“I live in a place that represents the Tower of Babel… Even in my own household, there are ten different languages spoken!” From Lady Montagu’s Turkish Embassy Letters
Lady Montagu was the wife of the British Ambassador in İstanbul and she joined him in his journey in the orient in 1716 where she was able to observe the daily life as well as the life of the elites. She wrote of her experiences in İstanbul to her friends and family and her letters were published after her death in 1762. Her letters are the first letters by a Christian woman about a non-European culture.
I would highly recommend you to read Lady Montagu’s Turkish Embassy Letters as it allows one to have a vivid understanding of 18th century İstanbul with its harem women, bath houses, medical practises, religious rituals, customs, costumes, ethnic diversity as well as the architecture of the period which is no longer with us. Historians say that she wrote in a more realistic fashion compared to many western travellers of her time who had visited İstanbul.
She is also one of the first western women to be welcomed in the harem to observe royal Ottoman women and to delve into their worlds which has been a mystery for the world for centuries.
Lady Mantogu was lucky to be a part of the Ottoman history which is named as the ‘tulip era’ where peace, prosperity and art dominated the lives of the Ottomans so she had been the witness of an exceptional era for the Ottoman history. Her letters are a witness to the two years she had spent in the ‘Levant’ away from the western world. Reading her letters is enough to tell how much she enjoyed the hospitality in Ottoman İstanbul as well as the richness of the culture with its cuisine, customs and costumes.
