European Views of the Ottomans: Art, Trade & Reformation
This paper examines how and why European attitudes toward the Ottoman Empire shifted from hostility to fascination between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Drawing on articles by Charlotte Colding Smith, Lisa Jardine, and Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, the paper identifies two primary drivers of this transformation: the Protestant Reformation, which weakened the Catholic Church's influence and opened new trade and diplomatic channels, and a growing European appetite for cultural imagery of Ottoman dress, customs, and daily life. Together, these forces replaced militaristic depictions of the "Turks" with exotic, humanizing portrayals that reshaped Western perception of the Ottoman people.
- Introduction: Context of Christian–Ottoman conflict and paper scope
- The Protestant Rebellion and the Shifting European Order: Reformation weakens Church, opens Ottoman trade
- De-Emphasizing the 'Turks' as Militant Through Cultural Images: Costume books and diplomats humanize Ottoman people
- Conclusion: Synthesis: religion and culture reshaped European perception
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper deploys a clear two-part thesis — religious change and cultural curiosity — and sustains both threads across distinct body sections rather than conflating them.
- Primary source quotations (de Busbecq's vivid description of Buda, the depiction of the Janissaries) are used as illustrative evidence rather than mere decoration, grounding abstract claims in concrete textual detail.
- The conclusion successfully synthesizes the argument by linking the socio-political realignment of Europe with the specific image-making practices examined in the body, avoiding mere repetition.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper exemplifies comparative source analysis: it triangulates three different types of sources — a historical-diplomatic memoir (de Busbecq), a scholarly journal article on trade policy (Jardine), and a material-culture study of costume books (Smith) — to build a single, unified argument. This technique shows how multiple disciplinary lenses can converge on the same historical phenomenon.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a four-part structure: an introductory frame situating the topic in centuries of Christian–Muslim conflict; a first body section on the Reformation as the political catalyst; a second body section on cultural publications and diplomatic writing as image-making tools; and a brief but integrative conclusion. Each body section anchors its claims in a named scholar or primary source, giving the argument a traceable evidential chain.
Introduction
For centuries during the Middle Ages, Europe had been at war with Muslims of the Middle East. There had been Crusades (beginning in the eleventh century), wars for the Holy Lands, and conflicts of great consequence — such as the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Charles V had struggled to combat both the invading Ottomans and the Protestant rebellion in his own kingdom during the first half of the sixteenth century, illustrating just how dramatic the conflict between the West and the Middle East had become. Yet the tension that had existed for so long began to dissipate as the Ottoman Empire started to decline. Russia grew in power during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the West was rapidly modernizing. The Ottoman Empire itself was changing, and the new dynamics of modern life played a significant role in the way that some Europeans saw and constructed images of the Ottomans — images that emphasized positive, "exotic," or less threatening features of Ottoman society.
This paper examines three works by Smith, Jardine, and de Busbecq and identifies the main reasons why European eyes softened and grew more appreciative toward the Ottomans: specifically, the Protestant Reformation and a new interest in Ottoman culture.
The Protestant Rebellion and the Shifting European Order
The Protestant Reformation is the primary reason that new images of the Ottomans ultimately emerged in Europe. The Reformation ushered in a new era. Up to that point, the West had been largely guided by the Roman Catholic Church. While nations and kings still fought and intrigued among themselves, the Church served as a fixed pole star. When the Reformation unleashed a tidal wave of defiance among leaders throughout Europe against the Church and the Pope, dissension, civil war, revolution, and a new political order all followed.
One of the most important outcomes of the rise of Protestantism was a lessening of the Church's influence in civil and economic affairs. As Lisa Jardine notes, when Elizabeth I of England was excommunicated, she was "freed" in a sense to pursue economic policies she deemed beneficial to the English crown.1 No longer a member of the Church, she was able to dispense with the scruple of seeking its approval. The result was that she opened up trade with the Ottomans — who had of course long been considered enemies of Christendom.
The outcome of this new trade policy, itself a product of the new religious environment pervading much of Europe, was that Europeans began to adopt a far more benign view of a people they had long considered their foe. Diplomacy began to flourish: Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, a Flemish diplomat, served as an ambassador for European heads of state and brought back detailed accounts of Ottoman life. People in Europe began to see the Ottoman Empire as a geopolitical reality — another civilization with which they could establish friendly relations. The Protestant Reformation had created a new European order, and Elizabeth I and de Busbecq were just two examples of actors operating within it. The fascination of the European public with "new things" and the exotic was another influential element that allowed the West to begin constructing more positive images of the Ottomans. Protestantism, however, played an enormous role in transforming the relationship between Europe and the Near East, and the opening of trade helped cultivate a new culture far more receptive to what the Ottomans had to offer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Europe was simply tired of war and wanted something new to engage with. Europeans desired access to a new society, no longer constrained by the Church's dictates about who could be considered a legitimate partner in trade or diplomacy. A new international relationship developed out of a new socio-political order. The Church, which had been at odds with the Ottomans for centuries, lost much of its power in Europe as a result of the Protestant Reformation. Protestant rulers began reaching out to the Ottomans, and diplomats and ambassadors began painting new pictures of the Turkish people — pictures that were highly positive. There was less need to see the Ottomans as enemies when they could now be seen as economic and cultural partners.
Europeans developed a taste for the novelty associated with the works of artists and writers who accompanied diplomatic missions into the Ottoman Empire. All of this helped reshape the European view of Ottoman society — from threatening and fearsome to helpful, exotic, and positive.
De Busbecq, Ogier Ghiselin. Turkish Letters.
Jardine, Lisa. "Gloriana Rules the Waves: Or, the Advantage of Being Excommunicated (and a Woman)." Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 14 (2004): 209–222.
Smith, Charlotte Colding. "'Depicted with Extraordinary Skill': Ottoman Dress in Sixteenth-Century German Printed Costume Books." Textile History, 44(1) (2013): 25–50.
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