The Reception of John Sigismund Szapolyai in Hungarian and Ottoman Chronicles

Abstract

This article reconstructs the diplomatic ceremonies that took place at the meeting of John Sigismund Szapolyai, elected king of Hungary and prince of Transylvania, and Suleiman the Magnificent during the Sultan’s last campaign in 1566, by using Ottoman and Hungarian chronicles of the period. The chronicles, which convey the observations of those who witnessed the Szigetvár campaign and the meeting held in Zimony, present an opportunity to explore in detail the diplomatic practices of both the Ottomans and the Hungarians and how such practices were perceived by the Hungarian participants. The article also considers the political status of Transylvania and the Ottoman imperial ideology and hegemonic position in the context of these practices.

Notes

1 This is a revised version of the paper I presented at the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurés, Premodern Diplomats Network, ‘Splendid Encounters VIII, The Gestures of Diplomacy: Gifts, Ceremony, Body Language (1400–1750)’. I must thank Dr Éva Kincses Nagy for helping me translate the text of György Bánffy. I must also thank Professor Dr. Sándor Papp and Professor Dr. Claudia Römer for granting me extra time to prepare this version and for their valuable comments.

2 In the Ottoman sources discussed within this article, John Sigismund Szapolyai is referred to as ‘Erdel qırālı’, the king of Transylvania (Erdély in Hungarian), ‘İs̱tefān qırāl’, King İstefan (this name used for John Sigismund, as the adaptation of István / Stephen to the Ottoman language), ‘Erdel oġlı İs̱tefān qırāl’, King İstefan the son of Erdel, and/or ‘qırāl oġlı’ the son of the King. The reason why he was often referred to as ‘son’ in Ottoman sources might be related to the fact that his father John I Szapolyai had been recognised as king since Sultan Suleiman restored him to the royal crown of Hungary. See Pál Fodor, ‘Ottoman Policy Towards Hungary, 1520–1541’, Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 45-2/3 (1991), pp. 271-345, p. 298.

3 Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivleri [hereafter BOA], 5 Numaralı Mühimme Defteri, 973/1565–6 (Ankara, 1994), Decree: 1987; [György Bánffy], ‘Második János … török császárhoz menetele’, in József Bessenyei (ed.), Zay Ferenc, János király árultatása. Kis Péter: Magyarázat.[Bánffy György]: Második János … török császárhoz menetele (Budapest, 1993), pp. 124-5.

4 M. Tayyip Gökbilgin, ‘Kanuni Süleyman’ın 1566 Szigetvar Seferi Sebepleri ve Hazırlıkları’, Tarih Dergisi 21 (Istanbul, 1966), pp. 1-14; Pál Fodor and Szabolcs Varga, ‘Zrínyi Miklós és Szulejmán halála’, Történelmi Szemle 58-2 (Budapest, 2016), pp. 181-201; Pál Fodor (ed.), The Battle for Central Europe: The Siege of Szigetvár and the Death of Süleyman the Magnificent and Nicholas Zrínyi (1566) (Leiden and Boston, 2019); Norbert Pap (ed.), Szülejmán Szultán emlékezete Szigetváron/Kanuni Sultan Süleyman’ın Sigetvar’daki hatırası (Pécs, 2014); Şebnem Parladır, ‘Sigetvar Seferi Tarihi ve Nakkaş Osman’, Sanat Tarihi Dergisi 26-1 (2007), pp. 67-108; Ferîdûn Bey, Ferîdûn Bey, Les Plaisants Secrets De La Campagne De Szigetvár: Édition, Traduction Et Commentaire Des Folios 1 À 147 Du “nüzhetü-L-Esrâri-L-Ahbâr Der Sefer-I Sigetvâr” (ms. H 1339 De La Bibliothèque Du Musée De Topkapı Sarayı), edn and transl. Nicolas Vatin (Vienna, 2010); James Tracy, ‘The Road to Szigetvár: Ferdinand I’s Defense of His Hungarian Border, 1548–1566’, Austrian History Yearbook 44 (2013), pp. 17-36; Szabolcs Varga, Europe’s Leonidas: Miklós Zrínyi, Defender of Szigetvar (1508–1566), transl. David Robert Evans (Budapest, 2016).

5 Istanbul Topkapı Palace Museum Library [hereafter TSMK], Ms. H. 1339. For the transcription and facsimile editions of the manuscript, see Feridun Ahmed Bey, Nüzhet-i Esrârü’l-Ahyâr der Ahbâr-ı Sefer-i Sigetvar. Sultan Süleyman’ın Son Seferi, edn H. Ahmet Arslantürk and Günhan Börekçi (Istanbul, 2012). Nicolas Vatin also provides a transcription and French translation of the fols 1-147, which is the relevant part on the Szigetvár campaign, see Ferîdûn Bey, Les Plaisants Secrets De La Campagne De Szigetvár.

6 Abdülkadir Özcan, ‘Feridun Ahmed Bey’, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi 12 (Ankara, 2009), pp. 396-7; Sándor Papp, ‘Feridun Bey in Münşeati: Mecmua-ı Münşeʿâtü’s-selâtîn (Macaristan’a ve Erdel’e ait XVI-XVII. yüzyıl belgelerinin incelenmesi)’, Archivum Ottomanicum 34 (Wiesbaden, 2017), pp. 129-37; Zeynep Tarım, ‘Sigetvarname: A Visual Source of Sultan Süleyman’s Last Campaign,’ in Fodor (ed.), The Battle for Central Europe, pp. 411- 2.

7 Arslantürk and Börekçi, Nüzhet-i esrârü’l-Ahyâr der-Ahbâr-ı Sefer-i Sigetvar, pp. 32-3.

8 Mehmet İpşirli, ‘Selani̇ki Mustafa Efendi’, Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi 36 (Ankara, 2009), pp. 357-9; Franz Babinger, Osmanlı Tarih Yazarları ve Eserleri, transl. Coşkun Üçok (Ankara, 2000), pp. 150-1. İpşirli reports that there are more than twenty-five manuscripts of Selânikî’s History in the libraries of Turkey and Europe and nineteen of them are located in İstanbul. See: Mehmet İpşirli, ‘Mustafa Selaniki and His History’, İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Tarih Enstitüsü Dergisi 9 (Istanbul, 1978), p. 440.

9 The biggest part of the mühimme defterleri can be found in the collection of The Ottoman Archives of Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, formerly known as the Prime Ministry’s Ottoman Archives or Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi.

10 William S. Peachy, ‘Register of Copies or Collection of Drafts? The Case of Four “Mühimme” Defters from the Archives of the Prime Ministry in Istanbul’, Turkish Studies Association Bulletin 10-2 (1986), pp. 79-85; Suraiya Faroqhi, Approaching Ottoman History: An Introduction to the Sources (Cambridge, 2004), p. 50.

11 Ferenc Forgách, ‘Emlékirat Magyarország állapotáról’, transl. I. Borzsák, in Péter Kulcsár (ed.), Humanista történetírók (Budapest, 1977); Gábor Bradács, ‘Ferenc Forgách (Forgách Ferenc)’, in David Thomas and John A. Chesworth (eds), Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, vol. 7, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America (1500–1600) (Leiden, 2015), pp. 462-6.

12 This chronicle was edited by József Bessenyei and the introductory text and footnotes were prepared by him. In fact, the writer of the chronicle is not precisely known. The text was first published in 1837 by József Kemény and István Kovács in the first volume of the history of Transylvania, Erdélyország’ történetei’ tára I.kötet. 1540–1600, pp. 33-49. The authors claimed to have published the text from the manuscript of David Rozsnyai, who lived between 1641 and 1718. This information unfortunately cannot be confirmed or refuted because there is no knowledge of the location of the original manuscript. However, József Bessenyei claims that the chronicle was written by György Bánffy, and this view has not been challenged to this day.

13 János B. Szabó, ‘The Ottoman Conquest in Hungary: Decisive Events (Belgrade 1521, Mohács 1526, Vienna 1529, Buda 1541) and Results’, in Fodor (ed.), The Battle for Central Europe, p. 272.

14 Sándor Papp, ‘Transylvania’, in Gábor Ágoston and Bruce Masters (eds), Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire (New York, 2008), pp. 570-71.

15 Claudia Römer and Nicolas Vatin. ‘The Hungarian Frontier and Süleyman’s Way to Szigetvár according to Ottoman Sources’, in Fodor (ed.), The Battle for Central Europe, pp. 341-58; Facsimile, ‘Urkunde 39 and 33a’, dated 1565; Facsimile ‘Urkunde 25 and 27’, dated 1562; ‘Urkunde 32, 33, 34, 35’ dated 1565, in Anton C. Schaendlinger and Claudia Römer (eds), Die Schreiben Süleymans des Prächtigen an Vasallen, Militärbeamte, Beamte und Richter aus dem Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv zu Wien (Vienna, 1986), pp. 57-8, 68-9, 67-70, 76-7, 87-100; Documents Number 69, 70, dated 1565, in Gisela Procházka-Eisl and Claudia Römer (eds), Osmanische Beamtenschreiben und Privatbriefe der Zeit Süleymāns des Prächtigen aus dem Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv zu Wien (Vienna, 2007).

16 Arslantürk and Börekçi, Nüzhet-i esrârü’l-Ahyâr der-Ahbâr-ı Sefer-i Sigetvar, pp. 88-93.

17 Gökbilgin, ‘Kanuni Süleyman’ın 1566 Szigetvar Seferi Sebepleri ve Hazırlıkları’, p. 6; Joseph von Hammer, Büyük Osmanlı Tarihi, vol. 6, transl. Mümin Çevik and Erol Kılıç (Istanbul, 1984), p. 153; Feridun Emecen, ‘Sultan Süleyman Çağı ve Cihan Devleti’, in Hasan Celal Güzel (ed.), Türkler 9 (Ankara, 2002), pp. 515-20.

18 Selaniki Mustafa Efendi, Tarih-i Selaniki, edn Mehmet İpşirli (Istanbul, 1989), p. 31; Hammer, Büyük Osmanlı Tarihi, p.153, 211. Karaçelebizade Abdülaziz Efendi, Kitab-ı Süleymanname, edn Said Efendi (Bulak Matbaası, 1248/1847), pp. 184-6.

19 Tarih-i Selaniki, p. 19; Mühimme Defteri 5, Decree: 1954.

20 Mühimme Defteri 5, Decrees: 1747, 1757,1784,1790,1871,1923, 1977,1981; Arslantürk and Börekçi, Nüzhet-i esrârü’l-Ahyâr der-Ahbâr-ı Sefer-i Sigetvar, p. 99.

21 Römer and Vatin, ‘The Hungarian Frontier’, p. 347.

22 Mühimme Defteri 5, Decree, 1979.

23 Bánffy, ‘Második János … ’, p. 124.

24 Tarih-i Selaniki, p. 21.

25 Bánffy, ‘Második János … ’, pp. 124-25.

26 Tarih-i Selaniki, p. 21.

27 Taciser Onuk, Osmanlı çadır sanatı: XVII–XIX. yüzyıl (Ankara, 1998.), p. 40.

28 Mühimme Defteri 5, Decrees: 102, 158, 259, 330, 332, 436; Bánffy, ‘Második János … ’, p. 120.

29 Bánffy, ‘Második János … ’, p. 125.

30 Ibid., pp. 125-26.

31 Ibid., p. 126.

32 Tarih-i Selaniki, p. 21.

33 Hedda Reindl-Kiel, ‘Audiences, Banquets, Garments and Kisses. Encounters with the Ottoman Sultan in the 17th Century’, in Eva Orthmann and Anna Kollatz (eds), The Ceremonial of Audience: Transcultural Approaches (Göttingen, 2019), pp. 169-207, pp. 179-80; Güneş Işıksel, ‘Hierarchy and Friendship: Ottoman Practices of Diplomatic Culture and Communication (1290s–1600)’, The Medieval History Journal 22-2 (2019), pp. 278-97, p. 292.

34 Filiz Karaca, ‘Hil’at’, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi 18 (Istanbul, 1998), pp. 25-7.

35 Reindl-Kiel, ‘Audiences, Banquets, Garments and Kisses’, p. 191.

36 Ibid.; Palmira Brummett, ‘Ottoman Ceremonial Rhetorics of Submission in the 16th and 17th Centuries’, in XIII. Türk Tarih Kongresi Ankara 4-8 Ekim, 1999 (Ankara, 2002), pp. 1741-52.

37 Gábor Kármán, ‘Paşanın Eli Öpülür mü?: Budin’de Erdel Elçileri’, Güneydoğu Avrupa Araştırmaları Dergisi 24 (2013), pp. 69-99, p. 86.

38 János B. Szabó and Péter Erdősi. ‘Ceremonies Marking the Transfer of Power in the Principality of Transylvania in East European Context’, MAJESTAS 11 (2003), pp. 111-160, pp. 122-25.

39 Sándor Papp, ‘The System of Autonomous Muslim and Christian Communities, Churches, and States in the Ottoman Empire’, in Gábor Kármán and Lovro Kunčević (eds), The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Leiden and Boston, 2013), pp. 373-419, pp. 407-8.

40 Bánffy, ‘Második János … ’, p. 123.

41 Mühimme Defteri 5, Decree: 187.

42 Karman, ‘Paşanın Eli Öpülür mü?’, p. 86.

43 Arslantürk and Börekçi, Nüzhet-i esrârü’l-Ahyâr der-Ahbâr-ı Sefer-i Sigetvar, p. 101.

44 Miklós Istvánffy, Pál Tállyai and Péter Benits, Istvánffy Miklós Magyarok dolgairól írt históriája: Tállyai Pál XVII. századi fordításában: I/2: 13-24 könyv (Budapest, 2001), p. 398.

45 Bánffy, ‘Második János … ’, p. 128.

46 Karman, ‘Paşanın Eli Öpülür mü?’, p. 69; idem, ‘Sovereignty and Representation: Tributary States in the Seventeenth-Century Diplomatic System of the Ottoman Empire’, in Kármán and Kunčević (eds), The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire, pp. 153-85, pp. 178-9.

47 Özgür Kolçak, ‘Habsburg Elçisi Walter Leslie’nin Osmanli Devlet Yapisina Dair Gözlemleri (1665)’, Tarih Dergisi 54 (2011), pp. 55-89, pp. 71-2.

48 Palmira Brummett, ‘A Kiss is Just a Kiss: Rituals of Submission Along the East-West Divide’, in Matthew Birchwood and Matthew Dimmock (eds), Cultural Encounters Between East and West, 1453–1699 (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 2005), pp. 107-31, p. 109.

49 Arslantürk and Börekçi, Nüzhet-i esrârü’l-Ahyâr der-Ahbâr-ı Sefer-i Sigetvar, p. 281.

50 Ibid., p. 102.

51 Ibid., p. 101.

52 Reindl-Kiel, ‘Audiences, Banquets, Garments and Kisses’, p. 200.

53 The dragoman Ibrahim (Joachim Strass), who was of a Polish origin, served between 1551 and 1570 and was the chief interpreter for the Porte. He played an important role in negotiations for the invitation of Queen Isabella and her son John Sigismund back in Transylvania. As the sources show, Ibrahim Bey worked as the military interpreter at Szigetvár. Pál Ács, ‘Andreas Dudith’s Turkish Brother-in-Law’, Camoenae Hungaricae 3 (2006), pp. 59-64, p. 61.

54 Tarih-i Selaniki, p. 21.

55 Forgách, ‘Emlékirat Magyarország állapotáról’, p. 852; Istvánffy, Magyarok dolgairól írt históriája, p. 398.

56 Bánffy, ‘Második János … ’, p. 127.

57 Rhoads Murphey, Exploring Ottoman Sovereignty: Tradition, Image and Practice in the Ottoman Imperial Household, 1400–1800 (London, 2008), p. 28.

58 Gülru Necipoğlu, 15. ve 16. yüzyılda Topkapı Sarayı: Mimari, Tören ve İktidar, transl. Ruşen Sezer (Istanbul, 2007), p. 104.

59 Ibid., p. 43; Murphey, Exploring Ottoman Sovereignty, p. 30.

60 Brummett, ‘Ottoman Ceremonial Rhetorics of Submission’, pp. 1743-5.

61 Emrah Safa Gürkan, ‘Bir Diplomasi Merkezi Olarak Yeni Çağ İstanbul’u’, in Feridun M. Emecen and Coşkun Yılmaz (eds), Antik Çağ’dan 21. Yüzyıla Büyük İstanbul Tarihi: Siyaset ve Yönetim I (Istanbul, 2015), pp. 372-99, p. 382.

62 Bánffy, ‘Második János … ’, pp.126-7.

63 Otto Kurz, Sultan İçin Bir Saat: Yakındoğu’da Avrupa Saat ve Saatçileri (Istanbul, 2005), p. 27.

64 Bánffy, ‘Második János … ’, pp. 128-9.

65 Istvánffy, Magyarok dolgairól írt históriája, p. 398; Forgách, ‘Emlékirat Magyarország állapotáról’, p. 853.

66 Bánffy György, ‘Második János … ’, p. 127.

67 Ibid., p. 130.

68 Ibid., p. 131.

69 Necipoğlu, 15. ve 16. yüzyılda Topkapı Sarayı, p. 50; Fodor, The Unbearable Weight of Empire, p. 92.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kutse Altin

Kutse Altın

Kutse Altın is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Early Modern History at the University of Szeged (Hungary). Her research interests are related to historiographical practice. She is working on a dissertation about Tayyib Gökbilgin, one of the first Turkish historians who conducted academic studies on Ottoman-Hungarian shared history. She is currently an Ernst Mach pre-doctoral grant holder and visiting student at the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Vienna.