Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Spessert BR Essay
Spessert BR Essay
Instanbul
A Tale of Three Cities
Bettany Hughes, Da Capo Press,
New York, 2017, 856 pages
attempt to stem the advance of the Seljuk Turks Emperor Hadrian. Within sixty years, the Sunni
across Byzantine lands had three major consequenc- Ottomans overcame challenges in their territory from
es. First, the Turkish victory galvanized their tribes, the Persians, claimed that the Sunni Mamluks in Egypt
increased their ambitions, and emboldened the Turkic supported the Shia Persians, and declared holy war to
polity. Second, the West believed that Byzantium justify their expansion through the Middle East and
could no longer protect the Christian east. Third, North Africa. In the process, the Ottomans conquered
Constantinople decided to invite the West to assist in Mecca, Medina, and Cairo. As a result, the Ottomans
its security, resulting in the Crusades. controlled the Hajj route to Mecca, the Mufti in Cairo
Conventional wisdom conveys that partic- became the Grand Mufti of the Ottoman Empire, and
ipants of the Fourth Crusade, on their way to Ottoman politicians and Sunni clerics could argue that
the Holy Land in 1204, decided to stop and sack the sultan in Istanbul was Islam’s caliph.
Constantinople. Hughes gives the back story: this oc- Istanbul became a center for trade and refuge;
curred only after Prince Alexios, son of the previous- when Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Spain expelled
ly deposed Emperor Isaac II, failed to pay the debt the Jews from Spain in 1492, the Sultan welcomed
he owed the Venetians for putting him on the throne them into the Ottoman Empire. Hughes asserts
the preceding year. Seeking recompense for their in- how England’s Henry VIII fancied Turkish styles at
vestment, the Venetian elite reminded the crusaders court. In 1570, while other European powers formed
of centuries-old “doctrinal disputes,” leveraged new the Holy League to protect Christian interests in
siege weapons, emplaced siege ladders on their ships’ the eastern Mediterranean from Turkic advanc-
masts to aid getting over the walls, and seized the es, Elizabeth I allied with the Ottomans to protect
city. They carted off treasures back to Venice and extensive trade and economic interests. The author
set fires in Constantinople that destroyed homes, depicts Istanbul’s various engagements with Arabs,
libraries, and the silk industry, which never recov- Europeans, Persians, and Russians; human trafficking
ered. Over time, Ottoman forces enveloped the cap- in the form of janissaries and the white slave trade;
ital. After eight hundred years of coveting the city, smallpox; textiles; and tulips. She continues with
Muslims acquired Constantinople; it fell to them Western support for nationalist groups seeking in-
in 1453. Seizure and regime change required prepa- dependence from Ottoman rule and the experiment
ration and allies. The author informs readers that with the secularization of society.
the Ottomans had inhabited part of Constantinople Students and readers of history, whether of clas-
fifty years before Mehmed the Conqueror’s cannons sical, medieval, European, Mid-Eastern, or military,
bombarded the walls. He spared attacking the island will find Istanbul an asset. Military history appears
of Galata as quid pro quo for Genoese merchant predominately at the political-military and the-
cooperation in taking the city. ater-strategic levels. Those previously only exposed
Ottoman expansion from Konstantiniyye—later to American or West European history will find this
rebranded as “Islam-bol,” for “Islam abounds”—its later a superb book to expand their perspective; it makes
demise, and its role in modern day Turkey occupy the an outstanding relevant text for any world history or
remaining twenty chapters in Parts 7 and 8. As rul- global studies reading list.
er, Mehmed quickly instituted an Ottoman taxation The Brits demarcated the globe for navigational
scheme to turn his military victory into an economic purposes and ran the “0 degree” longitude, the bound-
success, and he commenced the construction of a new ary between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres,
imperial palace. Originally an administrative center, through Greenwich. After devouring Istanbul: A Tale
the palace became a large and lavish sacred fortress that of Three Cities, one can assert that an alternative loca-
provided religious justification for dominance. Hughes tion that reflects the cultural, historical, political, and
describes its grandeur and splendor. Within seven theological significance where East and West symbol-
years, the Ottoman capital moved there from Edirne, ically meet would be almost 29 degrees further east so
the former Adrianople in Thrace, founded by Roman that it runs through Istanbul.