The Ottomans and Eastern Europe: Borders and Political Patronage in the Early Modern World

Description

In the seventeenth century, previously peaceful relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth deteriorated into a series of military confrontations over the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. Although scholars have generally interpreted this rivalry in terms of conflicting geopolitical interests, this state-centred approach ignores one of the most important developments of the period: the devolution of power away from rulers and formal institutions towards political factions. Drawing on Ottoman, Polish and Romanian sources, The Ottomans and Eastern Europe explores the complex interplay between regional politics and the rise of factionalism, focusing on cross-border patronage between Ottoman, Polish-Lithuanian and Moldavian elites. By approaching the history of the region from a factional, rather than state-centred perspective, this book investigates an alternative geography of power, defined by personal interactions that straddled religious, political and social boundaries between the elites. Wasiucionek reveals the way in which these interactions not only shaped the Ottoman-Polish rivalry over Moldavia, but also influenced political culture throughout the region. Cover Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements A Note on Transliteration, Place-Names and Personal Names Introduction The problem of state and the allure of factionalism Patronage, networks and arenas The outline of the book 1 The Human Landscape of Seventeenth-Century Eastern Europe Constructing seventeenth-century Eastern Europe The anatomy of arenas: Three early modern elites and their political environment The rise of the faction Part One Mechanics of Cross-Border Patronage 2 Building Bridges, Building Trust Familial matters Ethnic–regional solidarities Brothers in arms Adapting the toolkit 3 Flows, Exchanges and Conversions Politics and military The sinews of factional power: The flow of economic resources Information, communication and manipulation Letters and watermelons: Civility and patronage Part Two Factional Macro-Politics 4 Friends and Enemies Matei Basarab and Vasile Lupu A faction breaks apart Köprülüs and Cantacuzinos 5 Annexing Moldavia Voyvodalık/Beylerbeylik ‘A faction that could not lose’ and its defeat: Jan Zamoyski and Polish–Lithuanian annexation attempt of 1595–1600 The king and the poet: Sobieski’s failure in Moldavia Why did Moldavia and Wallachia survive? 6 Choosing Ottomans? Notes Bibliography Index