Download IV. Süleyman I The Magnificent and His Age

Süleyman I
The Tenth and longest-serving
monarch and the Second
Caliph of the Ottoman
Dynasty (1520-1566)
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Under the leadership of Süleyman I, the Ottoman Empire
reached its zenith and became a world power, and
Süleyman was considered one of the preeminent rulers of
16th Century Europe, a respected rival to Charles V, Holy
Roman Emperor and Sigismund II of Poland; a
protecting ally of Francis I of France; and a
contemporary of Henry VIII of England.
He personally led Ottoman armies to conquer Belgrade,
Rhodes, and most of Hungary, besieged Vienna, and
annexed huge territories of North Africa as far west as
Morocco and most of the Middle East during his reign.
Under his command, Ottoman Turks achieved naval
dominance in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Persian
Gulf, and the empire continued still to expand slowly for
a century after his death.
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Süleyman transformed the state into an organization of
rules and set procedures and that is why we earned his
nickname “Kanuni”.
However, like his father Selim I, Süleyman was a warrior
sultan, the last of them in a century actually. He, himsel,
and the generals he chose were able to muster together the
resources of a vast empire for war. This evolved
considerable change from the military system of the early
Empire.
The Ottoman military evolved during his reign into a
complicated mixture of regulars, volunteers, raiding
horsemen, infantry, a large artillery corps and vassals
troops.
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Within the empire, Süleyman I was known as a fair ruler
and opponent of corruption. He was a great patron of
artists and philosophers, as well as an accomplished
goldsmith.
Süleyman was born in Trabzon. At the age of seven, he
was sent to study history, literature, theology, and
military techniques in the schools of the Istanbul palace
(enderun)
Süleyman's early experience of government was as
governor of several provinces of the Empire, most notably
Bolu in northern Anatolia, and his mother's homeland of
Kefe in Crimea – his mother was a Crimean Tatar
princess.
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Upon succeeding his father Selim I, Süleyman I began a
series of military conquests, first putting down a revolt
led by the Ottoman-appointed governor in Damascus,
which he completed by success in 1521. By August, 1521,
Süleyman I had completed the capture of the city of
Belgrade (the Hungarian fortified city of
Nandorfehervar) penetrating deeper into the heart of
Central Europe.
Prior to Süleyman’ reign, by 1517 the Ottoman Empire
under Selim I had captured Palestine from the Egyptian
Mamelukes. Süleyman I was personally interested with
the city of Jerusalem and its walls (having suffered
centuries of neglect under Mameluke rule), that he ordered
the construction of a magnificent surrounding fortresswall that still stands around the "Old City."
Selim I had planned to assault the Christian
stronghold of Rhodes, an offensive base of the
Knights of Saint-John (Chevaliers de Saint Jean)
against Anatolia prior to his death.
 In 1522, Süleyman I accomplished his father's goal
as after a siege of six months the Knights agreed
to make peace with the Ottoman sultan.
 Süleyman I permitted the survivors to leave and
retreat to the Kingdom of Sicily. In exchange, the
Knights promised to leave Ottoman territories in
peace, a promise they would soon violate.
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On August 29, 1526 Süleyman I defeated Louis II (Lajos
II) of Hungary and his Hungarian heavy cavalry at the
Battle of Mohács thanks to the Ottoman field artillery
and more developed firearms. Ottoman forces occupied
southern and central Hungary. The 15 years old King
Lajos II of Hungary was killed on the battlefield,
After the defeat in front of the Ottoman Turks and death
of the king, central authority collapsed and a power
struggle ensued in Hungary, with some Hungarian nobles
proposing that Ferdinand of Habsburg, the brother of the
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who was the ruler of
neighbouring Austria and tied to Lajos's family by
marriage, be King of Hungary, due to the earlier
agreements on the fact that the Habsburgs would take
the Hungarian throne if Lajos died without any heir.
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Under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of
Spain and his brother Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria
the Habsburgs occupied Hungary and Süleyman I twice
re-invaded the country, and, in 1529 he went on to
Vienna and laid siege to the Austrian capital. However,
without the indispensable preparations lacking, the
Ottoman forces failed to capture the city.
In 1533 a treaty was signed with Ferdinand, splitting
Hungary between the Habsburgs and Zapolya, but on
Zapolya's death, Ferdinand, started another struggle to
annex Hungary and several peace treaties restored the
status-quo.
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Süleyman I supported also John Zápolya, an influential
Hungarian aristocrat.
A three-sided conflict ensued as Ferdinand moved to
assert his rule over as much of the Hungarian kingdom as
he could, resulting in a partition of the Kingdom by 1541:
Süleyman I claimed most of present-day Hungary for the
Ottoman Empire, and installed Zápolya's family as rulers
of the independent principality of Transylvania, a vassal
state of the Empire. Ferdinand I claimed "Royal
Hungary", including present-day Slovakia, western
Croatia, and adjacent territories,
So the Ottoman-Habsburg frontier was temporarily fixed
along a heavily fortified “military frontier”.
The Ottoman-Habsburg Military Frontier
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As conflict raged along the European borders of
Süleyman's domain, success continued on another front:
the longstanding rivalry with the Shi'ite Safavide Empire
that ruled Persia and modern-day Iraq. Süleyman I
waged three campaigns against the Safavide Empire of
Tahmasp I.
In the first campaign, the historically important city of
Baghdad, a former capital of the Caliphate, fell to the
Ottoman forces in 1534, and became one of the cities in
the Empire although it was to be under the shadow of the
impressive capital Istanbul.
The second campaign taking place between the years of
1548-1549, resulted in temporary Ottoman gains in
Tabriz and Azerbaijan, and a lasting presence in the
province of Van, and some forts in Georgia.
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In his third campaign, in 1555, Ottoman forces failed to
eliminate the Shah's army, which withdrew into Persia,
and eventually signed a treaty at Amasya, in which the
Shah recognized the existing borders and promised to end
his raids into Ottoman territory.
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Huge territories of North Africa west to Morocco were
annexed. The Barbary coast of Tripolitania, Tunisia,
Algeria became autonomous provinces of the Empire, and
served as the advanced bases of Süleyman's in his conflict
conflict with Charles V.
The naval raids of Turkish corsairs carried on thereafter
from the bases of North Africa remained part of the wars
against Spain, and the Ottoman expansion was
associated with naval dominance for a short period in the
Mediterranean Sea.
Ottoman navies also controlled the Red Sea, and held the
Persian Gulf until 1554, when their ships were defeated
by the Portuguese navy. The Portuguese Empire
continued to challenge the Ottoman forces for control of
Aden at the entrance of the Red Sea.
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In 1533, Hızır Reis known to Europeans as
“Barbarossa”, was made Admiral-in-Chief (Kapudan
Pasha or Kaptan-ı Derya) of the Ottoman navies under
the name of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha and was already
actively fighting the Spanish navy.
In 1535 the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor and King of
Spain Charles V won a victory against the Ottomans at
Tunis, but in 1536 Francis I of France allied himself
with Süleyman I “The Magnificent” against Charles V.
In 1538, the fleet of Charles V was defeated at the Battle
of Preveza by Barbaros Hayreddin’s fleet, securing the
eastern Mediterranean for the Ottoman Turks for 33
years.
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The French king Francis I (François I) had signed a peace
treaty with Charles V of Austria in 1538, however he
allied himself with the Süleyman I in 1542.
In 1544, when Spain declared war on France, the French
king Francis I, asked for help from Süleyman I. He then
sent a fleet commanded by Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha
who attacked the Spanish and Italian coasts
unchallenged. The Ottoman navy used even Toulon as
naval base for some time.
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When the Knights of St John were re-established as the
Knights of Malta in 1530, their actions against Muslim
navies quickly drew the attention of the Ottoman
Empire, which assembled another massive army in order
to dislodge the Knights from Malta. In 1565 they
invaded, starting the Great Siege of Malta, which began
on May 18 and lasted until September 8, 1565.
At first the battle looked to be a repeat of the one on
Rhodes, with most of the cities destroyed and about half
the Knights killed in battle, but a relief force from Spain
entered the battle, resulting in the failure of the siege and
the loss of 30,000 Ottoman troops, the famous Ottoman
admiral Turgut Reis included.
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Süleyman was renowned as a just and fair ruler, choosing
his subordinates according to merit rather than social
status or popularity.
The Austrian Ambassador to Istanbul, de Busbecq, had
written of him, "In making his appointments, the Sultan
pays no regard to any pretensions on the score of wealth
or rank, nor does he take into consideration
recommendations or popularity; he considers each case on
its own merits, and examines carefully into the character,
ability and disposition of the man whose promotion is in
question."
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Christian converts (devşirme) in the Ottoman Empire
under Süleyman rose to positions of great prominence.
Ibrahim Pasha was Grand Vizier for thirteen years.
Alexandra Lisowska, also known as Roxelana (Ruslana)
or Hürrem, a captured Ukrainian girl, rose through the
ranks of the Harem to become Süleyman's favorite wife.
Breaking with 300 years of Ottoman tradition, Süleyman
I married Roxelana in a formal ceremony, making her the
first former slave to gain legitimacy as the Sultan's legal
wife.
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By her he had one daughter and four sons Mehmed (who
died young), Selim, Bayezid and Cihangir (born physically
disabled). He allowed her to remain with them at court
for the rest of her life, despite another tradition that
when imperial heirs became of age, they would be sent
along with the imperial concubine who bore them to
govern remote provinces of the Empire, never to return
unless their sons succeeded to the throne.
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Süleyman's son Mustafa, born from another favorite of
the Sultan, preceded Roxelana's children in the order of
succession, and was supported by Damat Ibrahim Pasha,
Suleyman's Grand Vizier. In power struggles apparently
instigated by Roxelana, Süleyman had Ibrahim murdered
and replaced with her son-in-law, Rustem Pasha, and
later, Süleyman, apparently believing that Mustafa's
popularity with the army threatened his own position,
had Mustafa strangled.
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Before the death of Süleyman I, in 1559 his sons by
Roxelana (Hürrem Sultan), Selim and Bayezid, engaged
in a series of battles for the succession,. This chaos and
inter-princes civil war led Süleyman I to order the death
of Bayezid on September 25, 1561, after he was
repatriated by the Shah of Persia, after having fled there
for protection, leaving Süleyman's only remaining son
Selim the heir-apparent prince.