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JONES, Adrian
Ideas and Contexts Informing Dimitrie Cantemir’s Allegorical Image of Constantinople in the
Decade following the Edirne Event
The past (1693) and future (1710-11) Orthodox Ottoman tributary sovereign (hospodar) of Moldavia, Prince Dimitrie
Cantemir (1673-1723) wrote (between 1703 and 1705) the first work of fiction in Romanian (while living in a yalı in
Ortaköy). He named it “Hieroglyphic History” (Istoria ieroglifică). It was a flight of fancy linked to his frustration about
recent political setbacks for his Cantemir-Cantacuzene clan. Political reflection was casted as an allegorical novel. It used
animal characters to construct a humanist allegory of Moldavian-Wallachian-Ottoman politics. The novel treats issues of
“decline” but in allegorical ways, it differs from Ottoman nasihatnames which focus on corruption, service, correct principles
and worries about decline. Much attention has been paid to Cantemir’s mastery of Ottoman music and to his renowned
work constructing a history of Ottoman growth and decline (incrementorum and decrementorum). Cantemir’s startling
annotations to his history have been especially prized by Ottomanists. Having resided in Constantinople for twenty two
years as a student, a hostage, a diplomat and as a musician and conspirator-rumor-monger contributed to the historical
analysis of him. Cantemir’s amazing work on Ottoman history was started to be written in Constantinople after 1705, but
largely written in exile in Russia, between 1711 and 1716. Albeit never published in Russia, much later, its editions in English,
French and German were published between 1734 and 1745. Cantemir’s earlier work, the Istoria Ieroglifică of 1703-05 has
been widely studied for its odd invented-erudite written Romanian influenced, by Greek words and Turkish grammar, and
for its Moldavian-Wallachian political allegories. As if to underline the intellectual play involved, the only manuscript (in
the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts – РГАДА Российский Госурдарственнйи Архив Древних Актов, ф. 181, дело
16, item 1419) of the Istoria Ieroglifică was also signed by Cantemir in Osmanlıca. This paper explores the Slavonic and
Ottoman influences and contexts forming Cantemir’s allegorical image of Constantinople as a “City of Desire” (Cetatea
Epithymii Четатъ Эпифвмий). Only a few study of this image has been made, even though it was included in the original
manuscript (1703-05) of Istoria Ieroglifică. In this study, unusual phallic, galley, Garden of Eden and some urban themes
in the book are discussed and the contrasts with Ottoman-Persian ideas of the city and the polity as an “Asitane-i Saadet
Aşiyan” (an Abode of State Instilling Happiness) are highlighted.