British Diplomatic Travellers in Eighteenth-Century Istanbul

by Dr. Gemma Masson (University of Birmingham)

Talk synopsis:

The eighteenth century in the Ottoman Empire was marked by a shift in the methods of international interaction which brought a great number of Europeans to Istanbul in a diplomatic role. There is a temptation to limit ourselves as historians to only official despatches, personal correspondence and diaries of the official ambassadors. The definition of a diplomatic traveller, however, can and should be extended to include the families, staff and whole retinue of these ambassadors and it is this wider classification that will be applied in this paper, which presents three very different travellers, all of whom came to Istanbul in the eighteenth century and formed part of a diplomatic household.

About the speaker: Gemma Masson is the Assistant Editor of the Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations Journal at the University of Birmingham and holds a PhD specialising in eighteenth-century Istanbul.

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