Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq

Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq was an ambassador of the Holy Roman Emperor at the Sublime Porte (the Turkish Sultan's court in Constantinople) from 1555-62. In essence Ogier was a was a writer, herbalist and diplomat.
De Busbecq was the illegitimate son of the Seigneur de Busbecq, Georges Ghiselin, and his mistress Catherine Hespiel. He was born in 1522 and spent his lifetime in the employ of three generations of Austrian monarchs. He was very well- learned man who had pursued his education at some of Europe's most prestigious Universities including advanced Latin studies at Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and later on in Italy's northern universities.
The majority of what is known of de Busbecq's experiences in the Ottoman lands is as according to his accounts written in letters which he wrote. These letters were part of personal correspondence to his friend, Nicholas Michault, who was also a Hungarian diplomat. The letters represent primary sources of historical Ottoman Empire from a western perspective and have been hailed as some of the world's first travel literature.
The letters themselves largely describe Ogiers activities and involvement in Ottoman politics He is also known for having been a keen collector who acquired precious manuscripts, rare coins and main other mementos of the Ottomans.
In his first letter de Busbecq says: "As we passed through this district [on the road from Adrianople to Constantinople] we everywhere came across quantities of flowers--narcissi, hyacinths, and tulipans, as the Turks call them. We were surprised to find them flowering in mid-winter, scarcely a favourable season....The tulip has little or no scent, but it is admired for its beauty and the variety of its colours. The Turks are very fond of flowers, and, though they are otherwise anything but extravagant, they do not hesitate to pay several aspres for a fine blossom. These flowers, although they were gifts, cost me a good deal; for I had always to pay several aspres in return for them."- Busbecq, Turkish Letters (I, pp.24-25)
It is because of this letter that de Busbecq is reputed to have made tulips and other flowers such as the lilac popular in Europe.yet because of his herbalist background, Ogier wrote a lot about plants and animals that he saw in the Ottoman lands. It was because of this that he sent some tulip bulbs to his friend Charles de l'Écluse, who breeded and adapted them to life in the European climate. Other than this, de Busbecq is also credited to have been the first European to describe yoghurt and by so doing introduce it to Europe.
Other issues tackled in de Busbecq's letters are warnings and exhortations to his fellow countrymen willing them to take the Ottomans as an example of military strength and discipline. He goes into detail about his encounters with the Janisarries, their attire and how they held themseves in strict discipline and obeisance to the Sultan.
In one of his letters, he starts off initially by describing the grace and respectfulness in which he was greeted by the Janissaries during his first visit saying "To tell you the truth, if I had not been told beforehand that they were Janissaries, I should, without hesitation, have taken them for members of some order of Turkish monks, or brethren of some Moslem college. Yet these are the famous Janissaries, whose approach inspires terror everywhere."
Later on he expands on their fortitude and skill by saying "From this you will see that it is the patience, self-denial and thrift of the Turkish soldier that enable him to face the most trying circumstances and come safely out of' the dangers that surround him. What a contrast to our men! Christian soldiers on a campaign refuse to put up with their ordinary food, and call for thrushes, becaficos [a small bird esteemed a dainty, as it feeds on figs and grapes], and suchlike dainty dishes! ... It makes me shudder to think of what the result of a struggle between such different systems must be"- The Turkish Letters, 1555-1562
In this and other ways de Busbecq uses his letters to criticize the Western system of the superiority of bloodlines and aristocracy over merit and personal ability. This is understandable not only because of the Ottoman example that de Busbecq was observing but also in light of his own illegitimacy which had impacted on his life path. One can also not ignore the fact that de Busbecq is definitely not unbiased since at the times of the letters he was one of the people advocating for reform in his country thus his representations of the Ottomans while highly accurate are tainted with his own motives.
There are many other references of de Busbecq in history but his most famous works remains the Turkish Letters that he wrote as a result of his tenure in Constantinople. De Busbecq left the Ottoman lands in 1562 at which time he became a counselor in the court of Emperor Ferdinand in Vienna.


Works Cited
1. Epistolae ad Rudolphum II. Imperatorem e Gallia scriptae (1630) - Posthumous publication of Busbecq's letters to Rudolf II detailing the life and politics of the French court.
2. The Turkish Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq Imperial Ambassador at Constantinople 1554 - 1562 (1927) translated by Edward Seymour Forster