What does the Virgin Queen have to do with the Ottomans?

I’ve known this forever. It’s called research but…whatever

 

Elizabeth Tudor, Virgin Queen of England sent a “clockwork organ” to Constantinople at the end of the 16th century.

What was this Queen Betty trying to bribe the Ottoman Empire for? Did she need help?

Check it out?

 

In 1599, the fourth year of Mehmed III’s reign, Queen Elizabeth I sent a convoy of gifts to the Ottoman court. These gifts were originally intended for the sultan’s predecessor, Murad III, who had died before they had arrived. Included in these gifts was a large jewel-studded clockwork organ that was assembled on the slope of the Royal Private Garden by a team of engineers including Thomas Dallam. The organ took many weeks to complete and featured dancing sculptures such as a flock of blackbirds that sung and shook their wings at the end of the music. The musical clock organ was destroyed by the succeeding Sultan Ahmed I. 

2 thoughts on “What does the Virgin Queen have to do with the Ottomans?

    1. According to Mainstream History, Mr Tabov…

      https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/books/when-england-turned-to-the-turks-1.1825170

      “For example, Dallam, then a 24-year-old from Warrington in Lancashire, was returning home from the journey of a lifetime in December 1599, having assembled and played an elaborate clockwork organ that was gifted by Elizabeth to the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed III — then the most powerful ruler in the world — when he was involved in a bizarre coincidence.

      After four months in the royal court in Constantinople, where he impressed the sultan so much he was offered the pick of the ruler’s harem, Dallam travelled as far as the Greek island of Zante with a guide named Finch, who hailed from Chorley, some 30 kilometres from his home town in England. They may have had much in common thanks to their shared roots but, once the pair parted ways, Dallam returned to life as a noted organ builder in Elizabethan England, while Finch — who had converted to Islam, or “turned Turk” in the lexicon of the day — went back to the incomparable world of 16th century Constantinople and his position as a dragoman.”

      Hope this helps :o)

      Like

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