Chapter 14

201See page189.

202This was a very serious step. See page187.

203See page188.

204See page116.

205The allusion is to the ancient and famous oracle of Zeus at Dodona in Epirus, which is mentioned in theIliadand theOdyssey. The god, according to one legend, was said to dwell in an ancient oak tree, and to give oracles by the rustlings of the branches. These ‘talking oaks’ are alluded to by Æschylus in thePrometheus Vinctus, and by Sophocles in theTrachiniæ. Busbecq’s Latin, ‘A quo in rebus dubiis responsa petuntur,’ is suggested by Virgil’s lines—‘Hinc Italæ gentes omnisque Œnotria tellusIn dubiis responsa petunt.’Æneid, vii. 85.

‘Hinc Italæ gentes omnisque Œnotria tellusIn dubiis responsa petunt.’Æneid, vii. 85.

‘Hinc Italæ gentes omnisque Œnotria tellus

In dubiis responsa petunt.’

Æneid, vii. 85.

206Koniah was the ancient Iconium.

207The Arabic word Memlook or Mameluke means a slave. The first caliphs formed their body-guard of slaves, and in the decadence of the caliphate these slaves, like the Roman prætorians, played a principal part in the numerous revolutions that occurred. It was in Egypt, however, that the Mamelukes attained their highest power. They were Sovereigns of that country for more than 250 years, from the fall of the dynasty of Eyoub to the Ottoman conquest, and even after that event were the real rulers of Egypt till their massacre in the present century by Mehemet Ali. They were composed of three bodies, the Mamelukes, properly so-called, who were of pure Circassian blood; the Djelbans, who were mostly composed of Abyssinian slaves, and the Korsans, an assembly of mercenaries of all nations. They were governed by twenty-four beys, over whom was a Sultan. Their dominion extended over Egypt and Syria with the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and the adjacent parts of Arabia. Selim I., Solyman’s father, after his victorious campaign against Shah Ismael attacked the Mamelukes, defeated and killed their Sultan, Kausson Ghawri, near Aleppo (Aug. 24, 1516), and, marching into Egypt, defeated Touman Bey, the new Sultan, at Ridania (January 22nd), and added Syria and Egypt to his empire. When in Egypt, he induced the last of the Fatimite caliphs, who had been a puppet in the hands of the Mamelukes, to transfer that dignity to himself and his successors. It is in virtue of this transaction that the present Sultan and his predecessors since the time of Selim have claimed to be the head of the Mahommedan faith throughout the world. See Von Hammer, book xxiv.

208The Kurds are descended from the Carduchi or Gordiæans of the ancients. (See Xenophon,Anabasis, iv.) They have gradually advanced from their original mountain homes into the plains in the south-east of Armenia and the north of Mesopotamia. They are a warlike race, and much addicted to brigandage.

209See note, page108.

210‘The most remarkable building in Koniah is the tomb of a saint, highly renowned throughout Turkey, called Haznet Mevlana, the founder of the Mevlevi Dervishes. His sepulchre, which is the object of a Mussulman pilgrimage, is surmounted by a dome, standing upon a cylindrical tower of a bright green colour.’—Leake,Asia Minor, p. 50.

211May 29, 1559, was the date of the battle.

212See note 2, page153.

213Compare the account of the Turkish horses and equipments seen by Evelyn in 1684:—‘It was judged by the spectators, among whom was the King, Prince of Denmark, Duke of York, and several of the Court, that there were never seene any horses in these parts to be compar’d with them. Add to all this, the furniture, consisting of embroidery on the saddle, houseings, quiver, bow, arrows, scymetar, sword, mace or battle-axeà la Turcisq, the Bashaw’s velvet mantle furred with the most perfect ermine I ever beheld; all which, yron-worke in common furniture, being here of silver, curiously wrought and double-gilt, to an incredible value. Such and so extraordinary was the embrodery, that I never saw anything approching it. The reins and headstall were of crimson silk, cover’d with chaines of silver gilt. There was also a Turkish royal standard of an horse’s taile, together with all sorts of other caparisons belonging to a general’s horse, by which one may estimate how gallantly and magnificently those infidels appeare in the field, for nothing could be seene more glorious.’—Evelyn,Diary, p. 461.

213Compare the account of the Turkish horses and equipments seen by Evelyn in 1684:—

‘It was judged by the spectators, among whom was the King, Prince of Denmark, Duke of York, and several of the Court, that there were never seene any horses in these parts to be compar’d with them. Add to all this, the furniture, consisting of embroidery on the saddle, houseings, quiver, bow, arrows, scymetar, sword, mace or battle-axeà la Turcisq, the Bashaw’s velvet mantle furred with the most perfect ermine I ever beheld; all which, yron-worke in common furniture, being here of silver, curiously wrought and double-gilt, to an incredible value. Such and so extraordinary was the embrodery, that I never saw anything approching it. The reins and headstall were of crimson silk, cover’d with chaines of silver gilt. There was also a Turkish royal standard of an horse’s taile, together with all sorts of other caparisons belonging to a general’s horse, by which one may estimate how gallantly and magnificently those infidels appeare in the field, for nothing could be seene more glorious.’—Evelyn,Diary, p. 461.

214See note, page87.

215In Busbecq’s time it was the fashion in Europe to wear clothes with slashes or eyelet-holes. Compare page155.

216See note, page229.

217See page101.

218‘Cedo alteram,’ the original Latin, is a quotation from Tacitus. (Annals, i. 23).

219SeeSketch of Hungarian History.

220The Persian dominions were bounded on the east by the country now known as Afghanistan, which then formed part of the empire of the Mogul Emperors, or Padischahs, of Delhi, the second of whom was Humayoum, the father of the famous Akbar. During his life of forty-nine years Humayoum experienced extraordinary changes of fortune, losing his throne, and being obliged, after undergoing the greatest hardships and dangers in his flight through the desert, to take refuge with Shah Tahmasp. Eventually he regained his dominions, and at his death in 1556 was the ruler of Cabul and Candahar, and also of the Punjaub, together with Delhi and Agra and the adjoining parts of India.

221Shah Ismael was the founder of the dynasty of the Sofis or Saffis, so called from Sheik Suffee-u-deen of Ardebil, a devotee renowned for his sanctity, from whom Shah Ismael was the sixth in descent. His father, Hyder, on the death of his uncle and father-in-law Uzun Hussun, the prince of the dynasty of the White Sheep, invaded Shirwan at the head of a body of partisans. He made his troops wear red turbans, whence, according to one account, comes the name of Kizilbash (Red Heads), by which the Persians were known among the Turks. Hyder was killed in battle, and his sons were thrown into prison, but they afterwards escaped. The eldest was killed in battle, the second died in Ghilan, Ismael, the youngest, in 1499, at the age of fourteen, took the field against the Turkomans, who were then in possession of the greater part of Persia, and in the course of four campaigns succeeded in establishing his authority throughout the country. His family claimed descent from the seventh Imaum, and their great ancestor, Ali, was the special object of their reverence. The very name of Schiah, which means a sectary, and which Ismael’s enemies had given him as a reproach, became a title in which he gloried. When Sultan Selim I. massacred his co-religionists (see note page 161), the natural consequence was a war between Turkey and Persia. The Turkish army advanced through Kurdistan and Azerbijan on Tabriz, which was then the Persian capital. They were much embarrassed by want of provisions, as the Persians retired, laying waste the country in their retreat. A threatened mutiny among the Janissaries was quelled only by Selim’s presence of mind and resolution. Ismael at last abandoned his Fabian tactics, and took up a position in the valley of Tschaldiran, some 30 miles south-east of Bayezid. A bloody and fiercely contested battle (August 23, 1514) ended in the complete victory of Selim, which he owed mainly to his artillery and the firearms of the Janissaries. This success was followed by the occupation of Tabriz, but Selim was obliged by the discontent of his troops to return homewards. The acquisition of Diarbekir and Kurdistan was, however, the result of this campaign. Apart from his defeat by Selim, Ismael reigned with unbroken success till his death in 1523. He was succeeded by his son Shah Tahmasp.—See Malcolm,History of Persia, i. ch. 12.

222SeeSketch of Hungarian History.

223See note, page229.

224‘The youths among the Christian tribute children most conspicuous for birth, talent, and beauty were admitted into the inferior class ofagiamoglansor the more liberal rank ofichoglans, of whom the former were attached to the palace and the latter to the person of the prince.’—Gibbon, ch. lxv. Busbecq, in hisArt of War against the Turks, gives an account of the method by which the Turkish army was recruited from the children of Christians. Every year the Sultan sent to his different provinces, and took one out of every three or four of the boys. When they arrived at Constantinople, the handsomest and cleverest were placed in the households of the Sultan and Pashas. Of the rest some were hired out to farmers, &c., and the remainder employed in public works. The former were fed and clothed by their masters, till they grew up, when they were drafted into the ranks of the Janissaries, as vacancies occurred. Those who were placed in the Sultan’s household often rose to the highest offices of the state. The last of these levies of Christian children was made in 1638.—Von Hammer, book xlviii. tome ix. p. 325.

225In the account of the Shah’s dealings with Bajazet, we have followed the readings given in all the editions prior to the Elzevir. See Appendix,List of Editions.

226‘The Persians dwell with rapture on the character of Ismael, deeming him not only the founder of a great dynasty, but the person to whom the faith they glory in owes its establishment as a national religion.’—Malcolm,History of Persia, i. p. 328. On his accession Ismael declared Schiism to be the national religion. See also note 2, p.299and note p.161.

227For a fuller account of the siege and capture of Gerba or Djerbé or Gelves the reader is referred to Prescott’sPhilip II., vol. ii. book iv. chap. 1, and Von Hammer, book xxxiii. The Spanish historians cited by Prescott are so conflicting that he defies the reader to reconcile them, but Busbecq’s narrative, as far as it goes, may be considered of the highest authority, as no doubt it was founded on what he heard from his friend Don Alvaro de Sandé, who commanded the garrison. In the spring of 1559 the Duke of Medina Celi, the Viceroy of Sicily, was ordered to fit out an expedition against Tripoli and its corsairs, to which Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Sicily, Genoa, and Malta furnished contingents. John Andrew Doria, nephew of the great Andrew Doria, commanded the Genoese forces. The fleet consisted of more than 100 sail, including 54 galleys, and had 14,000 troops on board. The armament assembled at Syracuse, from which they sailed in November. They met with such bad weather, however, that they were forced to put into Malta, where they stayed more than two months refitting. So much time had now been lost, that they gave up the attempt on Tripoli as hopeless, and attacked Djerbé instead. They took it without much difficulty on March 14, and spent two months there fortifying it, and placed in it a garrison of 5,000 men, commanded by Don Alvaro de Sandé. As the troops were preparing to re-embark, news was brought of the approach of the Turkish fleet. A council of war was held, in which opinions were divided; but the arrival of the Turkish fleet under the command of Pialé, which included 86 galleys, each with 100 Janissaries on board, saved them the trouble of deciding (May 14). The Christians were seized with panic. Many of their ships were sunk, and many more surrendered. A few took refuge under the guns of the fortress. The Duke of Medina Celi and Doria were among those who escaped, and they took advantage of the darkness of the following night to fly to Sicily in a frigate. Next morning Pialé commenced the siege. After a breach had been made, he assaulted the fortress, but was repulsed with great loss, and several other attacks of the Turks met with the same fate. The siege lasted nearly three months, although at the end of six weeks provisions and water had begun to fail. On July 31, 1560, two hours before dawn, Don Alvaro, accompanied by hardly 1,000 men, sallied out and tried to cut his way through, with the intention of seizing a vessel and escaping, but the attempt proved unsuccessful, and the same day the rest of the garrison surrendered. On September 27 the victorious fleet returned to Constantinople, as described in the text. Don Alvaro lived to take ample vengeance for all he had suffered. When the Spaniards raised the siege of Malta in 1565 Don Alvaro, as second in command, again encountered his old opponent Pialé. The gallant Spaniard was in the thick of the fighting, had a horse killed under him, and was one of those who contributed most to the defeat of the Turks.

228Chios was first brought under the immediate dominion of the Sultan by Pialé Pasha in 1566, though it had previously acknowledged his suzerainty and paid tribute. It had been conquered by the Genoese admiral, Simon Vignoso, in 1346. The form of government was so peculiar as to deserve some notice. It is the first example of the territorial administration of a mercantile company of shareholders exercising in a distant country all the duties of a sovereign. Of this form of government the East India Company is the best known specimen. The Genoese treasury in 1346 was so exhausted that the funds for fitting out the twenty-nine galleys of Vignoso’s fleet were raised by private citizens, who subscribed the money in shares. The Republic promised to secure them against all loss, and pledged a portion of its annual revenue to pay the interest. After the conquest of Chios, Vignoso, in virtue of the full powers with which he was invested, established a committee of the subscribers, who administered the Government of Chios, and collected the revenues under the sovereignty of the Republic of Genoa. The contributors had formed themselves into a joint-stock company, according to the established usage at Genoa; and this society or maona assumed the name of the Maona of Scio. The Republic being unable to repay the advances, a convention was concluded between the State and the Maona, by which the shareholders were recognised as the lawful proprietors and administrators of Chios, subject to the terms on which the Greek population had capitulated, for a term of twenty years, during which the Republic reserved the right of resuming possession of the island on repayment of the sum advanced. This, however, the Republic was never able to do, so the arrangement became permanent. The greater part of the shares passed into the hands of the family, or, more correctly speaking, the firm of the Justiniani, and the Joint-Stock Company of Scio was generally called the Maona of the Justiniani. For further details as to the Government of Scio while held by this company, see Finlay,History of Greece, vol. v. ch. ii., from which this note is taken. It must, however, be added that the Government of the company, notwithstanding its defects, was for a long period the least oppressive in the Levant.

229Petremol, the French chargé d’affaires, mentions some Spanish slaves being brought to Constantinople from Chios. The Sultan, it was said, did not intend to keep them in servitude, but wished to see whether Roostem’s contention was true, namely, that Pialé had stolen all the prisoners of high rank, and had presented to the Sultan, under the names of the different officers, common soldiers who could pay no ransom. Charrière,Négotiations de la France dans le Levant, ii. 671.

230Adam von Dietrichstein was born in 1527. He accompanied Maximilian on his journey to Spain, when he went to marry his cousin, the Infanta Maria. In 1561 he was sent by Maximilian to the Pope as ambassador. Maximilian appointed him his High Chamberlain in 1563, and sent him to conduct his sons to Spain as head of their household. Busbecq therefore served under him on this mission (see page 61). About the same time Ferdinand appointed him his ambassador to Spain, and after Ferdinand’s death he remained there as Maximilian’s representative. In this post he had the delicate task of keeping the bigoted Philip and the tolerant Maximilian on friendly terms. In 1573 he escorted the Archdukes home, and was appointed Privy Councillor and Governor of Rodolph’s household. He died in 1590, and was buried at Prague, at the feet of his master Maximilian. He married in 1555 Margaret, daughter of Don Antonio de Cardona.

231In Wervicq Church, about a mile from Busbecq’s home, stands a life-size figure of a galley-slave, with this inscription: ‘Vrais Chrétiens, soyez touchés de cœur à faire charité aux esclaves Chrétiens.’ The utter, hopeless misery there depicted illustrates the force of this appeal.

232July 8, 1561.

233See page157.

234One of the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmora, where the British Fleet was stationed during the spring of 1878.

235We have here a good description of a serious attack of the plague. Compare pages 163-4.

236Busbecq went there in the beginning of August 1561. He was accompanied by a cavasse, and twenty Janissaries as a guard. Charrière,Négotiations de la France dans le Levant, ii. 668-9.

237These references are to Cicero,De Naturâ Deorum, ii. cap. 48, andDe Finibus, iii. cap. 19; Pliny,Natural History, ix. cap. 66, andAthenæus, iii. p. 93. For descriptions and figures of the pinna and pinnophylax or pea-crab, see Wood’sNatural History, pages 422 and 588. They are frequently found in the shells of bivalves. The real reason for this habit is not certainly known. For an account of Belon, see note, page140.

238This passage illustrates the statement in theLife, pages 50, 51.

239In ancient times, and now in the English Church, the title of Metropolitan (Archbishop) was confined to the chief bishop of a province; but in the Greek Church at the present day the title is given to many ordinary bishops.

240See pp.113,114.

241After the Spaniards, in 1533, abandoned the fortress of Coron in the Morea, some Greeks, who had taken their part, fled with them to Charles V. Among them was one James Heraclides, whose ancestors had been Despots, or Lords, of Samos and Paros. In his suite was a lad named John Basilicus, the son of a ship-captain in Crete. He took a fancy to the young man, and had him educated, and for some years he worked as a copyist in the Vatican library. On the death of his patron, John persuaded his household to acknowledge him as the nephew of their deceased master by allowing them to take possession of the property left by him, only keeping for himself all the diplomas, title-deeds and other documents he could find. Many years afterwards he repaired to Charles V. in his retirement at Yuste, and obtained from him an acknowledgment that he was nephew and heir of Heraclides, and as such was recognised by him as Despot of Samos and Paros. Charles V. also acknowledged the good service he had done while in the Albanian light cavalry attached to the Spanish army, and according to some accounts gave him the right of conferring the degree of Doctor and creating Notaries and Poet-Laureates. Armed with these credentials he repaired to Wittenberg, where he became acquainted with Melancthon, published an historical work in Latin, and with the Emperor’s consent exercised his powers by creating some Poet-Laureates. At Lubeck he assumed the character of a prince banished by the Turks, and thence repaired to the courts of Denmark and Sweden, and next went by Dantzic to Albert of Brandenberg, the first Duke of Prussia. He then visited Nicholas Radzivill at Wilna, who introduced him to Sigismund, King of Poland. To gain Radzivill’s favour he professed himself a Protestant. In Poland he heard of the disturbed state of Moldavia, and found that the wife of the Hospodar Alexander was a kinswoman of his pretended uncle. Armed with letters of recommendation from Radzivill and the King, he entered Moldavia, assumed the name of James Heraclides, and on the strength of a forged pedigree, passed himself off as a descendant of the ancient Moldavian dynasty of that name. He applied himself to learn the language and to gain the affections of the nobles. Thereon Alexander, who at first had received him well, tried to poison him, but he escaped to Upper Hungary; here he obtained the assistance of Albert Laszky and would have invaded Moldavia through Ruthenia, if the Palatine had not stopped him by the King of Poland’s orders. He then retired to Kaschau, where he gained the confidence of Busbecq’s old colleague Zay, then Governor of Upper Hungary. Having come to an understanding between themselves, they wrote to Ferdinand, who entered into a secret agreement to assist Basilicus with money, and allow him to levy troops in his dominions. To lull the suspicions of Alexander, a report of Basilicus’s death was circulated, and his funeral was actually performed by Laszky at Kesmark, the capital of the County of Zips. His second invasion proved more successful. In November, 1561, he defeated Alexander near Suczawa, who fled to Jassy, and thence to Constantinople. There he endeavoured to prejudice the Sultan against him, and spread reports that he was about to invade Thrace with his German mercenaries. Though Solyman was much annoyed at these events, and had commenced to assemble an army to attack the Despot, yet he deemed it wiser to dissemble his vexation, and, yielding to the representations of the Despot’s envoys, which were supported by a judicious administration of bribes, he conferred on him the vacant dignity. The Despot, however, soon made himself unpopular by raising the taxes, which he was obliged to do in order to provide the increased tribute he had agreed to pay, Alexander having carried off all the money in the treasury. Moreover, to save expense he dismissed his German and Italian troops, retaining only Hungarians. The priests and common people were alienated by his religious innovations, especially as they could not refute his arguments, ‘having learnt to worship God with more zeal than knowledge.’ He declared his intention of abolishing vain ceremonies and false doctrines, and introduced Calvinist preachers from Poland, who ridiculed the mass-books, expressed their abhorrence of all ceremonies, destroyed images, and, in the words of the episcopal historian, had the arrogance to affirm that their doctrines agreed with the testimony of the Scriptures. He began to plunder the churches of their treasures, plate, &c., which made the priests fear their turn would come next. His crowning act of sacrilege was to melt down certain silver crosses, venerable both from their age and the relics they contained, and to coin them into pieces bearing his image and superscription. The nobles were further estranged by his projected marriage with the beautiful Christina, daughter of Martin Zborowski, Castellan of Cracow, a man of great influence in Poland, and the leader of the Protestant party. Accordingly, they conspired against him, treacherously surprised and killed most of his foreign guards, his other partisans, and his infant child, and besieged him in Suczawa. After three months his Hungarian troops mutinied and surrendered the fortress, and he was cruelly murdered by Tomza, the leader of the conspirators.

242See note, page226.

243The farewell audience took place on the Tuesday before September, 10, 1559. Apparently, however, it was on June 6 that Lavigne procured the release of the prisoners. The Baily, Marini di Cavallo, was much annoyed at the favour, which had been refused to his entreaties and bribes, being granted to Lavigne. ‘Et il ne s’est peu tenir, tout saige etcavalloqu’il est, de se faire cognoistre fol etasino: car usant de paroles magnifiques et de ceste bonne créance de Realto contre moy, au lieu de me louer et vous faire remercier par sa seigneurie d’une si bonne œuvre qu’il n’eust jamais sceu mectre à fin, soubz main il a tasché de faire dresser les commandements desdits pellerins en son nom, et de corrompre l’ambassadeur du roy des Romains (Busbecq) affin qu’il escripvit à l’empéreur que c’estoit à la requeste de ladicte seigneurie qu’ils avoient esté déliverez.’—Charrière,Négociations&c., ii. 584.

244It is curious to find that some Goths still existed in the Crimea so late as Busbecq’s days. They occupied the south coast from Balaklava to Sudak, and the mountains north of the latter, and the Genoese officer who governed this coast in the fifteenth century, bore the title of Capitanus Gotiæ. They are mentioned by the monk Rubruquis, who was sent in 1253 by Saint Louis to the Great Khan, and also by Marco Polo, (book iv. c. 24, Yule’s edition, ii. p. 421 and note). The traveller Pallas, at the end of the last century, could find no traces of them or of their language, so that he thinks (Travels, vol. ii. p. 358), that Busbecq’s belief in their existence must have arisen from some German, Swedish, or other captives being found in the Crimea. Busbecq, however, is not the only writer who notices these Goths, and it is not difficult to understand that the tribe may have disappeared before the time of Pallas in the numerous wars which devastated the Crimea. The ruins of Mancup still remain, four leagues south of Simferopol, and nearly due east of Sebastopol. It is an almost inaccessible fortress, on a high isolated rock. Pallas describes the ruins of it in the second volume of hisTravels. One of Gibbon’s numerous references to Busbecq is found in a note to Chapter xl., where he alludes to ‘these unambitious Goths.’

245The Flemish is not given by Busbecq, but has been taken by the translators from an article on Busbecq inLes Voyageurs Belges, ii. p. 30, by the Baron de Saint-Génois,

246This is a mistake on Busbecq’s part. The first German immigrants came to Transylvania at the invitation of Geisa II., king of Hungary, in the times of Conrad III. and Frederick Barbarossa,i.e., about the middle of the twelfth century. Most of them came from the Lower Rhine. They still form distinct communities, marrying only among themselves, and are known as Saxons.

247See note 1, page415.

248A similar legend is told of St. Raymond, a Spanish saint, who lived in the thirteenth century. He was confessor to Don James, King of Aragon. In the words of Mrs. Jameson (Legends of the Monastic Orders, p. 421), ‘the latter’ (the King) ‘had but one fault; he was attached to a certain beauty of his court from whom Raymond in vain endeavoured to detach him. When the King summoned his confessor to attend him to Majorca, the saint refused unless the lady were left; the King affected to yield, but soon after their arrival in Majorca, Raymond discovered that the lady was also there in the disguise of a page; he remonstrated; the King grew angry; Raymond intimated his resolution to withdraw to Spain; the King forbad any vessel to leave the port, and made it death to any person to convey him from the island. The result is thus gravely related: St. Raymond, full of confidence in God, said to his companion, “An earthly King has deprived us of the means of escape, but a heavenly King will supply them!” Then walking up to a rock which projected into the sea, he spread his cloak on the waters, and setting his staff upright and tying one corner to it for a sail, he made the sign of the cross, and boldly embarked in this new kind of vessel. He was wafted over the surface of the ocean with such rapidity that in six hours he reached Barcelona. This stupendous miraclemightperhaps have been doubted, if five hundred credible witnesses had not seen the saint land on the quay at Barcelona, take up his cloak, which was not even wetted by the waves, throw it round him, and retire modestly to his cell; more like an humble penitent than one in whose favour Heaven had so wonderfully wrought.’

249This feat is by no means impossible. See Hone’sEveryday Book, ii. p. 771-9.

250A receipt by which this feat may be accomplished is given in theBooke of Secretsof Albertus Magnus, imprinted at London by H. Jackson. ‘Take the juice of Bismalua, and the white of an egge, and the seed of an herb called Psillium, also Pulicarius herba, and break it into powder, and make a confection, and myxe the juice of Radysh with the white of an egge. Anoynt thy body or hand with this confection, and let it be dryed, and after anoynte it againe; after that thou mayest suffer boldely the fire without hurt.’ (See Hone’sEveryday Book, ii. p. 774.) Similar feats were performed before Evelyn. (Diary, p. 370.)

251See note, page226.

252Treaty of Cateau Cambrésis, concluded between France and Spain, April 3, 1559.

253‘Alvaro de Sandé fit tres bien à la bataille de Gerbes, là où combattant vaillamment il fut pris et mené à Constantinople en signe de triumphe et presenté au grand Solyman, qui le fit garder fort curieusement et estroictment, en faisant serment sur son grand dieu Mahom(!) qu’il ne luy feroit jamais plus la guerre, et qu’il vieilliroit et mourroit en prison sans le vouloir jamais mettre à rançon; car il sçavoit bien que le roy d’Espagne son maistre le rechapteroit de beaucoup. Enfin, voyant que pour or ny argent il ne le pouvoit faire rançonner ny avoir, il envoya prier avec grande suplication le roy Charles, son beau et bon frere, par le moyen de ceste bonne Reyne d’Espaigne sa sœur, d’envoyer une ambassade vers le Grand Seigneur pour le luy demander et le luy donner; dont le Roy (comme je le vis moy estant lors à la Cour) despescha aussitost M. le chevalier de Salvyaty, qui a esté depuis premier escuyer de la reyne de Navarre, homme fort digne pour ceste charge, et fort habile, qu en fit l’ambassade, avec danger de sa vie, pourtant qu’il courut par les chemins, me dict il à son retour. Le Grand Seigneur du commancement en fit un peu de refus à ce qu’il me dict; mais vaincu par prieres du Roy, il ne l’en voulut refuser, et le luy accorda pour la premiere demande qu’il luy avoit faicte, parce que c’estoit son avenement à la couronne: outre plus, luy envoya les plus belles offres du monde. Par ainsy ledict chevalier s’en retourna libre avec son prisonnier, qui ne pensoit rien moins à cela devoir à nostre Roy sa vie et sa liberté.’—Brantôme, i. 218.It is needless to point out the absurdities and gross inaccuracies of this account, which is given by Salviati’s friend. It is contradicted by the despatches of the French representative at Constantinople, which show that Salviati’s mission was a complete failure: ‘Solyman ne se souvenant plus de ses parolles et de ce qu’il avoit escrit au roy dernièrement par M. le chevalier Salviati, que sa foy ne permettoit point de délivrer les chrestiens pris en bataille, accorda la délivrance desdits trois chevaliers espagnols, à la premiere requeste et instance que Ferdinand luy en a faicte soubz ombre de cent cinquante esclaves turcqs qu’ilz ont promis dellivrer.’—Charrière, Négotiations de la France dans le Levant, ii. 704.

It is needless to point out the absurdities and gross inaccuracies of this account, which is given by Salviati’s friend. It is contradicted by the despatches of the French representative at Constantinople, which show that Salviati’s mission was a complete failure: ‘Solyman ne se souvenant plus de ses parolles et de ce qu’il avoit escrit au roy dernièrement par M. le chevalier Salviati, que sa foy ne permettoit point de délivrer les chrestiens pris en bataille, accorda la délivrance desdits trois chevaliers espagnols, à la premiere requeste et instance que Ferdinand luy en a faicte soubz ombre de cent cinquante esclaves turcqs qu’ilz ont promis dellivrer.’—Charrière, Négotiations de la France dans le Levant, ii. 704.

254‘Quant à l’aultre point des chevalliers espagnols délivrez, Ali me dit que certainement leur foy ne permettoit point délivrer les chrestiens pris en bataille, mais que le Grand Seigneur ayant remis ce pesché sur ses bassats, ils avoient trouvé par leur loy que pour eschange d’esclaves en tel nombre que les Espagnols promettent, et faire un bien public comme la paix, leur foy, comme par une indulgence spécialle, permettoit ladite délivrance.’—Charrière, ii. 706.

255See page156.

256These ants are mentioned first by Herodotus, iii. c. 102, where he gives an account of the stratagem by which the Indians steal the gold thrown up by them as they burrow. The most plausible conjecture is that which identifies this animal with the Pangolin or Ant-eater. See Blakesley’s and Rawlinson’s notes on the passage, in the latter of which the statement in the text is referred to.

257This headdress must have resembled that of the Janissaries Busbecq saw at Buda. See p.87and note.

258Aleppo is really a considerable distance from the Euphrates.

259The date of Bajazet’s death was September 25, 1561.

260See note, page108.

261SeeSketch of Hungarian History.

262Compare page 159.

263Theriac, the original form of the word treacle, is derived from θηρίον, i.e. a venomous serpent (see Acts xxviii. 4). It originally meant a confection of vipers’ flesh, which was popularly believed to be the most potent antidote to vipers’ poison. Hence the word came to mean any antidote against poison.

264The value of this balsam is illustrated by the amusing account of the adventures in Ireland of Jean de Montluc, Bishop of Valence, given by Sir James Melville in hisMemoirs(page 10, Bannatyne Club edition). Like his friend Busbecq (see vol. ii. p.34,Letter to Maximilian, XI.) he had been ambassador at the Turkish Court, and was afterwards sent in the same capacity to Scotland. On his return he paid a visit to Ireland to intrigue with the chieftains who were hostile to England. Melville, then a boy of fourteen, was sent back with him by Mary of Guise, the Queen Regent, to be a page to her daughter Queen Mary. They landed on Shrove Tuesday, 1550, in Lough Foyle, and were taken to Odocarte’s house. A woman, who had been brought to entertain the bishop, and was kept quietly in his chamber, ‘found a little glass within a case standing in a window, for the coffers were all wet by the sea waves that fell in the ship during the storm. But she believed it had been ordained to eat, because it had an odoriphant smell; therefore she licked it clean out; which put the bishop in such a rage that he cried out for impatience.... But the Irishmen and his own servants laughed at the matter, for it was a phial of the only most precious balm that grew in Egypt, which Solyman the great Turk had given in a present to the said bishop, after he had been two years ambassador for the King of France in Turkey, and was esteemed worth two thousand crowns.’

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