Around the Mediterranean in Fifty Days: Reinhold Lubenau’s ordeal with the galley

Abstract

In this article, we argue that the voyage that Reinhold Lubenau, a visitor to the Ottoman Empire in 1587-1588, claimed to have made with the Ottoman navy across the Mediterranean is fictional. In the first part of the article, we will demon- strate that Lubenau’s account of this voyage which covered 6748 nautical miles in 50 days is inconsistent with the era’s galley technology, average speed and sailing routines. Then, based on archival sources, we will prove that the Ottoman navy on which Lubenau was supposed to have circumnavigated the Mediterranean did not leave the Eastern Mediterranean and sailed instead a much shorter route. In the second part of the article, we will reflect on the reasons why Lubenau chose to add this immaginary account to his travelogue.