Lambert Wyts
In the past he has been mixed up with a contemporary Fleming from Mechelen by the name Lambert de Vos, a trained artist who traveled at the same time to Turkey where he made various drawings of local costumes and sights.
His father was a member of a local aristocratic family in Flanders and held the title of lord of Wildenburg, Berentrode and Wytsvliet.
Lambert's mother was born in the local aristocracy, and had the title 'lady of de la Boucharderie', which refers to the stone-cutting trade.
The diary, sometimes referred to in Latin as 'The Itinera in Hispaniam, Viennam et Constantinopolim' (Voyages to Spain, Vienna and Constantinople) is written in 16th-century French and ended up in the collection of Prince Eugene of Savoy.
He included in his diary water color drawings of the Sultan, the reception of the ambassadors and various costumes and customs of the peoples living in Constantinople.
It records van Aelst's impressions collected during his journey to Constantinople which he made in 1533 as part of the retinue of the Habsburg diplomat Cornelis de Schepper.
With the rise of the Ottoman Empire both militarily and politically, the European nations wanted to learn how to deal with this new power.
[7] These depictions familiarized Europeans with the exotic ways of the Turks and gave them clues to how Ottoman society worked.
[8] Not only did they serve as guides for diplomats and other visitors to the Sultan’s court, but they also satisfied the curiosity and quelled the fear that westerners felt for the Ottomans.
Another Fleming who created a costume book is Lambert de Vos, a trained artist from Mechelen who traveled to and resided in Constantinople in 1572, the same year as Wyts.
He describes the dress of the women of Biscaye and recounts that the party of Anna of Austria was met by 2,000 envoys of the king of Spain, including about 50 musicians.
The flotilla of ships, commanded by John of Austria (the illegitimate son of Emperor Charles V, left the port of Barcelona on 17 July and arrived in Genoa on the 26th.
He writes in glowing terms about the statue of emperor Maximilian I in Innsbruck created by his fellow Fleming Alexander Colyn.
[11] In other remarks in his account on his trip to Turkey, Wyts notes that Constantinople is a city with residents of various backgrounds such as Greek, Turks and Jews.
He was sick during the first days of the return trip, which ended in Bratislava, where he remained for a while and witnessed the crowning of Rudolf II as king of Hungary.
[1] The part of his book on his voyage to Turkey has various appendices which deal with matters such as the crowning of Rudolf II, the life and teachings of Muhammed, Muslim laws and the Turkish customs, ceremonies, superstitions and justice system, the Turkish manner of taking baths and also the 73 drawings he had made of civil and military costumes including the portrait of the Sultan.
He set out on 16 April 1573 and traveled via Linz, Salzburg, Munich, Augsburg, Ulm, Speyer, Worms, Frankfurt, Mainz, Koblenz, Cologne and Aachen.
From Aachen on he traveled on via Maastricht, Antwerp, Brussels, Leuven, Namur and finally Dinant where he met his mother in her home on 2 June 1575.
