Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha : a 16th century Ottoman convert in the mediterranean world

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the life of Scipione Cicala, also known as Cigalazade Yusuf Sinan Pasha, who was a significant Genoese convert inside the 16th century Ottoman court. Based on the reports of the Venetian bailos and ambassadors in Constantinople, the study aims to draw a portrait of Cicala to indicate how these bureaucrats envisaged Cicala and his personal, political and economic relationships in line with the changes inside the Ottoman court and the Mediterranean Sea. Through his prestigious duties in both Eastern and Western parts of the Sultanate, his patronage networks, imperial marriages and his relations with hereditary family, this thesis aims to explain how an “Ottoman” diplomat was perceived both in his hometown (Italian peninsula) and in the Ottoman Empire.