In the last 5 articles, I discussed Shah Abbas’ spy network and diplomatic activities in Europe.[1] In this article, I will write about the activities of Huseyn Ali bey and Anthony Shirley’s embassy in Italy and Spain.
In the previous article, I noted that the embassy was already in Viterbo on 2 April 1601. We know this from Shirley’s letter to Cardinal Aldobrandini on that date, written in Italian with spelling mistakes.[2] The embassy arrived in Rome only on 5 April, the reason for the delay being the quarrel between Huseyn Ali and Shirley. A cardinal whose name is not preserved in the sources led the parties from Viterbo to Rome after mediation. Detailed information about the ceremonial entry of the embassy to Rome has come to us thanks to the diaries of Paolo Alaleone[3] and Giovanni Paolo Mucante[4], officials in charge of Vatican ceremonies.
Since the head of the embassy was a Muslim, the College of Cardinals considered it appropriate for the embassy to be welcomed by secular nobles rather than clergy. However, the person who met them was no ordinary nobleman, but the Pope’s 14-year-old nephew, Silvestre Aldobrandini. Even when entering the city, the bickering ambassadors could not decide whose horse should be where. As a result, in the evening Shirley entered in the center, Huseyn Ali on the right, and Aldobrandini on the left. According to the Duke of Sessa’s report, this solution was achieved by remembering that it was a sign of respect to pass on the right side in Huseyn Ali bey’s country.
Entrance into Rome
The embassy came along the Via Flaminia and entered Rome near the vineyards of the Count of Riano, about 5 km from the Gate of the People.[5] Passing in front of the Fountain of Julius III on the Via Flaminia, the embassy was escorted by the Pope’s Swiss Guards and mounted soldiers. Entering the city through the People’s Gate, the ambassadors continued along Via del Corso. Turning right in front of St. Mark’s Church, the embassy passed by the church of St. Andrea della Valle, construction of which had been going on for 10 years, and Piazza Novona,[6] and proceeded along the street of the same name where the Pasquino statue was located. Ascending the Mount Jordan,[7] the embassy came from the Passage of Banks[8] to Via Borgo Nuovo.[9] Since the beginning of this street was the Holy Angel Castle,[10] a cannon was fired in their honor when they passed by it. Ambassadors were on two white horses, accompanied by lightly armored horsemen with tunics and mantles and without spears; Roman nobles and heads of families, accompanied by drummers, barons, and trumpeters, entered the main part of the Vatican. According to Paolo Mucante’s writings, all the streets were filled with people, young and old, who wanted to see strangely dressed foreigners. However, they complained that the embassy came at night and that they could not see them better. Oruj bey Bayat mentions in his memoirs that “countless people came to see us.”[11]
Dismounting their horses, the ambassadors were received by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fabio Fiondi da Montalto, at 7 o’clock in the evening at the Palazzo della Rovere, on the left side of Via Borgo Nuovo. Mucante wrote in his diary that Huseyn Ali was the first to dismount and go up the stairs when Shirley saw this and hurried and stepped in front of him. This worried Huseyn Ali, and he complained about Shirley. Shirley was not satisfied with his situation and thought that a better apartment was given to Huseyn Ali bey. Shirley is said to have refused dinner that night in protest. But in the end, Cardinal Cinzio Aldobrandi was able to take Shirley and Huseyn Ali to dinner together. According to Alaleone’s writings, Shirley ate fish, and Huseyn Ali “devoured” meat.
The ambassadors continued to argue in Rome. The Duke of Sessa wrote in his report on 10 April:
So far they have not gone to the palace, and I do not believe they will after Easter either, since Holy Week is very near, and every day one of them claims superiority over the other.[12]
The next day, on 11 April, the French Cardinal Arnaud d’Ossat informed King Henry IV of France that Shirley and Huseyn Ali were engaged in a physical brawl on the stairs of the Della Rovere Palace. His letter questioned how the Safavids and Christians could unite against the Turks if the two ambassadors could not unite.[13] On 14 April, the Tuscan ambassador in Rome stated in his report that Shirley was a liar and that the Shah only wrote letters to monarchs and the Republic of Venice; thus, there was no direct letter to the Duke of Tuscany. Shirley never spoke about the letters written to France and Venice, and Huseyn Ali kept these letters.[14] On the same day, the Venetian ambassador Giovanni Mocenigo sent a similar report:
On Sunday the Persian Ambassador sent to me to say that he would be glad if I would send him one of my households as he had a communication to make. I sent my secretary, to whom the Ambassador explained, through an interpreter, that this Englishman who is with him, is in fact in the service of the Persian, but is not an ambassador. For as he had to return to England the King had begged him to lend his services by accompanying the Embassy, as he was well versed in such matters; but while on the journey, and being master of the language, he had usurped the rank of principal Ambassador. That this was a serious offence against the King, his master, committed by a man of bad character, but no remedy was possible just now as he was in a foreign country and ignorant of its language. […] This one, he said, was for your Serenity, whom he had not visited on his way here because, being quite ignorant of the country, he had been persuaded by the Englishman to come to Rome first; but on leaving Rome he intended to go straight to Venice, although he had heard that your Serenity would raise difficulties about receiving him. All the same he wished to warn you that the Englishman had sent an agent of his from Florence to Venice, and that it would be as well not to trust him, nor to give him anything, for his master was so crushed by debt that his sole object now was to extract money from Princes. The Persian even suggested that your Serenity should imprison the English agent until his arrival when he would expose all these frauds.[15]
It seems that after Huseyn Ali arrived in Rome, he held a meeting with other diplomats to prove that he was the real ambassador. Huseyn Ali also warned the Venetian ambassador that Shirley would send one of his men from Florence to Venice. In general, which of the ambassadors was more important was already a topic of discussion throughout Rome. The Duke of Sessa’s report said that the whole city was divided into two factions, some siding with Huseyn Ali and others with Shirley:
It would be very amusing if I could give an account of the arguments and documents presented in their contest for supremacy, for the whole court was divided on the subject, from serious men to simple shoemakers, and even to the Pope’s own servants. Some sided with the English, others with the Moor,[16] and it seems the latter is right, for he always says only one thing.[17]
That day (14 April 1601) Shirley also gave a letter to the pope. In the letter, Shirley begins by stating that he is suffering from the difficulties that have arisen and seeks refuge in the justice of the pope. He had no doubt that the pope, after considering the case, would come to “the emperor’s conclusion,” that is, recognize him as the true ambassador and recognize the Iranian in his proper position, that of assistant.[18] Shirley explained the fact that the documents were in Huseyn Ali’s possession since he gave all the letters to Huseyn Ali while he was still on the ship in the Caspian Sea. He indicated Diego de Miranda and Francesco da Costa, who had just left for Iran, as the main witnesses that he was the real ambassador. (At that time they were still in Venice.)[19] Shirley noted the Jesuit priests Sebastian Rodriguez, Bartelome Perez and Juan Alvarez as additional witnesses and also names three Armenians who were in Rome at the time. Although Carlos Alonso could not find the real names of these people, whose names were listed as “Coggia Cacciatore,” “Coggia Eggia,” and “Coggia Yolge” in the original text,[20] in my opinion “Coggia” should be read as Khoja. Presumably, the first two names should be reconstructed as Khoja Khachatur and Khoja Yeghia. The last witness was priest Afonso Cordero who came with them from Iran.[21]
Huseyn Ali bey’s arguments were related to the internal system of the Safavid state. According to him, on 17 April, Shah Abbas sealed the envelopes in two ways. One such seal was placed one the envelope in Shirley’s hand. Its seal was on the front and upper side. The documents in Huseyn Ali’s hand were top secret envelopes indicated by their seal on the back and bottom. In his report to the pope, Huseyn Ali bey also mentioned that he was a nobleman from Iran’s Sistan province. That is, the king did not send an ordinary person as an ambassador. Huseyn Ali bey also explained that the Shah trusted Shirley, so he entrusted him with 30,000 sequino[22] worth of gold and silver and jewelry. Shirley promised to send those gifts from Arkhangelsk to Rome and said that he would also send the gifts of Emperor Rudolph II from Rome to Prague. However, the main thing that annoyed Huseyn Ali bey was that Duke Ferdinand “received an official letter” from Shah Abbas in Florence because, as I noted before, the Shah did not have such a letter. Huseyn Ali bey complained that he could not express himself clearly because of a lack of interpreters, and expressed that he wanted to continue the rest of the journey without Shirley, and that he was ashamed that Shah Abbas would think that he had entrusted such an important embassy to a man like Shirley. Huseyn Ali finished his appeal by arguing that he could not stay in Europe for so long and that he was in a hurry to return to his country. Bishop Leonardo Abela, a famous connoisseur of oriental languages, Michelangelo Corai, an agent of Shah Abbas, and the Armenian Tommaso d’Angelo translated Huseyn Ali bey’s appeal. Huseyn Ali had a chance to see the pope on 19 April. The ambassador was in the palace of Cardinal Ascoli when the pope prayed for and blessed the people gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
Shirley’s letter was translated by Corai and Abel on 20 April. One of the factors that increased the credibility of Huseyn Ali bey’s claim of being the ambassador was his note about Nicola de Melo’s imprisonment in Russia at Shirley’s behest. Shirley had not reported on him.[23] On 21 April, the Venetian ambassador Mocenigo stated that as a result of the translation of the documents, it was clear that Shirley was not the real ambassador. According to him, Shirley said that no one in Rome knew Persian and claimed the translation was incorrect. The Duke of Sessa received information about Huseyn Ali bey from Pedro Antonio Abbioso. It seems that Abbioso befriended Huseyn Ali bey, just as he befriended Asad bey. Due to these disputes, the meeting with the pope was also delayed. Finally, the pope agreed to receive them on separate dates: he would meet Shirley on 25 April and Huseyn Ali on the 26th.
Meetings with the Pope
Shirley was admitted 2-3 hours later than expected. Accompanied by Fabio Biondi and Mucante, Shirley entered the palace through the Belvedere courtyard. Cardinals Cesare Baronio (1538-1607), Silvio Antoniano (1540-1603), Robert Bellarmino (1542-1621), Aldobrandini brothers welcomed him. Bowing to the cardinals seated to the right and left of the pope, Shirley bowed and kissed the pope’s foot according to ritual. Kneeling down, Shirley began to speak to the pope in Italian, but in such a hushed voice that Mucante, who was right behind him, could barely understand him. The pope wondered why Shah Abbas sent a foreigner as ambassador, but remembering Christ, he noted that his apostles were also unprepared. According to Mucante, for Clement VIII there was no difference between a Safavid king and an Ottoman sultan—both were Muslim. What made Shah Abbas more important was his potential to become a Christian. The pope promised to talk to Shirley again later and relieved him.
The next day at around 9 pm, Huseyn Ali bey entered the palace, performing the same rituals. Two additional cardinals—Montova and Paravicino—also came to this meeting. Huseyn Ali bey kissed the pope’s feet while it was covered by his robe in order not to touch the cross motif on the pope’s shoes. Unlike Shirley, he did not come alone, but with 12 people. From the Roman side, not only the cardinals, but also the counts of Riano, Peretti and Malatesta took part in the meeting. When Huseyn Ali spoke, he spoke in his own language, and according to Mucante, he said “things that no one understood.” Unfortunately, the original letter to the pope has not yet been found. The pope said that he was pleased with the friendship of Shah Abbas, but that he would become a true ally if he became a Christian. Huseyn Ali bey replied that it was impossible to know God’s work, and that there was a possibility that Shah Abbas and even Huseyn Ali bey himself could become a Christian someday.[24]
Realizing that the meeting with Huseyn Ali bey was more lavish and that there were also nobles in addition to the cardinals, the Venetian ambassador wrote in his report on 28 April that the pope accepted Huseyn Ali bey as the ambassador. The second formal meeting of the ambassadors with the pope took place in the Quirinal Palace on 2 May. This time the first reception was with Huseyn Ali in the morning, and the second reception was with Shirley in the afternoon. The possibility of a political alliance against the Ottomans, the situation of Christians in Iran and the possibility of Shah Abbas becoming a Christian were discussed in the meetings. Huseyn Ali listed the gifts that Shirley stole from him in the document dated “Muharram 1007″—72 of each gift, totaling 648. Shirley’s meeting had a special focus on politics. According to him, Shiism in the Safavid state was closer to the doctrines of Christianity than Sunnism in the Ottoman Empire.[25] Shirley asked the pope for a passport to return to Iran via Naples-Messina-Crete-Alexandretta-Tripoli-Damascus-Hormuz, financial means and diplomatic credentials for his interpreter, Michelangelo Corai. According to his estimate, he would reach Isfahan in October, and the war against the Ottomans would start that year.[26]
Meetings with diplomats
After the meetings, the pope retired to the Aldobrandini Palace in Frascati and returned to Rome only on 8 May. Taking advantage of his free time, Shirley approached the Tuscan ambassador on 4 May and told him that whatever Huseyn Ali had said about him was false, and arranged a secret meeting with him on 20 May. The meeting was to take place in the Medici villa, 2.5 km away from the Della Rovere palace where the ambassadors were staying. The next day, 5 May, the Venetian ambassadors Marco Venier and Mochenigo wrote in their joint reports that Shirley had fallen out of favor with the pope and that Huseyn Ali bey was trying to convince the Papal Council to form an alliance against the Ottomans.[27] That day, Shirley went to see the French Cardinal François de Surdis (1574–1628) and asked him for advice on seeing the French king. Surdis advised Shirley to see Cardinal d’Ossat. He, in turn, noted that he did not receive a special order from the king and said, “Do what you want.” D’Ossat did not want to encourage Shirley, considering that France was neutral in relations with the Ottomans. According to the report written by the cardinal to the French Secretary of State Nicolas de Neufville (1543–1617), the pope, having returned from the Aldobrandini palace on 8 May, two days later, gave 1000 gold crowns to each of the ambassadors and 200 to the translators. This was an indication that the pope would no longer see the ambassadors and his business with them had concluded. But the ambassadors continued to stay in Rome. While Huseyn Ali bey was trying to decide whether his next destination would be Spain or France, Shirley was simultaneously talking to officials from the Papacy, Tuscany, Spain and France. Shirley was able to receive credentials from the pope on 17 May, and then, as I noted above, had a secret meeting with the Tuscan ambassador on 20 May.
Later that night, in a conversation at the Medici villa, Shirley announced that he had to return to Iran urgently. According to the ambassador, he wanted to take Tuscan engineers to Iran and provide Shah Abbas with people who would develop high-quality weapons.[28] According to him, Duke Ferdinando previously said that he would agree to such a proposal only if the pope agreed. The Spanish knew about this plan in advance and had been trying to stop Shirley since Prague because Abbas could easily end Portuguese rule in Hormuz by acquiring these weapons, take over Indian trade and become a colonial rival. It is interesting that Shirley suggested a different route than the one he had told the pope and the Duke of Sessa during the conversation. He said that instead of Naples, he would return to Iran via Ancona-Ragusa-Syria, so as not to be disturbed by the Spanish on the way.[29] Shirley revealed one of his conversations with the pope: he asked the pope to write a short letter directly to the Duke asking him to send these experts, and that these letters be delivered to Florence via “Henrico Otton.”[30]
Ambassador Niccolini had decided that Shirley was credible, despite everything he had learned about the accusations against him from various quarters. The person Shirley suggested as an agent was Sir Henry Wotton, an English diplomat who would live in Venice a few years later and was already acquainted with Ferdinando. This person was very likely the person Huseyn Ali had warned about the Venetian ambassador Mochenigo. As I mentioned earlier, Wotton, like Shirley, was one of the agents of the Earl of Essex and met him in Pisa.
On 26 May, new news arrived in Rome from England: Queen Elizabeth received news that the executed Earl of Essex was financed by the Netherlands. The Venetian ambassadors noted in their report that “this rumor is spread by the Spaniards, who, being accused of having a hand in this rebellion, hope to show that they have no part in it.”[31] It was a warning that Shirley could no longer return to England. Same day Huseyn Ali bey met with the French ambassador and informed him that he would go to Spain instead of France. The next day, 27 May, Shirley also met with the ambassador and announced that he would return directly to Iran “to pick up his brother” instead of Spain, England or France. Shirley had already received credentials from the Duke of Sessa to go to Hormuz. In a letter to Luiz de Gama, the captain of Hormuz,[32] and Ayres de Saldaña, the viceroy of the Portuguese Indies,[33] it was noted that Shirley was a Protestant and now a Catholic, and therefore shouldn’t be harassed. On 28 May, a man from the papal court asked Shirley to leave Rome, giving him a donation of 100 crowns. That same day, Pietro Aldobrandini wrote a letter to the Duke of Tuscany asking him to help Shirley with the engineers.[34]
Shirley’s fate
The next day Shirley hastily left Rome and set out for Ancona as he had promised the Tuscans. Cardinal d’Ossat wrote in his report of 11 June:
He was not well remembered when he left, for he left some of his debtors in the lurch, and insulted them with hopes and promises, saying that he had left money with an Englishman at Rome, and that he would repay that person.[35]
Unlike Shirley, according to the report given by the Venetian ambassadors, Huseyn Ali bey was still in Rome.[36] Huseyn Ali told the Duke of Sessa that he was sure that Shirley would not go to Iran, and instead would move from Ancona to Ragusa.[37] It seems that Huseyn Ali was somehow aware of the details of Shirley’s secret meeting. Indeed, writing to Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini from Ancona on 6 June, Shirley noted that he had appointed Giovanni Tommaso Pagliarini as his emissary. Pagliarini, a member of the Knights of St. Lazarus, met Shirley while he was still cupbearer of the papal nuncio[38] in Prague and became his right-hand man. Pagliarini’s uncle was a canon in Ancona and part of the Medici spy network. Shirley’s suspicious behavior caused the Habsburg viceroy of Naples, Fernando Ruiz de Castro, to send his spy Vincento de Buni after him. A report dated 15 July stated that Shirley was waiting at Ragusa with a secretary to the Earl of Essex—presumably Wotton—for Don Manuel, a claimant to the Portuguese throne.[39] The goal was supposedly to go to Goa together, raise a rebellion and declare Manuel king of Portugal.[40] Tasked with tracking Shirley’s every move, Buni found him in Zadar, then a Venetian possession, in present-day Croatia. On 12 August, Buni informed the viceroy that Shirley wanted to go to Moscow via Fiume.[41] Seeing that the rumor of Don Manuel was not true, the Spaniards stopped following Shirley’s movements. Shirley would not go to Russia or Persia; he would live in Venice for a while.
In the next articles, I will focus on the further activities of Huseyn Ali.
[1] See: Javid Agha, “Shah Abbas’s European Spies – First Contacts,” Baku Research Institute , January 21, 2024, https://bakuresearchinstitute.org/sah-abbasin-avropa-casuslari/ ; Javid Agha, “Shah Abbas’s European Spies – Great European Embassy,” Baku Research Institute , February 22, 2024 https://bakuresearchinstitute.org/sah-abbasin-avropa-casuslari-boyuk-avropa-sefirliyi/ ; Javid Agha, “Shah Abbas’s European Spies – The Secret Embassy,” Baku Research Institute , March 15, 2024 https://bakuresearchinstitute.org/sah-abbasin-avropa-casuslari-gizli-sefrilik/ ; Javid Agha, “Shah Abbas’s European Spies – The Great European Embassy (Part II),” Baku Research Institute , April 14, 2024 https://bakuresearchinstitute.org/sah-abbasin-avropa-casuslari-boyuk-avropa-sefirliyi-2/ ; Javid Agha, “European Spies of Shah Abbas – Polish Embassy” Baku Research Institute , May 25, 2024 https://bakuresearchinstitute.org/sah-abbasin-avropa-casuslari-polsa-sefirliyi
[2] Vatican Archives, Fondo Borghese, III, vol. 106, fasc. E, document 4.
[3] See: Vatican Library, Vat. Lat. 12319, p. 164r-166r. Digital version: https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.lat.12319
[4] Vatican Archives, Fondo Borghese, I, vol. 801, p. 548v-551v.
[5] Italian: Porta del Popolo
[6] Original document uses the ancient name – Plateam Alteriorum.
[7] Italian: Monte Giordano, named after Cardinal Giordano, brother of Pope Nicholas III.
[8] Italian: Arco dei Banchi
[9] Via Borgo Nuovo was destroyed in 1936 during the construction of Via della Conciliazione.
[10] Italian: Castel Sant’Angelo
[11] G. Le Strange, Don Juan of Persia, p. 285
[12] Simancas State Archives (hereafter AGS), EST, K. 1630, C. 36, document 88.
[13] Lettres de l’illustrissime et révérendissime Cardinal d’Ossat, evesque de Bayeux au roy Henry le Grand, et à Monsieur de Villeroy depuis l’année 1594 jusques à l’année 1604 , Paris 1644, p. 584. (Digital: https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4qAVkmxP6IEC/page/n595/mode/2up )
[14] Florentine archives, ‘ Lettera di Giovanni Niccolini a Ferdinando I, 14 aprile 1601 ,’ MdP, 3317, p. 268 rv
[15] “Venice: April 1601,” Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 9, 1592-1603 , (London, 1897), p. 449-457. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol9/pp449-457
[16] Spanish: Moro – it was the general term used by Christians for Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula.
[17] AGS, EST, K. 1630, document 111 (Duke of Sessa, Spanish Ambassador in Rome to Philip III, Rome, 8 June 1601)
[18] Vatican Archives, Fondo Borghese, III, vol. 107-GH, p. 192.
[19] Vatican Archives, Fondo Borghese, IV, vol. 163, p. 116v-117.
[20] Carlos Alonso, Embajadores de Persia en las cortes de Praga, Roma y Valladolid (1600-1601) : Anthologica Annua 36 (1989) p. 83 – thanks to Ernan Godot of the Spanish Institute of Ecclesiastical History for helping me to obtain this document.
[21] Vatican, Propaganda Fide Archives, Miscellanee diverse, vol. 21, p. 102r-v
[22] Italian: Zecchino – gold coin minted in Venice.
[23] Vatican Archives, Fondo Borghese, III, vol. 106, facs. E, document 10.
[24] Vatican Archives, Fondo Borghese, I, vol. 801, p. 566r-575v.
[25] Vatican Archives, Fondo Borghese, IV, vol. 52, p. 334-337
[26] Vatican Archives, Fondo Borghese, III, vol. 106, facs. E, document 18.
[27] “Venice: May 1601,” Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 9, 1592-1603 , (London, 1897), p. 457-462. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol9/pp457-462
[28] Florentine archives, Mediceo del Principato, 3317, p. 382 v
[29] Florentine archives, Mediceo del Principato, 3317, p. 383
[30] Florentine archives, Mediceo del Principato, 3317, p. 384 rv
[31] “Venice: May 1601,” Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 9, 1592-1603 , (London, 1897), p. 457-462. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol9/pp457-462
[32] AGS, EST, K. 1630, document 113
[33] AGS, EST, K. 1630, document 112
[34] Vatican Archives, Fondo Borghese, II, vols. 482-483, p. 261 v
[35] Lettres de l’illustrissime … , p. 616-617
[36] “Venice: June 1601,” Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 9, 1592-1603 , (London, 1897), pp. 462-463. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol9/pp462-463
[37] AGS, EST, K. 1630, document 120
[38] Nuncio is an official of the pope who acts as an ambassador in various countries.
[39] Manuel de Aviz (1568-1638) was a pretender to the throne of Portugal. He was the illegitimate grandson of Louis, the second son of King Manuel I of Portugal. This claimant was supported by Queen Elizabeth of England.
[40] AGS, EST, leg. 1097, document 147.
[41] Modern Rijeka, Croatia.
