The Ambassador as a Third Party: Busbecq’s Summary Account for the Year 1559 by James Tracy, in Acta Histriae, volume 22, 2014, number 2

tracy

I found this article from the UMW Library while looking for context on the Turkish Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq. The author, University of Minnesota Professor James Tracy, begins by explaining the process of continuous consultation that kept the diplomatic efforts of Busbecq in concert with Imperial strategy. As developments on the Hungarian border escalated and threatened the peace talks, Busbecq was forced to make several tactical decisions to outmaneuver the Ottomans and press on towards a lasting agreement.

Tracy recounts and analyzes Busbecq’s various interventions in the dialogue between the two hostile empires, concluding that he was effective in his attempts to ease tensions. These interventions included changes to the draft treaty that overrode Emperor Ferdinand I’s wishes, a reallocation of gifts to placate Sultan Soleiman, and strategic payments to Ali Pasha and other viziers.

The most interesting aspect of this article is Tracy’s conclusion, which discusses Busbecq’s relationship with Michael Cernovic, the leading Imperial spy in Constantinople. Tracy attributes some of Busbecq’s cleverest moments to Cernovic’s advice instead, and makes the case that Busbecq’s letters are more self-serving than they appear at first glance. He also concludes that the Imperial council would have been aware of this fact, as Busbecq’s post-Constantinople career takes him out of the foreign service to serve as the tutor of the Imperial grandsons.