Il dragomanno Benjamin Brüe e le relazioni franco-ottomane (1714-1716)

Abstract

Benjamin Brüe was a dragoman who accompanied the Ottoman army to Morea and Hungary. Yet he was far from being just a translator, in fact, Brüe was one of the most important actors in the French-Ottoman relations. He managed and at times guided, together with the diplomatic corps, the co-operation with the Oriental Empire. In his correspondence he appears to be the interpreter of the defensive strategies adopted by the French Kingdom against the Habsburg threat in the Levant. However, the Grand Vizier suspected him to be an enemy spy and gave order for him to be killed. The dragoman can thus be seen as a broker who, through the transmission of political and cultural information, puts different worlds in contact.