Un aspetto della politica estera di Carlo di Borbone. Le relazioni diplomatiche e commerciali con l’Impero Ottomano

The relaunch of foreign trade was an important aspect of Charles of Bourbon’s policy. The Ottoman Empire was no longer perceived by the educated elites and the European governments’ apparatuses as a threatening entity. Therefore, doing business in the Levant was possible, as Venice, England and, now in hegemonic position, France had done for a long time. Already in the years in which the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily had belonged to the emperor Charles VI, treaties had already been stipulated with the Sublime Porte and with the Barbarian regencies. Charles of Bourbon tried to do the same with equal conviction, in agreement with his royal parents Philip V and Elisabeth Farnese. This article attempts to assess the developments, limits and potential of the political action undertaken to accomplish this end.