Queen Elizabeth I sent a letter to Ottoman Empire for asking for a hand. This led improvement on relations between the Ottomans and the English. William Harborne, the ambassador and merchant, traveled to Istanbul on July 1, 1578 with a letter written to the ruler of the time, the Murad III, and joined a Turkish caravan and reached the Istanbul on 28 October.
When Harborne arrived in Istanbul, there was Sokollu Mehmed Pasha in position of the grand vizier. Sokollu encouraged the ambassador by saying that the doors of the Ottoman State were open to all foreigners who came to be friends. Murad III responded to her by a letter and in letter he wrote that ”you are bounded to the Ottoman Empire with great happiness, do not worry about the rest”.The English ambassador soon began get in return on his efforts. He took a letter addressed to the Queen as well as a permit allowing him to trade in the Ottoman territory, William Harborne returned to London and then came back to Istanbul with the Queen’s new letters and gifts.In order to please the Ottoman Empire, Queen Elizabeth sent gifts to not only the sultan but also the Sultan’s mother Valide Sultan Nurbanu, his wife Safiye Sultan, his teacher Sadeddin Efendi, the viziers, ”Kaptan-I Derya” K?l?ç Ali Pasha.
In her letters, she sought Turkish help against Catholics, who she called idolater. Queen Elizabeth wrote that letters to show herself close to Islam by saying that in Protestantism it was forbidden to worship to idols, icons as if it were in Islam. Sultan Murad III give benefits to the English, permitting all British dealers to trade in the Ottoman territory without intermediaries and for free.
