Ottoman Empire · 1699-1730

Karlowitz, tulips and the first Ottoman press

After losing Hungary in 1699, the Ottoman court looked anew at Europe: envoys went to Paris, tulip gardens bloomed and the first press printing in Ottoman Turkish opened in Istanbul. Students explore an empire adapting.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1700 to AD 1727
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

After losing Hungary in 1699, the Ottoman court looked anew at Europe: envoys went to Paris, tulip gardens bloomed and the first press printing in Ottoman Turkish opened in Istanbul. Students explore an empire adapting.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Compare the Ottoman borders in Europe before 1683 and after the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699.
  • Describe the Tulip Period and the embassy to Paris in 1720-1721.
  • Explain why printing in Ottoman Turkish began only in 1727-1729, and what it changed.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1700

Lands lost

Open the map in 1683 and look at the Ottoman border in Hungary. Then jump to 1700. Which empire now holds Hungary?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1493

Early presses

Turn on Spreads and choose the printing press. Play it from 1450 to 1500. When does a press appear in Constantinople, and who ran it?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1727

Istanbul in 1727

Move to 1727 and zoom in on Istanbul with the Cities layer on. In this year the sultan allowed the first press to print books in Ottoman Turkish. Why might such printing come so late?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. At Karlowitz in 1699 the Ottomans gave up large lands by treaty for the first time. Why is losing land at the peace table a turning point?
  2. Jewish, Armenian and Greek printers worked in Istanbul long before 1727. Why do you think books in Ottoman Turkish and Arabic were printed so much later?
  3. An Ottoman envoy visited Paris in 1720-1721 and described French palaces and gardens. Why would the sultan's court want to know how Europeans lived?
  4. Tulips were so loved that these years are called the Tulip Period. What can a fashion tell us about a society?
  5. The Tulip Period ended in 1730 with a revolt in Istanbul. Why might ordinary people resent the luxury of the court?
4

Game round

9 min

Play one round of Rule History as Peter the Great, who ruled Russia in these same years, fought the Ottomans and copied ideas from western Europe. Discuss: what did Peter and the Ottoman court each borrow from Europe, and what did they refuse?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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