Under the Turk in Constantinople: A record of Sir John Finch's Embassy, 1674-1681

Chapter 64: APPENDIX X

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About This Book

A detailed historical account of Sir John Finch's years as English ambassador in Constantinople between 1674 and 1681, reconstructed from original dispatches, letters, and contemporary memoirs. The narrative combines transcribed correspondence, reports from other English residents and foreign envoys, and archival research to depict Ottoman administration, court politics, commercial interactions, and the daily challenges faced by diplomats and merchants. Episodic chapters juxtapose official negotiations, personal observations, and procedural details, often reproducing the language and spelling of seventeenth-century documents to convey immediacy. The work balances documentary evidence with contextual commentary to illuminate the practicalities of seventeenth-century Anglo‑Ottoman relations.

APPENDIX X

SIR DANIEL HARVEY TO LORD ARLINGTON

[S.P. Turkey, 19]

(Extract)

Pera of Constantinople,
Jan. 31, 1669 [-70].

I was received by y^e Grand Segnior according to y^e custome of this Court, except in a condescention w^ch I am told this Monarch does not accustome himself to, for after my Memorial was read by my Druggerman, containing a congratulation for his success in Candy & recom͡ending to his consideration y^e senceritie of my Master’s frendshipe by such instances as ware proper to doe it, he asked me if I had anything more to say by word of mouth, whareupon I pressd y^e renuing y^e Capitulations, & y^e adding some new Articles to explain & fortify y^e rest, w^ch ware often misinterpreted by inferior ministers to y^e prejiduce of my Masters subjects. he replied y^e Chimacham was his Deputie to whome he refer’d me, & y^t if any of his subjects did any thing contrary to y^e Capitulations w^th y^e King of England, he com͡anded him to cutt of thare heads.