Felix Samchenko
Postgraduate student of department of ancient and medieval history, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv,
Kyiv, Ukraine
E-mail: samchenkofelix_115gmail.com@knu.ua
ORCID: http://0000-0001-6371-8675
DOI: 10.17721/2522-4611.2025.52.3
THE PROBLEM OF THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE OTTOMAN SULTAN AND THE GRAND VIZIER ON THE EXAMPLE OF SULEIMAN I THE MAGNIFICENT ACCORDING TO THE REPORTS OF THE VENETIAN DIPLOMATS
The viziers of the era of Suleiman I the Magnificent, despite the fact that they performed their official duties quite qualitatively in most aspects, paradoxically created problems. The importance of the position of the grand vizier was growing, which undermined the authority of the acting padishah. Venetian reports give us a complete picture of this process, excessively exalting the aforementioned grand viziers, and downplaying the sultan himself as the sovereign of the entire Ottoman Empire. Accordingly, this gave rise to a dichotomy of state administration in the eyes of foreigners, which caused dangerous tendencies for Ottoman authority in the international arena. At the same time, the reports of Venetian envoys clearly demonstrate to us the potential of the sultan's institution and its gradual weakening before the efforts of the administrative apparatus, and later the institution of the harem. Accordingly, the purpose of the study is to attempt to extrapolate the view of an outside observer, who is a Venetian diplomat, to the specifically internal Ottoman issue and to determine the consequences that arise from this primarily for the development of the Ottoman Empire. The article is based on the methodological principles of historicism and objectivity. The general scientific method of synthesizing data from Venetian reports allows us to find out that the Ottoman Empire was increasingly weakening and state administration, even being successful, was undergoing deep destructive processes from within, in particular, due to the incorrect dichotomy of powers. This fact was regularly recorded by Venetian diplomats, while looking for ways to use it for the benefit of their own state.
Key words: oriental studies, history of the Medieval East, history of the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times, Ottoman Empire, Venetian diplomats, sultan, grand vizier, Suleiman I the Magnificent, Ibrahim Pasha, Rustem Pasha, state administration.
Received 2.09.2025.
Revised 10.09.2025.
Accepted 15.09.2025.
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