A Habsburg–Persian alliance (; also Habsburg–Safavid alliance () or Habsburg–Iran alliance) was attempted and to a certain extent achieved in the 16th century between the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

and

Safavid Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

in their common conflict against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

First contacts

During the reign of the Persian

Shah Ismail Ismail I (; 17 July 1487 – 23 May 1524) was the founder and first shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1501 until his death in 1524. His reign is one of the most vital in the history of Iran, and the Safavid period is often considered the beginn ...

, exchanges occurred between him and

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

, and Ludwig II of Hungary in view of combining against the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

.''The Cambridge history of Iran'' by William Bayne Fisher p.384''ff'' Charles, then king of Spain as

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, sent an envoy to propose an alliance to the Shah of Persia between 1516 and 1519. Also in 1516, Ludwig II sent a Maronite friar by the name of Petrus de Monte Libano with the same mission. The response to these letters has not been preserved, but in 1523 Shah Ismail sent a letter in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

offering to Charles V to coordinate military operations against the common Ottoman enemy, again using Petrus of Monte Libano as an emissary.Austria
Encyclopedia Iranica
/ref> The envoys visited Charles V in

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

in March 1524 "to ask for an alliance against the Turks". Nothing concrete however seems to have come out of these first exchanges.''Defenders of the Faith'' by James Reston, Jr. p.359''ff''
/ref> Charles accepted the alliance in principle, but the death of Shah Ismail in 1524 effectively invalidated the agreement.

Ottoman–Safavid War

Finally, on 18 February 1529,

, deeply alarmed by the Ottoman progression towards Vienna, again sent a letter from Toledo to Shah Ismail, who had died in 1524 and had been replaced by

Shah Tahmasp Tahmasp I ( or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Tahmasp ascended the throne after the d ...

, pleading for a military diversion. His ambassador to the Shah was the knight of Saint John de Balbi, and an alliance was made with the objective of making an attack on the Ottoman Empire in the west and the east within the following year.''Memoirs of the court, aristocracy, and diplomacy of Austria'' Carl Eduard Vehse p.7

/ref> Tahmasp also responded by expressing his friendship to the Emperor. A decision was thus taken to attack the Ottoman Empire on both fronts, but Balbi took more than one year to return to the Persian Empire, and by that time the situation had changed in Persia, as Persia was forced to make peace with the Ottoman Empire because of an insurrection of the Shaybanid

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

. About the same time, envoys were also sent to Persia by

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

of Austria (and brother of

), in the person of Pietro da Negro and Simon de Lillis, without success. Other legations were sent in 1532 and 1533. These exchanges were effectively followed however by the long

Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555) The Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532–1555 was one of the many military conflicts fought between the two arch rivals, the Ottoman Empire led by Suleiman the Magnificent, and the Safavid Empire led by Tahmasp I. Ottoman territorial gains were confir ...

. From that time, as soon as the Ottomans would launch a European campaign, they would be attacked by the Persians on their eastern frontier, forcing Suleiman to return speedily to his capital.Garnier, p.16 Meanwhile, King

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

, enemy of the Habsburgs, and

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

were moving forward with a

Franco-Ottoman alliance The Franco-Ottoman alliance, also known as the Franco-Turkish alliance, was an alliance established in 1536 between Francis I of France, Francis I, King of France and Suleiman the Magnificent, Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire. The strategic and s ...

, formalized in 1536, that would counterbalance the Habsburg threat. In 1547, when Suleiman attacked Persia, France sent him the ambassador Gabriel de Luetz to accompany him in his campaign. Gabriel de Luetz was able to give decisive military advice to Suleiman, as when he advised on artillery placement during the Siege of Vān.

Further attempts

The Persians effectively entered into conflict with the Ottoman Empire on five occasions in the

Ottoman–Persian Wars The Ottoman–Persian Wars also called the Ottoman–Iranian Wars were a series of wars between the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid, Afsharid, Zand, and Qajar dynasties of Iran (also known as Persia) through the 16th–19th centuries. The Ot ...

, weakening the Ottoman Empire considerably every time, and effectively opening a second front when the Ottoman Empire was in conflict in Europe, to the rejoicing of Habsburg Europe. It was a great relief for the Habsburgs, and appeared as the realization of the old Habsburg–Persian alliance stratagem. Abbas I as a new Caesar being honoured by the trumpets of fame and the Persian embassy in Allegorie de l Occasion by Frans II Francken 1628

Abbas I as a new Caesar being honoured by the trumpets of fame and the Persian embassy in Allegorie de l Occasion by Frans II Francken 1628

After a period of trouble in Persia, contacts between Austria and Persia were resumed in 1593 when Emperor

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the H ...

sent from

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

a message to Shah ʿAbbās through the Persian minister in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Further efforts towards an alliance were also undertaken by the English adventurer Anthony Sherley acting as intermediary. Numerous similar diplomatic efforts to combine against the Ottomans would continue into the 17th century, especially with the Persian embassy to Europe (1599–1602) and the Persian embassy to Europe (1609–1615).

Notes

References

* Garnier, Edith ''L'Alliance Impie'' Editions du Felin, 2008, Paris
Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Habsburg-Persian alliance 16th century in the Habsburg monarchy 16th century in Iran Military history of Safavid Iran Military history of the Habsburg monarchy History of the foreign relations of Iran Military alliances involving Iran Foreign relations of Safavid Iran

First contacts

Ottoman–Safavid War

Further attempts

See also

Notes

References