Habsburg Intelligence and Ottoman-Safavid Diplomacy, 1570s–1590s
Habsburg Intelligence and Ottoman-Safavid Diplomacy, 1570s–1590s

Summary/Abstract: This paper explores how the Imperial Court in Vienna/Prague understood the Ottoman-Safavid rivalry. By evaluating written sources produced by the Imperial Court and its diplomatic and intelligence network, the study aims at outlining the latter’s actual degree of acquaintance with different aspects of the manifold relations between the two Muslim states. It presents four particular Safavid embassies to the Ottoman capital during the war of 1578–1590, as described by the resident ambassadors of the Austrian Habsburgs in Istanbul. The reports of the Habsburg diplomats containing information on the functioning of the intelligence network supported the policy-making process at the Imperial Court and reveal whether Safavid Persia was seen as a potential ally or rather as a convenient distraction of the enemy’s forces from the western front. During the period under study, the Habsburg diplomats in Istanbul constantly reported on developments in Ottoman-Safavid relations at length, which clearly indicates the importance of the matter.

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