William Harborne
Encyclopedia
William Harborne of Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...

, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

 (c.1542 – 1617) was a diplomat, businessman, and English Ambassador to the Ottoman empire, appointed by Queen Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

.

Establishment of the English Embassy in Constantinople

Following a visit to Constantinople in 1575 by English merchants John Wright and Joseph Clements, Harborne was employed in 1578 by a group of English merchants to travel to Constantinople, via Poland, and obtain permission from the Sultan Murat III for English ships to trade in Ottoman ports. Previously only the French had enjoyed this privilege, which was granted to Harborne in 1580 following negotiations with Sadrazam Sokullu Mehmed Pasha, and correspondence between Queen Elizabeth I and the Sultan.

Harborne thus became English Ambassador, in the pay of the Levant Company
Levant Company
The Levant Company, or Turkey Company, was an English chartered company formed in 1581, to regulate English trade with Turkey and the Levant...

, an association of traders created for this purpose, led by Edward Osborne
Edward Osborne
Sir Edward Osborne , was one of the principal merchants of London in the later sixteenth century, and Lord Mayor of London in 1583.-Early life:Osborne was the eldest son of Richard Osborne of Ashford, Kent, by his wife, Jane Broughton...

 and Richard Staper, who had accompanied Harborne on his visits.

Harborne sailed to Constantinople from London in 1583 bearing lavish gifts for the Sultan including an expensive clock.

Harborne played a key role in preventing the Ottoman Empire from supporting catholic Spain in the war with Protestant England that was taking place at the time. Harborne was able to persuade the Porte that Spain was a threat to peace for all of Europe. Although he was unable to obtain a military alliance with the Ottomans, the Spanish-Ottoman protocol was not renewed in 1587.

Harborne also succeeded in obtaining from the Ottomans capitulations and other tariff reductions for English goods, and was charged with obtaining samples and information regarding dyestuffs and fabrics used in the production of cloth and clothing in Turkey at that time.

Harborne was succeeded as ambassador in 1588 by Sir Edward Barton, by which time trade had begun to thrive and the post was one of the most powerful positions in the English foreign service .

He is buried at Mundham
Mundham, South Norfolk
Mundham, South Norfolk is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 168 in 63 households as of the 2001 census.For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of South Norfolk....

, Norfolk.
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