Müteferrika Süleyman Ağa, known as Suleiman Aga and Soleiman Agha in France, was an

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

ambassador to the French king

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ve ...

in 1669. Suleiman visited

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

, but only wore a simple wool coat and refused to bow to Louis XIV,Bernstein, p.247
/ref> who immediately banished him to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, away from Versailles. In Paris, Suleiman set up a beautiful house where he was credited for introducing coffee drinking to the Parisian society, with waiters dressed in Ottoman style, triggering enthusiastic responses thereby starting the fashion for coffee-drinking.New York Times ''Starbucked'', 16 December 2007
/ref> Suleiman invited Parisian society women to his home for extravagant "coffee ceremonies", which were imitated throughout Parisian high society. Suleiman's activities in Paris were a trigger for the popularity of

Turquerie Turquerie (anglicized as "Turkery"), "Turquoiserie" was the Turkish fashion in Western Europe from the 16th to 18th centuries for imitating aspects of Ottoman art and culture. Many different Western European countries were fascinated by the exo ...

and

Orientalism in early modern France Orientalism in early modern France refers to the interaction of pre-modern France with the Orient, and especially the cultural, scientific, artistic and intellectual impact of these interactions, ranging from the academic field of Oriental studies ...

, in which Turkish fashions of the time such as

turban A turban (from Persian دولبند‌, ''dulband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with promi ...

s and

caftan A kaftan or caftan (; fa, خفتان, ) is a variant of the robe or tunic. Originating in Asia, it has been worn by a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years. In Russian usage, ''kaftan'' instead refers to a style of men's l ...

s and decorations such as carpets and cushions became highly popular.''Bound together'' by Nayan Chanda p.87
/ref> The first French coffee shop, the

Café Procope The Café Procope in the Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie is a café in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was opened in 1686 by the Sicilian chef Procopio Cutò (also known by his Italian name Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli and his French name Fr ...

, opened in 1689, just 17 years after Suleiman's famed visit.

Notes

References

* Bernstein, W. '' A splendid exchange: how trade shaped the world'' Atlantic Monthly Press, 2008 *

External links

The Embassy of Soliman Aga to Louis XIV: Diplomacy, Dress, and Diamonds
by Garritt van Dyk Ambassadors of the Ottoman Empire to France 17th-century diplomats 17th-century people from the Ottoman Empire {{Ottoman-bio-stub

See also

Notes

References

External links