Suleiman I the Magnificent (Kanuni) (November 6, 1494 - September 5/6, 1566) tenth Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from September 22, 1520, caliph from 1538.
Suleiman is considered the greatest Sultan of the Ottoman dynasty; under him, the Ottoman Porte reached the apogee of its development. In Europe, Suleiman is most often called Suleiman the Magnificent, while in the Muslim world Suleiman Qanuni. The honorary nickname “Kanuni”, given to Suleiman I by the people of the Ottoman Empire, both then and today, is associated with the word “Fair”.
Ottoman fleet at anchor in the French port of Toulon in 1543
Nasuh Matrakchi
miniature
Suleiman I was born in 1494 in Trabzon in the family of Sultan Selim I and Ayşe Hafsa, daughter of the Crimean Khan Mengli I Giray. Until 1512, Suleiman was beylerbey in Caffa. In 1520, Sultan Selim I died. At the time of his father's death, Suleiman was the governor of Manisa. He led the Ottoman state at the age of 26.
Bas-relief
Suleiman the Magnificent
on the Capitol
Tughra Sultana
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I began his reign by releasing several hundred Egyptian captives from noble families who were kept in chains by Selim. The Europeans rejoiced at his accession, but they did not take into account that although Suleiman was not as bloodthirsty as Selim I, he loved conquests no less than his father. Suleiman I personally led 13 military companies, 10 of which were in Europe.
In the 16th-17th centuries, the Ottoman Empire reached its peak highest point its influence during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During this period, the Ottoman Empire was one of the most powerful countries in the world - a multinational, multilingual state, stretching from the southern borders of the Holy Roman Empire - the outskirts of Vienna, the Kingdom of Hungary and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the north, to Yemen and Eritrea in the south, from Algeria in the west, to Azerbaijan in the east. Most of Southeast Europe, Western Asia and North Africa were under her rule. At the beginning of the 17th century, the empire consisted of 32 provinces and numerous vassal states, some of which were later annexed by it - while others were granted autonomy.
The empire, with its capital in Constantinople (Istanbul), controlled the territories of the Mediterranean basin. The Ottoman Empire was the connecting link between Europe and the countries of the East for 6 centuries.
Ottoman miniature depicting Ottoman troops
And vanguard Crimean Tatars in the Battle of Szigetvar,
1566
last fight
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent
By the end of his reign, Sultan Suleiman I, who also took the title of caliph back in 1538, ruled the greatest and most powerful empire in the history of the Muslim world. Suleiman I the Magnificent died on the night of September 5 in his tent during the siege of the Szigetvara fortress.
He was buried in a mausoleum in the cemetery of the Suleymaniye Mosque next to the mausoleum of his beloved wife Hurrem Sultan.
Suleiman the Magnificent
and Hurrem Sultan
Haseki Hurrem Sultan. Real name unknown, according to literary tradition, Alexandra Gavrilovna Lisovskaya (c. 1502 or c. 1505 - April 15 or 18, 1558) - concubine and then wife of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, Haseki, mother of Sultan Selim II.
Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was able to achieve something that no one had ever achieved before. She officially became Suleiman's wife. Although there were no laws prohibiting sultans from marrying slaves, the entire tradition of the Ottoman court was against it. Moreover, in the Ottoman Empire, even the terms “law” and “tradition” themselves were designated by one word - eve.
Letters have been preserved that reflect great love and the Sultan's longing for Hurrem, who was his main political adviser.
The most educated woman of her time, Hurrem Haseki Sultan received foreign ambassadors, answered letters from foreign rulers, influential nobles and artists.
Before Hurrem, the favorites of the sultans played two roles - the role of the favorite and the role of the mother of the heir to the throne, and that these roles were never combined. Having given birth to a son, the woman ceased to be a favorite, going with the child to a remote province, where the heir was to be raised until he took his father’s place. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska was the first woman who managed to simultaneously play both roles, which caused great irritation at the conservative court. When her sons reached adulthood, she did not follow them, but remained in the capital, only occasionally visiting them. This can largely explain the negative image that has formed around Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska. In addition, she violated another principle of the Ottoman court, which was that one favorite of the Sultan should have no more than one son. Unable to explain how Hurrem was able to achieve such a high position, contemporaries attributed to her the fact that she had simply bewitched Suleiman. This image of an insidious and power-hungry woman was transferred to Western historiography, although it underwent some transformation.
Unlike all her predecessors, as well as the mothers of Shehzade, who had the right to erect buildings only within the province in which they lived with their sons, Hurrem received the right to build religious and charitable buildings in Istanbul and other major cities of the Ottoman Empire. She created charitable foundation your name. With donations from this fund, the Aksaray district or women's bazaar, later also named after Haseki, was built in Istanbul, the buildings of which included a mosque, a madrasah, an imaret, Primary School, hospitals and fountain. This was the first complex built in Istanbul by the architect Sinan in his new position the chief architect of the ruling house, as well as the third largest building in the capital, after the Mehmet II and Suleymaniye complexes. Khyurrem’s other charitable projects include complexes in Adrianople and Ankara, which formed the basis of the project in Jerusalem (later named after Haseki Sultan), hospices and canteens for pilgrims and the homeless, a canteen in Mecca (under Haseki Khyurrem’s emiret), a public canteen in Istanbul ( in Avret Pazari), as well as two large public baths in Istanbul (in the Jewish and Aya Sôfya quarters).
On April 15 or 18, 1558, due to a long illness or poisoning, Hurrem Sultan died, presumably at the age of fifty-two, after returning from Edirne. A year later, her body was transferred to the domed octagonal mausoleum of the architect Mimar Sinan. The mausoleum of Hurrem Haseki Sultan (Turkish Haseki Hurrem Sultan Turbesi) is decorated with exquisite Iznik ceramic tiles with images of the Garden of Eden, almost to the level of the second row of windows. The tiles feature a variety of motifs - coral red, dark blue and traditional turquoise colors in addition to mourning black. Some of the tiles bear the text of poems, perhaps in honor of Hurrem Sultan's smile and cheerful nature.
The mausoleum of Hurrem Haseki Sultan is located on the territory of the huge Suleymaniye complex in Istanbul. You should look for the mausoleum of Hurrem Sultan on the left side of the mosque.
Nasuh Matrakchi
Turkish galleys on the Danube
Miniature
During the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I the Magnificent, Turkish miniature painting reached its zenith. Chronicles documenting official life Sultan, the most important political events, brilliant military victories and magnificent festivities demonstrating the wealth and power of an uncontrollably growing empire needed bright, impressive illustrations. Persians, Albanians, Circassians, Moldovans, as well as Turks, who were just beginning to master the skills of painters, worked at the court of Suleiman I. Nasuh al-Silahi was the most famous artist of this group.
Nasuh bin Karagöz bin Abdullah el-Bosnawi, better known as Matrakci Nasuh or Nasuh el-Silahi, is an Ottoman scholar, historian, and miniaturist of Bosnian origin.
He also became famous as a mathematician, historian, geographer, writer and director of theatrical parody battles, which were part of the entertainment of the Ottoman court. He received the nickname Matraki, or Matrakchi, thanks to victories in the sports game “matrak” - a competition in the form of a dance, the participants of which fight with wooden swords, with small round pillows as shields.
A court scholar and draftsman, Nasuh accompanied Sultan Suleiman on campaigns against Iran and Iraq in 1534-1535; in 1537-1538 he described these military expeditions in the Account of Each Stage of the Campaign in the Two Iraqs (manuscript in Arabic and Persian, better known as Medjmua-i-Menazil, or Routes; Istanbul University Library). Nasuh accompanied the text of the manuscript with 132 illustrations, including 82 images of cities in Turkey, Iraq and Iran. The scientific and artistic style of these miniatures marked the beginning of the development of the genre of “topographic painting” in Ottoman art, the emergence of which Nasuh explained simply: “I described in words and conveyed in colors all the areas, cities, towns, villages, fortresses, giving their names and pictures.”
The Battle of Szigetvár was a siege of the small fortress of Szigetvár in Hungary by the Ottoman army under the command of Sultan Suleiman I from August 6 to September 8, 1566. The fortress of the Habsburg Empire was defended by Croats and Hungarians, led by the Ban of Croatia, Miklos Zrini.
The battle is known in Hungary and Croatia as having inspired Miklos Zrinyi's great-grandson, who bore the same name, to write the epic Szigeti veszedelem in Hungarian. Previously, the importance of the battle was assessed so highly that even Cardinal Richelieu called it “The Battle that Saved Civilization.”
Ottoman troops left Istanbul on May 1, 1566. The Sultan was unable to personally control the horse and was taken out of Istanbul in a covered horse-drawn carriage. The Ottoman army reached Szigetvar Castle on August 6, 1566. The Sultan's large tent was erected on the Similhof hill. Suleiman was to remain in his tent during the entire siege, where he was to receive reports personally from his vizier.
The siege began in August 1566, with the fort's defenders repelling Ottoman attacks until September.
During the long siege, Suleiman the Magnificent died before dawn on September 7. Apparently the death was natural, but stress and fatigue from the difficult siege certainly played a role. Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha decided not to inform the army about this news, so as not to weaken the will to win in the last days of the siege.
The day after Suleiman's death passed last fight. Szigetvár Castle was burned, leaving only ruined walls. In the first half of September 7, the Turks launched an all-out attack using all means (including “Greek fire”, cannonade, volley fire and much more). Soon the last Croatian-Hungarian stronghold in Szigetvár was set on fire.
Zrini, dressed in silk clothes and with a golden key on his chest, at the head of his 600 warriors, rushed into the dense ranks of the Turks. In the end, the heroic commander, who survived the siege for 36 days, fell, struck by three bullets. The Turks took the fort and won the battle. Only seven defenders managed to break through the Turkish disposition of troops.
Artist
Kraft Johann Peter.
"Attack of Zrini"
canvas, oil,
1825
The old sultan died, unable to withstand the long journey. This meant that any major decisions (such as an attack on Vienna) had to be discussed with the new Sultan; For this purpose, Vizier Mehmed Pasha went to Istanbul, where he already met with Suleiman’s successor, Selim II.
Selim II
(28 May 1524 – 13 December 1574)
Eleventh Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigned 1566-1574.
The third son and fourth child of Sultan Suleiman I “The Magnificent” and Hurrem.
He was known by the nicknames Selim the Drunkard and Selim the Blonde.
Selim II was born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Selim initially ruled Konya briefly. In 1544, after the death of his elder brother Mehmed, Selim was appointed by his father as sanjakbey in the province of Manisa. In 1548, Sultan Suleiman Kanuni, who led the Ottoman army on a campaign against Persia, left Sehzade Selim as regent in Istanbul.
In 1553, after the execution of his elder half-brother Mustafa, Selim was declared the first heir to the throne.
In 1558, after the death of Hurrem, relations between Selim and his younger brother, Sehzade Bayezid, worsened. Sultan Suleiman Kanuni, fearing a coup, sent both sons to govern the provinces of the empire remote from Istanbul. Şehzade Selim was transferred from Manisa to Konya, and his brother Şehzade Bayezid to Amasya. In 1559, the brothers Bayezid and Selim began an internecine struggle for power. Shehzade Bayazid gathered an army and set out on a campaign against his older brother Selim. In the battle of Konya, Sehzade Selim, who received the support of his father and had a numerical superiority, defeated the army of his younger brother. Shehzade Bayezid and his family fled to Persia, but in 1561 he was extradited and strangled along with his five sons.
IN last years During the reign of Sehzade's father, Selim held the position of Sanjakbey of Kutahya.
Three weeks after the death of Suleiman Kanuni, Shehzade Selim arrived from Kutahya to Istanbul, where he took the Sultan’s throne.
During the reign of Selim II (state affairs were led by the Grand Vizier Mehmed Sokollu), the Ottoman Empire waged wars with the Safavid Empire, Hungary, Venice (1570-1573) and the “Holy League” (Spain, Venice, Genoa, Malta), completed the conquest of Arabia and Cyprus .
In 1569 Selim carried out an unsuccessful campaign against Astrakhan. A plan was developed in Istanbul to unite the Volga and Don with a canal, and in the summer of 1569, the Janissaries and Tatar cavalry began the blockade of Astrakhan and canal work while the Ottoman fleet besieged Azov. But the garrison of Astrakhan repelled the siege. A Russian army of 15,000 attacked and dispersed the workers and Tatars who had been sent in for protection, and the Ottoman fleet was destroyed by a storm. In 1570, the ambassadors of Ivan the Terrible concluded a peace treaty with Selim II.
The Ottoman Empire, also Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Porte or simply Porta, was a state created in 1299 by the Turkic tribes of Osman I in northwestern Anatolia. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman state began to be called an empire. The fall of Constantinople was the most important event in the development of Turkish statehood, since after the victory of 1453 the Ottoman Empire finally gained a foothold in Europe, which is an important characteristic of modern Turkey. The empire reached its greatest heights in 1590. Its lands covered part of Europe, Asia and Africa. The Ottoman dynasty reigned for 623 years, from July 27, 1299 to November 1, 1922, when the monarchy was abolished.
After the international recognition of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, on October 29, 1923, after the signing of the Lausanne Peace Treaty (July 24, 1923), the creation of the Turkish Republic was proclaimed, which was the successor to the Ottoman Empire. On March 3, 1924, the Ottoman Caliphate was finally liquidated. The powers and responsibilities of the caliphate were transferred to the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
FROM THE HISTORY, LIFE AND TRADITIONS OF THE OTTOMANS.
DEVSHIRME
Devşirme - in the Ottoman Empire, one of the types of tax on the non-Muslim population, a system of forced recruitment of boys from Christian families for their subsequent education and service as “servants of the Porte”, that is, the personal slaves of the Sultan. The majority of officials and military personnel of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th-16th centuries consisted of persons called up by devshirm. The Sultan's personal servants (de facto slaves) usually served in one of four imperial departments: the palace service, the chancellery, theologians, and the military. The latter, elite troops reporting directly to the Sultan, were divided into cavalry and infantry. Janissaries - “new warrior”), reflected the status of the warrior rather than his belonging to one or another branch of the army. The Janissaries also performed police and security functions.
The main reason for the emergence of devshirme was the mistrust of the Ottoman sultans in their own Turkic elite. Beginning with the time of Murad I, Ottoman rulers had a constant need to “balance the power of the (Turkic) aristocracy by creating and developing a personal army of Christian dependent soldiers and converted kapikullars (“servants of the Porte”).” So one of these “prisoners” of the palace wrote: “In the palace there are only a few people who speak Turkic from birth, because the Sultan believes that converted Christians who have no shelter, no home, no parents, no friends." The book “Government, or Guide for Rulers,” popular among the Ottoman bureaucracy of those times, states in particular that if the Sultan accepts representatives into the service different nations, then “all nationalities will strive to surpass each other... If the army consists of one people, danger arises. The soldiers have no zeal and are subject to disorder."
The practice of devşirme reached its peak during the reign of Mehmed II, who fully experienced the danger posed by the powerful Muslim elite.
For many families, the selection of their sons by maidenhood became a real tragedy, but there were also frequent cases when parents did their best to help their child get into the palace, since service there opened up enormous opportunities for a peasant boy. Separation from home and their own roots often led to the fact that such young men became ardent defenders of the Sultan, as their only father, and a new faith for them. However, not everyone forgot about their roots and there are cases when grand viziers used their origins in political negotiations and diplomatic relations.
From the 1580s, “servants of the Porte” were allowed to start families and enroll children in the corps by inheritance.
The last mention of the recruitment of Christians by devshirma dates back to the beginning of the 18th century.
TURKISH ARMY
The Ottoman Empire, since its birth in the early 14th century, waged wars with many countries. The Turkish army traces its history from there. The backbone of the Turkish army consisted of akinci, sipahis and janissaries. But we will start with the Sultan's guard. It consisted of siladars - the Sultan's squires - light cavalry and the Sultan's messengers like couriers - couriers for delivering important documents and messages. The ancient cavalry consisted of akyndzhi - horsemen of militias and warriors. But already in the 15th century, the akinji were divided into two groups. The first included beylerbey warriors, the second included volunteers. It also included small groups of horsemen called Turkish “deli”, which means “mad” in Turkish. They were truly distinguished by their incredible, bordering on madness, courage and unusual, terrifying appearance. Shields and horses were covered with lion skins. And the “Delhi” themselves were covered with leopard skins instead of armor. Delhi also used wings in their armor, which were then borrowed for decoration by the Polish hussars.
Of course, seeing this, even experienced warriors were taken aback. Moreover, “Delhi” were used in the Ottoman Empire in the vanguard of the Turkish army. The "Delhi" were armed with pikes and sabers. The next part of the Turkish army is the sipahi. The translation of this word from Persian means “army”. The sipahis are in their own way a privileged part of the army - heavy cavalry. Riders are protected by armor made of plates and rings. The head was protected by a helmet. At first, the sipahis were armed with heavy maces and pikes. But already in the 15th century, horsemen used firearms. These are the Janissaries unique phenomenon. After all, they fought on the side of those who captured them. And indeed, the Turkish army included captured children of Greeks, Bulgarians, Armenians, and Serbs. Brought up in Muslim traditions, they faithfully served in the infantry of the Ottoman army. Janissaries translated from Turkish as “new warrior”. They lived in barracks and did not even have the right to marry. Only at the end of the 17th century did they begin to take Turks into the Janissary detachments. The Janissaries were armed with bows, crossbows, scimitars, and daggers. The Janissaries were excellent archers, then firearms. They didn't fire at White light, and conducted targeted shooting. Among the Janissaries there were special units called “those who risk their heads.” They were divided into mobile groups of five. Two warriors with guns, an archer, a grenade thrower and a warrior with a sword. During the battle, the cavalry played a decisive role in the Turkish army. She broke through enemy lines. Then the Janissaries went on the attack. Of course, over time, the Turkish army underwent changes, but the fact that in those days part of Europe was captured and Asia Minor speaks of a strong army.
Janissaries - regular infantry of the Ottoman Empire in the years 1365-1826. The Janissaries, together with the sipahis (heavy cavalry) and akinci (light irregular cavalry), formed the basis of the army in the Ottoman Empire. They were part of the kapikulu regiments (the Sultan’s personal guard, consisting of professional warriors who were officially considered the Sultan’s slaves). Janissary regiments also performed police, security, fire and, if necessary, punitive functions in the Ottoman state.
The Janissaries were officially considered slaves of the Sultan and lived permanently in barracks monasteries. Until 1566, they were prohibited from getting married and starting their own household. The property of a deceased or deceased janissary became the property of the regiment. In addition to the art of war, the Janissaries studied calligraphy, law, theology, literature and languages. Wounded or old Janissaries received a pension. Many of them went on to successful civilian careers. In 1683, children of Muslims began to be recruited into the Janissaries.
Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire
during the siege of Rhodes
From the end of the 16th to the beginning of the 17th centuries, the process of decomposition of the Janissary corps gradually began. They began to start families, engage in trade and crafts. Gradually, the Janissaries turned into a powerful conservative political force, a threat to the throne and eternal and indispensable participants palace coups(Janissary riots led to the overthrow and death of the sultans, for example, in 1622 and 1807).
Finally, in 1826, the Janissary corps was officially abolished by a decree of Sultan Mahmud II, and the rebellion of the Janissaries outraged by the decree was harshly suppressed. During the operation on June 14, 1826, 15 artillery salvoes were fired at the capital's Janissary barracks.
Janissary officer.
Drawing by Gentile Bellini (late 15th century)
DELHI - WINGED WARRIORS
Turkish horseman - Delhi. Engraving by Danish graphic artist Melchior Lorca (1576)
Turkish Deli
This was the name given to the warriors of the cavalry units used in the vanguard of the Turkish army. They were usually recruited by the rulers of the border regions from the Northern Balkan peoples (South Slavs, Hungarians, Albanians, etc.) subject to the Ottoman Empire. Delhi were distinguished by their insane courage; instead of armor, they wore the skins of wild animals and decorated themselves with the wings of birds of prey.
Following the example of Deli, Hungarian hussars began to wear wings on their shields and headdresses. Preserved authentic hussar shields of the 16th century. “Hungarian style” have the shape of a raised wing. Some of them depict an emblem in the form of an eagle wing, but from iconographic sources it is clear that they were often decorated with real eagle wings according to a tradition that came from Turkey.
Winged Delhi is depicted in the Turkish albums of the French traveler, officer, artist and cartographer Nicolas de Nicolay, who traveled to Istanbul in 1551 and then published an account of his trip, accompanied by numerous engravings (1567).
MIMAR SINAN
During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, one of the greatest Ottoman architects and engineers, Mimar Sinan, became known throughout the world.
Born on April 15, 1489 in the village of Agyrnas (Anatolia province of modern Turkey). According to some researchers, Sinan was born into a Christian Armenian family, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica and the opinion of some scholars into a Greek Orthodox family. At birth he received the Christian name Joseph (Yusuf). His father was a mason and carpenter, as a result of which Sinan acquired good skills in these crafts in his youth, and this influenced his future career.
In 1512, he was taken away from his parents and recruited as a maiden into the Janissary corps, after which he was sent to Istanbul, where he converted to Islam.
At the tomb of Suleiman I
it is assumed that
pictured on the left
Mimar Sinan
After Çelebi Lütfi Pasha, under whose command the architect had previously served, became Grand Vizier in 1539, Sinan was appointed chief court architect of the city of Istanbul. His responsibilities included supervising construction throughout the Ottoman Empire, including supervising public construction (roads, bridges, aqueducts). Over the long 50 years of his tenure, Sinan created a powerful department, with greater powers than the minister controlling it. He also created a center for architects, where future engineers were trained.
The Shehzade Mosque is the first of the most significant architectural structures of Mimar Sinan. Built in the historical district of Fatih. It was started as a tomb for the son of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, Shehzade Mehmed, who died in 1543 and completed in 1548. It has two minarets of 55 meters each.
Shehzade Mosque.
Like many mosques built by Sinan, the building has a square base on which rests a large central dome, surrounded by four halves of domes and numerous smaller auxiliary domes. The massive faceted columns supporting the dome are drawn very clearly, the structure of the vaults is clearly highlighted by the alternating dark and light wedge-shaped masonry of the arches. The turbes of Shehzade Mehmed, as well as Rustem Pasha and Mustafa Desteri Pasha are located here.
During his life, Sinan built about 300 buildings - mosques, schools, soup kitchens, hospitals, aqueducts, bridges, caravanserais, palaces, baths, mausoleums and fountains, most of which were built in Istanbul. His most famous buildings are the Şehzade Mosque, the Suleymaniye Mosque and the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne.
His work was greatly influenced by the architecture of Hagia Sophia, and Sinan managed to achieve his dream - to build a dome larger than that of Hagia Sophia.
He died on February 7, 1588, and was buried in his own mausoleum (turbe) near the wall of the Suleymaniye Mosque.
The Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul was built by Sinan in 1550–57, and according to scholars, it is his best work. The project was based on the architectural plan of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture that had a very great influence on the entire work of Sinan, who tried to surpass this temple in his buildings.
The mosque is located on a hilltop directly above the Golden Horn. The clear rhythm of architectural forms is well perceived from a distance. There are tombs in the courtyard of the mosque. In two neighboring turbas lie Suleiman himself and his beloved wife Khyurrem. The Suleymaniye Mosque is one of the largest ever built in the Ottoman Empire. In addition to the temple, it contained an extensive social complex, including four madrassas, a library, an observatory, a large hospital and medical school, kitchens, a hammam, shops and stables.
Istanbul
Suleymaniye Mosque
Architect Mimar Sinan
THE MAGNIFICENT CENTURY OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN EUROPEAN ART
Gentile Bellini
Portrait of Sultan Mehmet
canvas, oil
1480
69.9 × 52.1
National Portrait Gallery, London
Bellini Gentile (Italian: Gentile Bellini, circa 1429, Venice - February 23, 1507, Venice) - Italian artist.
Son of Jacopo Bellini and presumably older brother of Giovanni Bellini.
An extremely revered artist during his lifetime. His talent was highly appreciated by Frederick III. In 1479 he was sent to Constantinople to Sultan Mehmed II, who asked to send a good portrait painter.
The artist was known for his portraits of Venetian doges and full-size narrative canvases. Most of the work was destroyed in a fire at the Doge's Palace in 1579.
NICOLA NICOLE
(1517-1583) - French statesman, artist and traveler.
Born in 1517 in the historical region of Dauphine, France. Since 1542, he served as a mercenary, serving and fighting under various banners in Germany, Denmark, England, Sweden, Italy and Spain.
Having traveled throughout most of Europe, he took the position of court geographer under Henry II, and also served as the king’s valet. Nicolet's works are remarkable for their excellent drawings:
"Navigations et pérégrinations de N. de N." (Lyon, 1568);
“Navigation du roi d’Ecosse Jacques V autour de de son royame” (Paris, 1583).
In 1551, by order of the king, as part of the embassy of Gabriel d'Aramon, he went to Turkey, to the court of Suleiman the Magnificent. His official task is to create a series of drawings about the country, and his unofficial task is to create maps.
He died in 1583 in Soissons, where he served as royal commissioner of artillery.
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Roksolana’s other charitable projects include complexes in Adrianople and Ankara, which formed the basis of the project in Jerusalem (later named after Haseki Sultan), hospices and canteens for pilgrims and the homeless, a canteen in Mecca (under the emiret of Haseki Hurrem), a public canteen in Istanbul (at Avret Pazari), as well as two large public baths in Istanbul.
The myth that Suleiman loved a witch
The mutual love of the ruling spouses caused not only envy and bewilderment, but also numerous gossip. The Habsburg envoy noted: “The only flaw in Suleiman’s character is his excessive devotion to his wife.”
A certain Zara wrote about this: “He loves her so much and is so faithful to her that everyone is amazed and insists that she has bewitched him, for which they call her nothing less than greedy, or witch. For this reason, the military and judges hate her and her children, but, seeing the Sultan’s love for her, they do not dare to grumble. I myself have heard many times how people curse her and her children, but they speak kindly about the first wife and her children.”
Unable to explain how Hurrem was able to achieve such a high position, contemporaries attributed to her the fact that she had simply bewitched Suleiman. This image of an insidious and power-hungry woman was transferred to Western historiography.
And my rival – in the bag...
The Venetian ambassador Pietro Bragadin described such a case. A certain sanjak bey gave the sultan and his mother each a beautiful Russian slave girl. When the girls arrived at the palace, Hurrem, who was found by the ambassador, was very unhappy. Valide Sultan, who gave her slave to her son, was forced to apologize to Hurrem and take the concubine back. The Sultan ordered the second slave to be sent as a wife to another sanjak bey, because the presence of even one concubine in the palace made Haseki Hurrem unhappy.
Either as a legend, or as true story, writers describe the case of Suleiman’s reprisal against his concubine. They say that once, after a quarrel, the Sultan cheated on Hurrem, spending the night with an odalisque from the harem. Haseki Hurrem immediately found out about this. She cried bitterly and refused to talk to the Sultan. Having learned that his beloved was sobbing, the Sultan, tormented by remorse, ordered the odalisque to be sewn into a leather bag and drowned in the Bosphorus. The Sultan's order was carried out.
Intrigues attributed to Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska
Haseki Hurrem played an important role in the elimination of Mahidevran’s son, the eldest crown prince Mustafa, and his worst enemy - the Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha - their unenviable, fatal role. She took part in the elevation of the husband of her daughter Mihrimah, Rustem Pasha, to the position of Grand Vizier. Her efforts to place her son Bayezid on the throne are known. Khyur-rem greatly grieved the death of her two sons, Mehmed and Jangir, at a young age.
Roksolana-Hurrem in a Venetian engraving
She spent the last years of her life in illness until her death in 1558.
Myth of the last time: the Vatican trace
Recently, the media presented a completely new answer to the question: who is Hurrem Sultan, and where is her homeland? And the documents were found not just anywhere, but allegedly in the secret archives of the Vatican. According to these papers, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska is not at all the daughter of a poor parish priest from the Ivano-Frankivsk parish.
A certain doctor of historical sciences, Rinaldo Marmara, was not looking for the pedigree of Hurrem Sultan, but this was precisely his main sensational find. While compiling a catalog for a book on the history of diplomatic relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Vatican, the doctor came across documents confirming that Pope Alexander VII (1599–1667) and Sultan Mehmed IV (1648–1687) were related.
Having begun a detailed study of the Pope's family tree, the following facts became clear. Pirates of the Ottoman Empire in the suburbs of the Italian city of Siena attack a castle belonging to the noble and wealthy family of Marsili. The castle is plundered and burned to the ground, and the daughter of the owner of the castle, a beautiful girl, is taken to the Sultan's palace.
The family tree of the Marsili family indicates: mother - Hannah Marsili (Marsili).
The first branch is her son Leonardo Marsili. From him go the branches: Cesaro Marsili, Alessandro Marsili, Laura Marsili and Fabio Chigi.
Even more precisely, Laura Marsili marries a representative of the Chigi family, and their son, Fabio Chigi, born in Siena in 1599, becomes Pope in 1655 and takes the name Alexander VII.
The second branch is the daughter of Hannah Marsili - Margarita Marsili (La Rosa, so nicknamed for her fiery red hair color... and again it is not clear who owns the black hair in the portrait of Hu in Topkapi Palace). From her marriage to Sultan Suleiman she had sons - Selim, Ibrahim, Mehmed. Selim ascended the throne as the XIth ruler of the Ottoman Empire.
According to this situation, Khyurrem’s maiden name was Margarita, and not Anastasia or Alexandra Lisovskaya.
But where is the guarantee that the documents found are genuine and not falsified? Isn’t it an invention of the Venetian ambassadors who planted a fake in historical papers? Not gossip carried over into diplomatic correspondence of the 16th or even later, say, the 17th century? After all, it was not possible to verify this fact about the origin of the woman who lived in the Sultan’s harem under the name Rokoslana-Hurrem. And it is unlikely that the ruler of the Ottomans herself indicated in her letters to high-ranking persons with whom she conducted diplomatic and secular correspondence, details about her childhood or youth. Why would she give out details about herself - the one she no longer was and never will be?!
Journalists disseminating the news about Hurrem's Italian origins claim that the family tree of the family of Ottoman padishahs and the noble Marsili family can be traced back to the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed IV, nicknamed the Hunter, and this document was signed by Mehmed himself and sealed with his seal. And one more thing - as if the authenticity of the document was confirmed by the current Pope Bartholomew himself. Only now there is no Pope Bartholomew - when this shocking news appeared - in the Vatican, because Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) was sitting there at that time.
And along with this new “misconception”, a real researcher can discover other absurdities, which - one by one - are revealed by Sophia Benois, author of the popular book “Hurrem. The famous beloved of Sultan Suleiman."
Suleiman I the Magnificent (Conqueror, Kanuni)
Suleiman became one of the most famous Ottoman sultans (reigned 1520–1566). The encyclopedias say the following about this eastern ruler:
“Suleiman I the Magnificent (Kanuni; Tur. Birinci Süleyman, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman; November 6, 1494 – September 5/6, 1566) is the tenth Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from September 22, 1520, caliph from 1538. Suleiman is considered the greatest Sultan of the Ottoman dynasty; under him, the Ottoman Porte reached the apogee of its development. In Europe, Suleiman is most often called Suleiman the Magnificent, while in the Muslim world Suleiman Qanuni (“the Just”).”
About the appearance, education and character of the Sultan
The Venetian envoy Bartolomeo Contarini, a few weeks after Suleiman’s ascension to the throne, wrote about him: “He is twenty-five years old, tall, strong, with a pleasant expression. His neck is slightly longer than usual, his face is thin, and his nose is aquiline. He has a mustache and a small beard; nevertheless, the expression is pleasant, although the skin tends to be excessively pale. They say about him that he is a wise ruler who loves to learn, and all people hope for his good rule.”
Suleiman I the Magnificent. Venetian engraving
This charming young man loved to fight as passionately as he loved to study. About his education, the English author Kinross writes: “Educated at the palace school in Istanbul, he spent most of his youth in books and studies that contributed to the development of his spiritual world, and came to be regarded with respect and affection by the inhabitants of Istanbul and Edirne (Adrianople).
Suleiman also received good training in administrative affairs as a young governor of three different provinces.
He was thus to grow into a statesman who combined experience and knowledge, a man of action. At the same time, remaining a cultured and tactful person, worthy of the Renaissance era in which he was born.
Finally, Suleiman was a man of sincere religious convictions, which developed in him a spirit of kindness and tolerance, without any trace of his father's fanaticism. Most of all, he was inspired highly by the idea of his own duty as "Leader of the Faithful." Following the traditions of the Ghazis of his ancestors, he was a holy warrior, charged from the very beginning of his reign to prove his military strength in comparison to that of the Christians. He sought, through imperial conquest, to achieve in the West what his father, Selim, had achieved in the East.”
In the book “General History” by the famous German historian and philologist of the 19th century Georg Weber, it is said about Sultan Suleiman: “... won the favor of the people with good deeds, released forcibly removed artisans, built schools, but was a ruthless tyrant: neither kinship nor merit saved him from suspicion and cruelty."
Some military campaigns of Sultan Suleiman the Conqueror
The book by historian Yu. Petrosyan “The Ottoman Empire” tells that from the first days of being in power, Suleiman went on a military campaign, conquering cities and countries.
“In 1521, the Turks besieged Belgrade, which was then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its garrison defended fiercely, repelling about 20 attacks Turkish troops. Suleiman's cannons, installed on an island in the waters of the Danube, continuously destroyed the fortress walls. The forces of the besieged were exhausted. When the defenders had only 400 soldiers left in the ranks, the garrison was forced to surrender. Most of the prisoners were killed by the Turks.
After the capture of Belgrade, Suleiman suspended military operations in Hungary for some time, sending a naval expedition - 300 ships with a landing force of ten thousand - to the island of Rhodes. The warships of the Rhodian knights often attacked Turkish ships on the routes connecting Istanbul with the Ottoman possessions in Arabia. The Turks landed on Rhodes at the end of July 1522. The siege of the Rhodes fortress turned out to be protracted, several attacks were repulsed with huge losses for the Turks. Only after strengthening the besieging army with a huge ground force, which included up to 100 thousand soldiers, was Suleiman able to achieve victory. At the end of December 1522, the fortress capitulated, but the success cost the Turks 50 thousand killed. The Janissaries completely destroyed the city, and the Sultan, meanwhile, continued to carry out the terrible decree of Mehmed II on fratricide. Having learned that the nephew of Bayezid II (the son of his brother Cem) was hiding in the city of Rhodes, Suleiman ordered that this Ottoman prince be found and executed along with his young son.
Battle of Mohács in 1526 Artist Bertalan Shekeli
In April 1526, a huge Turkish army (100 thousand soldiers and 300 cannons) moved to Hungary, gripped by feudal turmoil and peasant unrest. Several hundred small rowing ships with Janissaries on board sailed along the Danube, accompanying the land army. The Hungarian feudal lords were so afraid of their peasants that they did not dare to arm them in the face of the Turkish danger. In July 1526, the Turks besieged the Petervaradin fortress. They managed to dig under the walls and mine them. Through the gap created by the explosion, the Turks rushed into the fortress. Petervaradin fell, 500 surviving defenders were beheaded, and 300 people were taken into slavery.
The main battle for the lands of Hungary took place on August 29, 1526 near the city of Mohács, located in a flat area on the right bank of the Danube. The Hungarian army was much inferior to the Turkish in numbers and weapons. King Lajos II had 25 thousand soldiers and only 80 cannons.<…>Suleiman allowed the Hungarian cavalry to break through the first line of Turkish troops, and when the king's cavalry regiments entered into battle with the Janissary units, Turkish artillery suddenly began to shoot them almost point-blank. Almost the entire Hungarian army was destroyed. The king himself also died. Mohács was plundered and burned.
The victory at Mohács opened the way for the Turks to the capital of Hungary. Two weeks after this battle, Sultan Suleiman entered Buda. The city surrendered without a fight, the Sultan made Janos Zapolyai king, who recognized himself as his vassal. Then Turkish army set off on the return journey, taking tens of thousands of prisoners with her. The convoy contained valuables from the palace of the Hungarian king, including a rich library. The path of the Sultan's troops to Buda and back was marked by hundreds of devastated cities and villages. Hungary was literally devastated. The human losses were enormous - the country lost approximately 200 thousand people, i.e. almost a tenth of its population.
When the army of Suleiman I left the Hungarian lands, a struggle for the royal throne began between Janos Zapolyai and a group of pro-Austrian Hungarian feudal lords. Archduke Austrian Ferdinand I captured Buda. Zapolyai asked the Sultan for help. This caused a new campaign by Suleiman in Hungary.
This did not happen right away, however, because the Sultan was for some time busy suppressing peasant revolts in a number of regions of Asia Minor, caused by rising taxes and the arbitrariness of tax farmers who collected them.<…>
After the completion of punitive operations in Asia Minor, Suleiman I began to prepare for a campaign in Hungary, intending to restore the power of Janos Zapolya and strike at Austria. In September 1529, the Turkish army, supported by Zapolya's troops, took Buda and restored the Sultan's protege to the Hungarian throne. Then the Sultan's troops moved towards Vienna. From the end of September to mid-October 1529, the Turks stormed the walls of Vienna, but were faced with the courage and organization of its defenders.”
Suleiman the Magnificent. Artist Melchior Loris
Thus, in wars and robberies, the first decade of the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent passed. And it was during these same eventful years that the Sultan’s harem had its own great battle - a fierce battle for the heart, embrace and soul of Sultan Suleiman. And this campaign was led by the beautiful Polonyanka Khyurrem, who by the early 1530s became the mother of several heirs - the Shah-Zade.
After his European conquests, Sultan Suleiman sets out to capture Iran and Baghdad, his army winning battles both on land and at sea. Soon the Mediterranean Sea also becomes under Turkish control.
The result of such a successful policy of conquest was that the lands of the empire turned out to be the largest in the world in terms of area occupied by one power. 110 million people – the population of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. The Ottoman Empire spread over eight million square kilometers and had three administrative divisions: European, Asian, African.
Legislator and educator
Sultan Suleiman, just like his father, was fond of poetry, and until the end of his days he wrote talented poetic works, full of oriental flavor and philosophizing. He also paid great attention to the development of culture and art in the empire, inviting craftsmen from different countries. Special attention he devoted to architecture. During his time, many beautiful buildings and places of worship were built, which have survived to this day. The prevailing opinion among historians is that important government positions in the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Sultan Suleiman were received not so much through titles, but through merit and intelligence. As researchers note, Suleiman attracted the best minds of the time, the most gifted people, to his country. For him there were no titles when it came to the good of his state. He rewarded those who were worthy of it, they paid him with boundless devotion.
European leaders were amazed by the rapid rise of the Ottoman Empire and wanted to know the reason for the unexpected success of the “savage nation.” We know about a meeting of the Venetian Senate, at which, after the ambassador’s report on what was happening in the empire, the question was asked:
“Do you think that a simple shepherd can become a grand vizier?”
The answer was:
“Yes, in the empire everyone is proud to be a slave of the Sultan. A high statesman may be of low birth. The power of Islam grows at the expense of second-class people born in other countries and baptized Christians.”
Indeed, eight of Suleiman's grand viziers were Christians and were brought to Turkey as slaves. The pirate king of the Mediterranean, Barbari, a pirate known to Europeans as Barbarossa, became Suleiman's admiral, commanding the fleet in battles against Italy, Spain and North Africa.
And only those who represented the sacred law, judges and teachers were the sons of Turkey, brought up in the deep traditions of the Koran.
Daily routine of Sultan Suleiman
Lord Kinross's book The Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire describes Suleiman's daily life in the palace, where everything from the morning exit to the evening reception followed a certain strict ritual.
In the series “The Magnificent Century,” Sultan Suleiman was played by Halit Ergench
Morning. When the Sultan got up from the couch in the morning, people from among the closest courtiers had to dress him. At the same time, in the pockets of outer clothing, worn by the ruler only once, they put: twenty gold ducats in one pocket and a thousand silver coins- in another. Undistributed coins, as well as clothes at the end of the day, became “tips” for the bed keeper.
Food for his three meals throughout the day was served by a long procession of pages. The Sultan dined completely alone, although a doctor was present with him as a precaution against possible poisoning.
The Sultan slept on three crimson velvet mattresses - one of down and two of cotton - covered with sheets made of expensive thin fabric, and winter time– wrapped in the softest sable or black fox fur. At the same time, the ruler’s head rested on two green pillows with twisted patterns. Above his couch rose a gilded canopy, and around him were four tall wax candles on silver candlesticks, at which throughout the night there were four armed guards who extinguished the candles on the side in which the Sultan could turn, and guarded him until he woke up.
Every night, as a security measure, the Sultan, at his discretion, slept in a different room.
Day. Most of his day was occupied by official audiences and consultations with officials. But when there were no meetings of the Divan, he could devote his time to leisure: reading books about the exploits of great conquerors; studying religious and philosophical treatises; listening to music; laughing at the antics of dwarfs; watching the writhing bodies of the wrestlers or perhaps having fun with his concubines.
Evening. In the afternoon, after a siesta on two mattresses - one of brocade, embroidered with silver, and the other, embroidered with gold, the Sultan might wish to cross the strait to the Asian shore of the Bosphorus to relax in the local beautiful gardens. Or the palace itself could offer him rest and recuperation in an inner garden planted with palms, cypresses and laurel trees, decorated with a glass-topped pavilion over which cascades of sparkling water flowed.
Sultan Suleiman's public entertainments justified his reputation as a fan of splendor. When, in an effort to divert attention from his first defeat at Vienna, he celebrated the circumcision of his five sons in the summer of 1530, the festivities lasted three weeks.
The Hippodrome was transformed into a city of brightly draped tents with a majestic pavilion in the center in which the Sultan sat before his people on a throne with columns of lapis lazuli. Above him shone a stole of gold, inlaid precious stones, and under it, covering the entire ground around, lay expensive soft carpets. Around there were tents of a wide variety of colors.
Between the official ceremonies with their magnificent processions and luxurious banquets, the Hippodrome offered a variety of entertainment for the people. There were games, tournaments, exhibition wrestling and demonstrations of horsemanship; dances, concerts, shadow theater, performances battle scenes and great sieges; performances with clowns, magicians, an abundance of acrobats, with cascades of fireworks in the night sky - and all this on a scale never seen before.
Suleiman is hunting. Ottoman miniature
About the Algerian genocide and the letter of Suleiman I to the French king
Among other names, the name of Sultan Suleiman contained colorful prefixes that spoke of his actions and passions and the attitude of the people towards him. He was called Sultan Suleiman Khan Hazretleri, Caliph of Muslims and Lord of the Planet. They addressed him: Magnificent; Kanuni (Legislator; Just), etc. The inscription on the Suleymaniye Mosque, built in honor of Suleiman, reads: “Distributor of the Sultan’s laws. The most important merit of Suleiman, as a Legislator, was the establishment of Islamic culture in the world.”
More recently, his name was remembered from high political platforms. During the December 2011 visit of then French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Turkey, Prime Minister Erdogan read out a message from Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent addressed to the once King of France. The paper was taken out of the archives in connection with conversations about the adoption of a law on the Armenian genocide in the French parliament.
Erdogan then began his speech like this:
– In 1945, the Algerian population was subject to violence French army. According to some reports, 15% of the Algerian population was destroyed. This tragedy is rightfully considered the genocide of Algerians by the French. Algerians were mercilessly burned in ovens. If the President of France, the respected Sarkozy, does not know this, let him ask his father, Paul Sarkozy. Nicolas Sarkozy's father, Paul Sarkozy, served in the French Legion in Algeria in the 1940s... I want to show you here historical fact. The event took place in 1526 after the occupation of France, when the Ottoman caliph Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent wrote a letter to the captive French king Francis I.
After which Prime Minister Erdogan read the Sultan’s message to the French king:
“I, the great Sultan, the Khakan of all Khakans, crowning kings, am the earthly shadow of Allah, my spear burns with fire, my sword brings victory, padishah and Sultan of the vast territories that our grandfathers conquered in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, Anatolia, Karaman, Sivas, Zul-Qaderiya, Diyarbakir, Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Ajem, Shama (Damascus), Aleppo, Egypt, Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Arabia and Yemen - Sultan Suleiman Khan.
And you, King of France, Francis, sending a letter to my gates, which are the refuge of kings, you notified us of your capture and imprisonment, since your country was subject to occupation. To escape from this situation, you call on me for help. May your souls be at peace, do not despair. There will only be what Allah has ordained. You will find out from your ambassador what you will need to do.
Selim's son Suleiman. 1526. Istanbul."
Personal life: wives, concubines, children
The first concubine who bore Suleiman a son was Fulane. She gave birth to a son, Mahmud, who died during a smallpox epidemic on November 29, 1521. She played virtually no role in the life of the Sultan, and died in 1550.
The second concubine's name was Gulfem Khatun. In 1521, she gave birth to the Sultan's son Murad, who died of smallpox that same year. Gulfem was excommunicated from the Sultan and did not give birth to any more children, but for a long time she remained a loyal friend to the Sultan. Gulfem was strangled by order of Suleiman in 1562.
Mahidevran Sultan with his son Mustafa. In the series “The Magnificent Century” they were played by Nur Aysan and Mehmet Gunsur
The Sultan's third concubine was the Circassian Makhidevran Sultan, known as Gulbahar (Spring Rose). Mahidevran Sultan and Sultan Suleiman had a son: Shehzade Mustafa Mukhlisi (1515–1553) - the legal heir of Sultan Suleiman, who was executed in 1553. It is known that the Sultan's foster brother Yahya Efendi, after the events related to Mustafa, sent a letter to Suleiman Kanuni in which he openly declared his injustice towards Mustafa, and never again met with the Sultan, with whom they were once very close. Mahidevran Sultan died in 1581 and was buried next to her son in the mausoleum of Sehzade Mustafa in Bursa.
The fourth concubine and first legal wife of Suleiman the Magnificent was Anastasia (or Alexandra) Lisovskaya, who was called Hurrem Sultan, and in Europe known as Roksolana. According to the tradition established by the orientalist Hammer-Purgstahl, it is believed that Nastya (Alexandra) Lisovskaya was a Polish woman from the town of Rohatyn (now Western Ukraine). Writer Osip Nazaruk, author of the historical story “Roksolana. The wife of the caliph and padishah (Suleiman the Great), conqueror and legislator,” noted that “the Polish ambassador Tvardovsky, who was in Tsargorod in 1621, heard from the Turks that Roksolana was from Rohatyn, other data indicate that she was from Striyschina.” . The famous poet Mikhail Goslavsky writes that “from the town of Chemerivtsi in Podolia.”
There is an opinion that Roksolana was involved in the death of the Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha Pargaly (1493 or 1494–1536), the husband of the Sultan's sister, Hatice Sultan, who was executed on charges of too close contacts with France. Roxolana's protégé was the vizier Rus tem Pasha Mekri (1544–1553 and 1555–1561), to whom she married her 17-year-old daughter Mikhrimah. Rus-them-Pasha helped Roksolana prove the guilt of Mustafa, the son of Suleiman from the Circassian woman Makhidevran, in a conspiracy against his father in alliance with the Serbs (historians are still arguing whether Mustafa’s guilt was real or imaginary). Suleiman ordered Mustafa to be strangled with a silk cord in front of his eyes, and also to execute his sons, that is, his grandchildren (1553).
The heir to the throne was Selim, the son of Roksolana; however, after her death (1558), another son of Suleiman from Roksolana, Bayezid, rebelled (1559). He was defeated by his father’s troops in the battle of Konya in May 1559 and tried to take refuge in Safavid Iran, but Shah Tah-masp I gave him to his father for 400 thousand gold, and Bayazid was executed (1561). Bayazid's five sons were also killed (the youngest of them was three years old).
There are versions that Suleiman had another daughter who survived infancy - Raziye Sultan. Whether she was the blood daughter of Sultan Suleiman and who her mother is is not known for certain, although some believe that her mother was Mahidevran Sultan. An indirect confirmation of this version can be the fact that there is a burial in Yahya Efendi’s turba with the inscription “Carefree Razi Sultan, blood daughter of Kanuni Sultan Suleiman and spiritual daughter of Yahya Efendi.”
Death on the battlefield
On May 1, 1566, Suleiman I set out on his last – thirteenth military campaign. On August 7, the Sultan's army began the siege of Szigetvár in Eastern Hungary. Suleiman I the Magnificent died on the night of September 5 in his tent during the siege of the fortress.
Roksolana and Sultan. Artist Karl Anton Hackel
He was buried in a mausoleum in the cemetery of the Suleymaniye Mosque next to the mausoleum of his beloved wife Khyurrem (Roksolana).
Love correspondence between the Sultan and Hurrem
The real love between Sultan Suleiman and his Haseki(beloved) Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska is confirmed by the love letters they sent to each other and which have survived to this day. Suleiman was sincere when he wrote to his beloved: “Having chosen you as my shrine, I laid down power at your feet.” He will devote many passionate lines to his beloved.
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his girlfriend Khurrem expressed their feelings not only by being in each other's arms, but in letters and lines of poetry. To delight his beloved, Suleiman read poetry, while she, being apart, wrote in calligraphy on paper: “My state, my Sultan. Many months have passed without news from my Sultan. Not seeing my beloved face, I cry all night long until the morning and from morning to night, I have lost hope for life, the world has narrowed in my eyes, and I don’t know what to do. I cry, and my gaze is always turned to the door, waiting.” In another letter, Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska writes: “Bent down to the ground, I want to kiss your feet, my State, my sun, my Sultan, the guarantee of my happiness! My condition is worse than Majnun’s (I’m going crazy with love).”
Another time she admits:
There is no cure in this world for my pierced heart.
My soul moans pitifully, like a pipe in the mouth of a dervish.
And without your dear face I am like Venus without the Sun
Or a little nightingale without a night rose.
While I was reading your letter, tears flowed from joy.
Maybe from the pain of separation, or maybe from gratitude.
After all, you filled a pure memory
jewels of attention,
The treasury of my heart has been filled
aromas of passion.
One of Suleiman’s many farewell dedications to his wife after her death can be considered one of the most touching messages:
“The skies are covered with black clouds, because I have no peace, no air, no thoughts and no hope.
My love, the thrill of this strong feeling, so squeezes my heart, destroys my flesh.
Live, what to believe in, my love...how to greet a new day.
I am killed, my mind is killed, my heart has stopped believing, your warmth is no longer in it, your hands, your light are no longer on my body.
I am defeated, I am erased from this world, erased by spiritual sadness for you, my love.
Strength, there is no greater strength that you betrayed to me, there is only faith, the faith of your feelings, not in the flesh, but in my heart, I cry, I cry for you my love, there is no ocean greater than the ocean of my tears for you, Hurrem ..."
Moroccan King Mohammed VI married for love Lalla Salma, a girl from a simple family.
He repeated the example of Sultan Suleiman and preferred love...
Do you think that such romantic love stories do not exist? But no. As in previous centuries, in recent times there have been cases of violation of centuries-old traditions.
On July 23, 1999, King Mohammed VI of Morocco ascended the throne after the death of his father Hassan II and immediately dissolved his harem of 132 concubines and two wives, allocating a decent amount of maintenance to each of them. After which His Majesty Mohammed VI married a girl from a simple Moroccan family.
Moroccan King Mohammed VI calls himself the “king of the poor,” but is among the richest people in the world. But at the same time he remains loved by the people.
So, as we see, romantic love sometimes wins!
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Portrait of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent
In 1494, in the city of Trabzon, a boy was born into the family of the great Ottoman dynasty. At birth he was given the name Suleiman. His father was Sehzade Selim and his mother was Ayse Hafsa.
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent was the tenth sultan of the great Ottoman Empire. The history of his reign began in the fall, on September 22, 1520. And it lasted until September 6, 1566.
The first thing Sultan Suleiman I did when he ascended the throne was to release all the Egyptian captives from noble families whom the previous sultan had kept in chains. Europe was incredibly happy about this fact. But they missed the fact that Suleiman, although not as cruel and bloodthirsty as Suleiman, was still a conqueror. In 1521, Sultan Suleiman conducted his first military campaign against Belgrade. Since then, he constantly fought and captured cities and fortresses, subjugating entire states.
Sultan Suleiman set out on his last military campaign on May 1, 1566. On August 7th, the Sultan's army moved to capture Szigetvarai. But in September of the same year, during the siege of the fortress, Sultan Suleiman died in his tent from dysentery. Suleiman was then 71 years old.
The Sultan's body was taken to the capital Istanbul and buried in the Suleymaniye Mosque, next to the mausoleum of his beloved wife Hurrem Sultan.
Character of Sultan Suleiman
Sultan Suleiman I was a creative person. He loved peace and tranquility. He was also famous as a skilled jeweler, wrote beautiful poetry, and loved philosophy. Suleiman also had blacksmithing skills and even personally participated in casting the cannons.
Sultan Suleiman at jewelry work in the series The Magnificent Century During the reign of Suleiman, grandiose buildings were created. Palaces, bridges, mosques, especially the world famous Suleymaniye Mosque, which is the second largest mosque in Istanbul - they all show us the unique style of the Ottoman Empire.
Sultan Suleiman fought uncompromisingly against bribery. He severely punished all officials who abused their position. The people loved the Sultan for his good deeds. He built schools so children could get an education. Suleiman released all the artisans who were forcibly taken from their cities. But Georg Weber wrote that “he was a ruthless tyrant: neither merit nor relationship saved him from his suspicion and cruelty.”
But he was not a tyrant. On the contrary, Sultan Suleiman was a fair ruler and never ignored his people and helped everyone in need.
Suleiman had a habit of dressing up as a poor man or a rich foreigner so that no one would recognize him. In this form it entered the market. So he found out the news in the city and what his people thought about him and his rule.
Sultan Suleiman was an excellent strategist. He conquered many states and subjugated the inhabitants of many cities, for which he received the nickname “Lord of the World.”
Family of Sultan Suleiman
Suleiman respected family traditions and never went against the family. He especially revered his mother Hafsa Valide Sultan. He developed a warm and trusting relationship with her. They always corresponded when Suleiman went on military campaigns. And in the first years of his reign, Suleiman enjoyed her enormous support in political affairs. Until Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska appeared in his life, who, after training, took upon herself the support of Suleiman.
Sultan Suleiman and his mother Valide Sultan in the series Magnificent Century Apparently Valide was against her son’s marriage to Hurrem. Because Suleiman married his beloved only after the death of his mother. Although before this there were no legal prohibitions for their marriage.
The Sultan’s communication with the sisters was also warm and friendly. He always helped them and even listened to their advice. The sisters saw him as an ideal. But later, relationships with some began to deteriorate. Beyhan Sultan was never able to forgive her brother Sultan for the execution of her husband Ferhat Pasha. She even openly wished him dead.
Suleiman's sisters in the series The Magnificent Century The ruler treated his first wife, Makhidevran, with respect. He loved his son Mustafa very much, whom she bore to him. And he was pleased with the way she raised him. But after Mahidevran beat Hurrem, he alienated his wife from himself.
Mahidevran Sultan and Sehzade Mustafa Suleiman treated all his sons equally. He loved each of them and did not single out anyone. He also did not like quarrels among his heirs and therefore always strived to improve relations with each shehzade.
The sons of Sultan Suleiman in the series The Magnificent Century Hurrem was the closest and dearest person to the Sultan. He loved her cheerful disposition and cheerful character. It was for this that he gave her the name Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska, which meant “bringing fun and joy.” And he was very upset about her loss.
Death of Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska in the TV series The Magnificent Century Children of Sultan Suleiman
Suleiman, as expected, had his own harem. He first became a father at the age of 18. His first-born son Mahmud, who was born in 1512 from his first favorite Fulane. But, alas, during the smallpox epidemic in 1521, on November 29, the boy died at the age of 9 years. But his mother did not play any serious role in the life of the Sultan and she died in 1550.
Murad's second son was given to Suleiman in 1513 by his second favorite Gulfem. But this boy was also destined to die of smallpox at the age of 8. Like his older brother, he died from a smallpox epidemic in 1521. Gulfem ceased to be the Sultan’s concubine and no longer bore him children. But for a long time she remained a loyal friend to Sultan Suleiman. However, in 1562, on the orders of Suleiman, Gulfem was strangled.
Mahidevran Sultan and little Mustafa Mahidevran Sultan was the third favorite of the Sultan, who most likely bore him several children. She gave birth to the well-known Shehzade Mustafa in 1515. Mustafa was very popular among the people of Turkey. Mustafa was accused of rebellion against his father Sultan Suleiman, and on his orders he was executed in 1553. He was 38 years old. His mother was exiled to Bursa, where she lived for a long time in terrible melancholy and terrible poverty. However, Sultan Selim, after the death of her father, returned her the status of Sultana, paid her debts, bought a house and awarded her a pension. Mahidevran outlived Suleiman's entire family and died in 1581 at about 80 years old. She was buried in Bursa, next to her son in the mausoleum of Sehzade Mustafa.
Having become the fourth and only favorite of the Sultan, in 1534 she managed to officially marry Suleiman. It is likely that she became the mother of not five, but six children.
Their firstborn in 1521 was their son Mehmed. Then in 1522 their daughter Mehrimah was born. After this, Hurrem in 1523. gave birth to a son, Abdullah. But Mahidevran is also attributed to Shehzade Abdullah, so this fact remains inaccurate. Hurrem gave birth to her next son, Shehzade Selim, in 1524. In 1525, she again gave the Sultan a son, who was named Bayezid. But in the same year, Sehzade Abdullah dies. In 1531, Hurrem gave birth to her last son Jihangir.
Hurrem's protege for the post of Grand Vizier was Rustem Pasha, to whom the Sultan's only daughter Mehrimah was married. In Europe, the news that the Sultan's daughter married a former groom was ridiculed. After all, they are accustomed to equal marriages. However, for Sultan Suleiman, human qualities, intelligence and insight were primarily important.
Mehrimah Sultan and Rustem Pasha It is possible that Sultan Suleiman had another daughter who was able to survive in infancy and survive all illnesses. Razie Sultan. Who her mother is and whether she really was the blood daughter of the Sultan is not known. This is indirectly indicated by the inscriptions on the burial in Yahya Efendi’s turba: “Carefree Razi Sultan, blood daughter of Kanuni Sultan Suleiman and spiritual daughter of Yahya Efendi.”
Towards the end of the reign of Sultan Suleiman I, it became obvious that a struggle for the throne among his remaining sons was inevitable. Shehzade Mustafa was executed as a rebel (it is not known whether he was actually a rebel or he was slandered), Mustafa's seven-year-old son Mehmed was also strangled. The son of Hurrem and Suleiman Mehmed died in 1543. But Cihangir was very weak physically and died soon after the execution of Shehzade Mustafa. They say that he died of longing for his murdered older brother.
Shehzade Selim and Shehzade Bayazid Suleiman had only two sons left, who began to fight for the right to inherit the throne. After the death of Hurrem Sultan, Sehzade Bayezid rebelled against his older brother Selim and was defeated. The rebellious Shehzade was executed by the verdict of his father, the Sultan, in 1561. His five sons were killed along with him. .
The fate of the children of the Ruthenian and the Padishah. Brother against brother...
Let us recall that in the first five years of Suleiman’s reign, the “laughing” Roksolana gave birth to five children, and another one - the last one - some time later.
Mehmed (1521–1543)
Mihrimach (1522–1578)
Abdallah (1523–1526)
Jahangir (1532–1553)
All these children were wanted. Parents together more than once discussed their weaknesses and achievements, their successes and aspirations, and planned their future fate.
When Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska learned to express her feelings on paper competently and colorfully, she began to write amazing messages to her lover, full of love and passion. Without forgetting to talk about or mention children. Here is one of the messages from the Russian woman La Rossa to Suleiman:
« My Sultan, how limitless is the burning pain of separation. Have mercy on this unfortunate woman and do not delay your wonderful letters. May my soul draw at least a little comfort from the letter. When your beautiful letters are read, your servant and son Mehmed and your slave and daughter Mihrimah cry and weep, missing you. Their crying drives me crazy and it feels like we are in mourning. My Sultan, your son Mehmed and your daughter Mihrimah and Selim and Abdullah send you best wishes and they will cover their faces with the dust from under your feet.”
In the Sultan's chambers
Many of their letters were written in poetic form.
One of the poems written by Roksolana in response to Suleiman’s messages begins with the lines:
Fly, my gentle breeze, and tell my Sultan: she is crying and wasting away;
Without your face she is like a nightingale in a cage,
And all your power will not overcome the heart-consuming pain when you are not around.
No one can cure her suffering, tell him:
The right hand of sadness pierces her heart with a sharp arrow,
In your absence, she falls ill and groans over her fate like a flute.
And in the first lines of Suleiman’s letter to his Haseki these words:
My beloved goddess, my dearest beauty,
My beloved, my brightest moon,
My deepest desires companion, my only one,
You are dearer to me than all the beauties in the world, my Sultan.
In 1531, Roksolana gave birth to Suleiman's last son, Jahangir. One can imagine her horror when the newborn turned out to be a hunchback. However, Suleiman became very attached to the cripple, who became his constant companion.
The eldest son Khyurrem Mehmed was Suleiman's favorite. It was Mehmed Suleiman and Hurrem who prepared to inherit the throne. Mehmed, whom Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska always dreamed of elevating to the throne, suddenly died either from a severe cold or from the plague, which was then a frequent guest in all countries of the world. He just turned 22 years old. The young man had a beloved concubine, who soon after his death gave birth to a daughter, Huma Shah Sultan. Mehmed's daughter lived to be 38 years old and had 4 sons and 5 daughters.
"My beloved goddess, my dearest beauty..."
The death of his beloved son plunged Suleiman into inconsolable grief. He sat by Mehmed’s body for three days and only on the fourth day he woke up from his oblivion and allowed the deceased to be buried. In honor of the deceased, by order of Sultan Suleiman, the huge Shah-Zade Jami Mosque was erected. Its construction was completed by the most famous architect of that time, Sinan, in 1548.
You can tell a little about this outstanding architect of the Ottoman Empire. Sinan (1489–1588) is the most famous of the 16th century Turkish architects and engineers. Since 1538, he supervised construction work under Sultan Suleiman I, erecting mosques, fortifications, bridges and other buildings. Came from an Armenian or Greek family. Participated in the last military campaign of Selim I on the island of Rhodes, which ended with the death of the Sultan. Together with the Janissary corps of the new Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, he participated in the campaign against Austria as part of the reserve cavalry. During his service, Sinan, shooting fortresses and buildings, studied their weak points like an architect. In all military companies, Sinan proved himself to be a capable engineer and a good architect. In 1538, when Cairo was taken, the Sultan appointed him chief court architect of the city and granted him the privilege of demolishing any buildings not reflected in the main plan of the city.
And two years after the construction of the mosque in memory of his son Mehmed, by the will of the Sultan and at the suggestion of Hurrem Sinan, he built another grandiose mosque, the largest in Istanbul, called Suleymaniye. During his life, Mimar Sinan built about 300 buildings - mosques, schools, soup kitchens, hospitals, aqueducts, bridges, caravanserais, palaces, baths, mausoleums and fountains, most of which were built in Istanbul. His most famous buildings are the Shahzade Mosque, the Suleymaniye Mosque and the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne (built in 1575).
Mimar Sinan (left) supervises the construction of the Mausoleum of Suleiman the Magnificent
His work was greatly influenced by the architecture of Hagia Sophia, and Sinan managed to achieve his dream - to build a dome larger than that of Hagia Sophia. The great architect, close to the Ottoman rulers, died on February 7, 1588, and was buried in his own mausoleum (turbe) near the wall of the Suleymaniye Mosque.
They say that of the surviving sons of the padishah, the youngest Jahangir had a brilliant mind, but he was a hunchback and suffered from epilepsy, and Bayezid was very cruel. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska chose Selim, the gentlest in character, which, according to her mother, should have been a guarantee that he would spare his brothers in the future. She was not embarrassed by the fact that Selim was terribly afraid of death and drowned out this fear with wine. It is not at all strange that among the people he received the nickname Selim the Drunkard.
However, the younger one also had negative addictions: Jahangir, who was trying to drown out the constant pain, became addicted to drugs. Despite his age and illness, he was married. They say that the terrible death of Mustafa so struck the impressionable Prince Jahangir, who loved his brother, that he fell ill and soon died. His body was transported from Aleppo to Istanbul for burial. Suleiman, grieving over his unfortunate hunchbacked son, commissioned Sinan to erect a beautiful mosque in the quarter that still bears the name of this prince. The Jahangir Mosque, built by the great architect, was destroyed by fire and nothing has survived from it to this day.
As they say: everyone will have to experience what is written in their destiny. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska did not have the chance to become valid and experience the taste of real rule and veneration. Fortunately, she did not live to see that fateful moment when the brother went against his brother, and the father against his son. Alexandra Anastasia Lisowska did not witness the struggle between Selim and Bayezid for the throne, as a result of which the latter was forced to seek refuge at the court of the Persian Shah. She did not see how Suleiman the Magnificent forced the Shah to give him his son, how he killed him, and then all his young sons. Roksolana died in 1558.
Selimiye Mosque in Edirne is one of the mosques built according to Sinan's design
After the death of their mother, Selim and Bayezid entered into open confrontation with each other. Everyone wanted to become the sole heir to the throne. Such impudent behavior of Bayazid began to irritate his father, and the Sultan sent Selim a large detachment of Janissaries to help. In the Battle of Konya, which took place in May 1559, Selim defeated his brother’s troops, after which he was forced to flee and, together with 12,000 of his soldiers, seek refuge at the court of the Persian Shah Tahmasib (1514–1576), the second Shah of the famous Safavid dynasty. His flight was equated to treason, because the Ottoman Empire at that time was at war with Persia.
Historians claim that Shah-Zadeh Bayezid was a more worthy successor than Selim. Moreover, Bayezid was a favorite of the Janissaries, in whom he resembled his fearless and successful father, and from whom he inherited the best qualities. But he was unlucky in his confrontation with Selim.
After lengthy negotiations, Suleiman managed to convince Tahmasib to execute Bayezid and his four sons, his grandchildren, who followed their father into exile. Bayezid also had a fifth son, who was barely three years old; the baby remained in Bursa with his mother. But Suleiman Qanuni gave a cruel order to execute this child too.
In historical works we find how events developed: “First there was a diplomatic exchange of letters between the Sultan’s ambassadors, who demanded the extradition or, optionally, execution of his son, and the Shah, who resisted both, based on the laws of Muslim hospitality. At first, the Shah hoped to use his hostage to bargain for the return of lands in Mesopotamia that the Sultan had seized during the first campaign. But it was an empty hope. Bayezid was taken into custody. According to the agreement, the prince was to be executed on Persian soil, but by the people of the Sultan. Thus, in exchange for a large sum of gold, the Shah handed Bayezid over to the official executioner from Istanbul. When Bayezid asked to be allowed to see and hug his four sons before he died, he was advised to “move on to the task ahead.” After that, a cord was thrown around the prince's neck, and he was strangled. After Bayezid, four of his sons were strangled. The fifth son, only three years old, met, by order of Suleiman, the same fate in Bursa, being given into the hands of a trusted eunuch assigned to carry out this order.”
Janissary armor
And here is what the secretary of the Venetian ambassador, Mark Antonio Donini, reports about the outcome of that crime committed by the will of the “loving father”: “They say that, having heard about their death, the Sultan raised his hands to heaven and said: “Praise God that he allowed me to live to see the day when I saw that the Muslims were no longer in danger of the troubles that would have befallen them if my sons began to fight for the throne. Now I can spend the rest of my days in peace, instead of living and dying in despair."
So later Selim would become the eleventh Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Reigned from 1566 to 1574. Selim gained the throne largely thanks to his mother Roksolana. During his reign, Sultan Selim II did not appear in military camps, did not participate in military campaigns, but willingly spent time in the harem, enjoying the benefits of a luxurious and carefree life.
During the reign of Selim II (state affairs were led by the Grand Vizier Mehmed Sokollu), the Ottoman Empire waged wars with Persia, Hungary, Venice (1570–1573) and the “Holy League” (Spain, Venice, Genoa, Malta), and completed the conquest of Arabia and Cyprus.
Sultan Selim II - one of the sons of Suleiman and Hurrem
It is known that neither the Janissaries nor the common people liked Selim and called him “drunkard.” Only this addiction was supported in him by a rich Jewish merchant in the hope of gaining the throne of the island of Cyprus. Historians and chroniclers report that Joseph Nasi (formerly known as Joao Micueza), a wealthy Portuguese Jew who appeared in Istanbul in the last years of the reign of Suleiman I, quickly became the bosom friend of the future Sultan Selim II. Chief Vizier Mehmed Sokollu constantly fought against this fiend of hell, but Nasi did not spare gold and jewelry to give gifts to the Shah-Zade. Having ascended the throne, Selim rewarded his “friend” by making him the lifelong ruler of the island of Naxos, conquered from Venice. However, Nasi lived in Istanbul, and obtained from the Sultan a monopoly on the wine trade throughout the Ottoman Empire. Nasi had a network of informants in Europe and supplied the Sultan with important political news, and at the same time sent Selim the best wines as a gift. Even the Venetian ambassador wrote: “His Highness drinks a lot of wine, and from time to time Don Joseph sends him many bottles of wine, as well as all sorts of delicious food.” Once, in a moment of weakness, Selim Nasi suggested to him the idea of the need to capture Cyprus due to the fact that the island... was famous for its excellent wines. Selim, to celebrate, promised Nasi to make him king of Cyprus, but, fortunately for the Cypriots, he did not keep his promise. Vizier Sokoll finally managed to convince the Sultan to part with his favorite. They say Nasi died in 1579, still resenting Selim II.
The beloved of the drunken padishah was Nurbanu Sultan. Even when Selim, having matured, became the governor of the province, Hurrem Sultan, breaking tradition, did not go with him, but stayed with her husband in the Topkapi Palace, occasionally visiting her son. Concubine Nurbanu quickly assumed the role of the favorite of young Selim, who needed the support of a loving soul. When Selim ascended the throne, this woman took over the harem, since at that time the great Hurrem Sultan was no longer alive. Nurbanu, being the mother of her eldest son, Shah-Zade Murad, held the title of Selim's first wife. They say that the Sultan loved her dearly.
Sultan Murad III – grandson of Suleiman and Hurrem
Of all the sons of Suleiman I the Magnificent, only Selim survived his father, the Sultan.
Selim died on December 15, 1574 in the harem of Topkapi Palace. After this, power in the country passed to his son Murad III.
Grandson of Sultan Suleiman and Hurrem Murad III (1546–1595) - the twelfth Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, son of Sultan Selim II and Nurbanu, reigned from 1574 to 1595. Upon ascending the throne, he ordered the death of five of his younger brothers, which, as we already understood, was a common practice of Turkish sultans. Murad III was little involved in state affairs, preferring, like his father, harem pleasures. Under him, women from the Sultan's harem began to play a large role in politics, in particular Valide Sultan Nurbanu and his beloved Safiye.
An even more bloodthirsty monster in history was his son, the great-grandson of the great Hurrem, who ascended the throne as the 13th Ottoman Sultan Mehmed III (1568–1603). Having barely gained power in 1595, he immediately executed 19 of his brothers, fearing a conspiracy on their part. This panic fear became the reason for Mehmed to introduce the custom of not allowing princes to take part in governing the state during the life of their father (as was done until then, when sons went to rule in the provinces), but to keep them locked up in a harem, in the pavilion “cafes” (“cage”). It is also known that at the beginning of his reign in Constantinople, the Russian ambassador Danilo Islenyev was detained and then disappeared without a trace. At the same time, this ruler, terrible in the eyes of modern man - like his famous great-grandfather - loved literature and wrote talented poetry.
Sultan Mehmed III – great-grandson of Suleiman and Hurrem
Sultan Suleiman - biography
The ruler of Turkey was called magnificent in Europe. His subjects called him Kanuni - the Lawgiver. He was the 10th Turkish Sultan, reigning from 1520 to 1566. During his reign, the Ottoman Empire reached the peak of its greatness. As you know, after the highest point, the zenith, according to the laws of physics, movement is only possible in one direction - down. This is what happened after the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. In the 17th century, the empire came to a decline, and in the 20th century, after defeat in the First World War, it collapsed.
Since 1922, Türkiye has been a secular state, a republic. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent personally headed 13 military companies, 10 of which were in Europe. There was a lot of European in him. But, despite many military campaigns, some sultans - his predecessors - were able to conquer more territories than him. His fame is directly related to the flourishing of the arts during his reign. Under him, a miracle of architecture was created - the Selimiye Mosque in the city of Edirne, not far from Istanbul, in the European, Balkan part of Turkey.
The image of Suleiman, probably idealized, has survived to this day. He's handsome. A chiseled profile, a small neat beard... and an incredibly huge turban. And, despite such a headdress, something European slips into his appearance.
Suleiman was born around 1495. His grandfather, Bayezid II, bore the nickname Saint (and such nicknames were not given by chance at that time). His reign went down in the history of the Ottoman Empire as extremely peaceful and calm, without the massacres characteristic of subsequent periods of Turkish history.
It was Bayazid the Saint who appointed his grandson Suleiman, then still a child, as governor in Crimea. The Crimean Khanate - one of the fragments of the huge Horde - recognized itself as a vassal of the Ottoman rulers. Suleiman's youth took place in the city of Kafa (today's Feodosia) - the center of the then world slave trade.
Suleiman's father, Sultan Selim I, is known in history by the nickname Grozny, in Turkish Yavuz. He rebelled against his aged father to prevent his older brother Ahmed from gaining power.
It should be noted that the Ottoman Empire at that time had a remarkable tradition: the new ruler, upon ascending the throne, killed all his brothers. Why? “To avoid fratricidal wars and strife.” This law was no longer observed only in the 17th century, when execution was replaced by imprisonment.
The uprising raised by Selim in 1511 was unsuccessful. He fled to Crimea, to his young son Suleiman. He accepted him, supported him, gave him the opportunity to prepare an army, and Selim again went to Istanbul. This time he achieved the deposition of his father Bayezid and sent him into exile. But along the way, the former Sultan was poisoned. Such was the bloody overture of the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent.
When Selim I came to power, he killed about 40 of his half-brothers, as well as other male relatives. In addition, he exterminated the Shiites in Asia Minor - approximately 45,000 people. He was very quick to punish and said: “To rule is to punish severely.” The Turkish curse survived into the 19th century: “May you be Sultan Selim’s vizier!” This meant that at any moment you could either be strangled or poisoned.
It is curious that in the same 16th century in Rus', a certain Ivashko Peresvetov, as they say, a native of Lithuania, gave Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich “epistoles” - notes in which he advised accepting “formidability”, following the example of the Turkish sultans, as a state necessity. He wrote: “Oh, if only the Moscow true faith and Turkish truth were to be added, then the angels themselves would talk to the Russians.”
And one cannot help but admit that Ivan the Terrible was in many ways similar to Selim Yavuz. It is significant that the Ottoman rulers of the 16th century were not as detached from Europe, and the Muscovite rulers from Asia, as it might seem at first glance. The Ottoman Empire at that time played an important role in European history.
This state grew out of the ruins of the eastern part of the great Roman Empire. It was created by Turkic tribes in Anatolia during the decline of Byzantium and existed until the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1922. A long-lived empire!
In the 16th century, the European part of the Ottoman Empire was comparable in size to the Asian one.
The founder of the state was a certain Osman, who ruled in 1259–1326. He received from his father Ertogrul a border inheritance, or “uj”, as the Turks called it, of the Seljuk state in Asia Minor. There is a version that Osman and his troops helped the Seljuk Turks resist the Mongol-Tatars. For which the Turks strengthened his “uj”, from which an empire was later born.
From the 14th century, the descendants of Osman began to move to Europe, to the Balkan Peninsula, a terrible, indomitable movement. It seemed like nothing could stop him. The main Turkish military force was the Janissary troops created at the same time, in the 14th century. The word "janissary" literally means "new army". It was created in accordance with a brilliant plan.
Janissaries are slaves of the Sultan, recruited only from the children of Christians, including Slavs, brought up in complete isolation from their family, from their homeland and their faith. For people like them, many centuries later the word “mankurts” will appear in literature - people who do not know their roots, who are completely devoted to the Sultan. In addition, the Turks created a wonderful fleet and even leased it to some European powers.
At the age of 25, Suleiman inherited power from his father Selim. Italian politician Paolo Giovio wrote about this: “The mad lion left his heirs a gentle lamb.”
Thanks to the actions of Selim I, Suleiman did not have the opportunity to implement the law on the extermination of close male relatives. By the time of his inheritance, he had no such competitors left. Fate spared him from such atrocity. And surprisingly, in a society where bloodshed is the norm, the fact that this did not have to be done aroused general sympathy for the young Sultan.
His subjects immediately noted his prudence. For example, he allowed artisans and merchants from other countries who had been captured before, under his formidable father, to return to their homeland. This benevolent step greatly improved trade. True, in the Ottoman Empire trade was understood one-sidedly. Its rulers only wanted all goods to be imported into Turkey: not understanding the role of exports, they preferred imports. Still, trade picked up.
In addition, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent insisted on the creation of secular laws - and they were created. In most countries of the Muslim East at that time there were no secular laws, only Sharia laws were in force. The legislation adopted under Suleiman, apparently, made it possible to take into account the characteristics of the conquered countries. This was very important so that the expanding empire did not become a powder keg.
Suleiman grew up in Crimea, his beloved wife Roksolana was Slavic. He was drawn to Europe, and it was there that he made most of his trips. In addition, he, continuing his father’s policies, fought with Iran and took Western Armenia, Georgia and Iraq from it. 1534 - Suleiman conquered Tunisia, but not for long. A year later, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V recaptured it. There, in North Africa, Algeria recognized itself as Suleiman's vassal.
Still, Europe remained the most important goal, and the main opponents were the Austrian Habsburgs. The enmity with them reached its climax under Charles V. Suleiman also directed a serious blow against Hungary, at that time a prominent and very warlike kingdom in Western Europe. The Hungarians inherited the ability to fight and the desire for war from their ancestors - the Huns. The political center of Hungary in the 16th century was Belgrade, which is now the capital of Serbia.
The ancient Greeks believed that somewhere on the Balkan Peninsula there was an entrance to the kingdom of Hades, that is, hell, and there constant war was inevitable. Be that as it may, the campaign of Alexander the Great began from there.
In the first year of his reign, in 1521, Suleiman conquered Belgrade. It was a great military success. The following year, he occupied the small island of Rhodes, located between Turkey and Greece, a powerful military center of the spiritual knightly order of the Johannites. The Johannites saw their main task in caring for the sick, the poor, and the suffering, but they also knew how to fight. They had powerful fortifications in Rhodes.
The Italians carried out a significant restoration there, essentially building everything new, but according to exact sketches of the past. The defenders withstood a brutal siege for six months, but realized that they could not resist, and surrendered to Suleiman, who at that moment demonstrated his European, not oriental features. He did not completely exterminate the defeated knights, but allowed them to leave without even demanding a ransom. The Johannites left and settled in Malta.
And Suleiman the Magnificent moved to Hungary. 1526 - he defeated the Hungarians, Czechs and Croats near the city of Mohacs. 8,000 Hungarians out of a 20,000-strong army died in the battle, and 8 bishops fell in the battle. After the battle, a pyramid of 8,000 heads was built, and the head of the Hungarian king Louis (Lajos) II was brought to Suleiman. The mountain of severed heads is a reflection of the Asian attitude to the value of human life.
Moving inland, Suleiman the Magnificent took Buda (this city, united with Pest, became the capital of modern Hungary). 1529 - The Turks besieged Vienna. But they were unable to take the city, despite significant numerical superiority: Suleiman’s army was about 120,000 people.
We must not forget that in the Middle Ages and early modern times, the siege of a city was a difficult test not only for the besieged, but also for the besiegers. Under the walls of the fortress, the army suffers from disease and moral decay. Looting begins and the morale of the army declines. And Suleiman, having lost about 40,000 people out of his 120,000, retreated.
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent again set out on a campaign against Austria-Hungary in 1532. He failed to reach Vienna, but a significant part of Hungary remained under his rule.
1536 - Suleiman achieved important diplomatic success - he concluded an alliance with France against Northern Italy. He led several victorious military campaigns against Venice, a serious rival with a powerful fleet.
For what reason did France, the leader of European civilization, enter into an alliance with the Muslim Ottoman Empire? This was as a result of enmity within the European camp. The main enemy of the French monarchy were the Habsburgs. And because Suleiman the Magnificent fought with them, France found it possible to take advantage of Turkish military power. And subsequently, the Western European powers more than once watched with pleasure how two monsters, two aggressive empires, weakened each other. The most pleasant thing in this kind of situation is to stay on the sidelines, without interfering in the deadly game.
When Francis I entered into an alliance with Suleiman, French merchants received benefits, and the Turkish fleet was placed at the disposal of the King of France. Today's researchers believe that the French of the 16th century perceived the treaty with the Ottomans as ordinary European Union two emperors. Suleiman understood everything completely differently. He believed that he was rewarding with trade benefits and the provision of a fleet those who recognized the greatness of the Turkish Sultan.
So, the French managed to send a powerful force against the Habsburgs. destructive force Ottoman Empire. In 1540–1547, a new war broke out, as a result of which Romanian Transylvania became a vassal of Suleiman the Magnificent. The Hungarian lands were actually divided into Turkish and Austrian parts.
But this war with Austria was not the last. The Ottomans again opposed the Habsburgs in 1551, and in 1552 they besieged the Eger Fortress. There is a wonderful Hungarian film “Stars of Eger” about her heroic defense. A talented work of art conveys through cinema the spirit of resistance to the Ottoman invasion that lived in Central Europe. And for Christian Europeans it was absolutely indifferent which sultan directed the Ottoman forces into the heart of Europe. Suleiman was Magnificent only in the eyes of his subjects in the East.
Before last day Throughout his life, Suleiman the Magnificent remained a warrior. In the intervals between military campaigns, he led a luxurious palace life and encouraged art. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent himself wrote poetry and brought poets closer to him. His favorite was Abdul Baki, who was called in Turkey the “Sultan” of Turkish poets. The famous architect Sinan was also at the Sultan's court. He built three great mosques, which are considered masterpieces of world architecture: Selimiye, Shahzade (“zade” means “born” in Persian, “shah-zade” - son of the Shah, prince) and Suleymaniye.
Suleiman tried to carry out administrative reform, but it was unsuccessful. In general, constant conquests did not contribute to success in management: each new increase in land added to the empire and problems.
When Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent was on campaigns, the vizier Ibrahim Pasha was in charge of the administration. He died from the intrigues of his master's beloved wife. Roksolana, who may have been the daughter of a clergyman, Catholic or Orthodox, spent almost her entire life in a harem and became a master of intrigue. She wanted the throne to go to her son Selim, and for this she went to great lengths. She was able to achieve the execution of not only the Grand Vizier, but also Suleiman's eldest son, Mustafa.
Born to Suleiman's other beloved wife, Mustafa was the official heir. From his youth, he was distinguished by despotism and cruelty and certainly could have become a completely traditional eastern ruler.
Roksolana arranged for forged letters to be prepared from Mustafa, who allegedly wrote to the Shah of Iran and prepared a conspiracy against his father. Believing in betrayal, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the death of his son.
Suleiman died in Hungary during another campaign of conquest. He was already over 70. The body was brought to Turkey with great pomp.
Roksolana's son, Selim, went down in history under the name Selim II the Drunkard. A Muslim drunkard is just an incredible combination! Perhaps Roksolana gave him a not entirely orthodox Islamic upbringing. He was also a poet, which goes hand in hand with drunkenness much more often.
Under the rule of Selim II, the Ottoman Empire began to suffer military defeats. The main thing was in 1571, in the naval battle of Lepanto. In this battle, Spain, Venice, Malta, Genoa, Savoy in alliance dealt the first crushing blow to the Ottoman movement to the west. Before this, not a single European victory over the Turks had looked so convincing. Now the myth of the invincibility of the Ottoman Empire has been dispelled.
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent did not see the decline of his state. His reign, from a human point of view, can be called happy. He created the Ottoman Golden Age. But this laid the foundations of the tragedy. For a very long time afterwards, a significant part of Turkish society sought to ensure that everything remained as it was under Suleiman the Magnificent. But trying to stop history is death.