Suleyman

There are two readings and a question for each:

A. An account of Busbecq, an envoy from Charles V to the Sultan’s court:
"Suleiman's daily life in his palace, from levee to couchee, followed a ritual comparable in its detailed precision to that of the French kings at Versailles. When the Sultan rose from his couch in the morning he would be clothed by select members of his household in a caftan, a robe which he would wear only once, with twenty gold ducats in one pocket and a thousand pieces of silver in the other -both robe and unspent cash becoming the perquisites of his chamberlain at the end of the day. His three daily meals were brought to him by long train of pages, to be eaten alone from fine porcelain and silver dishes on a low silver table, with sweetened and perfumed water (seldom wine) to drink, and a doctor standing by his side as a precaution against possible poisoning."
Q. How did the Europeans view Suleiman?



B. An account of a member of Suleiman’s court:
"In all that great assembly no single man owed his dignity to anything but his personal merits and bravery; no one is distinguished from the rest by his birth, and honor is paid to each man according to the nature of the duty and offices which he discharges. There is no struggle for precedence, every man having his place assigned to him by virtue of the function which he performs. The Sultan himself assigns to all their duties and offices, and in doing so pays no attention to wealth or the empty claims of rank, and takes no account of any influence or popularity which a candidate may possess: he only considers merit and scrutinizes the character, natural ability and disposition of each. Thus each man is rewarded according to his deserts, and offices are filled by men capable of performing them."
Q. How did people of his own country view Suleiman? What does this tell us about the government of the Ottomans? How will this give them a strong government?