This article focuses on the relations of the Medici dukes with the Ottoman Empire in the second half of the sixteenth century, exploring the complex backdrop to the diplomatic negotiations that took place over the 1570s and 1590s. Due to periods of stagnation and crisis in the Florentine woollen industry, textile manufacturers and cloth merchants urged the Grand Duchy to resume diplomatic contacts with the Sublime Porte so that they could penetrate the Ottoman market and increase the volume of their exports. A significant challenge faced by Florence was rivalry from other states conducting trade in the Ottoman lands, especially the Venetians. Seeing the attempts of the Florentines to infiltrate the Ottoman market by producing counterfeit Venetian woollens, Venice became a strong opponent of Florentine diplomacy at the Porte. Tracing the experiences of the Florentine textile industry, specifically the woollen cloth industry, this article argues that the Arte della Lana played an important role in shaping the Medici diplomacy with the Sublime Porte in the second half of the sixteenth century. Moreover, the rivalry between Venice and Florence over dominating the Ottoman textile market stimulated transfer of technical knowledge, new production techniques and new types of cloth in order to gain a place in this market.

中文翻译：

---

用纺织品编织的外交：文艺复兴后期美第奇与奥斯曼的关系

本文重点关注 16 世纪下半叶美第奇公爵与奥斯曼帝国的关系，探讨 1570 年代和 1590 年代发生的外交谈判的复杂背景。由于佛罗伦萨毛纺业的停滞和危机时期，纺织品制造商和布商敦促大公国恢复与 Sublime Porte 的外交接触，以便他们能够打入奥斯曼帝国市场并增加出口量。佛罗伦萨面临的一个重大挑战是来自在奥斯曼帝国土地上进行贸易的其他国家的竞争，尤其是威尼斯人。看到佛罗伦萨人试图通过生产假冒威尼斯羊毛来渗透奥斯曼市场，威尼斯成为佛罗伦萨在 Porte 外交的强烈反对者。本文追溯佛罗伦萨纺织业，特别是毛纺业的经验，认为拉娜艺术在 16 世纪下半叶美第奇与崇高门的外交关系中发挥了重要作用。此外，威尼斯和佛罗伦萨在主导奥斯曼纺织市场的竞争刺激了技术知识、新生产技术和新型布料的转移，以在这个市场上占有一席之地。