Anthony Shirley: English Adventurer and Diplomat to Persia

Anthony Shirley

An English military officer, adventurer, diplomat, and traveler. Educated at Oxford University, he gained military experience during the reign of Elizabeth I. In 1599, he entered the service of Shah Abbas I of Safavid Persia, assisting in alliance negotiations with European nations to counter the Ottoman Empire. Subsequently involved with the courts of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain, he conducted diplomatic and intelligence activities among multiple nations. He spent his later years in Spain, leaving writings on politics and international affairs.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Anthony Shirley
1532	Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618, Age: 33 years before birth, Period: Main period related to Sherley's diplomatic activities was 1603–1618, Location: Border region between Safavid Persia and the Ottoman Empire, Caucasus, Mesopotamia)
1562	French Wars of Religion (Age: 3 years before birth, Period: 1562–1598. Military expedition Sherley participated in was around 1591, Location: Northern France, Normandy region)
1565	Birth of Anthony Shirley (Period: c. 1565 (exact date unknown), Location: Around Wiston, West Sussex, England)
1568	Eighty Years' War (Age: 3 years old, Period: 1568–1648, Location: Region Centered Around the Netherlands (Present-day Netherlands, Belgium, etc.))
1581	Studies at Oxford University (Age: 16 years old, Period: Until around 1581, Location: Oxford (present-day England))
1585	Anglo-Spanish War (Age: 20 years old, Period: 1585–1604, Location: England, Spain, Europe, and Atlantic Waters)
1591	Knighthood by King Henry IV of Navarre and detention upon return (Anthony Sherley, Age: 26 years old, Period: Around 1591, Location: Northern France and England) Participation in the Earl of Essex's expedition (Age: 26 years old, Period: 1591, Location: Northern France, Normandy region)
1596	Failure of the 1596 privateering expedition (Age: 31 years old, Period: 1596–1597, Location: Barbary Coast of North Africa, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean coast)
1598	Journey to Safavid Persia (Age: 33 years old, Period: 1598–1599, Location: Persia (present-day Iran), Isfahan, etc.)
1599	Dispatch of Persian embassy to Europe (Age: 34 years old, Period: 1599–1602, Location: Various regions in Europe including Persia, Russia, Holy Roman Empire, Italy)
1603	Arrest in Venice (Age: 38 years old, Period: 1603, Location: Republic of Venice (present-day Italy))
1604	Expulsion from Venice (Anthony Sherley, Age: 39 years old, Period: December 1604, Location: Republic of Venice)
1605	Diplomatic mission to Morocco (Age: 40 years old, Period: 1605–1606, Location: Marrakesh, Morocco)
1638	Death of Anthony Shirley (Age: 73 years old, Period: c. 1635 (theories also suggest 1633 or 1638))
Unknown	Marriage (Anthony Sherley, Frances Vernon, Period: Presumed late 16th century, exact date unknown, Location: Exact location unknown, presumed England) Final years in Spain and writing of political treatises (Period: First half of the 17th century to around 1635, Location: Granada, Spain)

Map

Category
Element

Asia World

Group	List
Ottoman Empire	Mehmed II Bayezid II Selim I Suleiman I Selim II Murad III Mehmed III Ahmed I Murad IV Mehmed IV Mustafa II Ahmed III
Safavid dynasty	Suleiman I Abbas I Shah Ismail I Tahmasp I Ismail II Safi I Abbas II Sultan Hossein Nader Shah
Trade and Diplomacy	Piri Reis Hayreddin Pasha Turgut Reis Aruj Reis Abbas I Anthony Shirley Robert Shirley Jean Chardin Pietro della Valle William Baffin

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Anthony Shirley: English Adventurer and Diplomat to Persia

Anthony Shirley

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