Response to Busbecq's Letters. History Assignment.

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Response to Busbecq's Letters
Busbecq was a diplomat sent by the Suleiman I (the magnificent) to Constantinople as an ambassador. He went to represent the roman empire that was in a tug of war with the ottoman empire to take over Transylvania that was on the border of the two major empires in Europe, but Hungry also interested in taking it. His negotiation was long and took around six years for the three parties to come to a solid agreement. Busbecq expressed his experience to his friend and fellow diplomat Michault in the form of four long letters for sharing the experiences privately. Even though the letters were not intended for publication, they were published in 1589. This discussion narrows down to how the Turkish army lived and its influence on the empirical governance, as explained by Busbecq in his letters to Michault.
In his third letter, Busbecq was astonished on how the Turkish army was so disciplined and was able to carry out their religious activities while in the camp. “fasting period was a full lunar month, and the army participated fully” (McKay, p1112). Even though the Turkish had religious discipline, Busbecq explains that it reduced the amount of food consumed to as to cope up with the change in dietary. “they reduced their daily allowance for food, as they feared they could not cope up with a sudden change” (McKay, 1112). Even though Busbecq was amazed by the discipline of the army, there is contrast if the army could maintain its effectiveness in wars. Fasting is most likely to negatively affect the troop performance, as it is likely that the men could have weak muscles to fight (De Busbecq, p44). He explains that during the fasting period, the army could not even be allowed water. This was totally different from the roman empire, which practiced Christianity and had no such rules. That is risking the army's performance, was the army winning any war during this fastin...