Persia

Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 4: Sickness & Heat, Melons & Meat

Miran Shah - Brooklyn Museum

Miran Shah - Brooklyn Museum

Clavijo and his Castilian fellow travellers continue the journey toward Timur, cutting across northern Iran and dealing with sickness and heat. On the upside, there will be melons and a great deal of wine. There will also be visit with Timur's potentially problematic son.

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Sources:

  • Narrative of the embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the court of Timour at Samarcand, A.D. 1403-6, translated by Clements R. Markham. Hakluyt Society, 1859.

  • Embassy to Tamerlane: 1403-1406, translated by Guy le Strange. Routledge, 2005.

  • Manz, Beatrice Forbes. The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane. Cambridge University Press, 1999.

  • Manz, Beatrice Forbes. Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran. Cambridge University Press, 2007.


Edward Webbe: His Trials, Travels, and Job Application

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Edward Webbe was, maybe, a 16th-Century adventurer who moved in and out of captivity and other forms of trouble. His troubles took him from Elizabethan England to Muscovy, Crimea, Constantinople, Italy, and possibly to Persia and the lands of Prester John. On the way, there will be slavery, warfare, unicorns, and one man's quest for gainful employment. Thanks for listening! 

(MP3) 

If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here


Thomas Dallam 1: Jenkinson and the Safavid Shah

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We begin the journey of Thomas Dallam, Elizabethan organ-maker and ill-prepared ambassador to the Ottoman Sultan. This first episode, we're not actually going to get to Dallam though. We're setting the stage, introducing some of the background, and following a man named Jenkinson to Safavid Persia. Jenkinson is an interesting figure in his own right, and it's also a way to dip into the world of trade and diplomacy that Dallam was going to find himself in. Thanks for listening!

(MP3

If you like what you hear, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources for Dallam series:

  • Early Voyages and Travels in the Levant, edited by J. Theodore Bent. Hakluyt Society, 1893.
  • Andrews, Kenneth. Trade, Plunder, and Settlement. Cambridge University Press, 1984.
  • Brotton, Jerry. The Sultan and the Queen. Viking, 2016. 
  • Dallam, Thomas. The Sultan's Organ: London to Constantinople in 1599 and Adventures on the Way, translated by John Mole. Fortune, 2012.
  • Finkel, Caroline. Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. Basic Books, 2007.
  • Jardine, Lisa. “Gloriana Rules the Waves: or, the Advantage of Being Excommunicated (and a Woman).” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society No. 14 (2004): 209–22.
  • Jenkinson, Anthony, et al. Early Voyages and Travels to Russia and Persia. Hakluyt Society, 1886.
  • Maclean, Gerald. The Rise of Oriental Travel: English Visitors to the Ottoman Empire, 1580-1720. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
  • Mayes, Stanley. An Organ for the Sultan. Putnam, 1956.
  • Pedani, Maria Pia. "Safiye's household and Venetian diplomacy." Turcica, no. 32 (2000): pp. 9–32.
  • Sanderson, John. The Travels of John Sanderson in the Levant 1584-1602, edited by Sir William FosterHakluyt Society, 1931.
  • Somerset, Anne. Elizabeth I. Anchor, 2010.
  • Vlami, Despina. Trading with the Ottomans: The Levant Company in the Middle East. I.B.Tauris, 2015.
  • Willan, Thomas Stuart. Studies in Elizabethan Foreign Trade. Manchester University Press, 1959.
  • Wood, Alfred C. A History of the Levant Company. Frank Cass & Co. Ltd, 2006.