Globalism During the Reign of Queen Elizabeth I
-
Amany El-Sawy
Abstract
This chapter attempts to outline England’s diplomatic engagement with the Ottomans during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, which is considered the first example of an actual and unrelenting extra-European diplomatic alignment for England, developed in opposition to the Catholic hegemony. England’s direct contacts with the Ottoman Empire resulted in substantial shifts in diplomacy and commerce and demonstrated a distinct change in how the Ottomans and the wider Islamicate World were perceived and considered by English society. Additionally and more significantly, this development fostered the English political and religious identity and promoted its formation of a distinct identity independent from Continental Europe’s. Thus, Elizabeth and her ministers established an English manifestation on the world stage; and, though with little experience in global relationships, Elizabeth’s government accomplished a successful foreign policy that protected English independence through innovative and groundbreaking diplomacy. This chapter illustrates the role of letters and gifts as means of globalism during the reign of Elizabeth, highlighting England’s global engagement with the Ottoman Empire. The roles of William Harborne, Edward Barton, and Henry Lello, Elizabeth’s ambassadors to the Ottoman Empire, are explored to highlight the commercial and diplomatic privileges secured for England. Finally, by taking the power and status of Eastern women, such as Sultana Safiye’s into consideration, this chapter attempts to deconstruct Edward Said’s views on Orientalism as a “Western style” based on the supremacy of the Occident. The agency of Safiye is foregrounded through the portrayal of her engagement in foreign diplomacy and her endeavor to foster good relationships between the Ottoman Empire and England.
Abstract
This chapter attempts to outline England’s diplomatic engagement with the Ottomans during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, which is considered the first example of an actual and unrelenting extra-European diplomatic alignment for England, developed in opposition to the Catholic hegemony. England’s direct contacts with the Ottoman Empire resulted in substantial shifts in diplomacy and commerce and demonstrated a distinct change in how the Ottomans and the wider Islamicate World were perceived and considered by English society. Additionally and more significantly, this development fostered the English political and religious identity and promoted its formation of a distinct identity independent from Continental Europe’s. Thus, Elizabeth and her ministers established an English manifestation on the world stage; and, though with little experience in global relationships, Elizabeth’s government accomplished a successful foreign policy that protected English independence through innovative and groundbreaking diplomacy. This chapter illustrates the role of letters and gifts as means of globalism during the reign of Elizabeth, highlighting England’s global engagement with the Ottoman Empire. The roles of William Harborne, Edward Barton, and Henry Lello, Elizabeth’s ambassadors to the Ottoman Empire, are explored to highlight the commercial and diplomatic privileges secured for England. Finally, by taking the power and status of Eastern women, such as Sultana Safiye’s into consideration, this chapter attempts to deconstruct Edward Said’s views on Orientalism as a “Western style” based on the supremacy of the Occident. The agency of Safiye is foregrounded through the portrayal of her engagement in foreign diplomacy and her endeavor to foster good relationships between the Ottoman Empire and England.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Globalism in the Pre-Modern World? Questions, Challenges, and the Emergence of a New Approach to the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age 1
- Global Inferno: Medieval Giants, Monsters, and the Breaching of the Great Barrier 99
- Swords as Medieval Icons and Early “Global Brands” 147
- Ecce! A Ninth-Century Isidorean T-O Map Labeled in Arabic 189
- Going Rogue Across the Globe: International Vagrants, Outlaws, Bandits, and Tricksters from Medieval Europe, Asia, and the Middle East 221
- Modifying Ancestral Memories in Post-Carolingian West Francia and Post-Tang Wuyue China 247
- Scalping Saint Peter’s Head: An Interreligious Controversy over a Punishment from Baghdad to Rome (Eighth to Twelfth Centuries) 273
- A Global Dialogue in al-Kindī’s “A Short Treatise on the Soul” 293
- Globalism in Paul of Antioch’s Letter to a Muslim Friend and Its Refutation by Ibn Taymiyya 315
- The Global Fable in the Middle Ages 351
- Globalism in the Late Middle Ages: The Low German Niederrheinische Orientbericht as a Significant Outpost of a Paradigm Shift. The Move Away from Traditional Eurocentrism 381
- The Germanic Translations of Lanfranc’s Surgical Works as Example of Global Circulation of Knowledge 407
- Brick by Brick: Constructing Identity at Don Lope Fernández de Luna’s Parroquieta at La Seo 445
- Quello assalto di Otranto fu cagione di assai male. First Results of a Study of the Globalization in the Neapolitan Army in the 1480s 463
- The Diplomat and the Public House: Ioannes Dantiscus (1485–1548) and His Use of the Inns, Taverns, and Alehouses of Europe 485
- Globalism During the Reign of Queen Elizabeth I 509
- Between East and West: John Pory’s Translation of Leo Africanus’s Description of Africa 537
- The Old and the New – Pepper, Bezoar, and Other Exotic Substances in Bohemian Narratives about Distant Lands from the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period (up to the 1560s) 553
- John Dee and the Creation of the British Empire 581
- Eberhard Werner Happel: A Seventeenth-Century Cosmographer and Cosmopolitan 595
- Globalism Before Modern Globalism 613
- List of Illustrations 623
- Biographies of the Contributors 627
- Index 635
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Globalism in the Pre-Modern World? Questions, Challenges, and the Emergence of a New Approach to the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age 1
- Global Inferno: Medieval Giants, Monsters, and the Breaching of the Great Barrier 99
- Swords as Medieval Icons and Early “Global Brands” 147
- Ecce! A Ninth-Century Isidorean T-O Map Labeled in Arabic 189
- Going Rogue Across the Globe: International Vagrants, Outlaws, Bandits, and Tricksters from Medieval Europe, Asia, and the Middle East 221
- Modifying Ancestral Memories in Post-Carolingian West Francia and Post-Tang Wuyue China 247
- Scalping Saint Peter’s Head: An Interreligious Controversy over a Punishment from Baghdad to Rome (Eighth to Twelfth Centuries) 273
- A Global Dialogue in al-Kindī’s “A Short Treatise on the Soul” 293
- Globalism in Paul of Antioch’s Letter to a Muslim Friend and Its Refutation by Ibn Taymiyya 315
- The Global Fable in the Middle Ages 351
- Globalism in the Late Middle Ages: The Low German Niederrheinische Orientbericht as a Significant Outpost of a Paradigm Shift. The Move Away from Traditional Eurocentrism 381
- The Germanic Translations of Lanfranc’s Surgical Works as Example of Global Circulation of Knowledge 407
- Brick by Brick: Constructing Identity at Don Lope Fernández de Luna’s Parroquieta at La Seo 445
- Quello assalto di Otranto fu cagione di assai male. First Results of a Study of the Globalization in the Neapolitan Army in the 1480s 463
- The Diplomat and the Public House: Ioannes Dantiscus (1485–1548) and His Use of the Inns, Taverns, and Alehouses of Europe 485
- Globalism During the Reign of Queen Elizabeth I 509
- Between East and West: John Pory’s Translation of Leo Africanus’s Description of Africa 537
- The Old and the New – Pepper, Bezoar, and Other Exotic Substances in Bohemian Narratives about Distant Lands from the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period (up to the 1560s) 553
- John Dee and the Creation of the British Empire 581
- Eberhard Werner Happel: A Seventeenth-Century Cosmographer and Cosmopolitan 595
- Globalism Before Modern Globalism 613
- List of Illustrations 623
- Biographies of the Contributors 627
- Index 635
