Relatione de Clarissimo Marc’ Antonio Barbaro ...

A manuscript of extreme importance for the history of Cyprus. This is one of the most important reports sent by the bailo, or Venetian ambassador to the Porte, to the Venetian Senate. Barbaro was resident in Constantinople during the entire period of the War in Cyprus and the Battle of Lepanto. He was a seasoned diplomat, having already served as Venetian ambassador to France (1561-1564) when he was sent to Constantinople in 1568. Relations between Venice and the Porte were strained. The Ottoman advance in the Levant had been steady and threatening, and Venice had had to give up many of her possessions. As soon as Barbaro reached the city, rumours led him to the conclusion that an attack on Cyprus was eminent. When the initial attack on the island took place in 1570, Barbaro was placed under house arrest. He remained in the city and conducted the peace negotiations after the war between Venice and the Porte in 1573. Barbaro returned to Venice in 1574. For some reason the scribe has recorded the date 1589 instead.

This same text is found in 11 other manuscripts (6 in Italy, 2 in London, 1 in Oxford, 1 in Gotha and 1 in Cracow). It has been published in Eugenio Alberi, Relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti al Senato, Serie IIIa, v. 1, pp. 299-346, Florence, 1840. There are variations in spelling and details in the various manuscripts. The Ioannou manuscript is a clear transcription and does not exhibit any corrections. There are two watermarks: one is a cock on a pedestal (similar to Briquet 4497, found on paper dated 1597) and the other is either a fox or a wolf, with part of a coat of arms coming down from the top.