How the private secretary described the state of the Ottoman empire in 1666, which was seen as in great decline and was 17 years before their defeat at Vienna which marked the last time the Ottomans would ever be able to make any further incursions in Europe, beginning their long road toward fragmentation and collapse:

‘degenerate, soft, and effeminate’

The Janissaries move toward marrying also indicated this was no longer an elite, martial class but one that was focused on bureaucratic privileges and sinecures secured for nepotism.