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Fig. 1 - As the envoy to the
Turks was received below Komárom [Wie der herr Legat von den Turcken unterhalb Comorra angenommen worden.], 1608, woodcut, insert following page 8 in the 1608 publication of Salomon
Schweigger’s travelogue. |
“The hither and tither of the stairwell, the temporal movement and passage that it allows, prevents identities at either end of it from settling into primordial polarities. This interstitial passage between fixed identifications opens up the possibility of a cultural hybridity that entertains difference without an assumed or imposed hierarchy.”
~ Homi Bhabha[28]
Nestled between pages 8 and 9 in
the 1608 edition of Salomon Schweigger's travelogue[1] chronicling
his 1577 trip from Vienna to Istanbul, the woodcut image of the frontier
between Christian Europe and the Muslim East seems to be a rather peculiar and
modest representation of the most volatile border of sixteenth-century Europe (fig.
1). The tripartite fold-out landscape depicts the Habsburg controlled fortress
of Komárom[2] on the far
right, an island in the middle of the Danube with bubbles of smoke emitting
from the cannons positioned along the ramparts as they salute the delegation. A
fleet of eighteen oared ships with flags waving above allow the water to carry
them towards the Ottoman realm. A cluster of ships on the far left indicate a
time lapse, with the delegation’s arrival at their first and most critical
destination: the encounter with their Muslim neighbors. The image encourages
the reader to sink into the empty space of the Ottoman-Hungarian-Habsburg frontier,
the central panel of the triptych highlighting the psychological aspects of the
crossing. Here tufts of vegetation dot a desolate landscape and the meandering
lines of the choppy waters of the Danube lead the eye from right to left and
back again. This liminal space between two scenes is the focal point of my
current research, and this post.
Traditionally
scholars read this European frontier of the Ottoman Empire as an open zone of incessant
warfare providing a space for the continuation of the Ghazi tradition, or
holy-war against the infidels, in which short-term treaties were only a brief respite
when both sides “recuperated militarily, [until] they would again be ready for
the formal resumption of hostilities."[3] While some scholars have nuanced this
approach, my current work aims to complicate our understanding of this zone between
the 1550s and 1591. I am gathering evidence that suggests that just as often as
raids reached across the boundaries, so too did correspondence, gifts,
chivalric spectacles involving parties from both sides, and a great deal of men
and women moved securely throughout the frontier. It suggests that a fixed
border system emerged during the second half of the sixteenth century in which
individuals, letters, and goods moved in the liminal spaces of the contact zone.
The movement discussed here took place between two fixed portals into their
respective worlds: Komárom and Esztergom. This highway of cultural exchange, though
sometimes strained, remained open for non-hostile movement between to the
outbreak of the Long War.
The first part post in this
series surveys the primary source literature produced by official delegations
and individuals writing travelogues. And so, down the rabbit hole we go: diving
right into the flowing waters of the Danube as it hurries downstream from
Komárom to Esztergom, and sometimes traveling back again on the footpath
running beside it. I begin with the end, a quote from Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw
von Mitrowitz’s border crossing trip in 1591.
"Thus we voyaged some hours down the Danube, till we
espied the Turkish boats, which were ten in number. The Turkish boats were
exactly similar to ours in all respects, except in carrying only one gun each.
On land about one hundred very fine-looking and well appointed Turkish horsemen
rode towards us, and, on perceiving us, set spurs to their horses and galloped
to the very brink of the Danube. Herr von Kregwitz then ordered the boats to
cast anchor. We disembarked in the bank and welcomed and were welcomed by out
Turkish friends, and ere long partook of dinner together in the boats. It was
certainly matter of wonder, to a person who had never beheld anything of the
kind before, to see the beautiful horses, the lances with streaming pennons,
the sabers inlaid with silver, gold, and precious stones, the magnificent
cloths of blue and red, the gilded saddles and caparisons of the Turks; and I
think they must have equipped themselves in this manner on purpose."[4]
Members of
delegations.[5] By the time Baron
Wenceslas Wratislaw von Mitrowitz crossed the threshold of the Ottoman Empire somewhere
along the 30 mile stretch of the Danube between Komárom
and Esztergom on September 4, 1591, the set of processional motions and moments
of the imperial delegation’s route to Constantinople were already fixed in
tradition. Some eighteen travelers[6] penned
descriptions of the journey between the two fortress-cities between 1550 and
1591; many undertaking the trip as part of similar missions to the Porte,
carrying the tribute or accompanying ambassadors to their new posts in
Constantinople. The first to record the expedition,[7] a wealthy
merchant attached to Ferdinand I's delegation to Sultan Suleiman by the name of
Hans Dernschwam, crossed the border in July of 1553.[8] His short description
of the riverboat voyage recalls the moment he encountered the 200 Turkish
escorts and his impressions of the old city of Esztergom, remarking on the
Christian visual elements of the cloister and church visible from the water.[9] One year
later, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq made the journey as ambassador, crossing the
frontier in November or December of 1554 and returning at the same time as
Dernschwam in August of 1555.[10] Busbecq provides a more detailed and nervous
account of how he expected the Habsburgs and Turks to attack each other and did
not allow them to get too close, only to later discover that his enormous
Turkish escort was fully dressed for a ceremonial procession, and not war.[11] Following
these men were Jacob von Betzek (crossed in 1564-1565),[12] Marcantonio
Pigfetta (1568-88),[13] Hans van den
Braden (1570),[14] a member of
David Ungnad’s entourage (1572),[15] Sefan Gerlach
(1573),[16] Salomon
Schweigger (1577),[17] Henricus
Porsius (1579),[18] Francois de
Billerbeck (1582),[19] Wolf Andreas
von Steinach (1583),[20] Levyn Rym
(1583),[21] Melchior
Besolt (1584),[22] Jacob Furer
von Haimendorff (1587),[23] Ludwig von
Lichtenstein (1587),[24] Reinhold
Lubenau (1587),[25] Friedrich
Seidel (1591),[26] and lastly Wenceslas
Wratislaw von Mitrowitz (1591).[27] From
Dernschwam to Mitrovitz, each traveler crossed between Komárom to Esztergom by
the Danube or on a well trodden path next to it, recording their experiences.
[1] Salomon Schweigger, Ein newe Reyßbeschreibung auß
Teutschland nach Constantinopel und Jerusalem... (Nürnberg: Lantzenberger,
1608).
[2] Toponyms are intimately connected to
nineteenth-century nationalist politics. In dealing with these issues, I
elected to use the current Hungarian
name of both cities. This is despite
the fact the a majority of what was Komárom now lies in Slovakia and goes by
the name Komárno. Other variations of the name Komárom include Comorra and
Gomarom. Esztergom sometimes went by its Latin name, Strigonium, or by its
German name, Gran.
[3] Rifaat A. Abou-el-Haj, “The Formal Closure of the
Ottoman Frontier in Europe: 1699-1703,” Journal of the American Oriental
Society 89, no. 3 (July 1, 1969): 467–475. 467.
[4] Václav Wratislav z Mitrovic and Albert Henry Wratislaw,
Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz. What he saw in the Turkish
metropolis, Constantinople; experienced in his captivity; and after his happy
return to his country, committed to writing in the year of our Lord 1599.
(London: Bell & Daldy, 1862), 4.
[5] What is presented here is merely a preliminary sketch
of what could be done with this vast amount of literature in relation to the
crossing.
[6] My list is compiled from the longer list of
travelogues discussing the Ottoman empire in the sixteenth century by Stefanos Yerasimos, Les voyageurs dans l’Empire
Ottoman, XIVe-XVIe siècles : bibliografie, itinéraires et inventaire des lieux
habités (Ankara: Société turque d’histoire, 1991).
[7] Of course, others recorded travel on this major
highway prior to Dernschwam. His importance lies in the fact that he traveled
after it became the crossing point between the Habsburg and Ottoman territory.
For earlier travelers see Yerasimos 1991 and István Czagány, “A budai várra vonatkozó történetíras
és művészettudomány története [History writing and art historical knowledge
pertaining to the Buda castle],” Tanulmányok Budapest múltjából 22
(1988): 9–59.
[8] For each of the authors, I cite only the most
accessible version of their work. Here, Hans Dernschwam and Heinrich Kiepert, Hans
Dernschwam’s orientalische Reise, 1553-1555 aus Handschriften im Auszuge
mitgetheilt von H. Kiepert. (Braunschweig: Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn,
1887).
[9] (Dernschwam and Kiepert 1887, 1).
[10] Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq, Charles Thornton Forster,
and Francis Henry Blackburne Daniell, The life and letters of Ogier Ghiselin
de Busbecq, (London: C.K. Paul, 1881).
[11] (Busbecq et al 1887, 82-85).
[12] Original manuscript version transcribed and published
in Jakob von Betzek and Karl Nehring, Gesandtschaftsreise
nach Ungarn und in die Türkei im Jahre 1564/65 (München: Finnisch-Ugrisches
Seminar an der Universität München, 1979).
[13] Published in Marco Antonio Pigafetta and Daria Perocco, Itinerario
da Vienna a Costantinopoli (Padova: Il poligrafo, 2008).
[14] Original manuscript version transcribed and published
in S. de Vriendt, Karel Rijm, and Levinus Rijm, Reyse
van Bruussele vut Brabant te Constantinopels in Thracyen en Reyse van Weenen in
Hoosteryc te Constantinopels in Thracyen. Twee reisjournaals uit de jaren
1570-1585. (Gent: Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde
(Koningsstraat, 18), 1971).
[15] Franciscus Omichius, Beschreibung Einer Legation und
Reise von Wien aus Ostereich auff Constantinopel... (Güstrow: Ferber,
1582).
[16] Stephan Gerlach, Stephan Gerlachs dess aeltern
Tage-Buch: Der von zween ... an die Ottomannische Pforte zu Constantinopel
abgefertigten..., ed. Samuel Gerlach and Tobias Wagner (Franckfurt am Mayn:
In Verlegung Johann-David Zunners. Getruckt bey Heinrich Friesen, 1674).
[17] Salomon Schweigger and Heidi Stein, Zum Hofe des
türkischen Sultans (Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, 1986).
[18] Henricus Porsius, Historia belli Persici, gesti
inter Murathem II. Turcarum, et Mehemetem Hodabende, Persarum regem...
(Francofurti: Excudebat Iohannes Wechelus, impensis Sigismundi Feyrabendt,
1583).
[19] Franciscus de Billerbeck, Newe Schiffart: Darinnen
eigentlich vnd auffs kürtzest beschriben wirdt die Reise, einer Schiffart, auß
Constantinopel... (Nürnberg: Heußler, 1584).
[20] Original manuscript version transcribed and published
in Andreas Wolf von Steinach, “Beschreibung Oder
Verzaichnusz Des Wegs, Der Stätt, Orth Und Fleckhen Von Steinach Aus Dem
Enstall Im Lande Styer Auf Constantinopel Zue, Wie Ichs, Wolf Andre Von
Stainach, Anno 1583 Geraist Mit Dem Wolgeboren Herrn Herrn Pauln Freiherrn Von
Eytzing,” Steiermärkische Geschichtsblätter 3, no. 4 (1881): 193–234.
[21] Original manuscript version transcribed and published
in (S. de Vriendt et al. 1971).
[23] Christoph Fürer von Haimendorff and Georg Richter, Christoph
Fürers von Haimendorff, Ritters, Deß Eltern geheimen Rahts...
Reis-Beschreibung... (Nürnberg; Nürnberg: Endter ;, 1621).
[24] Original manuscript version transcribed and published
in Hans-Ludwig von Lichtenstein, Große Reisen und
Begebenheiten der Herrn Wolf Christoph von Rotenhan, Herrn Hannß Ludwig von
Lichtenstein, Herrn Christoph von Wallenfelß, Herrn Hannß Ludwig von Münster
nach Italien, Rhodus, Cypern, Türkey, besonders Constantinopel, nach Asien,
Syrien, Macedonien, Egypten, in das gelobte Land etc. etc. etc. Berg Sinai
etc. : 1585-1589 (München: Hafner, 1902).
[25] Original manuscript version transcribed and published
in Reinhold Lubenau and Wilhelm Sahm, Beschreibung der
Reisen des Reinhold Lubenau (Frankfurt am Main: Institute for the History
of Arabic-Islamic Science, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, 1912).
[26] Friedrich Seidel and Salomon Haussdorff, Denckwürdige
Gesandtschafft an die Ottomannische Pforte, Welche ehmahls auf Röm. Kays. Maj.
Rudolphi II. Hohen Befehl Herr Fridrich von Krekwitz ... verrichtet : Nebst
ausführlichem Bericht/ was hierbey so wohl mit dem Herrn Oratore selbst, als
denen Seinigen vorgelauffen (Görlitz: Laurentius, 1711).
[27] (Mitrovic and Wratislaw 1862).
