The Ambassador’s Notebook

Using never before studied documents from Manuscript Turc 130 (BnF, Paris), compiled in a unique structure by Ambassador Francois Savary de Breves, Viorel Panaite offers a comprehensive picture of the Ottoman Mediterranean around 1600, with the French as protagonists. He explores the foreigner's condition (muestemin) in the Abode of Islam, consular jurisdiction, the Flemish as proteges, 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.