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Agentes del Imperio. Caballeros, corsarios, jesuítas y espías en el Mediterráneo del siglo XVI
En la segunda mitad del siglo XVI, la mayoría de los estados cristianos de Europa occidental estaban permanentemente a la defensiva contra una superpotencia musulmana, el Imperio de los sultanes otomanos. Había enfrentamientos violentos, desde ataques e incursiones de corsarios hasta guerras, pero también otras formas de interacción pacifica a través de las porosas fronteras de los poderosos bloques en liza. A través de la historia de tres generaciones de una familia albano-veneciana, los Bruni, Noel Malcolm describe magistralmente el mundo entre Venecia, Roma y el Imperio otomano, con temas como el espionaje, la diplomacia, el comercio de grano, el intercambio y rescate de esclavos, y la rebelión antiotomana. Nos muestra las estrategias opuestas de las potencias cristianas, entre ellas las del Imperio de Carlos V y Felipe II, y los extraordinariamente ambiciosos planes de los sultanes y sus visires. Casi ningún autor desde que Fernand Braudel publico hace sesenta años su famoso libro sobre el Mediterráneo en el siglo XVI ha trabajado tan extensamente este periodo vital de la historia mediterránea y europea como Noel Malcolm. "Estamos ante un libro extraordinario por su erudición, por su escala y porque, ademas, es extraordinariamente ameno. [...] Noel Malcolm no olvida nunca el cuadro general y constantemente ofrece perspicaces visiones, no solo sobre episodios muy conocidos, como la batalla de Lepanto, sino también sobre la gran historia de las relaciones occidentales con el Imperio otomano.
[...] Una obra magistral que abrirá los ojos del lector al interés y la importancia de una región de Europa históricamente desatendida, en el marco de una relación entre civilizaciones que es tan compleja hoy como lo fue en el siglo XVI.
[...] Una obra magistral que abrirá los ojos del lector al interés y la importancia de una región de Europa históricamente desatendida, en el marco de una relación entre civilizaciones que es tan compleja hoy como lo fue en el siglo XVI.
715 pages, Hardcover
First published May 28, 2015
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January 7, 2016
Demanding but worth the time and effort; panoramic view of the Ottoman frontier with the West from the 1560's till the early 1600's through the prism of the two Albanian families of the blurb (Bruti and Bruni) who were Catholic and tended to owe allegiance to Venice, Spain or the papacy but also worked for the Ottomans as well as being related with the powerful Muslim Albanian lords of Istanbul (of which five times Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha is still the most famous)
The book covers the Council of Trent as one of the Bruni was an archbishop who participated , the campaigns of the Mediterranean - Cyprus, the constant raiding by the Barbary Coast corsairs and the Knights of Malta - another Bruni was a knight of Malta, the conquest of the Adriatic coast by the ottomans, Lepanto, the aftermath, the "long armistice" of the 1580's when the Ottomans fought Persia which for example allowed Philip II of Spain to try and conquer England, but also when Bartolomeo Bruti achieved prominence as conduit to his relative Sinan Pasha for the pretenders to the Moldavian throne, wile later becoming an important state official there under Petru Schiopu, the "long war' of 1593-1606 and more, including interludes from the French civil war...
while it follows a few major characters from their entering the spotlight to their exiting such (some violently, others retiring peacefully), there are a lot of vignettes, a lot of minor characters and extraordinary detail about life in those times; Istanbul and the Sultan's court is quite prominent, but also Venice, Rome, the papal enclave of Avignon, the Romanian principalities (mostly Moldavia as noted before, but also Transylvania and Wallachia) and obviously the Ottoman Europe (Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and its newest conquests in Albania)
Overall, an excellent book for anyone having an interest in the period/region
The book covers the Council of Trent as one of the Bruni was an archbishop who participated , the campaigns of the Mediterranean - Cyprus, the constant raiding by the Barbary Coast corsairs and the Knights of Malta - another Bruni was a knight of Malta, the conquest of the Adriatic coast by the ottomans, Lepanto, the aftermath, the "long armistice" of the 1580's when the Ottomans fought Persia which for example allowed Philip II of Spain to try and conquer England, but also when Bartolomeo Bruti achieved prominence as conduit to his relative Sinan Pasha for the pretenders to the Moldavian throne, wile later becoming an important state official there under Petru Schiopu, the "long war' of 1593-1606 and more, including interludes from the French civil war...
while it follows a few major characters from their entering the spotlight to their exiting such (some violently, others retiring peacefully), there are a lot of vignettes, a lot of minor characters and extraordinary detail about life in those times; Istanbul and the Sultan's court is quite prominent, but also Venice, Rome, the papal enclave of Avignon, the Romanian principalities (mostly Moldavia as noted before, but also Transylvania and Wallachia) and obviously the Ottoman Europe (Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and its newest conquests in Albania)
Overall, an excellent book for anyone having an interest in the period/region
June 27, 2017
When I think about Albania, which is not often, I usually think about Communist dictator Enver Hoxha and the hundreds of thousands of reinforced concrete pillboxes he scattered around Albania, preparing for the imminent assault of the imperialists. Other than that, if I’m in a historical mood, I think about Skanderbeg, the Sixteenth Century freedom fighter against the conquering Ottomans. If I’m thinking about the modern era, maybe I think about Mother Teresa, or on a less exalted level, Jim Belushi. I don’t, or didn’t, think about Venice, or Lepanto, or Jesuits, or any of the very interesting, and even exciting, places, people, and happenings Noel Malcolm covers. This book, however, has changed my perspective.
Malcolm’s book, "Agents of Empire," surveys the complex world of the eastern Adriatic and Mediterranean, mostly during the second half of the Sixteenth Century. His story revolves around a single Albanian family not prominent in history, the Bruni/Bruti family, and several now-obscure towns and cities, divided between Venetian and Ottoman control, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic (Ulcinj, Bar, Kotor, Durrës). Most of this territory is now Albania; a small bit is Montenegro or Croatia. The Bruni/Bruti families were intimately connected with this territory and played important roles in the tumultuous events that affected it during this time.
Venice today is an overcrowded, baroque tourist trap. Four hundred years ago it was, if not a global power, a power in the Mediterranean world, and a key player in international trade and interchange. As the maritime power closest to the Ottomans, and with a land border between the territory it dominated and the Ottomans, it had the most to lose, and sometimes the most to gain, from the inevitable conflicts with the expanding Ottomans. Of course, the Venetians had been imposing their will in this same area for hundreds of years—it was their diversion of the Fourth Crusade in 1202 to attack Zara, also on the Adriatic coast, that undermined that Crusade; and then the re-direction of the Crusade under Venetian pressure, to Constantinople, that caused catastrophic results. So, in many ways, the wars of Venice in this book are merely a continuation of the necessary wars of empire—after all, Venice was a relevant power for nearly a thousand years, an impressive record but one that required constant defense.
The Bruti/Bruni family is not famous at all. Malcolm found a reference to a “lost” manuscript history of Albania and the surrounding area, supposedly written by one Antonio Bruti, and spent quite a bit of time looking for it. He ultimately found it and, pulling on the string and plowing through archives, fleshed out the story of this family (though as he says, a lot is still buried in archives). Since the family had several individuals with highly varied roles, looking through the prism of their lives gives an excellent flavor of the times.
Part of the Bruni/Bruti family originated in Durrës. They were important and powerful there prior to the events of this book, but lost most of what they had when the Ottomans conquered the town in 1501, turning it Muslim and into a corsair lair. What was left of the family fled north to Ulcinj, then still a Venetian town. Until the latter stages of this book, the focus is these towns on the eastern Adriatic shore—small, ancient, towns with proud aristocrats; the usual conflict between them and the other classes, especially rising merchants; international trade; and their foreign policy and defense, caught between the Venetians and the Ottomans. Much of the story here revolves around service provided by members of the Bruni and Bruti families to Venice, and to a lesser extent to the Papacy and the Knights of Malta, accompanied by later involvement with the Ottomans as dragomans in Istanbul and as high-level functionaries in the Ottoman principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (which today, roughly, along with Transylvania stolen from Hungary in 1919, form modern Rumania).
One family member, Antonio Bruti, who wrote the manuscript the author found, spent his life as a factotum for Venice, ultimately receiving high rewards and accolades from the city for his work, which served his descendants and relatives in good stead. His brother-in-law, Giovanni Bruni, was an archbishop, attended the Council of Trent (where he had dealings with Charles Borromeo, later Archbishop of Milan and my patron saint), was made a galley slave by the Ottomans and killed at the Battle of Lepanto (along with his nephew). Giovanni’s brother, Gasparo, became a Knight of Malta. Malcolm provides a fascinating description not just of the military activities of the Knights, but their economic activities, the process of admission and the internal politics of the Knights. Gasparo Bruni became captain of the papal flagship at the Battle of Lepanto and later fought for the papacy in Avignon during the Huguenot Wars, ultimately dying in his bed at an advanced age. His son, Antonio, became a Jesuit (then a new and vigorous order), studying in Rome.
During this period, the late Sixteenth Century, the Ottomans continued to expand, fighting (yet another) war with Venice, resulting in the capture of Ulcinj and its conversion to a Muslim town (as it is today), after killing much of the population despite a guarantee of safe conduct given in exchange for the city’s surrender. More Brutis and Brunis died here. Those that remained moved to Istria, to Koper (Capodistria), still under Venetian control. From here the only Bruti reasonably well known to history, Bartolomeo, son of Antonio, began his career as a diplomat and functionary for the Spanish and Venetians, especially in negotiations and dealings with the Ottomans (his role in Istanbul was mostly indistinguishable from that of a spy). This role was greatly assisted by the on-again off-again Grand Vizier of this period, Sinan Pasha, not only being Albanian but related in an obscure, but relevant, way to Bartolomeo (probably as a cousin by marriage of some sort). The English also begin to appear at this point, where Elizabeth I was negotiating with the Sultan in order to gain traction against their common enemy, the Spanish Habsburgs, and Bartolomeo had dealings with them as well.
Bartolomeo moved to Moldavia and became the chief lieutenant of the voivode (appointed by the Sultan—Moldavia was self-governing but in effect a satrapy of the Ottomans and a pawn in conflicts with the Poles and the Cossacks, the Ottomans having conquered most of Hungary and turned Transylvania into a separate state until it was later reunited with Hungary). But Bartolomeo came out on the wrong side of a power struggle and didn’t leave town with the exiled voivode fast enough, so despite (or because of) his meteoric rise and accomplishment, he was strangled and thrown in the river by the new voivode at age 34 (apparently in part to avoid repaying a debt to him). His second cousin, Gasparo Bruni’s son Antonio, the Jesuit, served the exiled voivode in the Tyrol and died of disease at a relatively young age. Bartolomeo’s brother, Cristofero, became a dragoman, or interpreter, in Istanbul. This was an important office that frequently meant serving as a diplomat, not just as a mere interpreter. His relations and descendants served in this and similar offices for at least the next century; thus, the family ended intertwined with the Ottomans, rather than their opponents.
If all this sounds complicated, it is. I’m simplifying it considerably. But then, real life is complicated, after all, and Malcolm does an excellent job of keeping the story moving along. One thing that comes through very clearly is the porous nature of borders and relations among peoples, and the key element of trade. War comes and goes, but under the surface, trade (especially in grain, critical to both the Ottomans and the Venetians) continues. Men seek glory, honor, and sinecures from the state for their services. Fortune’s Wheel turns, round and round.
Along the way, few new lessons are learned. There is little or nothing in this book, thankfully, that can be tied to modern politics. If there is a lesson, it is a reinforcement of what we already know—in the world before our times, people died unexpectedly and young much more often than they do now. Most of the protagonists of this book seem to be on an arc of ever-greater success—and then they die. Some die in battle; some of disease; some of running afoul of the Sultan or some other powerful man. Maybe, probably, the knowledge of this spurred them on to greater efforts; it certainly did not seem to make them take easy and obvious steps to reduce the risk, like simply staying at home. No doubt they viewed life and the world differently than us, even though they for the most part they seem so similar to us. Reading about them, still, brings them close to us, and reminds us that although times change, people remain basically the same, in all their rich variation.
Malcolm’s book, "Agents of Empire," surveys the complex world of the eastern Adriatic and Mediterranean, mostly during the second half of the Sixteenth Century. His story revolves around a single Albanian family not prominent in history, the Bruni/Bruti family, and several now-obscure towns and cities, divided between Venetian and Ottoman control, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic (Ulcinj, Bar, Kotor, Durrës). Most of this territory is now Albania; a small bit is Montenegro or Croatia. The Bruni/Bruti families were intimately connected with this territory and played important roles in the tumultuous events that affected it during this time.
Venice today is an overcrowded, baroque tourist trap. Four hundred years ago it was, if not a global power, a power in the Mediterranean world, and a key player in international trade and interchange. As the maritime power closest to the Ottomans, and with a land border between the territory it dominated and the Ottomans, it had the most to lose, and sometimes the most to gain, from the inevitable conflicts with the expanding Ottomans. Of course, the Venetians had been imposing their will in this same area for hundreds of years—it was their diversion of the Fourth Crusade in 1202 to attack Zara, also on the Adriatic coast, that undermined that Crusade; and then the re-direction of the Crusade under Venetian pressure, to Constantinople, that caused catastrophic results. So, in many ways, the wars of Venice in this book are merely a continuation of the necessary wars of empire—after all, Venice was a relevant power for nearly a thousand years, an impressive record but one that required constant defense.
The Bruti/Bruni family is not famous at all. Malcolm found a reference to a “lost” manuscript history of Albania and the surrounding area, supposedly written by one Antonio Bruti, and spent quite a bit of time looking for it. He ultimately found it and, pulling on the string and plowing through archives, fleshed out the story of this family (though as he says, a lot is still buried in archives). Since the family had several individuals with highly varied roles, looking through the prism of their lives gives an excellent flavor of the times.
Part of the Bruni/Bruti family originated in Durrës. They were important and powerful there prior to the events of this book, but lost most of what they had when the Ottomans conquered the town in 1501, turning it Muslim and into a corsair lair. What was left of the family fled north to Ulcinj, then still a Venetian town. Until the latter stages of this book, the focus is these towns on the eastern Adriatic shore—small, ancient, towns with proud aristocrats; the usual conflict between them and the other classes, especially rising merchants; international trade; and their foreign policy and defense, caught between the Venetians and the Ottomans. Much of the story here revolves around service provided by members of the Bruni and Bruti families to Venice, and to a lesser extent to the Papacy and the Knights of Malta, accompanied by later involvement with the Ottomans as dragomans in Istanbul and as high-level functionaries in the Ottoman principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (which today, roughly, along with Transylvania stolen from Hungary in 1919, form modern Rumania).
One family member, Antonio Bruti, who wrote the manuscript the author found, spent his life as a factotum for Venice, ultimately receiving high rewards and accolades from the city for his work, which served his descendants and relatives in good stead. His brother-in-law, Giovanni Bruni, was an archbishop, attended the Council of Trent (where he had dealings with Charles Borromeo, later Archbishop of Milan and my patron saint), was made a galley slave by the Ottomans and killed at the Battle of Lepanto (along with his nephew). Giovanni’s brother, Gasparo, became a Knight of Malta. Malcolm provides a fascinating description not just of the military activities of the Knights, but their economic activities, the process of admission and the internal politics of the Knights. Gasparo Bruni became captain of the papal flagship at the Battle of Lepanto and later fought for the papacy in Avignon during the Huguenot Wars, ultimately dying in his bed at an advanced age. His son, Antonio, became a Jesuit (then a new and vigorous order), studying in Rome.
During this period, the late Sixteenth Century, the Ottomans continued to expand, fighting (yet another) war with Venice, resulting in the capture of Ulcinj and its conversion to a Muslim town (as it is today), after killing much of the population despite a guarantee of safe conduct given in exchange for the city’s surrender. More Brutis and Brunis died here. Those that remained moved to Istria, to Koper (Capodistria), still under Venetian control. From here the only Bruti reasonably well known to history, Bartolomeo, son of Antonio, began his career as a diplomat and functionary for the Spanish and Venetians, especially in negotiations and dealings with the Ottomans (his role in Istanbul was mostly indistinguishable from that of a spy). This role was greatly assisted by the on-again off-again Grand Vizier of this period, Sinan Pasha, not only being Albanian but related in an obscure, but relevant, way to Bartolomeo (probably as a cousin by marriage of some sort). The English also begin to appear at this point, where Elizabeth I was negotiating with the Sultan in order to gain traction against their common enemy, the Spanish Habsburgs, and Bartolomeo had dealings with them as well.
Bartolomeo moved to Moldavia and became the chief lieutenant of the voivode (appointed by the Sultan—Moldavia was self-governing but in effect a satrapy of the Ottomans and a pawn in conflicts with the Poles and the Cossacks, the Ottomans having conquered most of Hungary and turned Transylvania into a separate state until it was later reunited with Hungary). But Bartolomeo came out on the wrong side of a power struggle and didn’t leave town with the exiled voivode fast enough, so despite (or because of) his meteoric rise and accomplishment, he was strangled and thrown in the river by the new voivode at age 34 (apparently in part to avoid repaying a debt to him). His second cousin, Gasparo Bruni’s son Antonio, the Jesuit, served the exiled voivode in the Tyrol and died of disease at a relatively young age. Bartolomeo’s brother, Cristofero, became a dragoman, or interpreter, in Istanbul. This was an important office that frequently meant serving as a diplomat, not just as a mere interpreter. His relations and descendants served in this and similar offices for at least the next century; thus, the family ended intertwined with the Ottomans, rather than their opponents.
If all this sounds complicated, it is. I’m simplifying it considerably. But then, real life is complicated, after all, and Malcolm does an excellent job of keeping the story moving along. One thing that comes through very clearly is the porous nature of borders and relations among peoples, and the key element of trade. War comes and goes, but under the surface, trade (especially in grain, critical to both the Ottomans and the Venetians) continues. Men seek glory, honor, and sinecures from the state for their services. Fortune’s Wheel turns, round and round.
Along the way, few new lessons are learned. There is little or nothing in this book, thankfully, that can be tied to modern politics. If there is a lesson, it is a reinforcement of what we already know—in the world before our times, people died unexpectedly and young much more often than they do now. Most of the protagonists of this book seem to be on an arc of ever-greater success—and then they die. Some die in battle; some of disease; some of running afoul of the Sultan or some other powerful man. Maybe, probably, the knowledge of this spurred them on to greater efforts; it certainly did not seem to make them take easy and obvious steps to reduce the risk, like simply staying at home. No doubt they viewed life and the world differently than us, even though they for the most part they seem so similar to us. Reading about them, still, brings them close to us, and reminds us that although times change, people remain basically the same, in all their rich variation.
November 24, 2023
This story begins in the 16th century border town of Ulcinj, a city on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Adriatic sea, located close to the southern tip of present-day Montenegro. Ulcinj came under Venetian rule in 1405, and remained under Venetian control until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in 1571. This is also the story of the Catholic Bruni/Bruti family (especially Antonio Bruni, his father, his uncles, and his cousins) whom originated in Ulcinj, and were heavily involved in the affairs of what is now Albania, Montenegro and Croatia, as well as the Ottoman Empire.
Malcolm uses this relatively obscure family as a vehicle to explore the wider social, cultural and political world that was the border regions between Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire. Albanians proved imminently capable of crossing the cultural and political divide between East and West, making them particularly usefulness to their Western employers. This was especially true of the extended family of Antonio Bruni, whose ability to serve Western political entities was sometimes vitally enhanced by their familial relationship to one of the most powerful viziers in the Ottoman government.
This book highlights the wide range of interactions between Western Christians and Ottomans - including war and corsairing, espionage, information-gathering, diplomacy (including the essential work of dragoman or professional translators), trade, as well as collaboration and actual employment by the Ottomans. Members of the Bruni family were involved in all of these interactions in various times and places. As Malcolm succinctly states: "various members of the Bruni family were, at one time or another: befriended by cardinals; maintained correspondence with popes and monarchs; one became an archbishop active in the reshaping of Catholicism at the Council of Trent; another was the right-hand man to the commander of the papal fleet in three campaigns; one was involved in negotiations for a Spanish-Ottoman truce and a Polish-Ottoman peace treaty, as well as being chief minister of Moldavia and commander of its army; another almost succeeded in preventing a particularly destructive Habsburg-Ottoman war; and yet another went on a dangerous mission to the Emperor Rudolf in order to end it."
This book is a description of the experiences, adventures and achievements of an unusually interesting family, which the author used as a framework on which to elucidate the variety of East-West interactions in this period. Malcolm describes such things as large-scale diplomatic and strategic issues that shaped international relations, the grain trade, piracy and corsairing (two different things), the exchange and ransoming of prisoners, galley warfare, espionage in Istanbul, and the role of the dragoman/ professional translator. This book also draws attention to the Albanian strand that runs through various areas of 16th century European history. Albanians had a wide presence in the Balkan lands and played roles in the military affairs of several West European states, as well as in the political history of the Ottoman Empire, where many of the most important pashas were Albanian.
This book is not a general history of Europe in the second half of the 16th century, but it does highlight an important period of history, especially concerning the relations between the various Christian entities and the Ottoman Empire, as well as, provide some insight to the usually-neglected Albanian thread that is woven through European history. This is not an easy book to read. It is dense, features a plethora of similarly named people, broadly covers many topics, and provides some interesting minutiae of the life and times of three generations of the Bruni family in the Balkans as they deal with various Christian entities and Ottoman politicians. However, the book is interesting and covers a region that is generally overlooked in other European histories of the same era.
February 5, 2016
A Masterpiece. "Agents of Empire" through the story of two Albanian families Bruti and Bruni describes the lifestyle of XVI century in Mediterranean world. Commerce of grain, construction of galleys, exchange of slaves, espionage and diplomacy are only some topics that make reader revive that era.
In a clash between Ottoman Empire and Christendom, Albanians found themselves stranded struggling, managing their lives and writing their own history of Europe from France to Moldova.
A tremendous research work of archives thoroughly assembled in a hybrid history book and novel based on a true story.
In a clash between Ottoman Empire and Christendom, Albanians found themselves stranded struggling, managing their lives and writing their own history of Europe from France to Moldova.
A tremendous research work of archives thoroughly assembled in a hybrid history book and novel based on a true story.
August 10, 2015
The title ‘Agents of Empire. Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World’ promises a sweeping saga of pirates and political skulduggery. There is always a possibility that a book written by an academic will not live up to its title, usually because the facts are so densely and dryly presented that it does not make for a smooth and entertaining read. Noel Malcolm has not only undertaken some fascinating research, but delivered a wealth of facts in a panoramic and thrilling account of some turbulent times. The political manoeuvring engaged in by the Bruti and Bruni families, cutting a dynastic swathe between the Christian and the Ottoman empires, is fascinating and the stuff of adventure novels. The history of the Balkans and the area of Mediterranean over which the family manoeuvred is handled well and provides an important foundation on which to situate the whole saga. As well as vast sweeps of political history there are also details of daily routines, or notable events, the minutiae of which make for an engrossing read. For writers wanting to set a story in this era, or simply exploring the wheeling and dealing undertaken by powerful families, then this is an excellent sourcebook. It is a book to be kept, repeatedly dipped into and enjoyed.
March 23, 2016
In the midst of reading what is by any sensible standards an obscure text an historian stumbles on a reference to a text that is even more obscure. Obscure to the point of invisibility. He immediately books a ticket on the next flight to Rome. It is a great way to start a book, and a fine book it is. In essence it is the story of two Albanian families in the second half of the sixteenth century, but it is great example of how the micro can interact with the macro. Family affairs intersect with global - or at least continental - events like the battle of Lepanto and the Council of Trent. Above all it is a story about the Ottoman world, Muslim and eastern, was profoundly interconnected with the Christian one. East is never just east, and west is never just west. They do and should meet and interact, even if you sometimes need the help of that liminal figure an interpreter (or better still a dragoman). An important lesson for troubled times.
April 4, 2016
Couldn't finish this one in the three weeks the library allots but loved it anyway. This is history for the layperson, served up with lots of context, not a lot of detail, but enough minutiae to keep me amused. The people of the Adriatic coastal regions used fluid nationalities, religions, and languages to survive a rapidly changing world and revolving allegiances. The book focuses on two Albanian families, mostly fixers whose shrewd maneuvering and strategic alliances (including marriages) guaranteed them stability and prestige.
January 4, 2016
I loved this book, and having traveled in the Balkans I continue to be suprised by the mixture of religions, cultures and the legacy of the Ottoman empire and the Hapsburgs. Not only a fascinating portait of two families but also a glimpse into the complicated powerplay in the mediterranean.
August 16, 2021
I was drawn to Agents of Empire because it's about a part of the world and a period about which I know next to nothing, and it came well recommended. Wow. Professor Malcolm was already adept in the Balkan region and the early modern period when he came across a chance reference to a 16th century manuscript that seemed to have been written by an Albanian native -- the earliest extant evidence of such a thing. It took him years to track it down, but after he did (IIRC it was lying unremarked in the vast libraries of the Vatican) it proved to be a sort of Rosetta stone, leading to the interlocked Bruni and Bruti families.
The Brunis and Brutis were indeed rooted in Albania, but to say they got around is an understatement. The book's subtitle gives you an idea: in two or three generations, they produced a Knight of Malta, a Jesuit, a ship's commander at the Battle of Lepanto (1571), a few spies, a translator at the Ottoman court, a powerbroker in Moldavia, and several merchants. Using their stories as threads, Malcolm creates a rich tapestry of place and period primarily from the perspective not of kings and emperors, popes and sultans (though they do appear in the story), but of those a couple of levels down in the socioeconomic hierarchy.
Readers who come to this book with more knowledge of the period will undoubtedly retain more of the details, but for me its great gift is its challenge to my notions of geography. Even though I know better, I fall into the habit of seeing Europe, Asia, and Africa as distinct entities. Focusing on the Mediterranean in a period when most long-distance travel was by sea undermines that habit in a big way. Commerce binds the coastal areas together; the never-ending need for raw materials, foodstuffs, and livestock binds the coasts to their inland regions. The players in Agents of Empire range as far as Spain, and a whole sequence takes place in the South of France.
Much warfare takes place on the water as well, less in pitched battles than in raids on shipping. The sea lanes were lifelines, and ships at sea were popular targets for corsairs and pirates. (Corsairs, I learn, professed some loyalty to a particular state. Pirates were entirely self-employed.) This spawned continual negotiations between municipalities for the ransoming of captives and the return of or compensation for cargo. Enslavement was a booming business. The relatively affluent and/or well connected had a good chance of being ransomed. The others were likely to wind up on the galley benches -- those ships did not depend entirely on sails to get around.
Finally -- I wish this book had been around when I was trying to make sense of the bloody war that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The shifting border between the Ottoman Empire and the various jurisdictions east of the Adriatic explains a lot. Warfare was frequent here too: several members of the Bruni-Bruti clan died in battle or when cities fell, and others lost their livelihoods and had to relocate. The region was multiethnic, multilingual, and multi-religious (Orthodox, Catholic, and Muslim); while the Ottoman Empire was strong enough to hold it together, it was reasonably cohesive at least on the surface, but the potential fault lines were there.
So I recommend Agents of Empire to anyone interested in either the place or the period, even if you're starting out with little background. Prepare to feel a little overwhelmed, but trust me, it's worth it. I recommend it to those already familiar with Mediterranean history, too, though it's probably been on your shelves for several years now.
The Brunis and Brutis were indeed rooted in Albania, but to say they got around is an understatement. The book's subtitle gives you an idea: in two or three generations, they produced a Knight of Malta, a Jesuit, a ship's commander at the Battle of Lepanto (1571), a few spies, a translator at the Ottoman court, a powerbroker in Moldavia, and several merchants. Using their stories as threads, Malcolm creates a rich tapestry of place and period primarily from the perspective not of kings and emperors, popes and sultans (though they do appear in the story), but of those a couple of levels down in the socioeconomic hierarchy.
Readers who come to this book with more knowledge of the period will undoubtedly retain more of the details, but for me its great gift is its challenge to my notions of geography. Even though I know better, I fall into the habit of seeing Europe, Asia, and Africa as distinct entities. Focusing on the Mediterranean in a period when most long-distance travel was by sea undermines that habit in a big way. Commerce binds the coastal areas together; the never-ending need for raw materials, foodstuffs, and livestock binds the coasts to their inland regions. The players in Agents of Empire range as far as Spain, and a whole sequence takes place in the South of France.
Much warfare takes place on the water as well, less in pitched battles than in raids on shipping. The sea lanes were lifelines, and ships at sea were popular targets for corsairs and pirates. (Corsairs, I learn, professed some loyalty to a particular state. Pirates were entirely self-employed.) This spawned continual negotiations between municipalities for the ransoming of captives and the return of or compensation for cargo. Enslavement was a booming business. The relatively affluent and/or well connected had a good chance of being ransomed. The others were likely to wind up on the galley benches -- those ships did not depend entirely on sails to get around.
Finally -- I wish this book had been around when I was trying to make sense of the bloody war that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The shifting border between the Ottoman Empire and the various jurisdictions east of the Adriatic explains a lot. Warfare was frequent here too: several members of the Bruni-Bruti clan died in battle or when cities fell, and others lost their livelihoods and had to relocate. The region was multiethnic, multilingual, and multi-religious (Orthodox, Catholic, and Muslim); while the Ottoman Empire was strong enough to hold it together, it was reasonably cohesive at least on the surface, but the potential fault lines were there.
So I recommend Agents of Empire to anyone interested in either the place or the period, even if you're starting out with little background. Prepare to feel a little overwhelmed, but trust me, it's worth it. I recommend it to those already familiar with Mediterranean history, too, though it's probably been on your shelves for several years now.
June 23, 2020
A really excellent piece of well researched popular history, this book's focus on the personal histories of the members of two intertwined late 16th century Albanian families raises it from what could have easily been a dull political history of the Eastern Mediterranean into a fascinating and engaging story of actual people.
The lives chronicled are not those of Popes and Emperors, but of three generations of minor nobles from the small town of Ulcinj who are are nonetheless involved in some of the most significant events of the century. A knight of Malta at the battle of Lepanto who later fought Huguenots in France, an Archbishop at the council of Trent, and a diplomat/spy at the Ottoman court are but a few of the related individuals featured. By focusing on these personal stories, the book gives a sense of how macro-historical events impact the lives of those not important enough to figure in the grand historical narrative: the conquest of Ulcinj by the Ottomans for example is no long a mere historical footnote, but a dramatic and life-changing moment for the town's exiled survivors.
The book provides ample context throughout for the lay reader (I had few problems following the narrative even given my pretty patchy knowledge of Renaissance/early modern Europe) which only occasionally veers towards the overly dry, but shines brightest when it is following the members of the Bruni and Bruti families. As somebody used to working with the material possessions of sadly largely anonymous Iron Age/Roman people, I found the level of detail that could be derived about the lives of the Brunis and Brutis from the surviving letters and records often astonishing, especially given the author's assertion that almost none of the family members had received any previous historical attention.
Would definitely recommend to anybody who is interested in 16th century Venice/Ottoman Empire and wants something more engaging than your standard historical overview.
The lives chronicled are not those of Popes and Emperors, but of three generations of minor nobles from the small town of Ulcinj who are are nonetheless involved in some of the most significant events of the century. A knight of Malta at the battle of Lepanto who later fought Huguenots in France, an Archbishop at the council of Trent, and a diplomat/spy at the Ottoman court are but a few of the related individuals featured. By focusing on these personal stories, the book gives a sense of how macro-historical events impact the lives of those not important enough to figure in the grand historical narrative: the conquest of Ulcinj by the Ottomans for example is no long a mere historical footnote, but a dramatic and life-changing moment for the town's exiled survivors.
The book provides ample context throughout for the lay reader (I had few problems following the narrative even given my pretty patchy knowledge of Renaissance/early modern Europe) which only occasionally veers towards the overly dry, but shines brightest when it is following the members of the Bruni and Bruti families. As somebody used to working with the material possessions of sadly largely anonymous Iron Age/Roman people, I found the level of detail that could be derived about the lives of the Brunis and Brutis from the surviving letters and records often astonishing, especially given the author's assertion that almost none of the family members had received any previous historical attention.
Would definitely recommend to anybody who is interested in 16th century Venice/Ottoman Empire and wants something more engaging than your standard historical overview.
October 1, 2020
This is a fantsstic book for readers who are fascinated by 16th C Europe. A century called 'the great century' by the French, one dominated by the Habsburgs in the West and the Ottomans in the East, with the Venetian empire sandwiched in between and desperately struggling to ward off the imperial ambitions that engulfed it. The Bruni and Bruti families of Albania are the prism through which this stirring and dramatic world is brought to life by Malcolm, who does a phenomenal job of providing the historical and political context of the period while referring to interesting anecdotes from daily life across various parts of the Mediterranean world and beyond. Members of both the Bruti and Bruni families served as agents for many Empires and Kingdoms, as well as the Knights of Malta. Many people might dismiss agents as mere silver-tongued, duplicitous, largely useless courtiers. Yet besides furthering their own interests, the actions of these intriguing, capable, multilingual and widely travelled agents also helped prevent large scale human tragedies like famine and war.
March 31, 2019
The story of several generations of the Albanian Bruti and Bruni families as they made their fortunes spying, warring, and trading with every major power in the Mediterranean during the late 16th century. This deserves and extra star purely for the quality and depth of the research. I am not exaggerating when I say that this is probably the most expansive research project I've ever read through. I also love how Malcolm has brought back a very personal story which up until now has been completely lost.
This is not the story of any given state or society. Rather it is the story of those who made their living on the frontiers of nation states. In reading this you learn about the operations of many states, notably the Ottomans, from the perspective of the great power diplomacy and trade they engage in. This is the first book I've read which sometimes looks into the early modern period through a geostrategic lens.
Prior to reading this book I had never really conceived of the quite how tremendously powerful the Ottomans were in their prime. They completely dwarfed anything in western Europe at the time. I also never quite realized how nepotistic and deeply personal Turkish politics were.
A wonderfully researched and very dense book.
This is not the story of any given state or society. Rather it is the story of those who made their living on the frontiers of nation states. In reading this you learn about the operations of many states, notably the Ottomans, from the perspective of the great power diplomacy and trade they engage in. This is the first book I've read which sometimes looks into the early modern period through a geostrategic lens.
Prior to reading this book I had never really conceived of the quite how tremendously powerful the Ottomans were in their prime. They completely dwarfed anything in western Europe at the time. I also never quite realized how nepotistic and deeply personal Turkish politics were.
A wonderfully researched and very dense book.
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February 7, 2017Historian Malcolm comes across the name Antonio Bruni as a source for a 16th century text. This sends him on a search that reveals two Albanian families , the Brunis and Brutis, living in Venetian controlled Albanian cities in the mid 16th century. He uses the history of these two families to draw a portrait of the Mediterranean world in the last half of the 16th century. Rivalry for power is divided five ways between Spain, Venice, the Pope, Ottoman Empire and Holy Roman Empire. The centerpiece of the book is probably the naval battle between the Holy League and the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. We learn a lot about life at this time; about how trade worked, how spies spied and what the life of an international interpreter was like. The Ottoman Empire's control over its provinces especially Romania, Hungary and Moldova was loose which allowed people to range pretty freely in pursuit of life and career. A whole world I knew little about is revealed here due to one historian's dogged pursuit of multivarious sources.
August 4, 2016
Në dukje të parë titulli origjinal të jep përshtypje se ky libër nuk ka të bëjë fare me historinë e Arbërisë (ose siç e quan vetë autori,Shqipërisë së shekullit XVI) [kjo ndoshta nga vetë fakti se kjo periudhë nuk është edhe aq e studiuar] e duke krijuar paragjykim se në vepër shpalosën histori të ndryshme mbi agjentët dhe diplomacinë e fshehtë e cila ishte në vitët e hershme (pasi që dihet se zhvillimi i diplomacisë së mirëfilltë daton në shekullin e XV-XVI); kjo është edhe një nder arsyet që vetë autori kërkoi një nëntitull alternativ i cili e perfaqëson më saktësisht këtë vepër. Nuk mund të thuhet se vepra në fjalë i përket zhanrrit klasik të “mikrohistorisë” duke qënë se rrëfen historinë e një familjeje,rroli i së cilës kishte të bënte me ngjarjet kyçe midis Europës dhe Azisë;Përandorisë së Shënjtë Romake,R.Venedikase dhe P.Osmane;Krishtërimit dhe Islamit.
December 1, 2020
This book is such a Herculean effort of research that it seems grossly unfair to give it 4 stars. I did really enjoy it: it gave a beautiful sense of Albania (where I’m hoping to go on holiday in June) and it gives a wonderful overview of the geopolitics of the region. But it is dense and occasionally dry, a by product of its scholarly origins, and it falls much more into the category of geopolitical overview than microhistory, despite tracing one family’s movements through the book. By no means the authors fault but the family are a thread that ties the events together rather than the main event, though they do provide wonderfully illuminating examples of the blurred state of allegiances and networks between the ottoman east and the Christian west.
August 3, 2016
How to weave a microhistory into a tapestry of a grand history. The author follows the fates of a single family in the sixteenth century Mediterranean. They were spies, knights, diplomats, jesuits, merchants... all the interesting careers one could follow at that time and place. Everything is researched into the tiniest details, which is both hit and miss. When the story touches some grand evens like the battle of Lepanto it is a definite hit. When there are some minor historical events no one cares about like internal politics of Wallachia then it can be bothersome.
July 18, 2022
Brilliant, extraordinary and fascinating book - it is hard going in parts - I had to reread parts because I got lost in the web of families, politics and intrigues - but it was worth it. Aside from anything else it should help readers to understand the complexities of Venetian history and of the whole Adriatic world.
February 10, 2016
A scholarly tome - well researched about the 16th century and the wars between:
The Ottoman Empire
Venice
The Pope
The Holy Roman Empire
Spain
The Knights of Malta
But tedious in the extreme.
It was a murderous time
The Ottoman Empire
Venice
The Pope
The Holy Roman Empire
Spain
The Knights of Malta
But tedious in the extreme.
It was a murderous time
Want to read
June 11, 2015Reviewed by The Guardian (10 Jun 2015)
August 20, 2019
Fascinating look at the conflicts, economics and colourful characters in the Renaissance Mediterranean world.
December 19, 2017
The true success of this book is the incredible amount of time and research that must have gone into it. I'm not sure if Malcolm did it all on his own or if he had help but either way, it is impressive and shows real desire to put forth a book of fact based quality. The centuries old facts he was able to dig up from places in Italy, Turkey, the Balkans etc. is truly praiseworthy. And there were good and useful maps in this book. Always something I look for in a history book.
As for the book itself, it is fantastically informative but not always very interesting. He explains in the intro why he wrote the book. Essentially a history of the Mediterranean powers in the 1500's revolving around a certain Albanian family. Trade, wars, religion, relations, diplomacy etc. But the intro itself almost came across as a guilty explanation as to why there isn't a more centralized theme. And even though he does have a good deal of info about the Bruni and Bruti families, and they do play an important role in this region and time frame, it's a bit of a stretch to base the whole century theme around them. There were whole chapters where they were barely in it and when they were, it wasn't because they were doing anything important but instead were in the chapter just to get them in there. But the book does provide for an informative (if not always interesting) insight into the Ottomans, Venetians, Hapsburgs etc. in the 1500's. Outside of scholarly journals and university published books, I'm not sure where else you'll find such detail on so many minute aspects of life in the 1500s. This book is not for the casual observer of these peoples and empires but is for readers with prior knowledge.
One major gripe I have with the book is the subtitle. Yes there were "knights, corsairs, and spies" in the book but they were a very minor aspect. Yet the subtitle (which is what drew me in) leads the buyer to believe that these such characters are the crux of the book. This is undoubtedly an underhanded attempt to get people (like me) to buy the book. This ruse almost had me giving a 2 star review but I couldn't deny the amount of hard work and research the author put into it and the quality writing that was the result. Also the book was expensive and the people at the Harvard University bookstore where I purchased it said books do not usually take this long to go into paperback. Another underhanded scheme from Oxford University Press? I'd like to think not.
As for the book itself, it is fantastically informative but not always very interesting. He explains in the intro why he wrote the book. Essentially a history of the Mediterranean powers in the 1500's revolving around a certain Albanian family. Trade, wars, religion, relations, diplomacy etc. But the intro itself almost came across as a guilty explanation as to why there isn't a more centralized theme. And even though he does have a good deal of info about the Bruni and Bruti families, and they do play an important role in this region and time frame, it's a bit of a stretch to base the whole century theme around them. There were whole chapters where they were barely in it and when they were, it wasn't because they were doing anything important but instead were in the chapter just to get them in there. But the book does provide for an informative (if not always interesting) insight into the Ottomans, Venetians, Hapsburgs etc. in the 1500's. Outside of scholarly journals and university published books, I'm not sure where else you'll find such detail on so many minute aspects of life in the 1500s. This book is not for the casual observer of these peoples and empires but is for readers with prior knowledge.
One major gripe I have with the book is the subtitle. Yes there were "knights, corsairs, and spies" in the book but they were a very minor aspect. Yet the subtitle (which is what drew me in) leads the buyer to believe that these such characters are the crux of the book. This is undoubtedly an underhanded attempt to get people (like me) to buy the book. This ruse almost had me giving a 2 star review but I couldn't deny the amount of hard work and research the author put into it and the quality writing that was the result. Also the book was expensive and the people at the Harvard University bookstore where I purchased it said books do not usually take this long to go into paperback. Another underhanded scheme from Oxford University Press? I'd like to think not.
August 24, 2024
Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits, and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World is a captivating historical analysis that delves into the intricate web of power and intrigue that characterized the Mediterranean region during the 16th century. By examining the actions of knights, corsairs, Jesuits, and spies, Malcolm provides a fascinating glimpse into the complex dynamics of the era.
At the heart of Malcolm's narrative are the knights and corsairs who dominated the Mediterranean seas. Knights, such as those of the Order of St. John, were bound by a chivalric code and were expected to defend Christendom against the Ottoman Empire. Corsairs, on the other hand, were privateers who operated with little regard for international law. Their activities often blurred the lines between legitimate warfare and piracy.
The Jesuits, a religious order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola, played a significant role in the 16th-century Mediterranean. They established schools, hospitals, and missions throughout the region, seeking to spread Catholicism and counter the influence of Protestantism. However, their activities also brought them into conflict with other religious groups and with the Ottoman Empire.
Espionage was a crucial component of the power struggles that characterized the 16th-century Mediterranean. Diplomats, merchants, and soldiers all engaged in covert activities, gathering intelligence and disseminating propaganda. Malcolm's analysis highlights the importance of espionage in shaping the course of history.
Malcolm's Agents of Empire is a complex and richly detailed historical narrative. He skillfully weaves together the stories of knights, corsairs, Jesuits, and spies, revealing the interconnectedness of their activities. By examining the motivations and actions of these individuals, Malcolm provides a deeper understanding of the political, religious, and economic forces that shaped the 16th-century Mediterranean.
Noel Malcolm's Agents of Empire is a fascinating exploration of a pivotal period in history. By focusing on the activities of knights, corsairs, Jesuits, and spies, Malcolm offers a fresh perspective on the complex dynamics of the 16th-century Mediterranean world.
At the heart of Malcolm's narrative are the knights and corsairs who dominated the Mediterranean seas. Knights, such as those of the Order of St. John, were bound by a chivalric code and were expected to defend Christendom against the Ottoman Empire. Corsairs, on the other hand, were privateers who operated with little regard for international law. Their activities often blurred the lines between legitimate warfare and piracy.
The Jesuits, a religious order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola, played a significant role in the 16th-century Mediterranean. They established schools, hospitals, and missions throughout the region, seeking to spread Catholicism and counter the influence of Protestantism. However, their activities also brought them into conflict with other religious groups and with the Ottoman Empire.
Espionage was a crucial component of the power struggles that characterized the 16th-century Mediterranean. Diplomats, merchants, and soldiers all engaged in covert activities, gathering intelligence and disseminating propaganda. Malcolm's analysis highlights the importance of espionage in shaping the course of history.
Malcolm's Agents of Empire is a complex and richly detailed historical narrative. He skillfully weaves together the stories of knights, corsairs, Jesuits, and spies, revealing the interconnectedness of their activities. By examining the motivations and actions of these individuals, Malcolm provides a deeper understanding of the political, religious, and economic forces that shaped the 16th-century Mediterranean.
Noel Malcolm's Agents of Empire is a fascinating exploration of a pivotal period in history. By focusing on the activities of knights, corsairs, Jesuits, and spies, Malcolm offers a fresh perspective on the complex dynamics of the 16th-century Mediterranean world.
May 6, 2023
A remarkable piece of contemporary historiography. Malcolm draws on archival documents written in at least half a dozen languages, scattered from England to Poland in the North and from Madrid to Istanbul on the Mediterranean. He rescues a dozen or so members of an extended family from near anonymity in the historical record by gleaning fragments of information from mountains of source material and then uses their story to paint a wider picture of shifting alliances, partial and visceral animosities, and unlikely allies in the 16th Century Mediterranean, and the way in which individuals - especially those poised by reasons of birth and linguistic flexibility to do so - were able to navigate that world.
Some of his broad-brush conclusions are debatable, and he is perhaps too quick to adopt correctives or cautions to prior narratives as new narratives. He is compelled - and I'm sure he would be candid about saying so - to infer much about the lives of some of his characters from scraps of information, and no doubt he gets some of it wrong, because that's the nature of the beast. But these are modest criticisms, and they do not detract meaningfully from his achievement, which is a dense and meticulously sourced work of historiography that still manages to transcend the dry and popularly inaccessible world of the academic monograph.
A master class on historical writing done right.
Some of his broad-brush conclusions are debatable, and he is perhaps too quick to adopt correctives or cautions to prior narratives as new narratives. He is compelled - and I'm sure he would be candid about saying so - to infer much about the lives of some of his characters from scraps of information, and no doubt he gets some of it wrong, because that's the nature of the beast. But these are modest criticisms, and they do not detract meaningfully from his achievement, which is a dense and meticulously sourced work of historiography that still manages to transcend the dry and popularly inaccessible world of the academic monograph.
A master class on historical writing done right.
March 18, 2020
If you are a real affectionate of Ottoman in the Balkans history from 1500 until the 1600's, this is a great read. If not, well...
This is a great micro - history of The Bardis family. Their actions bleed into the general history of the region from Albania and Dubrovnik across to Istanbul, up to Moldavia, and down the Peloponnese. This family had priests, corsairs, friars, rouges, diplomats, linguists and any other specialty jobs that needed doing for Venice, Istanbul, Moravia, The Pope, Spain, The Hapsburg's, Russia, and England. This family was very good at being invaluable to those in power. And because they were invaluable this family was part of most every major action of all the great powers. Making the macro - history very enjoyable. it's the Micro - history that makes the work bog down and thus the three stars. The in depth on each family member can get tedious as the work progresses.
If you are an aspiring author looking for a unique local and time period for a mercenary, murder mystery, diplomatic story this book will be extremely useful for getting the facts right in your historical fiction. Well documented with meticulous foot notes. This time period and the exotic local could get you on the N.Y. Times Best Seller List.
This is a great micro - history of The Bardis family. Their actions bleed into the general history of the region from Albania and Dubrovnik across to Istanbul, up to Moldavia, and down the Peloponnese. This family had priests, corsairs, friars, rouges, diplomats, linguists and any other specialty jobs that needed doing for Venice, Istanbul, Moravia, The Pope, Spain, The Hapsburg's, Russia, and England. This family was very good at being invaluable to those in power. And because they were invaluable this family was part of most every major action of all the great powers. Making the macro - history very enjoyable. it's the Micro - history that makes the work bog down and thus the three stars. The in depth on each family member can get tedious as the work progresses.
If you are an aspiring author looking for a unique local and time period for a mercenary, murder mystery, diplomatic story this book will be extremely useful for getting the facts right in your historical fiction. Well documented with meticulous foot notes. This time period and the exotic local could get you on the N.Y. Times Best Seller List.
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December 27, 2020The accolades for this book have been endless. I won’t add anything new by saying that it is erudite, well written and packed with amazing information about the 16th century Mediterranean world.
It is the second major history book I read this year, the first one being Jill Lepore‘s These Truths, a History of the United States of America. In the beginning I compared the two books‘ style: in Lepore‘s book every page vibrates with emotion and drama, Malcolm doesn’t try to provoke grand feelings, his prose is sober but no less engaging. The scope of the books is different of course: Lepore deals with five centuries of history (an amazing task), Malcolm with just one but his narrative spinning around two Albanian families, the Brunis and the Brutis brings to life a whole world of agents, spies, corsairs, dragomans, knights and jesuits. Geopolitics, economy and religion are dealt with in a concise way offering us a sweeping panorama of a region which was for a long time the epicentre of history making!
I was not born in the Mediterranean but I was raised on the shores of Attica and my whole education was steeped with the glories of the past. This book gave me a new perspective and a nudge to try to see beyond my Greek nose! I think that is what good books are for!
It is the second major history book I read this year, the first one being Jill Lepore‘s These Truths, a History of the United States of America. In the beginning I compared the two books‘ style: in Lepore‘s book every page vibrates with emotion and drama, Malcolm doesn’t try to provoke grand feelings, his prose is sober but no less engaging. The scope of the books is different of course: Lepore deals with five centuries of history (an amazing task), Malcolm with just one but his narrative spinning around two Albanian families, the Brunis and the Brutis brings to life a whole world of agents, spies, corsairs, dragomans, knights and jesuits. Geopolitics, economy and religion are dealt with in a concise way offering us a sweeping panorama of a region which was for a long time the epicentre of history making!
I was not born in the Mediterranean but I was raised on the shores of Attica and my whole education was steeped with the glories of the past. This book gave me a new perspective and a nudge to try to see beyond my Greek nose! I think that is what good books are for!
August 19, 2023
This is an impressive piece of history. There's a lot of information, and Malcolm does a great job of teaching it to you. Whenever he delves into grand imperial politics, like "Hey, for this next section, you need to know how galleys were recruited for Papal fleets at the Battle of Lepanto," or, "So let's talk briefly about how the Ottomans imported grain," Malcolm ties it to the personal drama of a few families from one border town in a corner of the Venetian Serenissima, and the reader has a viewpoint to understand how the large-scale events might impact individual people. It's similar to what Michener or Rutherford do with their novels, except based on long and thoughtful scholarly research. There's some speculation included, but Malcolm is very clear when he's speculating and does such a good job backing it up that the scenarios are at least plausible.
The only criticism I could levy is that, since this is a scholarly work, sometimes the writing can be very dense and dry. This is not a book to try to finish in one sitting -- there's just too much to chew through -- and honestly, probably benefits from taking notes. But it is definitely worth working through.
The only criticism I could levy is that, since this is a scholarly work, sometimes the writing can be very dense and dry. This is not a book to try to finish in one sitting -- there's just too much to chew through -- and honestly, probably benefits from taking notes. But it is definitely worth working through.
September 21, 2023
Un eccellente affresco della storia del Mediterraneo (soprattutto orientale) nella seconda metà del Cinquecento. Sir Noel Malcolm - istituzione assoluta nel suo campo - ricostruisce la storia di due famiglie di origine albanese, i Bruti e i Bruni, per ricostruire il contesto internazionale all'interno del quale si muovono, in bilico tra mondo cristiano e mondo musulmano. Proprio qui sta il bello: non in una divisione netta, ma nella continua definizione della propria identità e nel proprio status in un mondo fatto di connessioni e contatti. Menzione d'onore sul ruolo delle spie e dei dragomanni, in quelle pagine si toccano vette altissime di storiografia, come nella storia di Bartolomeo Bruti spia/traduttore/negoziatore albanese (al soldo di Venezia ma con stretti legami nel divan del Sultano). Il lavoro sulle fonti, poi, è semplicemente eccezionale: girare mezza Europa per consultare fonti originali in otto lingue diverse dimostra la tua capacità. Un capolavoro assoluto, da leggere e da studiare.
October 29, 2016
Up to 1500 AD, European history focused on the Eastern Mediterranean. After that point, as the Atlantic fronting European powers face outwards to exploit the Americas and the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Eastern Med became a backwater of European history.
One of the values of this book is its focus on that area, and the ongoing sometimes hot, sometimes cold, war between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire in the late 1500s, in the contact zone between them, as the Venetians, caught between colliding superpowers, experienced the erosion of their Stato da Mar.
This book describes the experiences of members of two Albanian families, as they attempt to carve out careers in a variety of roles in both the Christian and Ottoman spheres of hegemony. Their stories, with a few changed names, could as easily have described 20th century lives, which says something about how little our political systems have evolved, or alternatively how very modern 1500s Europe was.
One of the values of this book is its focus on that area, and the ongoing sometimes hot, sometimes cold, war between the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire in the late 1500s, in the contact zone between them, as the Venetians, caught between colliding superpowers, experienced the erosion of their Stato da Mar.
This book describes the experiences of members of two Albanian families, as they attempt to carve out careers in a variety of roles in both the Christian and Ottoman spheres of hegemony. Their stories, with a few changed names, could as easily have described 20th century lives, which says something about how little our political systems have evolved, or alternatively how very modern 1500s Europe was.
January 15, 2023
Sir Noel Malcolm brings to light the unknown history of an Albanian family which, by fortune and design, played an influential role in some of the most important events and political decisions in 16th-century Venice and Ottoman Empire. It must have taken a great deal of toil for him to unearth documents and personal letters in order to piece this scattered story together. But above all, it will have taken passion and geniune love for Albanian personalities and history. The book is daunting for anyone who doesn't lie awake at night wondering about the quantity of grain in Venice in 1570, but this is evidence of Sir Malcolm's efforts in providing a detailed historical account. He remains one of the foremost and most original authors of Albanian history.
January 10, 2021
This is a remarkable book of history, engagingly written and full of information. One gets the facts as well as a sense of the times and places involved. The device used by the author, Noel Malcolm, of building this history around the exploits of one extended family works— and succeeds where another book might fail because the author isn't afraid to diverge from said family when necessary.
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