Author: Selahaddin Sencer Ozkan 1

Turks in the British Literature

During the Crusades and Balkan wars, Turks started to have a very bad reputation in Europe. In other words, Europe had learned to hate Turks (Drapel, 1956). Turks are mentioned as savages, barbarians, brutal, and etc. in British literature, this didnt mean it was true. There are many reasons for this such as religion conflict, fear of power, economical concerns, etc. Although there seem to be a lot of reasons to see the Ottomans as barbarians, the real reason for this was prejudice of Europeans against Turks. However, one cannot understand these fully before having an objective view and at least a superficial knowledge of the subject from both sides sources. Therefore, in this paper there will be references to both Turkish and English sources.

Background
Although Europe has known about Turks and Muslims in the Middle Ages, east was not more than a mystery for them. However, the Ottomans conquered the Balkan territories that are around the Byzantine borders, some of Serbian Empire, and finally the Constantinople in 1453 (Ingram, 2009). This was the last of Great Roman Empire, and its fall caused great fear in Europe. After Byzantium was conquered, especially the Serbian Empire and Vatican was afraid that Turks were going to go further into the Europe; this idea was basically horrifying since Turks were brutal savages (Drapel, 1956). Some wanted to arrange a Crusade, but the internal affairs in the Europe in that time prevented countries from going to war for church (Ingram, 2009).

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Next, and maybe a bigger horror for Europe occurred during the time of Suleyman the Magnificent. Ottomans come to the doors of Vienna in 1529, and won a sea battle against combined sea forces of Venice of Spain, during the time of Suleyman the Magnificent. The increase in Ottomans military power and its getting further into the Europe literally scared Europe off since that meant the Vienna was left as the only border between the rest of the Europe and Ottomans. Also, Barbarossas defeat of Venices naval forces meant, now the Ottomans are becoming unstoppable in the seas, too. Therefore, mystery of the east combined with power and resulted in a great fear and horror in Europe. This issue can easily be analyzed by the fear of unknown concept, but I dont go thoroughly in this since I will do it later in this paper.

First Sign of Turk Hostility in British Literature

Although the hatred of Turks was present in Britain, the first British literature reference to Turks in this sense was made by Richard Knolles. The glorious Empire of the Turkes, the present terrour of the world, hath amongst other things nothing in it more wonderfull or strange, than the poore beginning of itselfe is a quote from Knolles book The Generall Historie of the Turkes (1603) (Ingram, 2009). Knolled was the first one to call Turks as the terror of the world, actually he was the first one to call Turks anything bad in a published work of British and EuropeanLiterature. However, he wasnt the first one to use the phrase. The phrase of the terror of the world was used by Europeans as a reference to the Central Asian Timurid dynasty early as 1405 (Ingram, 2009). As it can be understood from the preceding sentence, Europeans called an earlier Asian Empire the same way, but Knolles reference was the first reference to Turks in that sense. After Knolles, many other writers such as John Speedin A Prospect of the most famous parts of the World (1631)and Andrew Moorein A Compendious history of the

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Turks (1659)referred to Turks as the with the same phrase that Knolles used (Ingram, 2009). By the mid-seventeenth century this phrase was in common usage. In particular, its use to describe the Ottoman Turks became ubiquitous to the point of clich (Ingram, 2009). There were earlier references to Turk hostility in British Literature, but they werent exactly made under the name of Turk. For example, Tamburlaine, a play by written in 1587 by Christopher Marlowe, generated a negative image of the Ottoman and gave the people of Europe what they really wanted to see (Bakay, 2003). He depicted 14th century Muslim world of Turks, Syrians, Persians, and Tartars as ruthless, merciless, but courageous figures. A character named Bejazet in the play is a symbol for Beyazit, an Ottoman Sultan. When Tamburlaine (Timur) throws him into a cage, Beyazit kills himself by banging his head on iron bars rather than suffering (Bakay, 2003). On the other hand, as I mentioned above, although The Generall Historie of the Turkes was the first published work that refers to Turks this way, Turks already had a bad reputation in the eyes of the people in Britain and the rest of the Europe. Therefore, Knolles reference was neither the start of Turks bad reputation nor the end of it.

Later signs of Turks in British Literature

Knolles was the first one to talk about Turks in a bad way directly in his book, but around the same time, Shakespeare often recalled the name of Turks in a vulgar way in his plays. For example, he referred to Turks as infidel in Richard III, as circumcised dog and base in Othello, as never trained to offices of tender courtesy in Merchant of Venice, and etc. He also used the idiom to turn Turk to express an evil change of fortune in Hamlet (Draper, 1956).

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William Shakespeares usage of these terms was probably affected by the general view of Turks in Europe. However, it didnt only reflect this view, but also increased the harshness of Turk hostility because of Shakespeares influence on British Literature as a whole. Especially, in Othello, hostility against Turks is one of the main motifs in the play. Another influential literature work that reveals Turkish barbarism and savageness is Mary Shelleys Frankenstein. In this book, although the concept of Turk wasnt a main motif, a story in the book, which is two-chapter long, depicts Turkish savageness and ungratefulness.

Analysis of Hostility against Turks in Britain and British Literature

There might be hundreds of reasons for Turk hostility in Europe and Britain, but there are some that are more major than others, such as religious conflict, economic issues, fear of unknown, prejudice, and effect of literature works. First of all, the religious impact on the Turk hostility might be the greatest impact of all. Although before the Ottomans, the East was just a mystery for Europeans, Prophet Mohammed was considered as anti-Christ, and success of Islam was a success for Devil according to Europeans. This concept continued and even intensified after the Ottomans Balkan conquers; because Ottoman conquer of Christian countries meant a threat not only for those countries, but also for papacy. We can see the signs of this religious aspect of the situation in all over the Europe since Turks were referred as infidels in many places, such as in Richard III : What! Think you we are Turks or infidels? Or that we would, against the form of law, Proceed thus rashly in the villains death (Bakay, 2003). As mentioned before, Vatican also wanted to arrange a crusade, but the internal affairs of countries in Europe didnt let it.

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Economical issues were another reason for the Turk hostility. Trade routes that go through Mediterranean Sea were in the service of Europeans for hundreds of years. Although Britain didnt sail its own ships for trade in the Mediterranean Sea before, it affected Britain by the prices of spices and other stuff that come from Asia and Africa. The increase in prices was a result of that the ships had to go around the Africa continent to reach India (Demirel, 2009). Fear of power and fear from unknown are not unfamiliar concepts to humans. For the simplest example, the fear of darkness might be given. People are afraid of the dark, because they dont see not know what is in it. Applying the same logic to the fear of Turks example will make this point easily understandable. As mentioned before, Turks and Islam always have been a mystery for Europeans, and for hundreds of years, they just accepted what church told them about Islam. This therefore caused a prejudice against both Islam and the Ottomans, which was the greatest representative of Islam at those times (Esposito, 2000). Literature was also an effective factorthough not an initial onein hostility against Turks. With the invention of the printing press and the rise in literacy, the English public had come to believe in the authority of the printed word, in the knowledge they received from books..... Histories were invested with a particular aura of veracity, and it is on the mixture of fact and stereotype purveyed by these works that the fictional presence of the Turk in English literature was largely based (Bakay, 2003). Works such as Tamburlain, Othello, and Merchant of Venice determined the image of Turks in peoples minds. As known, fictional works can trigger set of events and might have an enormous effect on masses. As an example to this, Harriet Beecher Stowes Uncle Toms Cabin can be given. This level of effectiveness plus the inadequate knowledge of history, therefore, might have caused a huge misconception that lasted for centuries.

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Analysis of Shakespeares Othello and Its Connections to Fear of Unknown

Although it is just a novel not an actual history, it has parts in it that we can connect it to the real history since it was written in the past and in the same context. In Othello, Shakespeare continuously uses terms such as circumcised dog to refer to Turks as in his other books. However, in Othello, unlike many other of his books, there is a context of Turks (Shakespeare, 1997). There is a Moore in support of Venice, although the country he was born in was probably the Ottoman territories. Also, unlike many of Venetians, especially Cyprians, who are in worry that the Turks will attack, Othello doesnt seem to have any worries (Shakespeare, 1997). As mentioned before, fear of Turks in this degree might be because of the fear of unknown. He is basically fearless of the attack of the Turks, and this is probably because of the fact that is mentioned before. He is born among Turks, lived among them, know Turks personally, and therefore is not afraid of them. However, the hatred of Othello against Turks is not very realistic since he was born into that community and knew no other before he aged, travelled and came to Venice.

Analysis of the Irony of Mary Shellys Frankenstein

In Frankenstein, one of the main themes is the monstrosity. The creature, which is eight feet tall and hideously ugly, is rejected by society. However, when De Lacey talks to him, who is blinded and therefore lack of this prejudice that others have against him, he even gets pleasant in his conversation (Shelley, 1994). However, when people see his appearance, the case usually ends up with their useless efforts to hurt him with a stick or a gun (Shelley, 1994). For example, when he saves a little girl from the current of a river, he gets paid by a bullet in the shoulder (Shelley, 1994). Of course, people would probably be grateful for this deed, but they lose their

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ability to think, when they see the ugliness of the monster, and they dont even try to see what is inside it. As opposed to the theme she put into the novel, Mary Shelley herself apparently has a prejudice against the Ottomans and Islam as it can be derived from the story of Safie and Felix that is told by the creature. Shortly, the story is about a guy, Felix, who saves a Turk from the prison, because he thought there has been injustice in his trial (Shelley, 1994). As it can be understood here, Felix, a character written by Mary Shelley, has no prejudice against people; however, later in the story Mary Shelley show her own prejudice against Turks and Islam. Before Felix saves the Turk, he falls in love with the Turks daughter, and the Turks says he will marry his daughter to him if he wants, but then, when they escape, Felix learn that his mother and his father are in prison. When Felix go back to help them the Turk forces his daughter to go back to Constantinople with him (Shelley, 1994). Mary Shelley depicts Turks as ungrateful, wrecked, and evil. However, Safie, whose mother was a Christian Arab and was enslaved by the Turks before marrying to her mother, want to marry a European man since Islam prevented Turkish women from cultivating (Shelley, 1994). On the other hand, Shelly depicts a half-Turk Christian woman as honorable and good. Shelley depicts Islam as evil, too. When it comes to the comparison of the Ottoman and the creature, they both are too powerful. They both look monstrous from the eyes of other and are hated by others that do not know nor try to know them. They\ both are misunderstood, and even if they try to save someone, they are condemned to be called treacherous and monstrous. Therefore, Shelley tries to gain sympathy for a character of her in the book but at the same time, tries to gain antipathy for another character in the real world that is in the same situation.

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Analysis of Hostility against Turks in Britain and British Literature during the Time of Queen Elizabeth
Formal diplomatic and commercial relations between England and Turkey began in 1583, when Sultan Murad III granted to Queen Elizabeth a treaty of peace and friendship (Horniker, 1942). Venetians lost their power, and wars at the sea cause a standstill in trade. England ships had a c hance to freely use the trade routes that go through the Mediterranean Sea during these times (Bakay,2003). Therefore, English Literature began to depict the Turk in earnest. During the times, Ottoman-Britain trade relations increased. However, still the idea of Englands imagined empire and the lands of mystery wasnt completely gone; actually, it was still the most common view of Ottoman since it was the one people thought for centuries. Therefore, it still took place in the works of litersture more commonly.

Good References to Turks in British Literature

According to Turkish sources, when Mehmed II entered the city, some Cretan soldiers, who came to help Byzantium, were still fighting, although Byzantium was defeated. Mehmed II saw the soldiers and told them they were free to go back to Crete with their arms. Then, he turned to Byzantine patriarch and said I am telling you, your friends, and all the people in Byzantium that from now on do not be afraid of me neither for your life nor for your freedom.(Demirel,2009) Still a lot of scholars didnt want to live in Constantinople anymore, and went to Europe. Some says these Byzantine scholars fired the idea of the Renaissance in Europeans minds (Demirel, 2009). Also, Suleyman the Magnificents soubriquet was the

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lawgiver among Turks and others who lives among the Ottomans (Demirel, 2009). However, most of these information are unreliable and invalid for some people since it is written by Turks. Therefore, I found a need to put good references to Turks from British sources.

In sixteenth century, although Turks were usually related to barbarians, their military tactics and government were admired (Bakay, 2003). As early as 1513 Machiavelli in The Prince extolled the wisdom of Turkish rule, colonizing a conquered country to maintain direct rule: Such was the course adopted by the Turk in Greece, who even if he had respected all the institutions of that country, yet could not possibly have succeeded in holding it, if he had not gone to reside there. (Bakay, 2003) The valiant knight of Rhodes in Kyds Soliman and Perseda (1592) says of the Soliman, I must confess Soliman is kind/ Past all compare, and more than my desert, while George Peele in his Battle of Alcazar (1588) describes Murad IIIs soldiers as brave and honorable (Bakay, 2003). Also, in further observation of the phrase terror of the world previously mentioned, it can be understood that it doesnt only refer to Turks as barbarians, but it also refers their mighty power and majesty in relation to rapid conquest, and was frequently also applied to figures such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Xerxes and even on occasion France, England, God and Chris (Ingram, 2009).

In seventeenth century, by the translation of the Holy Quran, Europe had a chance to learn about Islam and therefore Ottoman motives thoroughly. Thomas Fuller says inThe Historie of The Holy Warre published in 1639 to give the Mohammadans their due, they are generally good fellows in this point [the virtue of tolerance] and Christians among them may keep their consciousness if their tongues be fettered, not to oppose the doctrine of Mohammad. (Bakay, 2003) In this period, we can say that Europe started to know what Islam is, but it was just an

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inception of understanding; therefore complete understanding of Turks and Islam wasnt possible in that time. In 18th century, the interest of Europe in Middle East and Turkey increased (Bakay, 2003). Among many authors in that time letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who was wife to British Ambassador in Constantinople, were remarkable. In one of them she says I took more pleasure in looking on Fatima than on the finest piece of sculpture. This means Europeans started to communicate with Turks and took one further step to understand their culture, and started to see they were human beings just like Europeans were. This was indeed can be start to remove prejudice against the other (Ingram, 2009). However, it can also be understood that she still had prejudice against Islam since she says that many religious leaders have invented out of their own heads a thousand ridiculous stories in order to decry the law of Mohammed. These stories she talks about are the stories of Prophet Mohammeds and his Sahabis (first followers) unprecedented faith and practice according to it. These stories still takes place in Islam and they are actually recorded by that times scholars. However, Lady Montagu couldnt understand these nor tried to since prejudice against Islam. In 19th century, travel to the Middle East became easier. In that time prejudice was almost completely gone and a balanced appraisal of Islam and Prophet Mohammed was made by Thomas Carlyle in his work Heroes, Hero-worship, and the Heroic in History based on his lecture The hero as Prophet. Mahomet: Islam. He says The word this man spoke has been the life-guidance now of a hundred and eighty millions of men these twelve hundred yearsA False man found a religion? Why, a false man cannot build a brick house. This last quote illustrates

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that by this time, some people in Europe and especially in Britain succeeded in removing prejudice from their eyes completely and even sympathized to Turks and Islam. In conclusion, it is understood that although at first it seemed to be as there are tone of reasons to see Turks as barbarians and savages, as Europe get to know them their prejudice was removed gradually as the drawings on the sand is removed by the tides of the ocean. Therefore, the real reason for this hatred was actually lack of communication.

Bibliography
Ingram, Anders. "English Literature on the Ottoman Turks in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries." Thesis. Old Elvet, Durham,UK/Durham University, 2009. Print. Demirel, Ziya. 9. Sinif Tarih. Istanbul: Esen Yayinlari, 2009. Print. Draper, John William. Shakespeare and the Turk. Urbana: Univ. of Illinois, 1956. Print. Bakay, Gonul. "The Turk in English Renaissance Literature." OpenDemocracy. 14 Feb. 2003. Web. <http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts-europe_islam/article_982.jsp>. Esposito, John L. The Oxford History of Islam. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Print. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein. Mineola: Dover Publications, 1994. Print. Yalcinkaya, Fisun. "Osmanl Dnemine Farkl Bir Bak." Sabah. Turkuaz Medya Gurubu, 10 Mar. 2012. Web. <http://www.sabah.com.tr/kultur_sanat/edebiyat/2012/03/11/osmanlidonemine-farkli-bir-bakis>.

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Shakespeare, William, E. A. J. Honigmann, and Richard Proudfoot. Othello. Walton-on Thames: Nelson, 1997. Print. Horniker, Arthur Leon. William Harborne and the Beginning of Anglo-Turkish Diplomatic and Commercial Relations. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1942. Print.