The master of ceremonies

The master of ceremonies is the author of the ceremonial diary about the course of the Second Siege of Vienna by the Ottomans . At no point does he mention his name or other personal data in the report that has been handed down to us.

life and work

The then master of ceremonies at the Sublime Porte accompanied the Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa on his 1683 campaign to Vienna and meticulously kept the diary. The office of master of ceremonies for the sultan can be compared to that of chief of protocol at Western courts. His person is historically incomprehensible, but it is assumed with a high degree of probability that the writer is that Ahmed whose son Mehmed was nicknamed Teşrifatizade (English: "Son of the Master of Ceremonies"). He has also written several descriptions of the ceremonies of various festivities at the court of Sultan Mustafa II (1695–1703).

"In infinite embarrassment and embarrassment and confusion I read aloud to Geringer the names of those who were dressed in honorary robes in the presence of the Grand Lord and then kissed the earth before him."

The original version of the ceremony diary has not yet been found and must be considered lost. Only two copies under the title Vekayi-i Beç ( Eng . "The Events around Vienna") have survived the wording. Apart from different spelling and transcription errors, they are the same in the text reproduction. Since the report begins in the transcripts without an introduction, it evidently comes from a larger work.

The diary is an uncritical court report, unlike the report of Silâhdar Fındıklılı Mehmed Ağa . Only when describing the execution of Kara Mustafa in Belgrade does the glorification of the Ser'asker's general art disappear (the title of Kara Mustafas as Imperial General ), but the chronicler respectfully reports on the condemned's brave demeanor.

“While the entire baggage train remained behind today, the Grand Vizier's horse-tail moved ahead after sunrise . Then he left himself and moved to the new camp site. According to custom, the Sipâhi and Silihdars as well as the Beğlerbeği of Anatolia and Rumelia on his right and left, and in front of him the pashas assigned to the vanguard, he rode in a well-ordered procession and slow pace in front of the fortress of Vienna. A shade roof was pitched in the open field opposite the fortress, where he paused for two hours of rest until a suitable place for his high tented castle was found. "

From the reign of Sultan Ahmed III. (1703–1730) the ceremonial office was assigned directly to the grand vizier. It is noteworthy that the sultan's master of ceremonies apparently did not stay with him as early as 1683, but went into the field with the grand vizier.

literature

• Stefan Schreiner: The Ottomans in Europe. Memories and reports by Turkish historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-222-11589-3 .
• Richard Franz Kreutel (translator): Kara Mustafa in front of Vienna. The Turkish diary of the siege of Vienna in 1683, written by the master of ceremonies of the Sublime Porte. Volume 1 of the series: Ottoman historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1955, first edition.

See also

• List of Ottoman chroniclers
• List of Ottoman titles

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c} Richard Franz Kreutel (translator): Kara Mustafa before Vienna. The Turkish diary of the siege of Vienna in 1683, written by the master of ceremonies of the Sublime Porte. Volume 1 of the series: Ottoman historians , in: Stefan Schreiner: The Ottomans in Europe. Memories and reports by Turkish historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1985, ISBN 3-222-11589-3 , pp. 199-200, 204.
2. ^ Richard Franz Kreutel (translator): Kara Mustafa before Vienna. The Turkish diary of the siege of Vienna in 1683, written by the master of ceremonies of the Sublime Porte. Volume 1 of the series: Ottoman historians. Verlag Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1955, first edition, pp. 20–21.