A Relation of a Iourney begun an: Dom: 1610….Containing a Description of the Turkish Empire, of Ægypt, of the Holy Land, of the Remote Parts of Italy, and Ilands adioyning

Creator

Date

1632

Identifier

de Beer Collection Ec 1632 S

Type

Publisher

London: Printed for R. Allot

Abstract

George Sandys (1577-1644), English traveler and poet, was a perceptive observer of the early 17th century Ottoman eastern Mediterranean. I found his incisive written portrayal of the Druze emir of Mount Lebanon, Fakhr al-Din Ma’n, a pivotal personality in the evolution of a distinctive Lebanese entity, very useful for analysis of the mountain’s early modern political configuration in my Lebanon: A History, 600-2011 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012). Sandys visited Sidon, Fakhr al-Din’s ‘capital,’ in April 1611. He assessed the emir both as a person and a de facto ruler, in realistic description that buttresses and supplements the other sources. Sandys characterizes Fakhr al-Din as ‘small of stature but great in courage and achievements … subtle as a fox, and not a little inclining to the Tyrant. He never commenceth battle, nor executive any notable design, without the consent of his mother.’
(Chosen by Professor Bill Harris, Department of Politics, Otago)

Files

Cab 7-sandys.jpg

Citation

George Sandys, “A Relation of a Iourney begun an: Dom: 1610….Containing a Description of the Turkish Empire, of Ægypt, of the Holy Land, of the Remote Parts of Italy, and Ilands adioyning,” ourheritage.ac.nz | OUR Heritage, accessed March 30, 2024, https://ourheritage.ac.nz/items/show/9958.