The mid-fifteenth century was a time of great significance for both the Spanish and Ottoman Empires. Both were up-and-coming world powers who were just achieving amazing milestones for themselves. Spain had just discovered the Americas while the Ottomans had just taken Constantinople, and these accomplishments were just the tip of the iceberg for both these countries’ glory days.
With the discovery and subsequent conquest of South America, Spain solidified its reputation as a great power. Spanish Conquistadors and missionaries brought vast native empires to their knees while on the other side of the globe the Ottoman armies were expanding over the regions surrounding the Ottoman State. It was this conquest that made the Ottomans a very real power on the world stage. Another similarity shared was the fact that both empires were devoutly religious. The Spanish royals were faithful Catholics while the Ottoman Sultan was a strict Muslim. Due to their religious natures, an official policy of conversion was adopted by both nations. Christian missionaries in the Americas spread the word of God among the savage natives to bring them into the Church while Islamic officials would take Christian boys for conversion and introduce them to elite Janissary ranks. Converted Natives could look forward to life as second-class citizens in their own land while Janissary converts went on to wealth and power in the Ottoman Government.
The administrative processes of the two empires were different from one another in theory but not often so in practice. The Spanish Encampienda system on one hand put wealthy Spanish Nobles and merchants in relatively independent control of Spanish land, reporting only to the hierarchy who in in turn reported to the King. The Ottomans, on the other hand, in an effort to weed out nepotism, drew their administrators from a well trained and well educated administrative class. But, later in the Empire’s life, corruption ran rampant and the careful...