Cultural Dessert

'The Lion House' by Christopher de Bellaigue

1 September 2023

Having become fascinated with the Ottoman Empire after listening to the excellent Empire podcast (reviewed here in January 2023) I was intrigued to hear Rory Stewart (on The Rest is Politics podcast) recommending 'The Lion House', a novel by Christopher de Bellaigue set in the court of Suleyman the Magnificent. 'The Lion House', which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Barnaby Edwards, starts in 1522, two years after Suleyman succeeded his father, Selim I, as Sultan. Christopher de Bellaigue outlines the rivalry and connections between Suleyman's Ottoman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire of Charles V,  King Francis I of France, King Henry VIII of England, the Pope and the Doge of Venice. He introduces us to some of the key characters in Suleyman's court, including: Ibrahim - the Greek slave who became Suleyman's Grand Vizier; Alvise Gritti - the illegitimate son of the Doge of Venice who served Suleyman as an Ottoman Minister and Regent of Hungary; Suleyman's Polish wife Roxelana; and Barbarossa - the Barbary pirate who was appointed admiral of the Ottoman fleet. 'The Lion House' is more of an old-fashioned, slightly fictionalised, history book rather than a novel. It tells the macro story of Suleyman's Empire from the position of omniscient narrator, with very little dialogue. But it's a fascinating story.

Labels: Books

posted by Robin Simpson @ 2:17 pm