Joachim Strasz

Joachim Strasz (d. July 1571), also known as Abraham Straza, Strotschius, Strozzeni, and Ibrahim Bey (Ottoman Turkish: ابراهيم بك, romanized: Ibrāhīm Bey),[1] was a Polish aristocrat in the service of the Ottoman Empire. He was Grand Dragoman of the empire from 1551 until his death in July 1571. Strasz held significant influence over Polish–Turkish relations, considerably strengthening the existing Polish–Ottoman alliance.

Joachim Strasz
Tercümân-ı Bâb-ı Âlî
Bey
Undated portrait of Joachim Strasz (possibly 1560s).[2]
Grand Dragoman
In office
1551 – July 1571
MonarchsSuleiman the Magnificent, Selim II
Personal details
Bornfl. 1530
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
DiedJuly 1571
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
OccupationStatesman

Early life and family

Not much is known about Strasz's early life. He was Polish and was born in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to an aristocratic family bearing the Odrowąż coat of arms.[3] His sister was Zofia, wife of castellan of Lubaczów, Sędziwój Drohiczański. Strasz was also related to Leonard Strasz, an extremely influential figure who was the burgrave of Kraków from 1563 to 1577, and who was among those who had signed the 1569 Union of Lublin and 1573 Warsaw Confederation.[4]

According to Polish historian Krzysztof Wawrzyniak, Strasz was captured by Crimean Tatars as a teenager during one of their raids in Eastern Europe, and subsequently sold to the extensive Ottoman slave market.[5]: 80  This is quite likely considering that, as author and historian Brian Glyn Williams writes:

Fisher estimates that in the sixteenth century the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lost around 20,000 individuals a year and that from 1474 to 1694, as many as a million Commonwealth citizens were carried off into [Ottoman-sponsored] Crimean slavery.[6]

1550 portrait by Titian of Roxelana, the most notable figure of Poland who would be captured by Crimean Tatars and later would marry Suleiman the Magnificent

Life in the Ottoman Empire

Strasz had converted to Islam and received his education at Enderûn. He began working as an official for the Sublime Porte in 1540, becoming an envoy and translator on legations.[3] He had his own harem (like most high-ranking Ottoman figures), and at least one daughter.[4]

Strasz was made Grand Dragoman (the highest rank a non-Muslim could attain in the Ottoman Empire)[7] in 1551, and held this post until his death in 1571. Dragomans were of Christian origin, and were often Austrians, Hungarians, Poles, and Greeks.[8] They had to be proficient in the 'three languages' (Ottoman Turkish: السينا-ى تهالاتها, romanized: alsina-i thalātha) of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, as well as foreign languages (generally French and Italian).[9] Strasz was proficient in all these languages plus German, Polish, and Latin.

Strasz frequently traveled to Poland, France, Spain, Venice, Frankfurt, and Vienna on diplomatic missions.[5]: 80  He was the tutor (lala) and guardian of Roxelana's son, future Sultan Selim II.[4][10] Strasz was paid 100 red złotys yearly by Sigismund Augustus to make sure that the Sultan was in support of the Jagiellonian dynasty.[5]: 80  Although he also received similar gifts from the Doges of Venice, this did not mean that Strasz spied on the Sultan. In fact, at the time, it was common for European monarchs to pay (and gift) high-ranking officials at the Ottoman court.[3]

Strasz was sent to Venice in 1554 in an attempt to convince the Venetians to war with Charles V, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He would also be the one to deliver the 1562 peace treaty terms of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to emperor Ferdinand I.[4] In April 1564, Strasz was sent to Kraków to demand the extradition of Ștefan Tomșa, a Moldavian rebel, and 20 allied boyars siding with him. Polish King Sigismund Augustus would have Tomşa beheaded on 5 May 1564 in Lviv.[11] Strasz was again sent to Poland in 1569 in order to convince the King to participate in a joint Ottoman-Polish invasion of Moscow, but the King refused on the basis of the threats the presence of Turkish soldiers could pose to the newly formed Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth if they were allowed to enter the country.[4]

Death and legacy

Strasz died in Istanbul in July 1571, having served as Grand Dragoman for 20 years,[5]: 80  and an Ottoman official for 31 years in total.[12] His death date would be exactly a year before that of Polish King Sigismund Augustus', who Strasz had worked with for the entirety of his tenure as Grand Dragoman and had managed to keep in check since the Polish monarch was allied to the Habsburgs, enemies of the Ottomans, as Sigismund Augustus was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

With the absence of Strasz and Roxelana (who was Polish in origin), Ottoman-Polish relations soon started to deteriorate in the 1590s,[13] and Polish kings were not treated as seriously as they used to be during the reign of Sigismund Augustus.[5]: 83  However, relations would increase dramatically in the 1800s with the Ottoman Empire acting as a safe haven for Poles after the failed 1830, 1848, and 1863 uprisings,[14] with the refugees having a considerable impact on the Empire and the Republic.[15] The Ottoman Empire was the only country to recognise Poland after its partition, retaining the position of Ambassador of Lehistan (Poland) in the foreign office.[16][17][18]

See also

References
  1. "Strotschius, Ibrahim". Deutsche Biographie.
  2. Nowak, Andrzej. Dzieje Polski. Tom 4. Trudny złoty wiek 1468-1572 [History of Poland. Volume 4. A difficult golden age 1468-1572.] (in Polish). p. 8. ISBN 9788375532777.
  3. Piotr Kroll (25 October 2013). "Polish Converts to Islam in the Service of the Sultan".
  4. Gabriela Multan. "Kariery Polaków na dworze sułtańskim. Przypadek Joachima Strasza" [Poles' careers at the sultan's court. The case of Joachim Strasz.] (in Polish). Societas Historicorum.
  5. Wawrzyniak, Krzysztof (June 2003). Ottoman-Polish diplomatic relations in the sixteenth century. The Institute of Economics and Social Sciences (M.A.). Ankara: Bilkent University.
  6. Brian Glyn Williams (10 June 2013). "The Sultan's Raiders: The Military Role of the Crimean Tatars in the Ottoman Empire". Washington, D.C.: The Jamestown Foundation. p. 27.
  7. Strauss, Johann (1995). "The Millets and the Ottoman Language: The Contribution of Ottoman Greeks to Ottoman Letters (19th-20th Centuries)". Die Welt des Islams. 35 (2): 190. doi:10.1163/1570060952597860.
  8. Eliot, Charles (1900). Turkey in Europe. London: Edward Arnold. p. 307.
  9. Philliou, Christine M. (2011). Biography of an Empire: Governing Ottomans in an Age of Revolution. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-520-26633-9.
  10. "Turkey, Poland mark 600 years of bilateral relations". 5 March 2014.
  11. Spieralski, Zdzisław (1967). Awantury mołdawskie [Moldavian adventures]. Biblioteka wiedzy historycznej: Historia powszechna (in Polish). Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna. p. 128.
  12. MD XII 916.
  13. Davies, Brian (4 April 2014). Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe, 1500-1700. Warfare and History. Routledge. p. 128. ISBN 1134552823.
  14. A. Urbanik, Andrew; O. Baylen, Joseph (1981). "Polish Exiles and the Turkish Empire, 1830–1876". The Polish Review. University of Illinois Press. 26 (3): 43.
  15. Karolina Wanda Olszowska (2021). "Polish Contributors to the Modern Turkish State". Prace Historyczne. Kraków: Jagiellonian University Press. 148 (4): 813.
  16. "Where is the Deputy of Lehistan?". poloniaottomanica.blogspot.com. 11 February 2014.
  17. Sokolnicki, Michał: Polityka Piłsudskiego a Turcja, vol. 6. Niepodległość. London: Wydawn. Instytutu Józefa Piłsudskiego Poświęconego Badaniu Najnowszej Historii Polski, 1958.
  18. "Turcja. Państwo, które nigdy nie uznało rozbiorów Rzeczypospolitej" [Turkey. A country that never recognized the partitions of the Commonwealth.]. twojahistoria.pl (in Polish). 23 February 2018.
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