Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Transliterations
- PART I AN IMPERIAL MODEL
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Emergence: Brokerage across Networks
- 3 Becoming an Empire: Imperial Institutions and Control
- 4 Maintaining Empire: An Expression of Tolerance
- 5 The Social Organization of Dissent
- PART II THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
3 - Becoming an Empire: Imperial Institutions and Control
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Transliterations
- PART I AN IMPERIAL MODEL
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Emergence: Brokerage across Networks
- 3 Becoming an Empire: Imperial Institutions and Control
- 4 Maintaining Empire: An Expression of Tolerance
- 5 The Social Organization of Dissent
- PART II THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
Summary
A young man of 26 [actually he was between 19 and 21], well complexioned, large in body rather than middling in height, noble in arms, of an aspect inspiring fear rather than reverence, sparing of laughter, a pursuer of knowledge, gifted with princely liberality, stubborn in purpose, bold in all things, as avid of fame as Alexander of Macedon. Everyday he has Roman and other histories read to him…chronicles of the popes, the emperors, the kings of France, the Lombards; he speaks three languages, Turkish, Greek, and Slavonic. Diligently he seeks information on the position of Italy…the seat of the Pope, of the Emperor, and how many kingdoms there are in Europe, of which he has a map showing the states and the provinces. Nothing gives him greater satisfaction and pleasure than to study the state of the world and the science of war. A shrewd explorer of affairs, he burns with desire to rule.
Giacomo de' Languschi (Langusto), a Venetian visitor who met Mehmed II (1451–1481) right after the conquest of Constantinople, described the conqueror as a bold man, an avid learner, and an heir to the Romans and the Byzantines, whose personal inner strength and might was matched by his open-minded vision and his curiosity about other peoples and cultures.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Empire of DifferenceThe Ottomans in Comparative Perspective, pp. 67 - 108Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
References
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