Leading Academic Delivers Talk Exploring the Ottoman Empire

A leading academic at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham recently delivered a paper at the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Durham. Senior Lecturer Claire Norton gave the paper entitled, ‘Ottoman diplomatic rituals as a source of inter-state negotiation’ at an Arts and Humanities Research Council network funded workshop on diplomacy across cultural and religious boundaries in the early modern world. Using two case studies, the paper focused on the different functions that Ottoman diplomatic textual and ritual practices had: both formally promoting the power of the sultan and empire, whilst also providing an informal opportunity for political or diplomatic bargaining. Claire drew attention to the roles of how the Sultan and the grand vizier were instrumental in conveying these two distinct functions, arguing that while the role of the sultan was primarily to assert the power and glory of the empire, the role of the grand vizier was often more practical and provided an opportunity for the state to engage in (in)formal diplomacy. Claire is co-director for St Mary’s new Centre for the Philosophy of History, which will officially launch during a celebratory event on Tuesday 1^st October. For more information and to rsvp please email claire.norton@stmarys.ac.uk