1.
Janissaries
–
The Janissaries were elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultans household troops, bodyguards and the first standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established during the reign of Murad I and they began as an elite corps of slaves made up of conscripted young Christian boys, and became famed for internal cohesion cemented by strict discipline and order. Unlike typical slaves, they were paid regular salaries, forbidden to marry or engage in trade, their complete loyalty to the Sultan was expected. By the seventeenth century, due to a increase in the size of the Ottoman standing army. Civilians bought their way into the corps in order to benefit from the socioeconomic status it conferred upon them. Consequently, the corps gradually lost its character, undergoing a process which has been described as civilianization. The corps was abolished by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826 in the Auspicious Incident in which 6,000 or more were executed, the formation of the Janissaries has been dated to the reign of Murad I, the third ruler of the Ottoman Empire. From the 1380s to 1648, the Janissaries were gathered through the system which was abolished in 1638. This was the taking of non-Muslim boys, notably Anatolian and Balkan Christians, Jews were never subject to devşirme, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, in early days, all Christians were enrolled indiscriminately. Later, those from Albania, Bosnia, and Bulgaria were preferred, the Janissaries were kapıkulları, door servants or slaves of the Porte, neither freemen nor ordinary slaves. They were subjected to strict discipline, but were paid salaries and pensions upon retirement, as such, they became one of the ruling classes of the Ottoman Empire, rivalling the Turkish aristocracy. The brightest of the Janissaries were sent to the palace institution, through a system of meritocracy, the Janissaries held enormous power, stopping all efforts at reform of the military. These boys were taken from their parents and given to Turkish families in the provinces to learn Turkish language and customs. The recruits were indoctrinated into Islam, forced into circumcision and supervised 24 hours a day by eunuchs and they were subjected to severe discipline, being prohibited from growing a beard, taking up a skill other than soldiering, and marrying. As a result, the Janissaries were extremely well-disciplined troops, and became members of the askeri class, most were non-Muslims, because it was not permissible to enslave a Muslim. The Janissary system was introduced in the 14th century, the Janissary Corps was a trained and loyal group of slaves to the sultan. In the late 16th century, a sultan gave in to the pressures of the Corps and permitted Janissary children to members of the Corps. They also became rent-seeking and sought protection of their special rights, according to paintings of the era, they were also permitted to grow beards
2.
Gentile Bellini
–
Gentile Bellini was an Italian painter of the school of Venice. He came from Venices leading family of painters, and at least in the part of his career was more highly regarded than his younger brother Giovanni Bellini. In 1479 he was sent to Constantinople by the Venetian government when the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II requested an artist, thereafter a number of his subjects were set in the East, and he is one of the founders of the Orientalist tradition in Western painting. His portrait of the Sultan was also copied in paintings and prints and he was christened Gentile after Jacopos master, Gentile da Fabriano. Gentile was taught painting in the workshop of his father, Gentiles earliest signed work is The Blessed Lorenzo Giustinian, one of the oldest surviving oil paintings in Venice. During the 1450s Bellini worked on a commission for the Scuola Grande di San Marco and painted in conjunction with his brother, from 1454 he was also the official portrait artist for the Doges of Venice. Much of Gentile Bellini’s surviving work consists of large paintings for public buildings. The commission was intended to celebrate the relic of the Holy Cross which the confraternity had received in 1369, Venice was, at that time, a very important point in which cultures and trade bordered on the eastern Mediterranean Sea and provided gateways to Asia and Africa. As noted, in his lifetime, Gentile was the most prestigious painter in Venice, therefore, in 1479, he was chosen by the government of Venice to work for Sultan Mehmed II in Constantinople. However, in addition to his work at the Ottoman Court, Gentiles work also responded to other aspects of the East, in September 1479 Gentile was sent by the Venetian Senate to the new Ottoman capital Istanbul as part of the peace settlement between Venice and the Turks. His role was not only as a painter in an exotic locale. This was important to Mehmed II, as he was interested in the art and culture of Italy. He finally reached his goal with Gentile, who is believed to have painted the portrait of Mehmed II now in the National Gallery, London. It has been noticed that the portrait is one of the figures in a painting by Marco Palmezzano. So the dating and authorship of the portrait by Bellini have been placed in question, subsequently, an Oriental flavour appears in several of his paintings, including the portrait of a Turkish artist and St. Mark Preaching at Alexandria. The last was completed by his brother, Giovanni Bellini, according to Carlo Ridolfi in his 1648 history of the Venetian artists, Bellini made a painting of the head of John the Baptist on a charger, the saint being revered by the Turks as a prophet. Gentile, fearful at such barbarities, immediately tried in every way to be released from his contract in one day he himself should be the victim of such a joke. This anecdote is likely apocryphal, as a story had been told by Seneca of Parrhasius
3.
Franco-Ottoman alliance
–
The alliance was exceptional, and caused a scandal in the Christian world. Carl Jacob Burckhardt called it the sacrilegious union of the lily, the Habsburg Empire thus entered in direct conflict with the Ottomans. Some early contacts seem to have taken place between the Ottomans and the French, Louis XI refused to see the envoys, but a large amount of money and Christian relics were offered by the envoy so that Djem could remain in custody in France. Djem was transferred to the custody of Pope Innocent VIII in 1489, France had already been looking for allies in Central Europe. The ambassador of France Antonio Rincon was employed by Francis I on several missions to Poland, at that time, following the 1522 Battle of Bicoque, Francis I was attempting to ally with king Sigismund I the Old of Poland. Finally, in 1524, a Franco-Polish alliance was signed between Francis I and the king of Poland Sigismund I and this situation forced Francis I to find an ally against the powerful Habsburg Emperor, in the person of Suleiman the Magnificent. The alliance was an opportunity for both rulers to fight against the rule of the Habsburg, the objective for Francis I was clearly to find an ally in the struggle against the House of Habsburg, although this policy of alliance was in reversal of that of his predecessors. The pretext used by Francis I to seal an alliance with a Muslim power was the protection of the Christians in Ottoman lands, King Francis was imprisoned in Madrid when the first efforts at establishing an alliance were made. A first French mission to Suleiman seems to have been sent right after the Battle of Pavia by the mother of Francis I, Louise de Savoie, but the mission was lost on its way in Bosnia. The Ottomans were also attracted by the prestige of being in alliance with such a country as France. Meanwhile, Charles V was manoeuvring to form a Habsburg-Persian alliance with Persia, envoys were sent to Shah Tahmasp I in 1525, and again in 1529, pleading for an attack on the Ottoman Empire. In 1528 also, Francis used the pretext of the protection of Christians in the Ottoman Empire to again enter into contact with Suleiman, in his 1528 letter to Francis I Suleiman politely refused, but guaranteed the protection of Christians in his states. He also renewed the privileges of French merchants which had obtained in 1517 in Egypt. Francis I lost in his European campaigns, and had to sign the Paix des Dames in August 1529 and he was even forced to supply some galleys to Charles V in his fight against the Ottomans. However, the Ottomans would continue their campaigns in Central Europe, and besiege the Habsburg capital in the 1529 Siege of Vienna, in early July 1532, Suleiman was joined by the French ambassador Antonio Rincon in Belgrade. Antonio Rincon presented Suleiman with a magnificent four-tiered tiara, made in Venice for 115,000 ducats, Rincon also described the Ottoman camp, Astonishing order, no violence. Merchants, women even, coming and going in perfect safety, life as safe, as large and easy as in Venice. Justice so fairly administered that one is tempted to believe that the Turks are turned Christians now, Ottoman embassies were sent to France, with the Ottoman embassy to France led by Hayreddin Barbarossa, and the Ottoman embassy to France led by representatives of Suleiman
4.
Ottoman embassy to France (1533)
–
An Ottoman embassy to France was sent in 1533 by Hayreddin Barbarossa, the Ottoman Governor of Algiers, vassal of the Ottoman Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent. A safe-conduct is thought to have obtained in 1532 for the embassy by the Ottoman interpreter. Janus Bey was at time in Venice meeting with the Venetian government. The embassy arrived on galleys somewhere between Hyères and Toulon in the beginning of the month of July 1533, and was led by Sherif Raïs. As diplomatic gift, the Ottoman embassy disembarked wild animals, including the famous Lion of Barbarossa, as well as Christian prisoners, the Ottoman group was welcomed by the French Admiral Baron de Saint-Blancard and then accompanied only to the region of Auvergne to meet with Francis I. On the way they were joined by the French ambassador to the Porte Antonio Rincon, the embassy was received by king Francis I on 19 July. English ambassadors also participated to the meeting, the Ottoman ambassador read a Declaration of mutual friendship between the Kingdoms of France and Algiers and a three-year trade agreement was sealed. The chains of the Christian prisoners were solemnly broken in front of the king, Francis I would in turn dispatch Antonio Rincon to Barbarossa in North Africa and then to Suleiman the Magnificent in Asia Minor. Francis Is rival Charles V was informed of these encounters, a Second Ottoman embassy to France would again visit Francis I the following year, in 1534. Franco-Ottoman alliance Ottoman embassy to France Garnier, Edith LAlliance Impie Editions du Felin,2008, Paris ISBN 978-2-86645-678-8 Interview
5.
Conquest of Tunis (1534)
–
The conquest of Tunis occurred on 16 August 1534 when Hayreddin Barbarossa captured the city from the Hafsid ruler Muley Hasan. In 1533, Suleiman ordered Hayreddin Barbarossa, whom he had summoned from Algiers, altogether 70 galleys were built during the winter of 1533–34, manned by slave oarsmen, including 1,200 Christian ones. Barbarossa thus established a naval base in Tunis, which could be used for raids in the region. Tunis was a strategic location, controlling the passage from the west to the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. In 1535 however, upon the plea of Muley Hasan, emperor Charles V mounted a counter-offensive, roger Crowley, Empire of the sea,2008 Faber & Faber ISBN 978-0-571-23231-4 Garnier, Edith LAlliance Impie Editions du Felin,2008, Paris ISBN 978-2-86645-678-8 Interview
6.
Hayreddin Barbarossa
–
Hayreddin Barbarossa, or Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha, born Khizr or Khidr, was an Ottoman admiral of the fleet who was born in the island of Lesbos and died in Constantinople, the Ottoman capital. Barbarossas naval victories secured Ottoman dominance over the Mediterranean during the mid 16th century, Hayreddin was an honorary name given to him by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. He became known as Barbarossa in Europe, a name he inherited from his elder brother Oruç Reis after Oruç was killed in a battle with the Spanish in Algeria. Oruç was also known as Baba Oruç, which sounded like Barbarossa to the Europeans, and since Oruç did have a red beard, in a process of linguistic reborrowing, the nickname then stuck back to Hayreddins native Turkish name, in the form Barbaros. His mother was a widow of a Greek Orthodox priest and his parents were married and had two daughters and four sons, Ishak, Oruç, Khizr and Ilyas. Yakup took part in the Ottoman conquest of Lesbos in 1462 from the Genoese Gattilusio dynasty and he became an established potter and purchased a boat to trade his products. The four sons helped their father with his business, but not much is known about the daughters, at first Oruç helped with the boat, while Khizr helped with pottery. All four brothers became seamen, engaged in affairs and international sea trade. The first brother to become involved in seamanship was Oruç, who was joined by his brother Ilyas, later, obtaining his own ship, Khizr also began his career at sea. The brothers initially worked as sailors, but then turned privateers in the Mediterranean to counteract the privateering of the Knights Hospitaller who were based in the island of Rhodes, Oruç and Ilyas operated in the Levant, between Anatolia, Syria, and Egypt. Khizr operated in the Aegean Sea and based his operations mostly in Thessaloniki, Ishak, the eldest, remained on Mytilene and was involved with the financial affairs of the family business. Oruç was a very successful seaman and he also learned to speak Italian, Spanish, French, Greek and Arabic in the early years of his career. While returning from an expedition in Tripoli, Lebanon, with his younger brother Ilyas. Ilyas was killed in the fight, and Oruç was wounded and their fathers boat was captured, and Oruç was taken as a prisoner and detained in the Knights castle at Bodrum for nearly three years. Upon learning the location of his brother, Khizr went to Bodrum, on his way back to Lesbos, he stopped at Euboea and captured three galleons and another ship. After passing the winter in Cairo, he set sail from Alexandria and frequently operated along the coasts of Liguria, in 1503, Oruç managed to seize three more ships and made the island of Djerba his new base, thus moving his operations to the Western Mediterranean. They were granted this right with the condition of leaving one-third of their gains to the sultan, Oruç, in command of small galliots, captured two much larger Papal galleys near the island of Elba. Later, near Lipari, the two brothers captured a Sicilian warship, the Cavalleria, with 380 Spanish soldiers and 60 Spanish knights from Aragon on board, in 1505, they raided the coasts of Calabria
7.
Constantinople
–
Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and also of the brief Latin, and the later Ottoman empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. The origins of the name of Byzantion, more known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was likely just a play on the word Byzantion. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew. In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently, the medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr, and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra and in Persian as Takht-e Rum, in East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad or Carigrad, City of the Caesar, from the Slavonic words tsar and grad. This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις, the modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin, meaning into the city or to the city. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script, in time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages. In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli or simply just the City, apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330, Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis
8.
Tunis
–
Tunis is both the capital and the largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as Grand Tunis, has some 2,700,000 inhabitants. Situated on a large Mediterranean Sea gulf, behind the Lake of Tunis and the port of La Goulette, the city extends along the coastal plain, at its core lies its ancient medina, a World Heritage Site. Beyond this district lie the suburbs of Carthage, La Marsa, as the capital city of the country, Tunis is the focus of Tunisian political and administrative life, it is also the centre of the countrys commercial activity. Tunis is the transcription of the Arabic name تونس which can be pronounced as Tūnus, Tūnas, All three variations were mentioned by the Greek-Syrian geographer al-Rumi Yaqout in his Mujam al-Bûldan. Different explanations exist for the origin of the name Tunis, some scholars relate it to the Phoenician goddess Tanith, as many ancient cities were named after patron deities. Another possibility is that it was derived from the Berber verbal root ens which means to lie down or to pass the night, given the variations of the precise meaning over time and space, the term Tunis can possibly mean camp at night, camp, or stop. There are also mentions in ancient Roman sources of such names of nearby towns as Tuniza, Thunusuda, Thinissut. As all of these Berber villages were situated on Roman roads, the historical study of Carthage is problematic. Because its culture and records were destroyed by the Romans at the end of the Third Punic War and these writers belonged to peoples in competition, and often in conflict, with Carthage. Greek cities contended with Carthage over Sicily, and the Romans fought three wars against Carthage, not surprisingly, their accounts of Carthage are extremely hostile, while there are a few Greek authors who took a favourable view, these works have been lost. The existence of the town is attested by sources dating from the 6th century BC, in the 2nd millennium BC a town, originally named Tunes, was founded by Berbers and also over time occupied by Numidians. In 146 BC, the Romans destroyed Tunis, however, the city was subsequently rebuilt under the rule of Augustus and became an important town under Roman control and the center of a booming agricultural industry. Situated on a hill, Tunis served as an excellent point from which the comings and goings of naval and caravan traffic to and from Carthage could be observed. Tunis was one of the first towns in the region to fall under Carthaginian control, thus, during Agathocles expedition, which landed at Cape Bon in 310 BC, Tunis changed hands on various occasions. During the Mercenary War, it is possible that Tunis served as a center for the population of the area, and that its population was mainly composed of peasants, fishermen. Compared to the ancient ruins of Carthage, the ruins of ancient Tunis are not as large, according to Strabo, it was destroyed by the Romans during the Third Punic War. Both Tunis and Carthage were destroyed, Tunis, however, was rebuilt first, the city is mentioned in the Tabula Peutingeriana as Thuni
9.
Marseille
–
Marseille, also known as Marseilles in English, is a city in France. Known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Massalia, Marseille was the most important trading centre in the region, Marseille is now Frances largest city on the Mediterranean coast and the largest port for commerce, freight and cruise ships. The city was European Capital of Culture, together with Košice, Slovakia and it hosted the European Football Championship in 2016, and will be the European Capital of Sport in 2017. The city is home to campuses of Aix-Marseille University and part of one of the largest metropolitan conurbations in France. Marseille is the second largest city in France after Paris and the centre of the third largest metropolitan area in France after Paris, further east still are the Sainte-Baume, the city of Toulon and the French Riviera. To the north of Marseille, beyond the low Garlaban and Etoile mountain ranges, is the 1,011 m Mont Sainte Victoire. To the west of Marseille is the artists colony of lEstaque, further west are the Côte Bleue, the Gulf of Lion. The airport lies to the north west of the city at Marignane on the Étang de Berre, the citys main thoroughfare stretches eastward from the Old Port to the Réformés quarter. Two large forts flank the entrance to the Old Port—Fort Saint-Nicolas on the south side and Fort Saint-Jean on the north. Further out in the Bay of Marseille is the Frioul archipelago which comprises four islands, one of which, If, is the location of Château dIf, the main commercial centre of the city intersects with the Canebière at rue St Ferréol and the Centre Bourse. To the south east of central Marseille in the 6th arrondissement are the Prefecture and the fountain of Place Castellane. To the south west are the hills of the 7th arrondissement, the railway station—Gare de Marseille Saint-Charles—is north of the Centre Bourse in the 1st arrondissement, it is linked by the Boulevard dAthènes to the Canebière. Marseille has a Mediterranean climate with mild, humid winters and warm to hot, december, January, and February are the coldest months, averaging temperatures of around 12 °C during the day and 4 °C at night. Marseille is officially the sunniest major city in France with over 2,900 hours of sunshine while the average sunshine in France is around 1,950 hours, less frequent is the Sirocco, a hot, sand-bearing wind, coming from the Sahara Desert. Snowfalls are infrequent, over 50% of years do not experience a single snowfall, Massalia, whose name was probably adapted from an existing language related to Ligurian, was the first Greek settlement in France. It was established within modern Marseille around 600 BC by colonists coming from Phocaea on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor. The connection between Massalia and the Phoceans is mentioned in Thucydidess Peloponnesian War, he notes that the Phocaean project was opposed by the Carthaginians, the founding of Massalia has also been recorded as a legend. Protis was invited inland to a banquet held by the chief of the local Ligurian tribe for suitors seeking the hand of his daughter Gyptis in marriage, at the end of the banquet, Gyptis presented the ceremonial cup of wine to Protis, indicating her unequivocal choice
10.
French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
–
France has had a permanent embassy to the Ottoman Empire since 1535, during the time of King Francis I and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. It is considered the predecessor of the modern-day embassy to the Republic of Turkey. The first ambassador was preceded by an envoy, Jean Frangipani
