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SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT
The Price of Solidarity: The Jewish Boycott of Ancona and the Court of Suleiman the Magnificent
by Noam Baram & John Giebfried
 Play this game recently? | How much should we sacrifice for people we consider part of our community, even if we've never met them? This microgame explores the tensions between moral solidarity and economic self-interest in the 1556 Mediterranean world. Following Pope Paul IV's execution of 24 Jewish conversos in Ancona, Jewish merchants from across the Ottoman Empire gather at Sultan Suleiman's court to debate a proposed boycott of the Italian port. Students play either Jewish delegates weighing the costs and benefits of collective action, or Ottoman court officials managing the empire's complex relationship with European powers. The game asks students to grapple with fundamental questions about communal responsibility: When are we obligated to sacrifice our own interests for distant members of our community? How do communities make decisions when members face vastly different consequences from collective action? Can economic pressure serve as a legitimate tool for justice, and at what cost? |
Disciplines | Level Mechanics |
Using the Game
Class Size & Scalability
This game is recommended for classes with 13-30 students.
Class Time
This game can be played in a single session.
Assignments
You can adjust the assignments based on the desired learning outcomes of your class. Not all roles are not required to give a speech.
GAME MATERIALS
Reacting Consortium members can download all game materials below. You will be asked to sign in before downloading.
Please fill out the Permissions Request Form before using Suleiman the Magnificent in your class!
Instructor's Manual The Instructor's Manual includes guidance for assigning roles, presenting historical context, assignments, activities and discussion topics, and more. | Role Sheets Students also need a Role Sheet, which contains biographical information, role-specific resources or assignments, and their character's secret victory objectives. |
Additional Resources
Noam Baram
Noam Baram is a graduate student in Jewish History at Tel Aviv University
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John Giebfried John Giebfried is a historian specializing in the Crusades and the Mongol Empire. He completed his PhD at Saint Louis University in 2015 examining the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade and Latin rule in Constantinople. He has served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's "Mobility, Empire and Cross Cultural Contacts in Mongol Eurasia" prosopography project and has taught at Saint Louis University, Webster University, and Georgia Southern University. John currently serves as University Assistant in History and Digital Humanities at the Universität Wien in Vienna, Austria. |
Members can contact game authors directly if they have questions about using the game. We also invite instructors join our Facebook Faculty Lounge, where you'll find a wonderful community eager to help and answer questions.
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