The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Volumes 1 and 2
Turkish Letters, Renaissance Diplomacy, and an Eyewitness View of the Ottoman CourtBy Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq
Length23h 50m
About this audiobook
The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, in two volumes, presents the career and correspondence of one of the sixteenth century's most perceptive European observers of the Ottoman world. Centered on Busbecq's diplomatic missions to Constantinople, the work combines biography, political report, travel narrative, and humanist epistle. Its letters describe Ottoman institutions, court ceremony, military organization, commerce, religious practice, and everyday life, while also recording antiquities, manuscripts, languages, and natural specimens. Written in an elegant, observant style marked by classical learning and practical intelligence, the book belongs to the Renaissance tradition of humanist travel writing, yet complicates contemporary Christian stereotypes through sustained firsthand attention and comparative analysis. Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq (1522–1592), a Flemish-born diplomat and scholar in Habsburg service, wrote from the demanding frontier between the Ottoman Empire and Europe. His negotiations on behalf of Emperor Ferdinand I required linguistic versatility, political tact, and close cultural observation. His education in the humanist tradition encouraged him to preserve inscriptions, texts, and botanical knowledge, while his diplomatic responsibilities gave his testimony unusual immediacy and authority. The collected life and letters thus emerge from both scholarly curiosity and urgent international affairs. This edition is recommended to readers interested in Renaissance humanism, Ottoman-European relations, diplomatic history, and the literary art of travel. It remains especially valuable for showing how an informed eyewitness could transform political reporting into a nuanced record of cross-cultural encounter.
Audiobook details
GenreHistory
Length23 hrs 50 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateNov 30, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Australian Explorers: Their Labours, Perils, and Achievements (Annotated)
26LETTER IV. (pt. 2)
2The Map of Life
27CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
3The Condition of Catholics Under James I (Annotated)
28LETTER I.
4Memorandum on the Present State of British Relations with France and Germany (Annotated)
29LETTER II.
5The Persian Wars (Annotated)
30LETTER III.
Show all chaptersShow less
6PREFACE.
31LETTER IV.
7CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
32LETTER V.
8Errata.
33LETTER VI.
9Introductory.
34LETTER VII.
10Removal of the Rubbish.
35LETTER VIII.
11Bousbecque and its Seigneurs.
36LETTER IX.
12George Ghiselin I., great uncle of the Ambassador.
37LETTER X.
13Gilles Ghiselin II., Grandfather of the Ambassador.
38LETTER XI.
14Jeanne de la Clite and her son George Halluin.
39LETTER XII.
15George Ghiselin II., father of the Ambassador.
40LETTER XIII.
16Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq.
41LETTER XIV.
17Busbecq at the Court of Vienna.
42LETTER XV.
18Busbecq in France.
43LETTER XVI.
19Busbecq’s Death.
44LETTER XVII.
20LETTER I. (pt. 1)
45LETTER XVIII.
21LETTER I. (pt. 2)
46LETTER XIX.
22LETTER II.
47LETTER XX.
23LETTER III. (pt. 1)
48LETTER XXI.
24LETTER III. (pt. 2)
49LETTER XXII.
25LETTER IV. (pt. 1)
50LETTER XXIII.
A Brief History of IntelligenceMax S. Bennett12h 18m4.6 (6.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m4.7 (8.9K)$46 · $0.00
Pearl of Great PriceJoseph Smith3h 8m4.7 (7.2K)$1.20 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal11h 23m4.6 (2.6K)$29 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h4.6 (5.2K)$24 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m4.6 (927)$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m4.6 (3.2K)$33 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m4.6 (678)$29 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure NovelCasey Nash3h 42m4.6 (3.2K)$18 · $0.00
Fall and RiseMitchell Zuckoff17h 23m4.6 (9.8K)$40 · $0.00
The SurvivorJosef Lewkowicz, Michael Calvin9h 22m4.6 (2.5K)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
Travels into TurkeyOgier Ghislain de Busbec9h 20m4.3 (313)$2.30
The first voyage round the world, by MagellanAntonio Pigafetta10h 27m4.0 (1.4K)$1 · $0.00
The RefugeesArthur Conan Doyle13h 21m4.0 (364)$2.30
The New WorldWinston Churchill14h 25m4.2 (3.2K)$2 · $0.00
This Country of OursHenrietta Elizabeth Marshall20h 9m4.2 (1.2K)$36
Fur, Fortune, and EmpireEric Jay Dolin11h 58m4.0 (1.7K)$23
Montcalm and WolfeFrancis Parkman29h 24m4.4 (415)$2.30
1421Gavin Menzies13h3.9 (19K)$33 · $0.00
The New World (Complete Edition)Winston Churchill14h 25m4.4 (2.5K)$1 · $0.00
De Bello Gallico and other CommentariesJulius Caesar17h 39m4.1 (1.1K)$2.30
The Great CompanyBeckles Willson16h 33m$2 · $0.00
Notable Voyagers, From Columbus to NordenskioldWilliam Henry Giles Kingston, Henry Frith19h 22m$2 · $0.00
Canada: the Empire of the NorthAgnes C. Laut11h 4m3.6 (15)$1 · $0.00
Queen Elizabeth I BiographyImad Muratspahic2h 44m$7.30 · $0.00
History of the United Netherlands, 1598-99John Lothrop Motley2h 48m$2 · $0.00
A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco da Gama 1497-1499Anonymous6h 38m3.8 (66)$1.99 · $0.00
Campaign of the IndusT. W. E. Holdsworth5h 32m$2 · $0.00
The History of Parthian Empire (Illustrated Edition)George Rawlinson11h 52m3.9 (28)$1 · $0.00
The Beginner's Guide to American HistoryDavid Henry Montgomery5h 52m3.7 (112)$1 · $0.00
A Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, in the Years 1808 and 1809James Justinian Morier16h 25m$2.30