Feast Given to Habsburg Ambassadors in the Period of Mahmud I [1730-1754]

Abstract

Diplomacy is a concept that finds a solution to the existing problem via negotiation by analysing international relations. Governments create their specific diplomacy rules by developing this concept within them. Ottoman Empire, which had a well-set history, also maintained its relations with other nations by developing its own diplomacy rules in time through ambassadors. Ambassadors, who take on significant tasks in maintaining international relations, played great roles in diplomacy. In this paper, “The Banquet Issue” applied during ambassador appointments in Ottoman diplomacy is handled specifically to banquets thrown for Habsburg ambassadors under the rule of Sultan Mahmud I (1730-1754). At this point, the primary purpose of the research is to present the banquets that were thrown for Habsburg ambassadors that came under the rule of Mahmud I via the appointments of ambassadors in general. In this paper, detections and evaluations outlineof the acceptance of three ambassadors (Leopold von Talman, Anton Korfiz Ulefeld, Heinrich Freiherr von Penckler) that came from Austria under the rule of Mahmud I in sublime Porte and the deals and expenses that were made for them with banquets that were thrown. Archive records, chronicles, protocol books, and other research works of that time were made use of for related detections. After the research, it was concluded that during the reign of Mahmud I, the ambassadors from Austria were treated in accordance with the general envoy acceptance trends in the Ottoman Empire, and the differences were due to differences such as the period and the status of the ambassador's arrival.