The Birth of the Despot. Venice and the Sublime Porte.
Lucette Valensi
In her graceful account of the transformation of European attitudes toward the Ottoman empire during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Lucette Valensi follows the genealogy of the concept of Oriental despotism. The Birth of the Despot examines a crucial moment in the long and ambiguous encounter between the Christian and Islamic worlds: the period after the fall of Constantinople to the Turks, when Venice's pursuit of its commercial and maritime interests brought two powerful protagonists—Venice and the Sublime Porte—face-to-face. Vivaldi's oratorio Juditha Triumphans, in which Judith liberates her besieged town by killing the Turk Holofernes, serves as the organizing metaphor ... Read more
Show LessProduct Details
About Lucette Valensi
Reviews for The Birth of the Despot. Venice and the Sublime Porte.