IN THE HEART OF THE EMPIRE OF THE GREAT TURK
THE OTTOMAN COURT AND THE ORGANISATION OF THE KUL SYSTEM IN 16th CENTURY ITALIAN HISTORICAL LITERATURE FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF FOREIGN CHRISTIAN OBSERVERS
Dr. Nadezhda Syarova
Abstract: In the spotlight are the general conclusions and the scientific contributions of previous main research based on profound critical analysis of texts of some famous historical operas of 16th century dedicated on the Ottoman Empire and in particular regarding the information on Ottoman palace, central bureaucratic institutions, standing military forces and Ottoman warfare with a special focus on the slave’s human resources. Official reports, diplomatic relations, personal memories and various important stories of former slaves, ambassadors, spies, visitors, travelers and observers of the everyday life beyond the walls of the Sublime Porte – like Giovanni Antonio Menavino, Bartolomeo Georgievich, Theodoro Spandugino Cantacuscino, Luiggi Bassano, Benedetto Ramberti, Nicolas de Nicolay and another – are the sources of great and extraordinary attention in the dissertation work. The central topic of this survey remains the image of the Other as exemplified by the Ottoman Turk – as it looks in the „mirror” of the European Christians of that time – inseparably with various psychological aspects and reflections of the big cultural and political conflict between the worlds of Christianity and Islam.
Keywords: 16th Century, Italian Sources, Ottoman History, Europe and Ottoman Empire, The Other