Ottoman-Austrian Ceremonial Embassies of the First Half of the Seventeenth Century: The Selection of Ambassador Rıdvan Agha (1633)

Abstract

The Treaty of Zsitvatorok, signed between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans in 1606, has long been accepted as a watershed in the relations between the two dynasties. Nevertheless, interest in its influence on diplomatic practices has flourished only recently. Focusing on the elaboration of new diplomatic traditions, such as the growing retinue sizes, use of titles for Ottoman ambassadors, and exchange of embassies at the border, this study argues that the post-Zsitvatorok period was marked by the Austrian insistence on, and reluctant Ottoman acceptance of, parity and reciprocity. By relying on the reports of Johann Rudolf Schmid von Schwarzenhorn, the Austrian resident representative in Istanbul, it closely scrutinizes the selection and preparation of the Ottoman ambassador (Rıdvan Agha) to Vienna in 1633. The article argues that the terms in the Zsitvatorok Treaty prompted the Ottoman diplomatic mechanism to refine itself in its dealings with the Austrian Habsburgs in the seventeenth century, encouraging the Ottomans to accept elements of modern diplomacy long before the establishment of Ottoman resident embassies in Europe at the turn of the nineteenth century.