Ottoman-Polish Diplomatic Relations (15th-18th Century): An Annotated Edition of 'Ahdnames' and Other Documents by Dariusz Kołodziejczyk (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 339 Skrynnikov sees the anti-Judaizerpolemics as partly a product of tensions between Novgorodian and Muscovite conventions and identitiesat the end of the fifteenth century, while B. M. Kloss and V. D. Nazarov set a theological argument of I48i (concerning the direction of the procession at the consecrationof a church)in much the samecontext. Michael B. Khodarkovsky contributes a lucid analysis of various modes of integration and nonintegrationof non-Christiansin the Muscovite state, while Richard D. Bosley followsaprocessof integrationwithin Christianity,aslocal liturgicalcalendars become consolidated over the course of the fifteenthcentury.As for the rulers themselves, Thomas S. Noonan makes the most of the numismatic evidence to show the fluctuating self-presentationsof Moscow's princes vis-a'-vis both the khans and the regional princes in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, while Gail Lenhoff, looking from the perspective of the ruled, examines 'unofficial'veneration of the Daniilovichi princes. Formost of the contributors'identity'is assumedto be a culturalconstruct, mutable and context-specific. One 'pair' of articles, however, comes at the issue from a quite differentangle, discussingEarlyModern Russiannessas an object, seeking to 'identify' Russian characteristicsfrom an external standpoint . Richard Hellie assertsthat Russian culturewas (and to some extent is) 'right-brained' -not as metaphor but as neurological fact. ForHellie a lack of left-brain development, attributableto low levels of literacy, is the key to understanding a certain lopsideness in Russian culture and even character. Viacheslav V. Ivanov's equally robust riposte derides Hellie as a naive neophyte in the art of neurophysiological explanation, but then proceeds to outline an alternativemodel which isin manywaysno lesscrudelyspeculative. Whether one seekslight or heat, this is a stimulatingand varied collection. Clare College SIMON FRANKLIN University ofCambridge Kolodziejczyk, Dariusz. Ottoman-Polish Diplomatic Relations (I5th-s8th Centu?y): AnAnnotated Edition ofAhdnames' andother Documents. The Ottoman Empire and ItsHeritage:Politics,Society and Economy, I8. Brill,Leiden, Boston and K61n, 2000. XViii+ 721 pp. Notes. Glossary. Bibliography. Maps. Photographicfacsimiles.Index. $207.00. IT is unfortunatethat the dominant image of Polish-Ottoman relationsin the earlymodern period is ofJohn Sobieski'sspectacularreliefof Vienna in I683. For, despite the fact that Sobieski spent most of his reign fighting the Ottomans, the relationship between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empirewas characterizedmore by peace than war. Despite much loose Polishtalkof the Commonwealth as Christendom'santemurale, the maintenance of peace with the Portewas centralto Polishforeignpolicy after the disastrous Varna crusade of I444. For the Ottomans, too, peace with Poland-Lithuaniawasvital, and Polandwas the firstnon-vassalChristianstate which was granted an 'eternal' peace, in I533, which held until it was undermined by the raids of the Ukrainian Cossacks in the early seventeenth century and Sigismund III's close relations to the Austrian Habsburgs. The 340 SEER, 8o, 2, 2002 resultant war was brief, however, and it was only when the Ottomans succumbed to the fear of a Polish-Russian alliance after the I667 Peace of Andrusovo and the temptingofferof the Ukrainianhetman, PetrDoroshenko, to place his Cossacks under Turkish overlordshipthat they abandoned their peaceful strategy.The resultwas the long war againstVenice, the Habsburgs, Poland-Lithuania and Russia, from which both Poland-Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire emerged seriouslyweakened in i 699. Their days as the two dominant powers in easternEuropewere over. The importanceof the Ottoman-Polishrelationshiphas long been obscured fornon-specialistsby the lackof materialavailablein English.The publication of this magnificentwork of scholarshipby the young PolishhistorianDariusz Kolodziejczykis thereforeextremelywelcome. Its centrepiece is an edition of sixty-ninedocuments thirty-twoofwhich arereproducedinphotographs fromthe period I444-1790. All the most importanttreatiesthathave survived are published, with the original texts given in Turkish or Polish, alongside English translations;texts in Latin, Italian and French are rendered in the original.They are prefacedby a long introductionwhich examines the nature of Ottoman and Polish diplomacy and surveysthe relationship between the two powers. Dr Kolodziejczyk's expertise is formidable and he gives a fascinatinginsightinto theproblemsfacingtwoverydifferentculturesevolving a working relationshipdespite all the difficulties.If, for example, expertise in Turkishwas built up by specialistsin the Polish diplomatic service, language did on occasion create problems: in i 62 I, after the successfulPolish defence of Hotin (Chocim, Khotyn), the drawing-upof a treatywas hampered by the fact that Stanislaw Z6rawifiskihad to speak Polish to an intermediary,who translated his words into Romanian...