The Age of Beloveds : Love and the Beloved in Early Modern Ottoman and European Culture and Society

W. Andrews, M. Kalpakli

The Age of Beloveds offers an introduction to early modern Ottoman culture through a study of its beautiful lyric love poetry. At the same time, it suggests provocative cross-cultural parallels in the sociology and spirituality of love in Europe - from Istanbul to London - during the long sixteenth century. The authors explain that the flourishing of Ottoman power and culture during the "Turkish Renaissance" manifests itself, to some degree, as an "age of beloveds," in which young men became the focal points for the desire and attention of powerful office-holders and artists as well as the inspiration for a rich literature of love.