Chapter XVIII: Letter IV (5)

[112] See Creasy, _Ottoman Turks_, chap. iii., Von Hammer, book vii., and Gibbon, chap. lxv. Tamerlane is a corruption of Timour lenk, i.e., Timour the lame.

[113] During the Russo-Turkish war, 1877-8, a paragraph appeared in a paper published at Constantinople, professing to give an account of Mr. Gladstone, late Prime Minister of England. It described him as originally ‘a pig-driver.’ This created great amusement in England, but to the countrymen of Roostem there seemed no inherent absurdity in the statement.

[114] Busbecq is in error here, for Solyman was encamped at Eregli, in Karamania, about 250 miles from Amasia. Von Hammer takes our author to task for laying the scene at Amasia; but Busbecq nowhere commits himself to this statement.

[115] Ghemlik, on the Sea of Marmora, called Prusias by Busbecq. It was originally called Kios, and about B.C. 200, Prusias, King of Bithynia, gave it his own name. See Strabo, 563-4.

[116] The legend of Orpheus being torn to pieces by the women of Thrace was a favourite with the ancients. See Virgil, _Georgic IV._, &c.

[117] See Tacitus, _Annals_, xii. 63. Herodotus, iv. 144.

[118] The bronze serpents, which are still on the same site, are three, and not two in number. See Gibbon, chap. xvii., where he describes these serpents, and proves that they form the serpent pillar mentioned by Herodotus, ix. 81; on it was placed the golden tripod, made of part of the spoil taken at the battle of Platæa B.C. 479, and dedicated to Apollo. It was removed from Delphi to Constantinople by order of Constantine.

[119] ‘The centre of the Forum was occupied by a lofty column, of which a mutilated fragment is now degraded by the appellation of the _burnt pillar_. This column was erected on a pedestal of white marble 20 feet high, and was composed of ten pieces of porphyry, each of which measured about 10 feet in height and about 33 in circumference. On the summit of the pillar, above 120 feet from the ground, stood the colossal statue of Apollo. It was of bronze, and had been transported either from Athens or a town in Phrygia, and was supposed to be the work of Phidias. The artist had represented the god of day, or, as it was afterwards interpreted, the Emperor Constantine himself, with a sceptre in his right hand, the globe of the world in his left, and a crown of rays glittering on his head.’ Gibbon, chap. xvii.

[120] A similar story is told of the obelisk in front of St. Peter’s at Rome.

[121] The battle of Tschaldiran, August 23, A.D. 1514. See Creasy, _History of the Ottoman Turks_, chap. viii.; Von Hammer, book xxii.

[122] Busbecq is alluding to the then recent conquests of Mexico and Peru. When he penned these lines only thirty-four years had elapsed since Cortez conquered Mexico, and twenty-four since Pizarro made himself master of the kingdom of the Incas; the tide of adventurers was still pouring into those unhappy lands.

[123] Busbecq is evidently referring to the exploits of his countrymen in the days of the Crusades. ‘At the same time’ (A.D. 1200), says Gibbon (chap. lx.), ‘Baldwin, Count of Flanders, assumed the Cross at Bruges, with his brother Henry, and the principal knights and citizens of that rich and industrious province.’ See also page 105.

[124] Properly, the name of the islet at Alexandria on which the lighthouse stood; hence the name was given to any lighthouse.

[125] A Dalmatian fortress captured by the Spaniards in the autumn of A.D. 1538, and recaptured by the Turks in the following August. Von Hammer, book xxix.

[126] ‘The straits of the Bosphorus are terminated by the Cyanean rocks, which, according to the description of the poets, had once floated on the face of the waters. The deception was occasioned by several pointed rocks alternately covered and abandoned by the waves. At present there are two small islands, one towards either shore; that of Europe is distinguished by the pillar of Pompey.’ Gibbon, chap. xvii.

[127] P. Gilles (or Gyllius) was born at Albi in 1490. He was sent by Francis I. to the Levant; the remittances he expected having miscarried, he was obliged to enlist in Solyman’s army and served against the Persians. In 1549 he received money from his friends, with which he purchased his discharge. He returned home in 1550, and died at Rome in 1555, the year that Busbecq wrote this letter. Besides other works he published three books on the _Thracian Bosphorus_, and four on the _Topography and Antiquities of Constantinople_. Gibbon quotes him frequently, and speaks of his learning with great respect.

[128] This passage appears to be founded on a mistranslation of Herodotus, iii. 104.

[129] ‘In the deep gullies and broad plateaus of Angora is bred the finest species of the mohair goat; its long silky and lustrous fleece is the principal export of the country, so much so that it is a common saying that “mohair is the soul of Angora,” without which it would have become a desert long ago. The mohair is forwarded on mule and camel back (in its raw state) to Constantinople, and thence, per steamer, to Liverpool; it all finds its way to Bradford to be manufactured. The export in this article alone was valued at 462,550_l._ for the year 1877, and in years of greater prosperity and higher values, this amount has been nearly doubled.’ Extract from the letter of the correspondent to the _Standard_ newspaper, dated, Angora, October 1, 1878.

[130] The province of Angora occupies almost the same area as the ancient Galatia.

[131] See Herodotus, iii. 113. These sheep are very common in Asia and Africa. Great numbers are to be found at the Cape of Good Hope, whence they are called ‘Cape sheep.’

[132] Pierre Belon (Bellonus) was a contemporary of Busbecq’s, having been born about 1518. He travelled in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Palestine, and Asia Minor. By profession a physician, he devoted himself to the pursuit of Natural Science. He published several books, and is generally considered to have been the founder of the science of Comparative Anatomy. Busbecq corrects Belon, but his own account of the hyena is wrong. It has vertebræ in the neck, and also an array of teeth. If he had been able to procure a specimen we should have had an accurate description. The Sultana, therefore, is indirectly responsible for the errors.

[133] The Kanûns formed a kind of Domesday Book, drawn up by the direction of Solyman, who thence received the name of Solyman Kanûni.

[134] A full account of the inscription is to be found in Merivale’s _History of the Romans_, chap. xxxviii. ‘Augustus employed the next few months in compiling a succinct memorial of his public acts to be preserved in the archives of the state, a truly imperial work, and probably unique of its kind. The archives of Rome have long mouldered in the dust, but a ruined wall in a remote corner of her empire, engraved with this precious document, has been faithful to its trust for eighteen hundred years, and still presents us with one of the most curious records of antiquity. The inscription, which may still be read in the portico of a temple at Ancyra, attests the energy, sagacity, and fortune of the second Cæsar in a detailed register of all his public undertakings through a period of fifty-eight years,’ &c. In a note Dr. Merivale states that it was first copied by Busbecq in 1544. This is incorrect; Busbecq had it copied by his servants, and the date should be 1555.

[135] ‘Reges amici atque socii, et singuli in suo quisque regno, Cæsareas urbes condiderunt; et cuncti simul ædem Jovis Olympii, Athenis antiquitus inchoatam, perficere communi sumptu destinaverunt, genioque ejus dedicare.’—Suetonius, _Octavius_, chap. lx. Augustus directed a decree granting especial privileges to the Jews to be inscribed ἐν ἐπισημοτάτῳ τόπῳ γενηθέντι μοι ὑπὸ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῆς Ἀσίας ἐν Ἀγκύρῃ.—Josephus, _Antiquities_, xvi. 6.

[136] Menin (near Bousbecque) and its neighbourhood were famous for their capons. See L. Guicciardini, _Description de tout le Païs bas_, p. 311.

[137] There are different versions of this story, see Von Hammer, book v. and Gibbon, chap. lxiv. Creasy says that Amurath was killed by a Servian noble, Milosch Kabilovitsch. Being mortally wounded, Amurath died in the act of sentencing Lazarus, Despot or Cral of Servia, to death.

[138] The permanent corps of paid cavalry in the Turkish army was divided into four squadrons, organised like those which the Caliph Omar instituted for the guard of the Sacred Standard. The whole corps at first consisted of only 2,400 horsemen, but under Solyman the Great (Busbecq’s Sultan), the number was raised to 4,000. They marched on the right and left of the Sultan, they camped round his tent at night, and were his bodyguard in battle. One of these regiments of Royal Horseguards was called the Turkish Spahis, a term applied to cavalry soldiers generally, but also specially denoting these select horseguards. Another regiment was called the Silihdars, meaning ‘the vassal cavalry.’ A third was called the Ouloufedgis, meaning ‘the paid horsemen,’ and the fourth was called the Ghourebas, meaning ‘the foreign horse.’ See Creasy, _History of the Ottoman Turks_, chap. ii.

[139] Evelyn, who no doubt took the hint from Busbecq, induced Charles II. to adopt the Eastern dress. _Diary_, p. 324.

[140] See page 102 and note 1.

[141] See Creasy, _History of the Ottoman Turks_, chap. viii.: ‘The schism of the Sunnites and the Schiis (the first of whom acknowledge, and the last of whom repudiate the three immediate successors of the Prophet, the Caliphs Abubeker, Omar, and Othman) had distracted the Ottoman world from the earliest times. The Ottoman Turks have been Sunnites. The contrary tenets have prevailed in Persia; and the great founder of the Saffide dynasty in that country, Shah Ismael, was as eminent for his zeal for the Schii tenets, as for his ability in council, and his valour in the field. The doctrine of the Schiis had begun to spread among the subjects of the Sublime Porte before Selim came to the throne; and though the Sultan, the Ulema, and by far the larger portion of the Ottomans, held strictly to the orthodoxy of Sunnism, the Schiis were numerous in every province, and they seemed to be rapidly gaining proselytes. Selim determined to crush heresy at home before he went forth to combat it abroad, and in a deliberate spirit of fanatic cruelty he planned and executed a general slaughter of such of his subjects as were supposed to have fallen away from what their sovereigns considered to be the only true faith.’ This massacre took place in 1513. The Selim here mentioned was the father of Solyman. See Creasy, _History of the Ottoman Turks_, chap. viii. There was not much to choose between Philip of Spain in the West and Selim in the East! See Motley, _Dutch Republic_, part iii. chap. 2.

[142] Scordium, or water germander, is mentioned in Salmon’s _Herbal_ as a sudorific, &c.; he notices that it has a smell of garlic, and that it is a specific against ‘measles, small-pox, and also _the plague or pestilence itself_.’ The plague is a form of blood poisoning; a medical friend whom we consulted considered that the symptoms indicated only a mild form of the disease; he also entirely approved of the physician’s treatment of the case.

[143] See note page 254.

[144] An electuary is a medicine of a pasty consistence composed of various ingredients. The one mentioned in the text was invented by the celebrated physician Frascatorius. It contained scordium, from which its name is derived. The prescription for it may be found in Larousse’s _Dictionnaire Universel_, vii. 3117. Evelyn went to see the severall ‘drougs for the confection of _Treacle_, _Diascordium_, and other electuaries.’—_Diary_, p. 262.

[145] See _Sketch of Hungarian History_.

[146] See _Sketch of Hungarian History_.

[147] See page 90.

[148] Rakos is the name of a plain near Pesth; the greater extraordinary Hungarian Diet used to assemble on this plain after the manner of the Polish Diet which met near Warsaw. The Turks continued to use the place for mustering their militia.

[149] The Emperor Claudius was murdered by his wife Agrippina, who gave him poison in a dish of mushrooms. Tacitus, _Annals_, xii. 67.

[150] In all the Latin editions of Busbecq the date is given as September 1, 1554. This is manifestly wrong, as may be shown by internal evidence, as for example the date of the marriage of Philip and Mary, July 25, 1554. Busbecq was present at this marriage, and was not summoned to Vienna till November 3, 1554, see page 77. He must, therefore, have returned in 1555.

[151] At Augsburg.

[152] See page 190.

[153] See _Sketch of Hungarian History_.

[154] Roxolana, see note, page 111.

[155] I.e., the modern Bulgaria.

[156] See page 115.

[157] I.e., the Crimea and adjacent countries, the birthplace of Mustapha’s mother, see page 111.

[158] The Turkish historians do not mention Bajazet’s connection with the attempt of the Pseudo-Mustapha. Busbecq’s account, therefore, fills an important gap. Von Hammer would discredit all statements that are not confirmed by Eastern writers, but surely the evidence of the Austrian Ambassador deserves as much consideration as that of Ottoman Ali. See note 1, page 264.

[159] All the Latin editions have July 14, 1555. See note, page 173.

[160] ‘The regular answer of the ancient Sultans, when requested to receive an embassy, was, “The Sublime Porte is open to all.” This, according to the Turkish interpretation, implied a safe conduct in coming, but gave no guarantee about departing.’—Creasy, _History of the Ottoman Turks_, chap. xviii.

[161] ‘The intruding Ottoman himself, different in faith as well as in blood, has more than once declared himself the representative of the Eastern Cæsars, whose dominion he extinguished. Solyman the Magnificent assumed the name of Emperor, and refused it to Charles V.’—Bryce, _The Holy Roman Empire_, p. 407.

[162] Compare Johnson’s _Vanity of Human Wishes_:—

‘Condemned a needy suppliant to wait,
While ladies interpose and slaves debate.’

[163] The great Council of State was named the Divan; and in the absence of the Sultan the Grand Vizier was its president. The other Viziers and the Kadiaskers, or chief judges, took their stations on his right; the Defterdars, or treasurers, and the Nis-chandyis, or secretaries, on his left. The Teskeredyis, or officers charged to present reports on the condition of each department of the State, stood in front of the Grand Vizier. The Divan was also attended by the Reis-Effendi, a general secretary, whose power afterwards became more important than that of the Nis-chandyis, by the Grand Chamberlain, and the Grand Marshal, and a train of other officials of the Court. (Creasy, _History of the Ottoman Turks_, chap. vi.)

[164] ‘The Sultan (Bajazet I.) had at this time 7,000 falconers, and as many huntsmen. You may suppose from this the grandeur of his establishments. One day in the presence of the Count de Nevers, he flew a falcon at some eagles; the flight did not please him, and he was so wroth, that, for this fault, he was on the point of beheading 2,000 of his falconers, scolding them exceedingly for want of diligence in their care of his hawks, when the one he was fond of behaved so ill.’—Froissart, iv. 58.

[165] The reference is to the _Digest_ or _Pandects_ of Justinian, liber xxxix. titulus 4, _De Publicanis et Vectigalibus et Commissis_, where ‘Babylonicæ pelles’ are mentioned in a catalogue of taxable articles.

[166] See Homer’s _Iliad_, iii. 2-6, and compare Milton, _Paradise Lost_, i. 575:

‘That small infantry
Warred on by cranes.’

[167] These stories of the lynx and crane are quoted by Burton in his _Anatomy of Melancholy_.

[168] Gibbon’s reference to this passage is not fair. He says (chap. lxviii. note), ‘Busbequius expatiates with pleasure and applause on the rights of war, and the use of slavery among the ancients and the Turks.’ In the first place Busbecq merely throws out a suggestion, which _he would be sorry for his friend to take in sober earnest_. Secondly, we must remember the evils existing in Busbecq’s days, which slavery would have remedied; (i.) it was the common practice to put to death all prisoners of war, who could not pay ransom; e.g. see Busbecq’s letter of November 13, 1589, to Rodolph. Slavery in this case would be a mitigation of their fate, (ii.) At that time death or mutilation were the punishments for almost every offence. Busbecq’s project is an anticipation of the more merciful system of modern times which has introduced penal servitude, which is really ‘a just and mild form of slavery.’

[169] Shooting with the crossbow has been a custom at Bousbecque from very early times. The village had a guild of crossbowmen in the times of Charles V., which was reconstituted in 1715. A society of the kind still exists there. See _Histoire de Bousbecque_, p. 170.

[170] This passage occurs in the life of Saturninus, who uses it in support of an invective against the Egyptians. The quotation is from a letter of Hadrian’s preserved in the works of his freedman Phlegon. (Vopiscus, in _Historiæ Augustæ Scriptores_, ii. 719, in the Leyden edition of 1671.) The Egyptians still hatch chickens in ovens, but the heat is supplied by a fire, and not by the hot-bed mentioned in the text. The process is described in Wilkinson’s _Ancient Egyptians_, ii. 450.

[171] Axylos, a woodless tract in Asia Minor, ‘northward of the region of lakes and plains, through which leads the road from Afioum Karahissar to Koniah, a dry and naked region, which extends as far as the Sangarius and Halys.’—Leake, _Asia Minor_, p. 65.

[172] Evelyn narrates how he went to see some Turkish horses captured at the siege of Vienna; he admired their spirit, and says they were, ‘with all this, so gentle and tractable as called to mind what I remember Busbequius speaks of them to the reproch of our groomes in Europe, who bring up their horses so churlishly as makes most of them retain their ill habits.’—Evelyn, _Diary_, p. 461, Chandos Edition.

[173] ‘They were shod with yron made round and closed at the heele with a hole in the middle about as wide as a shilling. The hoofes most intire.’—Evelyn, _Diary_, p. 462.

[174] See note 2, page 299.

[175] Cyrus, in his expedition against his brother Artaxerxes, took with him 400 waggons loaded with barley and wine that, in case provisions should be very scarce, he might have the means of supplying the Greeks, who were the flower of his army.—Xenophon, _Anabasis_, i. 10.

[176] The quotation is from Suetonius, _Life of Julius Cæsar_, chap. 67. Suetonius observes that sometimes Cæsar, after a great victory, relaxed the strict rules of discipline, and allowed his army to abandon themselves to the utmost license, boasting that ‘his soldiers, even if perfumed for a banquet, would fight well.’ The conference with Ariovistus is described in Cæsar _de Bello Gallico_, i. 43-45, and in Merivale, chap. vii.: ‘Each was attended by a squadron of cavalry of equal numbers. Cæsar had no Roman cavalry, nor could he safely confide in his Gaulish auxiliaries: yet he would not reject the arrangement proposed by his adversary, nor betray any appearance of distrust or dread. He caused a party of Gauls to dismount, and placed upon their horses the infantry of his favourite legion’ (the tenth). The conference was interrupted by the impatience of the German horse, who suddenly assailed the Romans with stones and arrows. See also pages 48 and 49.

[177] The Venetian ambassador to the Porte bore the title of Bailo or Baily. This title was probably given to him on account of the protection and jurisdiction he exercised with regard to the persons and goods of all Venetian subjects, who lived and traded in all the factories of the Levant. He, with the ambassadors of the Pope and the Emperor, took precedence of all other ambassadors. On account of the importance of the post, appointments to it were not made by the Senate, but by the Great Council. Marc Antonio Barbaro, the subject of Yriarte’s interesting work, _La Vie d’un Patricien de Venise_, was appointed to this office in 1568.

[178] This story is referred to by Bacon, _Essays_, XIII.: _Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature_. ‘The inclination to goodness is imprinted deeply in the nature of man; insomuch that if it issue not towards man, it will take unto other living creatures; as it is seen in the Turks, a cruel people, who nevertheless are kind to beasts, and give alms to dogs and birds; insomuch as Busbechius reporteth, a Christian boy in Constantinople had like to have been stoned for gagging in a waggishness a long-billed fowl.’ Bacon, in his _Essays_, also alludes to Jehangir, Solyman’s son, to Roxolana, to Selim, and to the fate of Mustapha.

[179] Busbecq’s countrywomen enjoyed great liberty. ‘Les femmes, oultre ce qu’elles sont de belle et excellente forme, sont de beau maintien et gracieuses; car elles commencent dés leur enfance, selon la coustume du païs, à converser librement avec un chacun.’—L. Guicciardini, _Description de tout le païs bas_, p. 38.

[180] The festival called by Busbecq the Turkish Easter was that of Bairam. It succeeds Ramazan, the month of abstinence, which he terms their Lent. It lasts three days, and seventy days later is the Kourban Bairam, or Feast of Sacrifice, which lasts four days.

[181] See _Thirty Years in a Harem_ for a description of taking off the veil.... It was the conclusion of the marriage, and the Bridegroom made a present to the Bride on the occasion.

[182] See note, page 161.

[183] See _Sketch of Hungarian History_.

[184] Ten years later Solyman died while besieging this place.

[185] See note 1, page 196.

[186] See note 1, page 196.

[187] The Turks could hardly object to the use of ‘villainous saltpetre’ as by its aid Solyman’s father, Selim I., had been enabled to crush the Mamelukes. See Creasy, _History of the Ottoman Turks_, chap. viii. After the battle ‘Koort Bey poured forth a brilliant eulogy on the valour of the Mamelukes, and spoke with contempt and abhorrence of guns which, he said, killed so cowardly, and so like an assassin.’

[188] Arslan was Sanjak-bey of Stuhlweissenburg and Veli of Hatwan.

[189] Compare Brantôme, _Discours sur Duels_, vi. p. 151.

[190] Of the nations mentioned in this passage the Mingrelians live along the coast from the Turkish frontier to Sukhum Kaleh; the Iberians correspond to the modern Imeritians, while the ancient Albanians lived in what is now the part of Georgia that borders on the Caspian and in Daghestan, the country of the Lesghians. According to Mr. Bryce (_Transcaucasia and Ararat_, p. 99) the modern Mingrelians correspond to Busbecq’s description of their ancestors. ‘They are the ne’er-do-wells of the Caucasian family. All their neighbours, however contemptible a Western may think them, have a bad word and a kick for the still more contemptible Mingrelian. To believe them, he is lazy, sensual, treacherous and stupid, a liar and a thief. Lazy the Mingrelian certainly is, but in other respects I doubt if he is worse than his neighbours; and he lives in so damp and warm a climate that violent exercise must be disagreeable.’ According to Malte Brun, ‘the Prince of Mingrelia assumes the title of Dadian or Master of the Sea, though he possesses not even a fishing-boat: he generally moves about with his suite from place to place, and his camp is the scene of licentiousness as well as poverty.’ The Caspian Gates mentioned in the text are probably the Dariel Pass. ‘There were three passes, between which boundless confusion has arisen: first, the Dariel, sometimes called the Caucasian, sometimes the Caspian, sometimes the Iberian Gates; second, the pass between the mountains and the sea near Derbend, where is the wall of Gog and Magog, called sometimes the Caucasian, sometimes the Caspian, sometimes the Albanian Gates; third, a pass somewhere on the south coast of the Caspian, which was really visited and fortified by Alexander the Great.’—Bryce, _Transcaucasia and Ararat_, p. 76.

[191] ‘A plant of the millet kind, differing from it in the disposition of the flower and seeds, which grow in a close thick spike. It is sown in parts of Europe as corn for the sustenance of the inhabitants.’—Johnson’s _Dictionary_.

[192] Medea was a Colchian, i.e. Mingrelian.

[193] M. Génin, in the introduction to his edition of the _Song of Roland_, the most famous hero of the Carlovingian epic cycle, speaking of the wide-spread popularity of the legend, quotes this passage. He also mentions that Bellonus, or Belon (see note, page 140), states that the Turks preserved at Broussa the sword of Roland, who, they declared, was one of their countrymen. This illustrates what Busbecq in his first letter says of the way in which the Turks identified St. George with one of their own legendary heroes. Godfrey de Bouillon was one of the leaders of the first Crusade, and the first Christian King of Jerusalem.

[194] See note, page 229.

[195] The chief production cf Lemnos was a red earth called Terra Lemnia, or sigillata, which was employed by the ancient physicians as a remedy for wounds and the bites of serpents, and which is still much valued by the Turks and Greeks for its supposed medicinal virtues. It is dug out of a hill, made into small balls, and stamped with a seal which contains Arabic characters. Mattioli, in his letter to Quacquelben (see note 1, page 415), asks him for information about this earth, and requests him to procure some for him. See also page 416.

[196] The reference is to Terence, _Heauton timorumenos_, 3. 1. 48.

[197] This was before March 13, 1559, as Verantius, in a letter of that date, mentions that Hooz, Busbecq’s secretary, had been taken prisoner with his Turkish escort by some Hungarians and brought to Kaschau, and that he had said that Baldi was then on his way back.—Katona, _Historia Regum Hungariæ_, xxiii. 227.

[198] In 1540, Luigi Badoer was sent as ambassador to treat for peace on the basis of the _status quo ante bellum_, and the payment of 30,000 ducats, but was forbidden in any case to cede Malvasia and Napoli di Romania. Such were the instructions of the Senate, but the Council of Ten gave him in addition secret instructions, empowering him to surrender these places, if he found it impossible to obtain a peace on easier terms. The brothers Cavezza, of whom one was secretary to the Senate, and the other to the Council of Ten, betrayed the secret, probably through a French diplomatist, to the Porte. The consequences are described in the text. See Daru, _Histoire de Venise_, book xxvi. p. 82, Von Hammer, book xxix., and Charrière, _Négociations de la France dans le Levant_, i. 548.

[199] See page 79.

[200] Some further details as to the intrigues which caused Bajazet’s ruin may be gathered from the history of Ottoman Ali, who had been secretary to Lala Mustapha. The latter was a _protégé_ of Achmet, the Grand Vizier, and was on that account hated by Roostem, who, knowing he was a friend of Bajazet’s, hoped to ensure his ruin by getting him appointed Governor of Selim’s household. Lala saved himself by betraying his former master. With Selim’s approval he encouraged the unfortunate Prince to attack his brother, and caused some of the Sultan’s messengers to be murdered in such a manner as to make it appear that Bajazet was responsible for the crime, and thus widen the breach between him and his father. It is the evidence of the secretary of this double-dyed traitor that Von Hammer prefers to Busbecq’s. He may have had more information than our writer; the question is, was he as likely to speak the truth? See Von Hammer, book xxxii.

[201] See page 189.

[202] This was a very serious step. See page 187.

[203] See page 188.

[204] See page 116.

[205] The allusion is to the ancient and famous oracle of Zeus at Dodona in Epirus, which is mentioned in the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_. The god, according to one legend, was said to dwell in an ancient oak tree, and to give oracles by the rustlings of the branches. These ‘talking oaks’ are alluded to by Æschylus in the _Prometheus Vinctus_, and by Sophocles in the _Trachiniæ_. Busbecq’s Latin, ‘A quo in rebus dubiis responsa petuntur,’ is suggested by Virgil’s lines—

‘Hinc Italæ gentes omnisque Œnotria tellus
In dubiis responsa petunt.’

_Æneid_, vii. 85.

[206] Koniah was the ancient Iconium.

[207] The Arabic word Memlook or Mameluke means a slave. The first caliphs formed their body-guard of slaves, and in the decadence of the caliphate these slaves, like the Roman prætorians, played a principal part in the numerous revolutions that occurred. It was in Egypt, however, that the Mamelukes attained their highest power. They were Sovereigns of that country for more than 250 years, from the fall of the dynasty of Eyoub to the Ottoman conquest, and even after that event were the real rulers of Egypt till their massacre in the present century by Mehemet Ali. They were composed of three bodies, the Mamelukes, properly so-called, who were of pure Circassian blood; the Djelbans, who were mostly composed of Abyssinian slaves, and the Korsans, an assembly of mercenaries of all nations. They were governed by twenty-four beys, over whom was a Sultan. Their dominion extended over Egypt and Syria with the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and the adjacent parts of Arabia. Selim I., Solyman’s father, after his victorious campaign against Shah Ismael attacked the Mamelukes, defeated and killed their Sultan, Kausson Ghawri, near Aleppo (Aug. 24, 1516), and, marching into Egypt, defeated Touman Bey, the new Sultan, at Ridania (January 22nd), and added Syria and Egypt to his empire. When in Egypt, he induced the last of the Fatimite caliphs, who had been a puppet in the hands of the Mamelukes, to transfer that dignity to himself and his successors. It is in virtue of this transaction that the present Sultan and his predecessors since the time of Selim have claimed to be the head of the Mahommedan faith throughout the world. See Von Hammer, book xxiv.

[208] The Kurds are descended from the Carduchi or Gordiæans of the ancients. (See Xenophon, _Anabasis_, iv.) They have gradually advanced from their original mountain homes into the plains in the south-east of Armenia and the north of Mesopotamia. They are a warlike race, and much addicted to brigandage.

[209] See note, page 108.

[210] ‘The most remarkable building in Koniah is the tomb of a saint, highly renowned throughout Turkey, called Haznet Mevlana, the founder of the Mevlevi Dervishes. His sepulchre, which is the object of a Mussulman pilgrimage, is surmounted by a dome, standing upon a cylindrical tower of a bright green colour.’—Leake, _Asia Minor_, p. 50.

[211] May 29, 1559, was the date of the battle.

[212] See note 2, page 153.

[213] Compare the account of the Turkish horses and equipments seen by Evelyn in 1684:—

‘It was judged by the spectators, among whom was the King, Prince of Denmark, Duke of York, and several of the Court, that there were never seene any horses in these parts to be compar’d with them. Add to all this, the furniture, consisting of embroidery on the saddle, houseings, quiver, bow, arrows, scymetar, sword, mace or battle-axe _à la Turcisq_, the Bashaw’s velvet mantle furred with the most perfect ermine I ever beheld; all which, yron-worke in common furniture, being here of silver, curiously wrought and double-gilt, to an incredible value. Such and so extraordinary was the embrodery, that I never saw anything approching it. The reins and headstall were of crimson silk, cover’d with chaines of silver gilt. There was also a Turkish royal standard of an horse’s taile, together with all sorts of other caparisons belonging to a general’s horse, by which one may estimate how gallantly and magnificently those infidels appeare in the field, for nothing could be seene more glorious.’—Evelyn, _Diary_, p. 461.

[214] See note, page 87.

[215] In Busbecq’s time it was the fashion in Europe to wear clothes with slashes or eyelet-holes. Compare page 155.

[216] See note, page 229.

[217] See page 101.

[218] ‘Cedo alteram,’ the original Latin, is a quotation from Tacitus. (_Annals_, i. 23).

[219] See _Sketch of Hungarian History_.

[220] The Persian dominions were bounded on the east by the country now known as Afghanistan, which then formed part of the empire of the Mogul Emperors, or Padischahs, of Delhi, the second of whom was Humayoum, the father of the famous Akbar. During his life of forty-nine years Humayoum experienced extraordinary changes of fortune, losing his throne, and being obliged, after undergoing the greatest hardships and dangers in his flight through the desert, to take refuge with Shah Tahmasp. Eventually he regained his dominions, and at his death in 1556 was the ruler of Cabul and Candahar, and also of the Punjaub, together with Delhi and Agra and the adjoining parts of India.

[221] Shah Ismael was the founder of the dynasty of the Sofis or Saffis, so called from Sheik Suffee-u-deen of Ardebil, a devotee renowned for his sanctity, from whom Shah Ismael was the sixth in descent. His father, Hyder, on the death of his uncle and father-in-law Uzun Hussun, the prince of the dynasty of the White Sheep, invaded Shirwan at the head of a body of partisans. He made his troops wear red turbans, whence, according to one account, comes the name of Kizilbash (Red Heads), by which the Persians were known among the Turks. Hyder was killed in battle, and his sons were thrown into prison, but they afterwards escaped. The eldest was killed in battle, the second died in Ghilan, Ismael, the youngest, in 1499, at the age of fourteen, took the field against the Turkomans, who were then in possession of the greater part of Persia, and in the course of four campaigns succeeded in establishing his authority throughout the country. His family claimed descent from the seventh Imaum, and their great ancestor, Ali, was the special object of their reverence. The very name of Schiah, which means a sectary, and which Ismael’s enemies had given him as a reproach, became a title in which he gloried. When Sultan Selim I. massacred his co-religionists (see note page 161), the natural consequence was a war between Turkey and Persia. The Turkish army advanced through Kurdistan and Azerbijan on Tabriz, which was then the Persian capital. They were much embarrassed by want of provisions, as the Persians retired, laying waste the country in their retreat. A threatened mutiny among the Janissaries was quelled only by Selim’s presence of mind and resolution. Ismael at last abandoned his Fabian tactics, and took up a position in the valley of Tschaldiran, some 30 miles south-east of Bayezid. A bloody and fiercely contested battle (August 23, 1514) ended in the complete victory of Selim, which he owed mainly to his artillery and the firearms of the Janissaries. This success was followed by the occupation of Tabriz, but Selim was obliged by the discontent of his troops to return homewards. The acquisition of Diarbekir and Kurdistan was, however, the result of this campaign. Apart from his defeat by Selim, Ismael reigned with unbroken success till his death in 1523. He was succeeded by his son Shah Tahmasp.—See Malcolm, _History of Persia_, i. ch. 12.

[222] See _Sketch of Hungarian History_.

[223] See note, page 229.

[224] ‘The youths among the Christian tribute children most conspicuous for birth, talent, and beauty were admitted into the inferior class of _agiamoglans_ or the more liberal rank of _ichoglans_, of whom the former were attached to the palace and the latter to the person of the prince.’—Gibbon, ch. lxv. Busbecq, in his _Art of War against the Turks_, gives an account of the method by which the Turkish army was recruited from the children of Christians. Every year the Sultan sent to his different provinces, and took one out of every three or four of the boys. When they arrived at Constantinople, the handsomest and cleverest were placed in the households of the Sultan and Pashas. Of the rest some were hired out to farmers, &c., and the remainder employed in public works. The former were fed and clothed by their masters, till they grew up, when they were drafted into the ranks of the Janissaries, as vacancies occurred. Those who were placed in the Sultan’s household often rose to the highest offices of the state. The last of these levies of Christian children was made in 1638.—Von Hammer, book xlviii. tome ix. p. 325.

[225] In the account of the Shah’s dealings with Bajazet, we have followed the readings given in all the editions prior to the Elzevir. See Appendix, _List of Editions_.

[226] ‘The Persians dwell with rapture on the character of Ismael, deeming him not only the founder of a great dynasty, but the person to whom the faith they glory in owes its establishment as a national religion.’—Malcolm, _History of Persia_, i. p. 328. On his accession Ismael declared Schiism to be the national religion. See also note 2, p. 299 and note p. 161.

[227] For a fuller account of the siege and capture of Gerba or Djerbé or Gelves the reader is referred to Prescott’s _Philip II._, vol. ii. book iv. chap. 1, and Von Hammer, book xxxiii. The Spanish historians cited by Prescott are so conflicting that he defies the reader to reconcile them, but Busbecq’s narrative, as far as it goes, may be considered of the highest authority, as no doubt it was founded on what he heard from his friend Don Alvaro de Sandé, who commanded the garrison. In the spring of 1559 the Duke of Medina Celi, the Viceroy of Sicily, was ordered to fit out an expedition against Tripoli and its corsairs, to which Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Sicily, Genoa, and Malta furnished contingents. John Andrew Doria, nephew of the great Andrew Doria, commanded the Genoese forces. The fleet consisted of more than 100 sail, including 54 galleys, and had 14,000 troops on board. The armament assembled at Syracuse, from which they sailed in November. They met with such bad weather, however, that they were forced to put into Malta, where they stayed more than two months refitting. So much time had now been lost, that they gave up the attempt on Tripoli as hopeless, and attacked Djerbé instead. They took it without much difficulty on March 14, and spent two months there fortifying it, and placed in it a garrison of 5,000 men, commanded by Don Alvaro de Sandé. As the troops were preparing to re-embark, news was brought of the approach of the Turkish fleet. A council of war was held, in which opinions were divided; but the arrival of the Turkish fleet under the command of Pialé, which included 86 galleys, each with 100 Janissaries on board, saved them the trouble of deciding (May 14). The Christians were seized with panic. Many of their ships were sunk, and many more surrendered. A few took refuge under the guns of the fortress. The Duke of Medina Celi and Doria were among those who escaped, and they took advantage of the darkness of the following night to fly to Sicily in a frigate. Next morning Pialé commenced the siege. After a breach had been made, he assaulted the fortress, but was repulsed with great loss, and several other attacks of the Turks met with the same fate. The siege lasted nearly three months, although at the end of six weeks provisions and water had begun to fail. On July 31, 1560, two hours before dawn, Don Alvaro, accompanied by hardly 1,000 men, sallied out and tried to cut his way through, with the intention of seizing a vessel and escaping, but the attempt proved unsuccessful, and the same day the rest of the garrison surrendered. On September 27 the victorious fleet returned to Constantinople, as described in the text. Don Alvaro lived to take ample vengeance for all he had suffered. When the Spaniards raised the siege of Malta in 1565 Don Alvaro, as second in command, again encountered his old opponent Pialé. The gallant Spaniard was in the thick of the fighting, had a horse killed under him, and was one of those who contributed most to the defeat of the Turks.

[228] Chios was first brought under the immediate dominion of the Sultan by Pialé Pasha in 1566, though it had previously acknowledged his suzerainty and paid tribute. It had been conquered by the Genoese admiral, Simon Vignoso, in 1346. The form of government was so peculiar as to deserve some notice. It is the first example of the territorial administration of a mercantile company of shareholders exercising in a distant country all the duties of a sovereign. Of this form of government the East India Company is the best known specimen. The Genoese treasury in 1346 was so exhausted that the funds for fitting out the twenty-nine galleys of Vignoso’s fleet were raised by private citizens, who subscribed the money in shares. The Republic promised to secure them against all loss, and pledged a portion of its annual revenue to pay the interest. After the conquest of Chios, Vignoso, in virtue of the full powers with which he was invested, established a committee of the subscribers, who administered the Government of Chios, and collected the revenues under the sovereignty of the Republic of Genoa. The contributors had formed themselves into a joint-stock company, according to the established usage at Genoa; and this society or maona assumed the name of the Maona of Scio. The Republic being unable to repay the advances, a convention was concluded between the State and the Maona, by which the shareholders were recognised as the lawful proprietors and administrators of Chios, subject to the terms on which the Greek population had capitulated, for a term of twenty years, during which the Republic reserved the right of resuming possession of the island on repayment of the sum advanced. This, however, the Republic was never able to do, so the arrangement became permanent. The greater part of the shares passed into the hands of the family, or, more correctly speaking, the firm of the Justiniani, and the Joint-Stock Company of Scio was generally called the Maona of the Justiniani. For further details as to the Government of Scio while held by this company, see Finlay, _History of Greece_, vol. v. ch. ii., from which this note is taken. It must, however, be added that the Government of the company, notwithstanding its defects, was for a long period the least oppressive in the Levant.

[229] Petremol, the French chargé d’affaires, mentions some Spanish slaves being brought to Constantinople from Chios. The Sultan, it was said, did not intend to keep them in servitude, but wished to see whether Roostem’s contention was true, namely, that Pialé had stolen all the prisoners of high rank, and had presented to the Sultan, under the names of the different officers, common soldiers who could pay no ransom. Charrière, _Négotiations de la France dans le Levant_, ii. 671.

[230] Adam von Dietrichstein was born in 1527. He accompanied Maximilian on his journey to Spain, when he went to marry his cousin, the Infanta Maria. In 1561 he was sent by Maximilian to the Pope as ambassador. Maximilian appointed him his High Chamberlain in 1563, and sent him to conduct his sons to Spain as head of their household. Busbecq therefore served under him on this mission (see page 61). About the same time Ferdinand appointed him his ambassador to Spain, and after Ferdinand’s death he remained there as Maximilian’s representative. In this post he had the delicate task of keeping the bigoted Philip and the tolerant Maximilian on friendly terms. In 1573 he escorted the Archdukes home, and was appointed Privy Councillor and Governor of Rodolph’s household. He died in 1590, and was buried at Prague, at the feet of his master Maximilian. He married in 1555 Margaret, daughter of Don Antonio de Cardona.

[231] In Wervicq Church, about a mile from Busbecq’s home, stands a life-size figure of a galley-slave, with this inscription: ‘Vrais Chrétiens, soyez touchés de cœur à faire charité aux esclaves Chrétiens.’ The utter, hopeless misery there depicted illustrates the force of this appeal.

[232] July 8, 1561.

[233] See page 157.

[234] One of the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmora, where the British Fleet was stationed during the spring of 1878.

[235] We have here a good description of a serious attack of the plague. Compare pages 163-4.

[236] Busbecq went there in the beginning of August 1561. He was accompanied by a cavasse, and twenty Janissaries as a guard. Charrière, _Négotiations de la France dans le Levant_, ii. 668-9.

[237] These references are to Cicero, _De Naturâ Deorum_, ii. cap. 48, and _De Finibus_, iii. cap. 19; Pliny, _Natural History_, ix. cap. 66, and _Athenæus_, iii. p. 93. For descriptions and figures of the pinna and pinnophylax or pea-crab, see Wood’s _Natural History_, pages 422 and 588. They are frequently found in the shells of bivalves. The real reason for this habit is not certainly known. For an account of Belon, see note, page 140.

[238] This passage illustrates the statement in the _Life_, pages 50, 51.

[239] In ancient times, and now in the English Church, the title of Metropolitan (Archbishop) was confined to the chief bishop of a province; but in the Greek Church at the present day the title is given to many ordinary bishops.

[240] See pp. 113, 114.

[241] After the Spaniards, in 1533, abandoned the fortress of Coron in the Morea, some Greeks, who had taken their part, fled with them to Charles V. Among them was one James Heraclides, whose ancestors had been Despots, or Lords, of Samos and Paros. In his suite was a lad named John Basilicus, the son of a ship-captain in Crete. He took a fancy to the young man, and had him educated, and for some years he worked as a copyist in the Vatican library. On the death of his patron, John persuaded his household to acknowledge him as the nephew of their deceased master by allowing them to take possession of the property left by him, only keeping for himself all the diplomas, title-deeds and other documents he could find. Many years afterwards he repaired to Charles V. in his retirement at Yuste, and obtained from him an acknowledgment that he was nephew and heir of Heraclides, and as such was recognised by him as Despot of Samos and Paros. Charles V. also acknowledged the good service he had done while in the Albanian light cavalry attached to the Spanish army, and according to some accounts gave him the right of conferring the degree of Doctor and creating Notaries and Poet-Laureates. Armed with these credentials he repaired to Wittenberg, where he became acquainted with Melancthon, published an historical work in Latin, and with the Emperor’s consent exercised his powers by creating some Poet-Laureates. At Lubeck he assumed the character of a prince banished by the Turks, and thence repaired to the courts of Denmark and Sweden, and next went by Dantzic to Albert of Brandenberg, the first Duke of Prussia. He then visited Nicholas Radzivill at Wilna, who introduced him to Sigismund, King of Poland. To gain Radzivill’s favour he professed himself a Protestant. In Poland he heard of the disturbed state of Moldavia, and found that the wife of the Hospodar Alexander was a kinswoman of his pretended uncle. Armed with letters of recommendation from Radzivill and the King, he entered Moldavia, assumed the name of James Heraclides, and on the strength of a forged pedigree, passed himself off as a descendant of the ancient Moldavian dynasty of that name. He applied himself to learn the language and to gain the affections of the nobles. Thereon Alexander, who at first had received him well, tried to poison him, but he escaped to Upper Hungary; here he obtained the assistance of Albert Laszky and would have invaded Moldavia through Ruthenia, if the Palatine had not stopped him by the King of Poland’s orders. He then retired to Kaschau, where he gained the confidence of Busbecq’s old colleague Zay, then Governor of Upper Hungary. Having come to an understanding between themselves, they wrote to Ferdinand, who entered into a secret agreement to assist Basilicus with money, and allow him to levy troops in his dominions. To lull the suspicions of Alexander, a report of Basilicus’s death was circulated, and his funeral was actually performed by Laszky at Kesmark, the capital of the County of Zips. His second invasion proved more successful. In November, 1561, he defeated Alexander near Suczawa, who fled to Jassy, and thence to Constantinople. There he endeavoured to prejudice the Sultan against him, and spread reports that he was about to invade Thrace with his German mercenaries. Though Solyman was much annoyed at these events, and had commenced to assemble an army to attack the Despot, yet he deemed it wiser to dissemble his vexation, and, yielding to the representations of the Despot’s envoys, which were supported by a judicious administration of bribes, he conferred on him the vacant dignity. The Despot, however, soon made himself unpopular by raising the taxes, which he was obliged to do in order to provide the increased tribute he had agreed to pay, Alexander having carried off all the money in the treasury. Moreover, to save expense he dismissed his German and Italian troops, retaining only Hungarians. The priests and common people were alienated by his religious innovations, especially as they could not refute his arguments, ‘having learnt to worship God with more zeal than knowledge.’ He declared his intention of abolishing vain ceremonies and false doctrines, and introduced Calvinist preachers from Poland, who ridiculed the mass-books, expressed their abhorrence of all ceremonies, destroyed images, and, in the words of the episcopal historian, had the arrogance to affirm that their doctrines agreed with the testimony of the Scriptures. He began to plunder the churches of their treasures, plate, &c., which made the priests fear their turn would come next. His crowning act of sacrilege was to melt down certain silver crosses, venerable both from their age and the relics they contained, and to coin them into pieces bearing his image and superscription. The nobles were further estranged by his projected marriage with the beautiful Christina, daughter of Martin Zborowski, Castellan of Cracow, a man of great influence in Poland, and the leader of the Protestant party. Accordingly, they conspired against him, treacherously surprised and killed most of his foreign guards, his other partisans, and his infant child, and besieged him in Suczawa. After three months his Hungarian troops mutinied and surrendered the fortress, and he was cruelly murdered by Tomza, the leader of the conspirators.

[242] See note, page 226.

[243] The farewell audience took place on the Tuesday before September, 10, 1559. Apparently, however, it was on June 6 that Lavigne procured the release of the prisoners. The Baily, Marini di Cavallo, was much annoyed at the favour, which had been refused to his entreaties and bribes, being granted to Lavigne. ‘Et il ne s’est peu tenir, tout saige et _cavallo_ qu’il est, de se faire cognoistre fol et _asino_: car usant de paroles magnifiques et de ceste bonne créance de Realto contre moy, au lieu de me louer et vous faire remercier par sa seigneurie d’une si bonne œuvre qu’il n’eust jamais sceu mectre à fin, soubz main il a tasché de faire dresser les commandements desdits pellerins en son nom, et de corrompre l’ambassadeur du roy des Romains (Busbecq) affin qu’il escripvit à l’empéreur que c’estoit à la requeste de ladicte seigneurie qu’ils avoient esté déliverez.’—Charrière, _Négociations_ &c., ii. 584.

[244] It is curious to find that some Goths still existed in the Crimea so late as Busbecq’s days. They occupied the south coast from Balaklava to Sudak, and the mountains north of the latter, and the Genoese officer who governed this coast in the fifteenth century, bore the title of Capitanus Gotiæ. They are mentioned by the monk Rubruquis, who was sent in 1253 by Saint Louis to the Great Khan, and also by Marco Polo, (book iv. c. 24, Yule’s edition, ii. p. 421 and note). The traveller Pallas, at the end of the last century, could find no traces of them or of their language, so that he thinks (_Travels_, vol. ii. p. 358), that Busbecq’s belief in their existence must have arisen from some German, Swedish, or other captives being found in the Crimea. Busbecq, however, is not the only writer who notices these Goths, and it is not difficult to understand that the tribe may have disappeared before the time of Pallas in the numerous wars which devastated the Crimea. The ruins of Mancup still remain, four leagues south of Simferopol, and nearly due east of Sebastopol. It is an almost inaccessible fortress, on a high isolated rock. Pallas describes the ruins of it in the second volume of his _Travels_. One of Gibbon’s numerous references to Busbecq is found in a note to Chapter xl., where he alludes to ‘these unambitious Goths.’

[245] The Flemish is not given by Busbecq, but has been taken by the translators from an article on Busbecq in _Les Voyageurs Belges_, ii. p. 30, by the Baron de Saint-Génois,