European Perspectives of the Ottoman Empire

European Perspectives of the Ottoman Empire

Module 8 Discussion: European Perspectives of the Ottoman Empire

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Below are links to the two readings on the Ottoman Empire.  The first document was an account by the Englishman James Ludlow, who reported on the Janissary system in the Ottoman Empire.  The second document is an excerpt from Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq’s The Turkish Letters, a compendium of personal correspondence to Busbecq’s friend Nicholas Michault.  Busbecq served as an ambassador to the Ottoman Empire for the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand, and he wrote about his experience in the Ottoman Empire under Süleyman the Magnificent.  In this except, Busbecq describes the famous Janissaries of the Ottoman military.

Please read the two documents and answer the following discussion questions in no less than 200 words

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/islam/1493janissaries.asp

Source: “James M. Ludlow: The Tribute of Children, 1493,” Internet History Sourcebook

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1555busbecq.asp

Source: “Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq: The Turkish Letters, 1555-1562,” Internet History Sourcebook

Discussion Questions:

1.  According to Ludlow, how do the Ottoman Turks recruit individuals for bureaucratic and military service?  Why would the Ottoman Turks recruit Christian boys to serve in the Ottoman military and bureaucracy?
2.  How does Busbecq describe the Janissaries?  What are some of their duties in Ottoman society?  How does he compare the Janissaries to soldiers in the Holy Roman Empire?
3.  Both Ludlow and Busbecq focus on the Janissaries in Ottoman society.  What do their texts suggest about the role of the Janissaries in the Ottoman Empire?
4.  What do you think these two texts suggest about Europeans’ views of the Ottoman Turks (and more generally Muslims) in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries?

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