves to shape the world around
them was underpinned by a constant process of negotiation within the master-slave relationship
and that intermediaries such as the court system channelled the agency of slaves. The principal
sources for this study are purchase contracts listening certificates marriage contracts and
estate inventories in combination with scribal market inspection and slave purchase manuals
as well as chronicles.
