The Greek Haseki Sultan Of The Ottoman Empire | More Than Enemies | Real Royalty

[Music] for centuries two great powers of battle for supremacy in europe the habsburgs and the ottoman empire [Music] the habsburg side is personified by prince eugene of savoy a young nobleman who is prepared to rebel against his own king louis xiv of france you should serve not me but god no never as an impoverished prince he embarks on what would be a brilliant career in the service of the habsburgs [Music] on the ottoman side gurnach a favorite in the harem mother of two sultans and to the end a philanthropist and patron of the arts two empires that are completely different and yet have much in common and they are always ready to go to war with one another we should fall back horrendous bloodbaths take place in which tens of thousands are left dead upon the battlefields in times of peace on the other hand trade flourishes and the two powers engage in lively cultural exchange that even extends to medical techniques what the devil are you doing now the orient and the occident were more than just enemies paris the focal point of bustling trade routes the starting point of revolts and revolutions and the undisputed center of absolutism 350 years ago nearly the city's oldest market stood an elegant townhouse the hotel de [Music] soisson [Music] [Applause] [Music] here in the second half of the seventeenth century a small neglected young prince grows up as one of eight children hoygen de savoie [Music] this boy who will go down in history as prince eugene of savoy displays quite extraordinary interests is it not a scandal just a four-man orchestra when your majesty deigns to permit it but what am i saying they're not even men i find it greatly charming of her to arrange for the maestro and her friends to play for us it is the era of the sun king louis xiv one of his many mistresses is olympia mancini mother of eugene she competes relentlessly with other courtesans for the king's favor marquis is well on the way to losing his last shirt why don't you do us the honor of joining us in this merry little game there are games madame which are more to my taste his father away at war his mother preoccupied by court intrigues that is the world the little prince grows up in [Music] do you smell too small [Music] my little wicked one [Music] the young prince becomes withdrawn his talents remain unrecognized by almost everyone he developed a real hunger for knowledge far greater than in later years when his will to learn had lost its urgency as a young man something came out in him that was definitely of the period a great interest in science and also in mathematics besides the natural sciences astrology is very popular at that time it is still seen as a scientific discipline and so the soison also have their own in-house astrologer astrology and fortune telling are popular not only in the west in the ottoman empire astrologers are regularly asked by their sultan to take a look at the stars what the fortune tellers read from their charts has an influence on all the areas of life in the sultan's palace the stars are even consulted for the best possible time to declare war it is an influential profession yet it's also dangerous one false prediction can cost an astrologer his head the same goes for a forbidden glimpse into possibly the most secretive place in constantinople the harem the word harim originates from the arabic and means both forbidden and holy religion is the main focus of the women living there [Music] gurnash is a venetian woman who at the age of five was abducted from crete during the conquest of the island this former christian slave is now muslim and concubine of sultan mehmet iv just like prince eugene she is a foreigner who still has to assert herself over time she has risen to be a hasiki a favorite of the sultan the main goal within the harem is to ensure continued existence of the ottoman dynasty the padishah is expecting you in his room in one hour it's mostly free women who live here the sultan's favorites to climb the harem hierarchy what matters is to bear the sultan's child women who do so attain the status of haseki sultan if the child they give birth to is a shasada sultan which means a boy then the woman becomes a valid sultan that is the highest rank in the harem myself goodness sweet like a rose in morning dew what is that a commander from crete once gave it to me i would like to be able to read this then it seems the infidels taught you nothing at all i was still too young to learn how to read i only learnt the colors the sea and the coast but perhaps that isn't true either my memory is too vague life in the harem can be compared with a girl's boarding school today as in a business environment what counts is to rise within the hierarchy whether a woman does so depends on many factors her talents for example her ability to learn and above all her beauty competition and rivalry are also the order of the day at the court of louis xiv very nice your hand my dear and the other one as for your lifeline my dear it is clearly visible on both of your hands that speaks of great strength and vitality but it is delicate like the hair of a newborn child take care your own health is at risk and your beauty will pass all too quickly olympia's doings revolve around secret ointments exotic elixirs and so-called witch's powders at full moon apply this ointment to the corner of the eyes and then you'll see all the crow's feet will disappear and this powder is truly a miracle cure for varicose veins and this one here a secret mushr prince again over the years prince eugene's mother olympia was the most important and so the most politically influential of king louis xiv's mistresses but of course competition among mistresses at the royal court is intense this means that olympia at least according to gossip even uses poison to defend her position politically she runs into difficulties although she is now a savoyard a member of one of europe's most powerful noble families it is one of the poorer branches foreign and so the mother of the frail prince whom everyone refers to as snub-nosed decides to leave him in the care of the church he seems to be suited only to joining the clergy [Music] the family of course live in a town palace in paris as befits their station but financial difficulties mean that it is increasingly neglected falling apart derelict and the mother olympia spends more time at court occupied with intrigues than looking after her own family as a result the young princes are mostly unattended and uncared for hurry the carriage is already in the driveway olympia is suspected of having taken part in a series of fatal poisonings and even accused of seeking to kill the king the king's henchmen are already on their way but madam what are you looking for you know my golden box the special one oh the special one so where have you put it then i swear madam i haven't touched it at all yes nor would i have advised you to no matter we have to go i do my ideas she escapes from paris in great haste [Music] little is known of the life of prince eugene in the years that follow but the marquis who is in charge of the children reported that eugene was available for all kinds of nice games for those willing to play [Music] officially homosexuality did not exist at all in the baroque era but this didn't mean that it wasn't practiced especially among young noblemen and particularly at the parisian court this matter became so controversial that the king himself had to step in to control this behavior which was becoming disagreeable to him in 1683 eugene decides to take a different path in life the king is to help him in this [Music] [Music] [Music] my dear eugene you made a real effort to look smart for your king what can i do for you your majesty i'm ready to go into battle for my fatherland for you my king but surely you know an abbey does not go to war at most he blesses the weapons the church is not for me i'm courageous i shall fight i don't want a regiment just give me a company with 40 men and i'll surely prove to you what i'm capable of [Music] [Laughter] my dear fellow that's out of the question [Music] you must understand to lead a company you must have the men's respect and a manly figure would also help and anyway monsieur you're just about to enter a cathedral chapter you should serve not me but god no never [Music] see the request was modest but not the petitioner for never had anyone presumed to stare at me in so insolent a manner like an angry sparrow hawk like his mother before him eugene now flees paris after a few days of travel he reaches the border of the habsburg empire france's greatest rival at the time meanwhile louis xiv observes with growing satisfaction how the ottoman empire is slowly expanding towards the borders of the hostile habsburgs he speculates on winning territories in the east while the ottoman empire establishes its claim as a world power [Music] in those days sultan mehmet iv the father of ganesh's sons is rolling in the sultan's palace the top cappy along with garnish dozens of women live within the narrow winding walls of the harim the closer one gets to the sultan's chambers the more striking is their [Music] magnificence many eunuchs are responsible for guarding and teaching the women and also for their financial affairs the higher a woman's rank the higher her income [Applause] because the sultan has so many wives no one woman can wield too great an influence on him yet tensions continually arise between the sultan's mother who chooses the women for her son's harim and the sultan's favorite wife naturally there was competition among the women but unexpectedly this rivalry did not center on winning the sultan's favor this also happened of course but it was more commonly the competition among those women who already had a child with the sultan the hasekis this competition is understandable because what was at stake was raising their sons to positions of power and preventing their own children from being killed as was common in the past so it was much more than just a struggle among several women for one in the same manner as with the european courts there are intrigues power games and gossip even from abroad i tell you my sultan the tower of saint stephen's church in vienna is high enough to see from the top to bohemia hungary and all the way to the alps you know and its bell is so huge and heavy that it has to be wrong by no fewer than 40 infidels and how did the infidel speak oh nothing but gibberish look this one for example shamdan the viennese called lights lights and then the numbers pierce one eggy two h free one two three [Laughter] yes they can count but as for religion you know they cannot get beyond one they only allow one religion and even christians are hunted down ruthlessly without mercy if they do not profess the catholic faith and what does he look like the man they call emperor many might almost doubt that that allah really wanted to create a human with him so ugly is he his head is like a bottle tied up at the top like a butternut pumpkin his forehead flat as a board but worst of all worst of all are his lips they are swollen like a camel's and a loaf of bread and a whole loaf of bread would easily fit into his mouth whenever he speaks spittle sprays and oozes from his mouth and from his camel's lips [Music] but rarely has another city awaken the desires of the ottomans as much as vienna the golden apple capital of the derided emperor vienna is the gateway to europe whose southeastern region they already view as their own and the tower of saint stephen's cathedral is already seen as a minaret [Music] in the spring of 1683 an enormous army starts to move from adrenopolis towards the balkans in central europe turkish television series such as much december the splendid century broadcast in 45 countries take as their theme the imperial dimension of the ottoman empire an aspect that's experiencing renaissance in turkey today a memorial site that has been built to commemorate the conquest of 1453 of istanbul or rather byzantine constantinople by the ottomans turkey has long been the political hub of the middle east its self-confidence is demonstrated by its elaborate re-stagings of these conquests [Music] likewise the torah the imperial monogram of the sultan and symbol of the ottomans par excellence can once again be found everywhere in turkey today [Music] since the mid 17th century the traditional military music of the ottomans has been known as mehta the horse tales attached to poles symbolize the top military dignitaries in the spring of 1683 they are brought out to support the battle of hungarian rebels against the habsburgs [Music] slowly the first troops start to move you don't start your campaign as 200 000 people or 150 000 people you start maybe a few and thousands and then it increases and by the way of course you buy your provision on the way therefore it was a very strict rule not to destroy the gardens and productive areas of the peasants on the way in order to keep your strategical provisional sources that's what at the end of course you reach there you only have to take your cannons but by the time the entourage has crossed into enemy territory their restraint has already vanished the tatars are particularly feared they form the vanguard of the ottoman army robbing and plundering leaving behind a trail of destruction no less feared other delilah which literally means the crazy ones during their campaigns they were said to be often intoxicated by opium was not informed about where the campaign was heading as one contemporary report put it we knew that the campaign would lead into hungarian territory into the komarom fortress at the confluence of the danube and the var rivers if i had known that karo mustafa had selected vienna as the target i would never have given my approval from this we can deduce that kara mustafa forged these plans with his immediate circle but did not devise them well they can't her soldiers advanced towards vienna via heimberg in july of 1683. most of the town's inhabitants try to flee through the fisherman's gate towards the danube they blunder into a deadly trap heavily armed tartars await them from outside the gate no fewer than 8 000 people are slaughtered here [Applause] in nearby vienna panic breaks out thousands of people above all the royal household of emperor leopold the first flee as far as paso here the deeply religious emperor praised daily before the painting merry help of christians that vienna may be saved later leopold gives a viennese church and its surrounding district the name maria hilf [Music] where are the troops of ours the emperor has temporarily found shelter in the bishop's residence at passo here the frail young prince arrives on august 14 1683. your majesty prince eugene of savoy we have heard wild rumors of his person it is true no more than a month ago i was with the king of france but believe me i will be your best soldier you savvy odds have courage that i have heard but you still seem to me very young have you yet grown to your full height i am reliable your majesty do me the honor of giving me a regiment to lead and i say you will not regret it a regiment the regiments have all been given to loyal combatants but you are most welcome as a volunteer report to the generalissimos the duke of lorraine is still assembling troops who god willing will liberate vienna from july the 14th 1683 an army of 200 000 lays siege to vienna in a massive camp of about 25 000 tents kara mustafa has some 100 000 armed men under his command he gives the order to open fire since steven's cathedral is damaged by heavy ottoman cannon fire [Music] the catacombs of saint stephen's cathedral countless victims of the turkish siege can be found among the thousands of skeletons still lying there today in those days the cemeteries were outside the city walls the attack on vienna takes place mostly underground miners and fighting troops tunnel towards the city digging like moles they draw near the bastions some which are up to 12 meters high the janissaries are the feared elite troops of the ottomans from the late middle ages until the mid 17th century selected boys were press ganged from christian communities and raised as devout muslims to man the household guard which now consists mostly of recruits and volunteers once the miners blow a hole in the city wall the janissaries under the command of kara mustafa penetrate the imperial capital [Music] so was a wonderful ruler but was not an efficient muscle that we can understand from his strategical mistakes the one is for example he has a ch the stroke called bellagarank of vienna and where he lives for example khalenberg out of his influence and never had any good information about it and the polish division the kalamberg the hermann's cogol and the sophia alpa on the morning of september the 12th the troops of the christian alliance led by this polish king gather to attack the ottomans in fact the polish contingent on the right hand flank arrives almost too late for the battle for a long time there is little fighting on this side while a bloody conflict unfolds in the center and on the left [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we know that prince eugene took part in the battle for the liberation of vienna in 1683 many noblemen involved in this battle did not go into combat but spent their time in the entourage of the commander-in-chief prince eugene was different from the other noblemen his first battle was a veritable baptism of fire [Music] the fact that he was rewarded with a regiment after the battle which he was tells us that he stood out he must have been noticed by the commander-in-chief and the most important generals otherwise he wouldn't have been given a regiment in the late afternoon the christian alliance is finally victorious and liberates vienna more than ten thousand men are left dead upon the battlefield every time the pumerin the biggest bell in austria rings it is a reminder of the turkish siege of vienna since the first pumarin was cast out of melted down ottoman cannons legend hazard that the viennese believed the sacks of coffee to be camel feed and so they burnt them apparently their love of coffee was first aroused by the aroma of the roasting beans two years after the siege the first viennese coffee house opened and so the viennese coffeehouse culture now so much a part of the city was [Music] established thanks to his accomplishments in the battle of vienna prince eugene receives his regimental commission he takes over the regiment of the savoya dragoons which is in a pitiful state but prince eugene is determined to turn the worn out rabble into a powerful fighting force men you are dragoons it's important to know who you're fighting against but most importantly what you're fighting for you're not only fighting for the emperor but for yourselves for your honor don't forget that let's keep the declaration of there were the classic ownerships of regiments money also came from the emperor the commander of the war so in principle one was something like a war profiteer at the time on the other hand it meant a lot of responsibility one had to make sure that the soldiers were appropriately armed and uniformed so business skills were needed for the whole thing to pay its way prince eugene's armor to be found today in vienna's museum of military history dates back to a time when prince eugene was already better off it indicates a man of medium height for his time therefore eugene seemed to be nowhere near as small as some reports say but where did the dents in his suit of armor come from in mall upper austria suits of armor are still made over an open fire 80 of these handmade masterpieces are currently being crafted by the blacksmith for the swiss guards and the vatican we asked georg schmiedberger to recreate a made-to-measure replica of prince eugene's suit of armor will the breastplate be able to withstand a musket ball experts from the universal museum yuanim and the austrian armed forces put it to the test [Music] the impact causes a fairly deep dent the wearer would probably have got away with a few bruises and some broken ribs but three testing shots one or another of the dents may therefore have been caused in combat prince eugene is now 25 years old and has won many a battle when outside belgrade he suffers the most severe of his nine injuries [Music] eugene is brought back to vienna he can only be operated on after a few weeks you got it yeah even the strip of paper is still on that your wound is badly infected it needs a thorough cleaning [Music] what the devil are you doing now that your grace is the best wound closure there is i let these creatures go hungry for a while so they'll bite both parts of skin together properly [Music] at that time wounds were sometimes not stitched but held together by ants this method can be compared to modern day wound closure clips and is the result of a cultural transfer it was invented by the ottoman doctors the strategic interest of the habsburgs now lies in the south and southeast so prince eugene fights alongside charles of lorraine in the conquest of today's budapest for 150 years and have been in ottoman hands [Music] something else inherited from the ottomans hitherto known to the habsburgs was bathing in the form of her mums [Music] the kirili bath in budapest is one of two such surviving baths built almost 500 years ago by the ottomans [Applause] [Applause] [Music] back to the ottoman empire where the bathing culture has its roots in the sultan's palace gulnish reflects on her own roots hold that you can read can't you yes valida how long have you been here some 30 years you come from hungary kidnapped weren't you just like me but you can still remember your writing can't you i wish it had been otherwise how so it would be better to have no memory at all don't say that and you have no memory the same questions always want you who am i where am i from it's just awful teach me to read now all that prince eugene has inflicted many defeats in battle upon the ottoman empire this has an impact on domestic politics yo grace a letter from victor emmanuel the duke of savoy read that to me my esteemed cousin today we received the message that in far off constantinople the sultan has been deposed by his most trusted intimates it's said that this disgrace is due to the military failures of the ottomans for which you my dear cousin seem to be mainly responsible sultan mehmet iv is in fact deposed and brought to the cafes or golden cage previously mammoth's brother has spent 46 years within this closed off area of the top cappy palace now it is his turn to ascend the throne [Music] before the introduction of the golden cage a much more brutal rule was enforced fratricide for 200 years as soon as the new sultan ascended the throne his brothers regardless of age were killed the memorial tombs called turba beside the hagia sophia in istanbul recall this period o spanish the ottoman princes were sent to the provinces to learn the skills of governing there in some cities of the empire there were special facilities for this purpose in which the heirs to the throne learned the skills of governments [Music] one of these princes is ganesh's son mustapha who now ascends the throne in february 1695. after the early deaths of his uncle and cousin he now receives the title of the sultan becomes the most powerful woman in the ottoman empire mustafa ii does not hesitate to follow in his father's footsteps he not only commands marches to military music but plunges into a war to expand the power of his empire in europe the ottomans have re-conquered belgrade now buddha is to be won back in the new offensive not only the sultan goes to the campaign but also his mother garnish on the other side the habsburg forces under prince eugene refused to let the ottomans take over the fortresses along the danube [Music] if we look at the military at the time we find tactics that are very very linear in their form troops no longer move towards each other in pike squares instead they are aligned in a linear way with symmetry playing a special role and we have the highest art of making war namely the art of fortification and besieged i believe that prince eugene's mathematical scientific and architectural training were all of immense benefit to him provided with the salary of a field marshal prince eugene acquires a property in the heart of vienna where he will build his winter palace now prince eugene is part of the inner circle of the imperial generals and he sets out to show off his newly acquired status [Music] yet soon he must leave his luxurious palace behind the emperor has ordered him to hold off salter mustafa who is moving north from belgrade but without risking a battle nobody suspects that this clash is about to change the course of history [Music] for the first time prince eugene is commander-in-chief he yearns to prove himself but the emperor has forced a humbling waiting game on him if nonetheless he seeks confrontation with the enemy he risks losing everything on the ottoman side sultan mustafa seeks counsel from his closest advisors and what do the stars tell us sultan saturn and jupiter have come together in one constellation this very night mars will come and join them too which we believe will bring with it dangerous consequences as well we know that from this conjunction a terrible slaughter will follow which will scorch all goodness like the heat does the seed mustafa we should fall back [Music] what is the will of allah effendi my sultan it is allah's will that you be put to the test if it be your destiny you may win great glory or you may suffer destruction [Music] it is 9 11 11 september 1697. eugene's troops are exhausted on this morning nothing suggests a possible attack by the habsburg troops but after capturing a turkish officer prince eugene believes he has discovered something decisive but for the time being he keeps this knowledge to himself he believes that nothing discloses one's intentions to the enemy more effectively than holding such a council he simply knew what had been discussed naturally under the greatest secrecy would be known to the enemy hours later or days later at best business speed that invented this a scout sent out to the crack of dawn finally brings the hope for news the ottomans are near center and are trying to cross the river their cavalry and artillery have been ferried across it so the rest are now vulnerable your grace it's just as the captured turk told us the sultan has already crossed the teaser thank you good news at last your grace a dispatch from the emperor i don't wish to see it now could disturb my consideration somewhat your grace i implore you an attack's out of the question the men are all weakened marsh fever is raging a retreat by the ottomans is what the emperor wishes for for prince eugene senses the chance to make history he makes a momentous decision

Channel: Real Royalty

Views: 234,345

Rating: 4.8277798 out of 5

Keywords: real royalty, real royalty channel, british royalty, royalty around the world, royal history

Id: hnexa6XN-w8

Length: 50min 46sec (3046 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 29 2021