Not all of the Ottomans' efforts to stay involved in East-West trade involved war. France persuaded the Ottomans to capitulate in order to set up a more profitable relationship to European trade. To "capitulate" usually means to surrender, but in the context of French-Ottoman relations, capitulation is closer to negotiation. The Capitulation Treaty signed in 1536 by the king of France and the Ottoman sultan laid out the relationship between the two powers, defining the privileges and responsibilities of each side. The treaty created the Franco-Ottoman Alliance.
Both sides of this alliance had recently suffered defeats at the hands of the Hapsburg Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire, which wanted to gain control of trade in the Mediterranean Sea. The treaty joined the military might of Francis I, king of France, with that of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Together, the two forces engaged in a series of battles that eventually contained, or limited, Hapsburg power in the Mediterranean. Equally important, France established an embassy--a diplomatic post--in Constantinople, and French merchants were allowed to trade freely in all Ottoman ports. In return, the Ottoman Empire established an embassy and trading privileges in the city of Marseille on France's Mediterranean coast. These trade agreements led to cultural, intellectual, and scientific exchanges that enhanced both powers.
Question
Several European powers called the Franco-Ottoman Alliance impious, or ungodly. Yet historians have praised it as the first true alliance between Europe and an eastern power. What do you think these attitudes reflect?
