The Ambassador's Notebook

Western Merchants, French Diplomacy and Islamic Law in the Ottoman Mediterranean c.1600

Series: 

Author:
Viorel Panaite
Using never before studied documents from Manuscript Turc 130 (BnF, Paris), compiled in a unique structure by Ambassador François Savary de Brèves, Viorel Panaite offers a comprehensive picture of the Ottoman Mediterranean around 1600, with the French as protagonists. He explores the foreigner's condition (müstemin) in the Abode of Islam, consular jurisdiction, the Flemish as protégés, and takes the reader on a journey to the cities of Marseille, Tunis, Alexandria, Aleppo and Istanbul. He focuses on the capitulations' provisions about merchants, navigation, trade, goods and taxes, as well as diplomatic efforts to curb the illegal actions of provincial authorities, ship captains, North African pirates and English privateers.
Copyright Year:
2025
E-Book (PDF)
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-69722-5
Publication:
19 May 2025
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-69721-8
Publication:
29 May 2025
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Viorel Panaite, Ph.D. (1995), University of Bucharest, is Professor of Islamic Ottoman history at that university, and researcher at the Institute for South-East European Studies of the Romanian Academy. He has published extensively on Western merchants in the Ottoman Mediterranean, as well as on war, peace and tributaries, such as Ottoman Law of War and Peace: The Ottoman Empire and its Tribute-Payers from the North of the Danube (Brill, 2019).
Acknowledgments
Notes on Conventions
List of Facsimiles, Illustrations and Maps
Abbreviations
Introduction

1 Manuscript
 1 Structure of MS Turc 130
 2 Additional Manuscript Documents
 3 Western Complementary Sources

2 Ambassador
 1 Ambassador at the Ottoman Court

3 Capitulations
 1 Which Was First?
 2 The ahdname of 1581
 3 The ahdname of 1597
 4 The ahdname of 1604 and Beyond
 5 Legal and Diplomatic Questions

4 Foreigners
 1 Müstemin and müsteminlik in MS Turc 130
 2 The Mediterranean Customary Practice
 3 Capitulatory Regime
 4 Residency: müstemin vs zimmi
 5 Safety

5 Cities
 1 Marseille (Marsilya)
 2 Ottoman Trade Centers in the Mediterranean

6 Consuls
 1 Historical Background
 2 The Appointment of Consuls
 3 Consular Fee
 4 Status and Functions of the Consuls
 5 Consular Jurisdiction

7 Protégés
 1 Protégés in the French ahdnames
 2 Defining Protégés
 3 The Flemish as Protégés

8 Navigation
 1 The Sea in the Ottoman Legal View
 2 Ships and Sailing
 3 Freedom of Navigation
 4 French Shipping vs Illegal Ottoman Actions

9 Trade
 1 The Safety of Trade in French ahdnames
 2 Commodities: between Bans and Privileges
 3 Customs Duty (gümrük)
 4 Special Taxes
 5 Western Coins
 6 The Confiscation of Goods: the Maltese Coffee Case

10 Piracy
 1 North African Piracy
 2 English Privateering

11 Captives
 1 Release of Captives in French ahdnames
 2 Arz-u hals and hüküms on the Release of French Captives
 3 A fetva on the Release of French Captives

Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
All historians, jurists and Ottomanists, as well as Departments of Middle East Studies, University Libraries and Institutes for the Mediterranean History.
Relevant subject areas: Ottoman History, Mediterranean History, Islamic Ottoman Law, Early Modern History.
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