Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

La Diplomatie ottomane sous le règne de Selim II: paramètres et périmètres de l'Empire ottoman dans le troisième quart du XVIe siècle by Güneş Işıksel

2019; Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies; Volume: 36; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/pgn.2019.0023

1832-8334

Darren M. Smith,

Byzantine Studies and History

Reviewed by: La Diplomatie ottomane sous le règne de Selim II: paramètres et périmètres de l'Empire ottoman dans le troisième quart du XVIe siècle by Güneş Işıksel Darren M. Smith Işıksel, Güneş, La Diplomatie ottomane sous le règne de Selim II: paramètres et périmètres de l'Empire ottoman dans le troisième quart du XVIe siècle (Collection Turcica, 20), Paris, Peeters, 2016; paperback; pp. xxv, 253; R.R.P. €65.00; ISBN 9789042931411. This excellent new study from Güneş Işıksel presents a Selim II who, while certainly not a sultan of conquest like his predecessors, shifted Ottoman foreign policy from an expansionist paradigm to a pragmatism reconciled to new realities of the Ottoman territoriality. The second half of the sixteenth century arguably marks a fundamentally important development in the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and European polities, producing formal diplomatic capitulations (ahidnâmes) with France and England. At the same time, Selim's foreign policy was international, with demands extending from the Maghreb to Aceh, and including the Caucasus and Safavid Iran. Selim may not have been at the helm of expansion (excepting Cyprus), but he solidified and fixed Ottoman frontiers (the 'paramètres et périmètres' of the book's title) through diplomacy. The author chose Selim's reign not only for its rich source base, but also because it represents a new chapter in Ottoman history where diplomacy was front-and-centre. Işıksel's work is certainly relevant to Ottomanists, but also to historians of early modern diplomacy. Işıksel opens by surveying Ottoman foreign policy and worldview in the sixteenth century. As Ottoman expansion slowed following the death of Suleiman I, a growing recognition of the empire's territorial limitations found its expression in treaties with neighbouring powers such as the Habsburgs, Safavids, and Venetians. Conquest now impracticable, a new concept of international relations was elaborated, grounded in a universalism that positioned the sultan as a 'suprasovereign'. [End Page 206] As Işıksel explains, 'instead of the warrior sultan whom we see fighting at the head of his armies, [is] the figure of the "sultan cosmocrate"' (p. 211). As a young şehzade, Selim established diplomatic relations with foreign powers while his father, Suleiman, was sultan. In this second chapter, Işıksel investigates Selim's central role negotiating with the Safavid shah and the French king, the latter constituting 'an important stage in [his] initiation […] into the diplomatic affairs of western Europe' (p. 74). The remaining chapters examine sultan Selim's foreign policy on three key frontiers: Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean. Upon succession, one of Selim's immediate tasks was to consult his council on foreign policy and the question of pursuing war or peace with emperor Maximilian II. This is the focus of the third chapter where Selim, under the guidance of grand vizier Sokollu Mehmed Paşa, delivered diplomatic success that better defined the troublesome Ottoman–Habsburg frontier. The following chapter deals with the Muscovite advance into central Asian territories, Kazan and Astrakhan, that significantly unsettled both commercial and pilgrimage routes, as well as the geopolitics of the northern Caucasus. Mention is also made of Selim's hesitancy towards involvement against the Portuguese in Aceh and the Persian Gulf. The author then turns to the major theatre of Ottoman military engagement under Selim—the eastern Mediterranean—, notably the capture of Cyprus, the Venetian success at Lepanto, and subsequent protracted peace negotiations. Drawing on both diplomatic correspondence and narrative chronicles, Işıksel concludes that this period was central to the Ottomans delimiting their Mediterranean frontier to the east (and disengaging from the western Mediterranean). Selim may have eschewed a military presence in the western Mediterranean, but he did pursue a diplomatic alliance to secure Ottoman objectives in that theatre. In the final chapter, Işıksel turns to the alliance between the Ottomans and French, reinvigorated under Selim II and Charles IX in the wake of Philip II's involvement in the Venetian–Ottoman conflict and the formation of the Holy League. The amitié with the French offered some diplomatic leverage and range...