Oldal 36 [36]
Icon Animorum by John Barclay and the Origins of the Characterization of European Nations
From page 207, there follows a short description of the Adriatic coast, men¬
tioning the then-current wars between the Ottoman Empire, Venice, Austria, and
Hungary. Polonia is a flat country (from the Scythian language: pole "flat land"—
p. 208). She has a continental climate, does not have many stone houses, and espe¬
cially for the noblemen, freedom means the highest value. Her eastward neighbour
is Russia, where the ruler is the prince of Moscovy, who earned that name from
the town Mosc/um/. The common people there are born to slavery, and they feel
comfortable living in the yoke. (Servituti gens nata, ad omne libertatis vestigium ferox
est... —p. 213). They also send the immigrants into serfdom. Very few persons can
read and their knowledge is much limited. At the end of Chapter VIII (pp. 217¬
223), there are brief comments on the Crimea, the Baltic, the original homeland of
the Germans, and a short description of Norway (Norvegia). Denmark and Sweden
are mentioned, but there is no sentence about the Finns.
The first part of the relatively long chapter (X) deals with the “wild” Turks. Their
history is explained in the chapter, including such events as the capture of Constan¬
tinople, Beograd, and Buda, and the battle at Mohacs (1526), which terminated the
existence of the independent Hungarian Kingdom (p. 228). The author describes
the kidnapping of children from the Balkans for Ottoman military schools, and dis¬
crimination against Christians. The mind of the Turks is rustic and depressive. They
do deserve, however, freedom and dignity, of which they do not want to achieve.
(Turcis enim rustica ac demissa indoles, neque digna libertate, quam non curant vindi¬
care—p. 232). They do not consider any science that is not in accordance with the
Koran. Most people are afraid of being poisoned; and position in common offices
can be obtained by money or treachery. Sex with young boys—especially among
warriors and princes—is not regularly punished. The rulers are the military lead¬
ers. The bodyguards of the ruler (quos Janissarios vocant) are well trained and they
decide also the inner conflicts of the state (p. 243). Then follows a detailed descrip¬
tion of the various Turkish military service branches and there are references to the
Crusades. The actual military situation under Sultan Ahmed (ruled 1590-1617) is
described in extenso, including his political dealings with Transylvania, Hungary,
and Austria. This kind of interest of the author in specific contemporary events is
unusual in his book.
The Jews, mentioned in the title of the same chapter, are described succinctly on
pages 253-254. There the main question is whether the Jews are like other Oriental
peoples (such as the Turks, who also practice circumcision) or more like the Chris¬
tians? It is a well-known fact, says Barclay, Jews live in Diaspora among all other
peoples, and with mixed habits.
In the second half of the book, in the seven synthetic chapters (X-XVI) Bar¬
clay is not giving a summary of the previous descriptive chapters, but he constructs
Papal court in Rome gave extraordinary possibility of getting information from all parts of Europe.
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