MODELUL JURIDIC OTOMAN SI FORMULELE DE PROTOCOL FOLOSITE DE SÜLEYMAN I ÎN RELAłIILE CU HABSBURGII ÎN ANII 1534-1565
THE OTTOMAN LEGAL MODEL AND THE PROTOCOL FORMULAS EMPLOYED BY SULTAN SULEYMAN I IN THE RELATIONS WITH THE HABSBURGS BETWEEN 1534 AND 1565

Summary/Abstract: A. Schaendlinger and Claudia Romer published in Vienna in 1983 a volume containing 36 letters sent between 1534-1565 by Sultan Suleyman to Ferdinand I Habsburg, Charles V and Maximilian II. This study aims to identify the evolution of formulas of address employed by the sultan in his relations with the Habsburg Emperors. The analysis of the protocol formulas used by the Ottoman diplomacy produced the following conclusions: 1. Formally, the sultan’s letters did not modify the hitherto Ottoman diplomatic practice, Through their form and formulas, they maintained the traditional line of relations between the Ottomans and Christian monarchs. 2. The politeness of formulas of address generally contrasted with the content of the letter, which was imperative, clear, direct and sometimes even threatening. 3. Ottoman diplomacy gradually eliminated the traditionalist and exclusivist doctrine of the superiority of the Ottoman sultan – the only “universal emperor” – over his Christian peer. 4. Sultan Suleyman I called himself “political chief and supreme imam of the Muslim world”, although in fact only the Sunni acknowledged this title. The sultan manifested respect towards the Islamic tradition and the Koran spirit. That was why the Ottoman diplomacy expressed in highly important deeds at least two of the elements demanded by tradition – the d'avet and unvân – in long form and very carefully.

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