This study aims to examine the way in which European writers of the 16th, 17th, and 18thcenturies represented Ottoman government. The Ottoman Empire had a special place in Europeanexperience and thought. The Ottomans were geographically close to Western Europe, yet theywere quite apart in culture and religion, a combination that triggered interest in Turkish affairs.1 Particularly important were political affairs. The Ottoman government inspired a variety of opinions among European travelers and thinkers. During the 18th century, the Ottomans lost their image as formidable and eventually ceased to provoke curiosity in theEuropean public. They were no longer dreaded as the “public calamity”; nor werethey greatly respected as the “most modern government” on earth. Rather, theywere regarded as a dull and backward sort of people. From the 16th century to the 19th century,the European observers employed two similar, yet different, concepts to characterize thegovernment of the Ottoman Empire. The concept of tyranny was widely used during the 16th and17th centuries, whereas the concept of despotism was used to depict the regime of the Ottomansin the 18th century. The transition from the term “tyranny” to that of“despotism” in the 18th century indicates a radical change in the European imagesof the Ottoman Empire. Although both of these terms designate corrupt and perverse regimes inWestern political thought, a distinction was made between tyranny and despotism, and it matteredcrucially which term was applied to the Ottoman state. European observers of the empire gavespecial meanings to these key concepts over time. “Tyranny” allowed for bothpositive and negative features, whereas “despotism” had no redeeming features.Early modern Europeans emphasized both admirable and frightening aspects of Ottomangreatness. On the other hand, the concept of despotism was redefined as inherently Oriental in the18th century and employed to depict the corruption and backwardness of the Ottomangovernment. This transformation was profoundly reflected in the beliefs of Europeans about theEast. That is, 18th century thought on Ottoman politics contains a Eurocentric analysis of Orientaldespotism that is absent from the discussions of Ottoman tyranny in earlier centuries.