Primary Text: "Nevves from the Great Turke"

Reading like a preview to the PayPerView boxing match of the year, "Nevves from the Great Tuke" describes the power of Sultan Brian for whom the pamphlet is named. He is immediately constructed as a "blasphemous manifestation," as "against the Christians" on the cover, but within is immediately doted with praise. He is "Son and Nephew of God, the invincible King of the Turks," and "King of all the Kings in this World, cheife Saint of Paradise." These terms are absolute blasphemes against the Christan God, yet he is again described as "King of all Kings, Prince of all Princes," but then immediately after "Terrour and scourge of all Christians" but interestingly enough, also "of the Ottomans, and of the Circumcised Hope."

Thoughout, this Great Turk is constructed with such seeming contradictions that I can only believe the author is describing the Antichrist. He is at one moment labeled with the same allegorical terms reserved only for God, and the next damned as the enemy of all Christians. While this fits with my reading of Tamburlaine as Antichrist conveniently, the fact that this Sultan is also the enemy of Ottoman is interesting: Tamburlaine was the enemy of the Ottoman Bajazeth, but at the same time also enemy of Christian England.

The pamphlet goes on the describe the size of the Sultan's army, and the size of the Christian armies that band together to oppose him. In concludes this count thusly: "It is much to be wished, that all Christian Princes were reconciled together, and endeavoured to joyne their Forces together, to oppose that cruell enemy that seeks to make himselfe Monarch of the World, and to bring the Christians under his usurping power." There is no deny at this point that the Sultan is none other than an Antichrist figure. Further, this supports my thesis of Tamburlaine as Antichrist in that in shows a description of the Antichrist from the period that could just as easily be applied to the character of Tamburlaine.

The pamphlet ends strangely. After having described the respective armies of the Antichrist Sultan and the cumulative Christian forces, it ends. It is like a preview for a fight after all. Historically, this seems accurate with that I discovered in my paper. While Elizabeth forged official bonds of peace with the Turks, the Church and the people of England were left to balance this by demonizing the Islamic powers. "Nevves from the Great Turke" reinforces the conflicting views of Early Modern England. The Sultan is clearly evil and the enemy of both England and all that is Christian, yet the way the armies are described, both in scope and size, is clearly with great adoration. There is a respect for the power of the military of the Antichrist, despite his religious damnation. And so it was, too, with Tamburlaine and the rest of the Turkish/Islamic Empire.
This pamphlet isn't alone in its demonization of Islam. While the first example seems to be most accurate in capturing the mindset of the Early Modern English in regards to Muslims, this second is the front page from a pamphlet far more typical of the period. It is a sort of treatise designed to prove the superiority of Christianity over other religions, "Mahometans" included. There was quite a bit of this media and it reflected the spoken attitude amongst common people with regards to all other religions, but Islam in particular. While the reverance and respect for the power of the Turks was certainly real, it was rarely expressed, especially given that it was recognized well enough in Elizabeth's approval of trade. Rather, the immediately accesible response of the people was that of condemnation of the blasphemies of Islam. This is an attitude encouraged by the Church but adopted wholly by the citizens of Early Modern England.

Bibliography (in order of appearance)

Anonymous. Nevves from the Great Turke. London: Printed for Jo. Handcock in Popes-head-Alley., 1645. Early English Books Online. Appalachian State University. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&res_id=xri:eebo&res_dat=xri:pqil:res_ver=0.2&rft_id=xri:eebo:citation:99861000

Anonymous. The truth and excellency of Christian religion demonstrated against Jews, Mahometans, and heathens. London: printed for William Crooke, at the Three Bibles on Fleet-Bridge, 1665. Early English Books Online. Appalachian State University. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&res_id=xri:eebo&res_dat=xri:pqil:res_ver=0.2&rft_id=xri:eebo:citation:99833442