[105] Giovio, _Commentarius_, 75; Zeno, 128; Nicolay, 83. Jorga, iii. 188, finds no Roumanian among the high Turkish officials of the sixteenth century. Roumania, being a vassal state, was not exposed to the _devshurmeh_. Knolles (ed. 1687, pp. 984-985) says that the tribute boys from Asia were not advanced to become Janissaries, because they were not of sufficiently high quality. They are not found in positions of prominence. [106] Navagero, 48. [107] Menavino’s translator says _quasi decimatione_ (Lonicerus, i. 140). Postel, iii. 22-23, says expressly that the children were not tithed; Nicolay, 83, however, states that one in three were taken, as does J. Soranzo, 245. Morosini, 264, speaks of a tithe (_decima_). Gibbon (ed. Bury), vii. 79, says that a fifth of the boys were taken; see also Lavisse and Rambaud, iv. 758. The latter statements seem to be based theoretically on the fifth of the captives to which the sultan was entitled. The differences among those who profess to fix a proportion are evidence that there was none. [108] Spandugino, 103. [109] Postel, iii. 22. Navagero, 49, says that the officers summoned the heads of families and commanded them to present their sons. [110] Navagero, 49. [111] Postel, iii. 23. [112] Navagero, 49. [113] Postel, iii. 23. [114] Geuffroy, 240. Bragadin (1526), 103, says: “Ibrahim has his mother and two brothers in the palace. He does much good to Christians. His father is _Sanjak_ in Parga.” And again, 104: “Ayas has three brothers. His mother at Avlona is a Christian, and he sends her 100 ducats annually.” Nicolay, 86, says, on the contrary, that the tribute boys are never afterwards willing to recognize father, mother, or relatives. He cites the case of an uncle and nephews of Rustem Pasha, who begged in Adrianople, but received no aid from him. Cf. Zane, 438. [115] Spandugino, 144, 145. [116] Trevisano, 130. [117] _Ibid._ [118] Bernardo, 332, says in 1592, after the system had been dislocated, that the greater part of the recruits were then sons of Turks. [119] Erizzo, 131; Morosini, 267; Ricaut, 14. [120] Spandugino, 180. [121] _Ibid._ 183; J. Soranzo, 250. [122] Hammer, _Geschichte_, iii. 144, 156, 162. [123] Postel, iii. 68. [124] _Ibid._ G. Soranzo (1576), 197, says that the Grand Signor is heir of all the pashas. [125] D’Ohsson, vii. 147. In the seventeenth century the sultan allowed the children of pashas only what pleased him (Ricaut, 131). Morosini, 274, refers to a similar practice in the latter part of the sixteenth century. [126] Ricaut, 16, calls the Turkish court “a prison of slaves.” [127] Hammer, _Geschichte_, ii. 379. [128] Busbecq, _Life and Letters_, i. 159. [129] D’Ohsson, vii. 61 ff. [130] Spandugino, 77; Ramberti, below, p. 253; Junis Bey below, p. 268; Nicolay, 64.