Suleiman the Magnificent 1520 to 1566 one African Islam 1202 1566 it is hard for us pigeon-holed in Christendom to realize that from the eighth to the thirteenth century Islam was culturally politically and militarily superior to Europe even in its decline in the 16th century it prevailed from Delhi and Beyond to Casablanca from Adrianople to Aden from Tunis to Timbuktu visiting the Sudan in 1353 even Battuta found there a creditable civilization under Muslim leadership and a Negro Abdulrahman sadi were later Rider revealing and intelligent history tarika Sudan circa 1650 describing private libraries of 1600 volumes in Timbuktu and massive mosques whose ruins attest a departed glory the Marini dynasty from eleven ninety five to twelve seventy made Morocco independent and developed fairs and Marrakesh in two major cities each with August gateways imposing mosques learned libraries colleges squatting amid shady colonnades and wordy bazaars where one could buy anything at half the price in the 13th century Fez had some 125,000 inhabitants probably more than any city in Europe except Constantinople Rome in Paris in its Carolene mosque seat of Morocco's oldest university religion and science lived in Concorde taking eager students from all African Islam and in arduous courses of three to twelve years training teachers lawyers theologians and statesmen emir Jakub ii who reigned from twelve sixty nine to twelve eighty-six ruling morocco from fez or marrakech was one of the most enlightened princes of a progressive century adjust governor a wise philanthropist tempering theology with philosophy shunning bigotry and encouraging friendly intercourse with Europeans the two cities received many refugees from Spain and these brought a new stimulus to science art and Industry even Battuta who would see nearly all of vast Islam called Morocco the earthly paradise on the way from Fez to Iran the modern traveller is surprised to find at Lim Sen the modest remnant of what in the 13th century was a city of 125,000 Souls 3 of its 164 masks the jamaa el kebir from 11:36 the mosque of abul hassan from 1298 and that of el halawi from 1353 are among the finest in the world marble columns complex mosaics brilliant mobs arcaded quartz carved wood and towering minarets survived to tell of a splendor gone and almost forgotten here the Abdel Waheed dynasty 12:48 to 1337 and 1359 to 15:53 maintained for three centuries a relatively enlightened rule protecting Christians and Jews in religious freedom and providing patronage to letters and arts after the Turks captured the city in 1553 it lost its importance as a center of trade and declined into the shadows of history farther east Algiers flourished through a mixture of commerce and piracy half-hidden in Iraq bound semi-circular Bay this picturesque port rising in tier upon tier of white tenements and palaces from the Mediterranean to the Kasbah provided a favorite layer for privateers even from pompous days the Corsairs of that coast and preyed upon defenseless shipping after 1492 Algiers became a refuge for Moors fleeing from Spain many of them joined the pirate crews and turned with vengeful fury upon what Christian shipping they could whale a growing in number and audacity the Pirates man fleets as strong as national navies and raided the north Mediterranean coasts Spain retaliated with protective expeditions that captured or on Algiers and Tripoli between 59 and 1510 in 1516 a colorful Buccaneer entered the picture the Italians called him Barbarossa from his red beard his actual name was Kyra din kisser he was a greek of lesbos who came with his brother who rush to join the pirate crew while Kyra Dean raised himself to command of the fleet a ruse led an army against Algiers expelled the Spanish garrison made himself governor of the city and died in battle in 1518 Kyra Dean succeeding to his brothers power ruled with energy and skill to consolidate his position he went to Constantinople and offered Salim the first sovereignty over Tripoli Tunisia and Algeria in return for a Turkish force adequate to maintain his own authority as vassal governor of these regions Salim agreed and Suleiman confirmed the arrangement in 1533 Carradine became the hero of Western Islam by ferrying 70,000 Moors from inhospitable Spain to Africa appointed first Admiral of the entire Turkish fleet Barbarossa with 84 vessels at his command raided town after town on the coasts of Sicily and Italy and took thousands of Christians to be sold as slaves landing near Naples he almost succeeded in capturing Julia Gonzaga Colonna reputed the loveliest woman in Italy she escaped half-clad rode off with one night as her escort and on reaching her destination ordered his death for reasons which she left to be inferred but Barbarossa aimed at less perishable booty than a beautiful woman landing his Janissaries at bazaar he marched against Tunis in 1534 the nested dynasty had ruled that city reasonably well since 1336 Arts and Letters had flourished under their patronage but mullah Hasan the current Prince had alienated the people by his cruelties he fled as Barbarossa approached Tunis was taken bloodlessly Tunisia was added to the Ottoman realm and Barbarossa was master of the Mediterranean it was another crisis for Christendom for the unchallenged turkish fleet could at any moment secure a foothold for islam in the Italian boot strangely enough Frances the first was at this time allied with the Turks and Pope Clement the seventh was allied with France fortunately Clement died on September 25th 1530 for Pope Paul the 3rd pledged funds to Charles the fifth for an attack on Barbarossa and Andrea Doria offered the full cooperation of the Genoese fleet in the spring of 1535 Charles assembled in Sardinia 400 vessels and 30,000 troops crossing the Mediterranean he laid seeds to lug a letter afford commanding the gulf of Tunis after a months fighting la galette FL and the imperial army marched on to Tunis Barbarossa tried to stop the advance he was defeated and fled Christian slaves in Tunis broke their chains and opened the gates and Charles entered the city unresisted for two days he surrendered it to pillage by his soldiers who would otherwise have mutinied thousands of Muslims were massacred the art of centuries was shattered in a day or two the Christian slaves were joyously freed and the surviving population was enslaved Charles reinstated mullah Hassan as his tributary vassal left Garrison's in Bona and legality and returned to Europe Barbarossa escaped to Constantinople and there with Suleiman's funds built a new fleet of 200 ships in July 15 37 this force effected a landing at Toronto and Christendom was again besieged a new holy League of Venice the papacy and the Empire took form and gathered 200 Dessel zov Corfu on September 27th the rival armadas at the entrance to the embrace engulfed fought an engagement almost in the same waters where Antony and Cleopatra had met Octavian at Actium Barbarossa 1 and again ruled the Seas sailing east he took one after another of the Venetian possessions in the Aegean and Greece and forced Venice to a separate peace Charles tried to win Barbarossa to his service by gifts and an offer to make him vassal king of North Africa but Kyra Dean preferred Islamic date in October 15 41 Charles and Doria led an expedition against Algiers it was defeated on land by Barbarossa's army and at sea by a storm Barbarossa returned the call by ravaging Calabria and landing unhindered at Ostia the port of Rome the great capital shivered in its shrines but Paul the third was at that time on good terms with Francis and Barbarossa allegedly out of courtesy to his ally paid in cash for all that he took at Ostia and departed peacefully he sailed up the too long where his fleet was welcomed by the matter-of-fact French he asked that the church bells should suspend their ringing while Allah's vessels were in the harbour for the bells disturbed his sleep and his request was law he joined a French fleet in taking nice and Villefranche from the Emperor then seventy-seven the triumphant Corsair retired with full honors to die in bed at 80 in 1546 Bona la galette and Tripoli fell back to Islam and the Ottoman Empire reached from Algiers to Baghdad only one Muslim power dared to challenge its predominance in Islam to Safavid Persia 15022 1576 Persia which had enjoyed so many periods of cultural fertility was now entering another epoch of political vitality and artistic creation when Shah Ismail the first founded the Safavid dynasty between 1502 and 1736 Persia was a chaos of King Lots Iraq yazd Sam nan Vera's coup Dr Bekir Kishan Khorasan Kandahar bulk Kimen and Azerbaijan were independent states in a succession of ruthless campaigns a smile of Azerbaijan conquered most of these principalities captured Herat and Baghdad and made to breeze again the capital of a powerful Kingdom the people welcomed this native dynasty glory din the unity and power it gave their country and expressed their spirit in a new outburst of Persian art his miles rise to royalty as an incredible tale he was three years old when his father died in 1490 13 when he set out to win himself a throne still 13 when he had himself crowned shah of persia contemporaries described him as brave like a young Gamecock and lively as a fawn stout broad shouldered with furious mustaches and flaming red hair he wielded a mighty sword with his left hand and with the bow he was another Odysseus shooting down seven apples in a row of 10 we are told that he was a noble as a girl but he killed his own mother or step mother ordered the execution of three hundred quarters Tabriz and massacred thousands of enemies he was so popular that the name of God is forgotten in Persia said an Italian traveller and only that of a smile is remembered religion and audacity were the secrets of his success religion in Persia was Shia that is the party of Ali son-in-law of Mohammed the Shia recognised no rightful caliphs but Ali and his 12 lineal descendants Imams or holy kings since religion and government were not distinct in Islam each such descendant had in this doctrine a divine right to rule both church and state as Christians believed that Christ would return to establish his kingdom on earth so the Shiites believe that the 12th Imam Muhammad even Hasan had never died but would someday reappear and set up his blessed rule over the earth and his Protestants condemned Catholics for accepting tradition along with the Bible as a guide to right belief so the Shiites denounced the Sioux Knights the Orthodox Muhammad and majority who found the Sunna or path of righteousness not only in the Koran but also in the practice of Muhammad as handed down in the traditions of his companions and followers and as Protestants gave up praying to the saints and closed the monasteries so the Shiites discountenanced the Sufi mystics and closed the cloisters of the dervishes which like the monasteries of Europe in their prime had been centers of hospitality and charity as Protestants called their faith the true religion so the Shiites took the name al nami Noom true believers no faithful Shiite would eat with a Sioux night and if a Christians shadow passed over a Shiites meal the food was to be discarded as unclean Ishmael claimed descent from the seventh Imam Shafi Ogden purity of the faith from whom the new dynasty was named by proclaiming Shia as the national and official religion of Iran and as the sacred standard under which he fought his smile United his people in pious devotion against the Sioux night Muslims who hemmed Persia in the u.s. Beck's and Afghans on the east the Arabs Turks and Egyptians on the west his strategy succeeded despite his cruel teas he was worshipped as a saint and his subjects so trusted in his divine power to protect them that some refused to wear Armour in battle having won this fervent support de smile felt strong enough to challenge his neighbors you specs who ruled transoxiana had spread their power into Khorasan he smiled took a rock from them and drove them out of Persia secure in the East he turned west against the ottomans each faith now persecuted the other with holy intensity Sultan Selim we are unreliably told had 40,000 Shiites in his dominions killed or imprisoned before going forth to war in 1514 and Shah Ismail hanged some of the Sioux Knights who formed a majority in Tabriz and compelled the rest to utter daily a prayer cursing the first three caliphs as usurpers of Ali's rites nevertheless in battle at Kaldur on the Persians found Shia helpless before they artillery and Janissaries of Selim the grim the Sultan took Tabriz and subdued all northern Mesopotamia in 1516 but his army mutiny he retreated and Ismail returned to his capital with all the glory that shrouds a marshal King letters declined during his hectic reign but art prospered under his patronage he protected the painter behzod and rated him as worth half of Persia after 24 years of rule Ismail died at 38 leaving the throne to his ten year old son in 1524 Shah Tahmasp the first was a faithless coward a melancholy Sybarite an incompetent King a harsh judge a patron and practitioner of art a pious Shiite and the idol of his people perhaps he had some secret virtues which he hid from history the continuing emphasis on religion disturbed as well as strengthened the government for its sanctioned a dozen Wars and kept the Islam of the near and Middle East divided from 1508 to 1638 Christendom benefited for Suleiman interrupted his assaults upon the west by campaigns against Persia only the Persian stands between us and ruin wrote Ferdinand's ambassador in Constantinople in 1533 the grand vizier ibrahim pasha led a turkish army into azerbaijan took fortress after fortress by bribing Persian generals and finally captured Tabriz and Baghdad without striking a blow 14 years later during an armistice with Ferdinand Suleiman led another army against the rascally redheads the Turkish name for the Persians took 31 towns and then resumed his attacks upon Christendom between 1525 and 1545 Charles repeatedly negotiated with Persia presumably to coordinate Christian and Persian resistance to Suleiman the West rejoiced when Persia assumed the offensive and captured as a room but in 1554 Suleiman returned devastated great stretches of Persia and forced Tomas to a peace in which Baghdad and lower Mesopotamia fell permanently under Turkish rule more interesting than these dismal conflicts were the ventures and journeys that anthony Jenkinson made into transoxiana and persia in search of an Overland trade route to India and cafe in this matter ivan the terrible' proved amiable he welcomed Jenkinson in Moscow sent him as his ambassador to whose Beck rulers at the Bukhara and agreed to let English Goods enter Russia duty-free and passed down the Volga and across the Caspian after surviving a violent storm on that sea Jenkinson continued into Persia and reached kasabian in 1561 there he delivered to tomas letters of salutation from a distant queen who seemed to the persians a minor ruler over a barbarous people they were inclined to sign a trade agreement but when Jenkinson confessed himself a Christian they bade him depart we have no need of friendship with infidels they told him and as he left the Shah a servant spread purifying sand to cover the Christian footprints that had polluted the Shia Court the death of Tomas bin 1576 concluded the longest but one of all rains and one of the most disastrous it was not distinguished by any literature lovingly cherished in persian memory unless we include the fascinating memoirs of the expatriated Babu ur but Safavid art though its zenith would come later already in - rains began to pour forth works of that grandeur brilliance and refinement which for 22 centuries have marked the products of Persia in Isfahan the mausoleum of Haruna Valaya displayed all the finesse of classic Persian design and the best color and cutting of mosaic fans and the complex Half Dome crowned the portal of the great friday mosque another mudsy be Jami rose in this age at Shiraz but time has swallowed it in many instances the delicate work of the illuminators and calligraphers has outlasted the architectural monuments and has justified the care that made the book in his loom almost an idol of loving reverence the Arabs proud of everything were forgive ibly enamored of their alphabet which lent itself to lines of sinuous grace the Persians above all made that script an art in adorning the me robs and portals of their mosques the mettle of their weapons the clay of their pottery the texture of their rugs and in transmitting their scriptures and their poets in manuscripts that many generations would cherish as delights to eye and soul the nastily core sloping script which had flourished under the two murids at Tabriz Herat and Samarkand returned to the breeze under the Safavids and went with them to Isfahan as the mosque brought together a dozen arts so the book employed poet calligrapher miniaturist and binder into a collaboration quite as dedicated and about the art of illumination continued to flourish at pokhara he wrought Shiraz and Tabriz the Boston Museum of Fine Arts as a lordly manuscript of fear Dao sees chinami signed by Raja mohamed el Kabong of Shiraz from 1550 to the Cleveland Museum has another illuminated by mu she'd al-khatib from 1538 and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has one of the finest examples of Tabriz illumination and calligraphy in the title page from a copy from 1525 of Nizam EES come sue the center of Muhammad an illumination moved to Tabriz when vizag chose it for his residence circa 1510 during the campaign of kaldur'ahm shah ismail hid Buzard and the colleague for machmood Nisha Puri in a cave as his most precious possessions his odds pupil Akamai Rock fainted at Tabriz one of the master miniatures of this period the coasts ruin Sheeran enthroned from 1539 now in the British Museum me rock in turn taught the art to Sultan or Prince Mohammed nor born of a rich family Mohammed ignored the fact that he had the means to be worthless he became the Pearl without price at the court of Shah Tahmasp for he surpassed all his contemporaries in calligraphy and illumination and in designing book covers and rugs between 1539 and 1543 he copied and illustrated the comso of Nizami a magnificent page in the British Museum shows Kinkos aru mounted on a pink horse peering through foliage of green brown and gold at Shirin bathing half-naked in a silver pool even more brilliant in color is a painting of the Prophet riding through the skies on his winged horse Barack to visit heaven and hell the features are grace incarnate but deliberately and religiously without individualized features the artist was interested in decoration rather than representation and valued beauty which subjective is sometimes attainable more than truth which objective always escapes in these miniatures Persian illumination reached the apex of its elegance the same loving care and delicate designs went into textiles and rugs no textiles survived from these rains but the miniatures picture them in rugs the safari designers and artisans were supreme the carpet seemed an essential of civilization in Islam the Moslems sat and ate not on chairs but on a floor or ground covered with a rug a special prayer rug usually bearing religious symbols and a quranic text received his prostrations in his devotions rugs were favored as gifts to friends or kings or mosques so Shah Tahmasp sent twenty large and many small carpets of silk and gold to Salim the second on the latter's accession as Ottoman Sultan in 1566 some dominating feature of design classified the rugs as of the garden floral hunting Boz diaper or medallion type but around these basic forms were meandering arabesques Chinese cloud configurations symbols conveying secret meanings to the initiate animals lending the pattern life plants and flowers giving it a kind of linear fragrance and joyful tone and through the complex whole an artistic logic rain a contrapuntal harmony of lines more intricate than Palestrina's madrigals more graceful than Godiva's hair some famous Persian rugs survived from this first half of the 16th century one is a medallion rug with 30 million knots in wool on a silk warp 382 the square inch it lay for centuries in a mosque at ardha Beall and is now divided between the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the County Museum in Los Angeles in a cartouche at one end is a verse from Hafiz and beneath this the proud words the work of the slave Maqsood of Kishan in the year 946 after the Hegira that is 1539 also in the Los Angeles Museum is the immense coronation carpet used to the crowning of Edward the seventh in 1901 the pull deep atole Museum at Milan before the Second World War shattered the building counted among its greatest treasures a hunting rug by guillotine giammy of yazd the bazaar of rug design the Duke of annulled rug in the Duveen collection one international renowned for its gold yellow ground and seductive arabesques in crimson rose and turquoise blue the rug in the book are among the unchallengeable titles of Safavid Persia to a high place in the remembrance of mankind 3 Suleiman and the West Suleiman succeeded his father Salim the first in 15-20 at the age of 26 he had won a name for himself by his courage in war his generosity and friendship and his efficient administration of Turkish provinces his refined features and gracious manners made him welcome in a constantinople tired of Selim the Grimm an Italian who saw Suleiman soon after his accession described him as tall wiry and strong the neck too long the nose too curved beard and moustache thin complexion sallow and delicate countenance grave and calm he looked more like a student than a sultan eight years later another Italian reported him as deadly pale melancholy much addicted to women liberal proud hasty and yet sometimes very gentle he's landed booze Beck ambassador of the hapsburgs at the port wrote almost fondly of the Hapsburgs most persistent enemy he has always had the character of being a careful and temperate man even in his early days when according to the Turkish rule sin would have been B neo his life was blameless for not even in youth to the indulge in wine or commit those unnatural crimes which are common among the Turks nor could those who were disposed to put the most unfavorable construction on his axe bring anything worse against him than his excessive devotion to his wife it is a well-known fact that from the time he made her his lawful wife he has been perfectly faithful to her although there was nothing in the laws to prevent his having mistresses as well it is a picture worth noting but too flattering Suleiman was doubtless the greatest and noblest of the Ottoman Sultans and equalled any ruler of his time and ability wisdom and character but we shall find him now and then guilty of cruelty jealousy and revenge let us however as an experiment in perspective trying to view dispassionately his conflict with Christendom the military debate between Christianity and Islam was already 900 years old it began when Muslim Arabs snatched Syria from the Byzantine Empire in 634 it proceeded through the year by year conquest of that Empire by the Saracens and the conquest of Spain by the Moors christened them retaliated in the crusades in which both sides covered with religious phrases and ardor their economic aims and political crimes Islam retaliated by taking Constantinople and the Balkans Spain expelled the Moors Pope after Pope called for fresh Crusades against the Turks Selim the first vowed to build a mosque in Rome Francis the first proposed to the Western powers in 1516 that they should utter ly destroy the Turkish state and divide its possessions among themselves as infidel spoils this plan was frustrated by the division of Germany in religious war the revolt of the Spanish communes against charles v and the second thought of francis himself to seek Suleiman's aid against charles Suleiman may have been saved by Luther as Lutheranism owed so much to Suleiman every government strives to extend its borders partly to enlarge its resources and revenues partly to create additional protective terrain between its frontiers and its capital Suleiman supposed that the best defense was offense in 1521 he captured the Hungarian strongholds of sabots in Belgrade then feeling safe in the West he turned his forces against Rhodes there the Christians under the Knights of st. John held the heavily fortified Citadel directly a thought the roots from Constantinople to Alexandria and Syria it seemed to Suleiman a dangerous alien Bastion in an otherwise Turkish sea and in fact the pirate ships of the Knights preyed upon commerce in one end of the Mediterranean as the pirates of Algeria preyed upon Christian commerce in the other when Muslims were taken in these nightly raids they were usually slain vessels carrying pilgrims to Mecca were intercepted on suspicion of hostile purposes under all the circumstances says a Christian historian Suleiman was in no need of justification for an assault on Rhodes and the distinguished English historian adds it was in the interest of public order that the island should be annexed to the Turkish realm Suleiman attacked with 300 ships and 200,000 men the defenders led by the agent Grandmaster Philippe de ba Delilah Don fought the besiegers for 145 days and finally surrendered under honorable terms the Knights in their soldiery were to leave the island in safety but within 10 days the remaining population were to have full religious freedom and were to be exempt from tribute for five years on Christmas Day Suleiman asked to see the Grandmaster he condoled with him praised his brave defence and gave him valuable presents and to the vizier Ibrahim the Sultan remarked that it caused him great sorrow to be obliged to force this Christian in his old age to abandon his home in his belongings on January 1st 1523 the Knights sailed off to Crete whence eight years later they passed to a more permanent in Malta the Sultan tarnished his victory by putting to death the son and grandchildren of Prince Jim because they had become Christians and might be used as Jem had been as claimants to the Ottoman throne early in 1525 Suleiman received a letter from Francis the first then a captive of Charles the fifth asking him to attack Hungary and come to the rescue of the French King the Sultan answered our horses saddled our sword is Girton however he had long ago made up his mind to invade Hungary he set out in April 15 26 with a hundred thousand men and three hundred cannon Pope Clement the seventh urged Christian rulers to go to the aid of the threatened State Luther advised the Protestant Prince's to stay home for the Turks were obviously a divine visitation and to resist them would be to resist God Charles the fifth remained in Spain a consequent route of the Hungarians at the mohawks was immoral as well as a physical defeat for Christendom Hungary might have recovered from the disaster if Catholics and Protestants Emperor and Pope had labored together but Lutheran leaders rejoiced in the Turkish victory in the army of the Emperor sacked Rome in 1529 Suleiman returned and besieged Vienna with 200,000 men from the spire of st. Stephen's count Nicholas von Sol to whom Ferdinand entrusted the defence could see the surrounding Plains and Hills darkened with the tents soldiery and armament of the Ottomans this time Luther summoned his adherents to join in the resistance for clearly if the n-f-l Germany would be the next object of Turkish attack reports ran through Europe that Suleiman had vowed to reduce all Europe to the one true faith Islam Turkish sappers dug tunnel after tunnel in the hope of blowing up the walls or setting up explosions within the city but the defenders placed vessels of water at danger points and watched from movements that would indicate subterranean operations winter came at the Sultan's long line of communications failed to maintain supplies on October 14th he called for a final and decisive effort and promised great rewards spirit and flesh were both unwilling the attack was repulsed with great loss and Suleiman sadly ordered a retreat it was his first defeat yet he retained half of Guri and carried back to constantinople the royal crown of Saint Stephen he explained to his people that he returned without victory because Ferdinand would set the siege out safely in Prague and refused to fight and he promised that he would soon hunt out Charles himself who dared to call himself Emperor and would wrest from him the lordship of the West the West took him seriously enough Rome fell into a panic clement the seventh for once resolute taxed even the cardinals to raise funds to fortify Ancona and other ports through which the ottomans might enter Italy in April 1530 - Suleiman marched westward once more his departure from his capital was a well staged spectacle 120 cannon led the advance 8,000 Janissaries followed the best soldiers in the realm a thousand camels carried provisions 2,000 elite horsemen guarded the holy standard the Eagle of the Prophet thousands of Christian captive boys dressed in cloth of gold and plumed red hats flaunted lances with innocent bravery the Sultan's own retinue were men of giant stature and handsome mean among them on a chestnut horse rode Suleiman himself robed in crimson velvet embroidered with gold under a white turban inset with precious stones and behind him marched an army that in its final mustering numbered two hundred thousand men who could resist such splendor and power only the elements and space to meet this Avalanche Charles after much pleading received from the Imperial diet a grant to raise 40 thousand fort and eight thousand horse he and Ferdinand provided 30 thousand additional men at their own expense and with these 78,000 gathered in Vienna they awaited siege but the Sultan was delayed at goontz it was a small town well fortified but garrisoned with only seven hundred troops for three weeks they fought back every Turkish attempt to break through the walls eleven times these were pierced 11 times the defenders blocked the opening with metal flesh and desperation at last Suleiman said the safe conduct and hostages to the commander Nikolas nourish its inviting into a conference he came and was received with honors by the Grand Vizier his courage in generalship were sorrowfully raised a sultan presented him with a robe of Honor guaranteed him against further attack and sent him back to his Citadel under a handsome escort of Turkish officers the invincible Avalanche defeated by 700 men passed on to Vienna but their - Suleiman missed his prey Charles would not come out to fight he would have been foolish to forfeit the advantage of his defenses for the gamble of the open field Suleiman reckoned that if he had failed to take the any held by 20,000 men with no Emperor or king in sight he would hardly do better against 78,000 inspired by a young monarch who had publicly announced that he would welcome death in this contest as the noblest worldly end to which a Christian could aspire the Sultan turned away ravaged Styria and Lower Austria and took stray captives to grace his retreat it could have been no comfort to him to hear that while he was marching uselessly back and forth across Hungary Andrea Doria had chased the Turkish fleet into hiding and had captured Patras and qhorin on the peloponnesian coast when Ferdinand sent an emissary to Constantinople to seek peace Suleiman welcomed him he would grant peace not for seven years not for 25 years not for a hundred years but for two centuries three centuries indeed for ever if Ferdinand himself would not break it and he would treat Ferdinand as a son however he asked a heavy price Ferdinand must send him the keys to the city of growl in token of submission and homage Ferdinand and Charles were so eager to free their arms against Christians that they were ready to make concessions to the Turks Ferdinand sent the keys called himself Suleiman's son and acknowledged Suleiman's sovereignty over most of Hungary this On June 22nd 1533 no peace was made with Charles Suleiman recaptured Patras and Corrin and dreamed of straddling Vienna and Tabriz he took Tabriz and turned west again in 1536 putting theology aside he agreed to cooperate with Francis the first in another campaign against Charles he offered the most amiable terms to the king peace should be made with Charles only on his surrendering Genoa Milan and Flanders to France French merchants were permitted to sale buy and sell throughout the Ottoman Empire on equal terms with the Turks French consuls in that realm were to have civil and criminal jurisdiction over all Frenchmen there and these were to enjoy full religious liberty the capitulations so signed became a model for later treatise of Christian powers with eastern states Charles countered by forming an alliance of the Empire Venice and the papacy Ferdinand joined in so short was forever Venice bore the brunt of the Turkish attack lost her possessions in the Aegean and on the Dalmatian coast and signed a separate peace in 1540 a year later Suleiman's puppet in Buda died and the Sultan made Hungary an ottoman province Ferdinand sent an envoy to Turkey to ask for peace and another to Persia urging the Shah to attack the Turks Suleiman marched west in 1543 took brow and cool of Eisenberg and incorporated more of Hungary into the Pechaluk of Buda in 1547 busy with Persia he granted the West a five-year armistice both sides violated it Pope Paul the fourth appealed to the Turks to attack philip ii who was more people than the Pope's the depth of Francis and Charles left Ferdinand a freer hand to come to terms in the Peace of Prague of 1562 he acknowledged süleyman's rule in Hungary and Moldavia pledged a yearly tribute of thirty thousand ducats and agreed to pay ninety thousand ducats as arrears two years later he followed his brother Suleiman had survived all his major enemies and how many Pope's had he not outlived he was master of Egypt North Africa Asia Minor Palestine Syria the Balkans Hungary the Turkish Navy ruled the Mediterranean the Turkish army had proved its prowess east and west the Turkish government had shown itself as competent in statesmanship and diplomacy as all its rivals the Christians had lost Rhodes the Aegean Hungary and had signed a humiliating peace the ottomans were now the strongest power in europe and africa if not in the world for ottoman civilization one government were they civilized of course that the Turks were barbarians as compared with the Christians is a self propping delusion their agricultural methods and science were at least as good as those of the West the land was tilled by tenants of feudal chieftains who in each generation had to earn their holdings by serving the Sultan satisfactorily in administration and war except in textiles ceramics and perhaps in arms and armor industry had not yet developed a factory system as in Florence or Flanders but Turkish craftsmen were famous for their excellent products and the absence of capitalism was not mourned by rich or poor the merchants had not reached in 16th century Islam the political influence or social position and accorded to them in Western Europe trade between Turkey and Turk was noted for its relative honesty but between Turk and Christian no holds were barred foreign commerce was mostly left to foreigners Muslim caravans moved patiently over the ancient and medieval land routes into Asia and Africa even across the Sahara and caravanserai zhh many of them set up by Suleiman offered the merchants and travelers places on the way Muslim vessels till 1500 controlled the sea routes from Constantinople and Alexandria through the Red Sea to India and the East Indies where exchange was made with goods borne by Chinese junks after the opening of India to Portuguese merchants by the voyage of de Gama and the naval victories of Albuquerque the Moslems lost control of the Indian Ocean and Egypt Syria Persia and Venice entered into a common commercial decline the Turk was a man of the earth and the sea and gave less thought to religion than most other muhammadans yet he too reverenced mystics dervishes and Saints took his law from the Quran and his education from the mosque like the Jews he shunned graven images in his worship and looked upon Christians as polytheistic idolaters church and state were one the Quran and the traditions were the basic law and the same ulama or Association of scholars that expounded the holy book also provided the teachers lawyers judges and jurists of the realm it was such scholars who under mohammed ii and suleiman the first compiled the definitive Ottoman codes of law at the head of the ulama was the mufti or Shaykh Islam the highest judge in the land after the Sultan and the Grand Vizier as Sultan's had to die while the Willam I enjoy the collective permanence these theologian lawyers were the rulers of everyday life in Islam because they interpreted the present in terms of past law their influence was strongly conservative and shared in the stagnation of Muslim civilization after süleyman's death fatalism the Turkish kismet or lot furthered this conservatism once the fate of every soul had been predetermined by Allah rebellion against one's lot was impiety and shallowness all things death in particular were in the hands of Allah and must be accepted without complaint occasionally a free thinker spoke too frankly and in rare instances was condemned to death usually however the ulama allowed much Liberty of thought there was no Inquisition in Turkish Islam Christians and Jews received a large measure of religious freedom under the Ottomans and were permitted to rule themselves by their own laws and matters not involving a muslim mohammed ii deliberately fostered the greek orthodox church because the mutual distrust of greek and roman catholics served the turks encountering crusades though the christians prospered under the Sultan's they suffered serious disabilities technically they were slaves but they could end that status by accepting Mohammedanism and millions did those who rejected Islam were excluded from the army for Muslim wars were ostensibly holy wars for the conversion of infidels such Christians were subject to a special tax in lieu of military service they were usually tenant farmers paying 1/10 of their produce to the owner of their land and they had to surrender one infant out of every ten to be brought up as a Muslim in the service of the Sultan the Sultan the army and the ulama were the state at the Sultan's call each feudal chieftain came with his levy to form the C pious or cavalry which under Suleiman reached the remarkable figure of a hundred and thirty thousand men Ferdinand's ambassador envied the splendour of their equipment clothing of brocade or silk in scarlet bright yellow or dark blue harness gleaming with gold silver and jewelry on the finest horses that booze Beck had ever seen an elite infantry was formed from captain or tributary Christian children who were brought up to serve the Sultan in his palace in administration and above all in the army where they were called yeni chary new soldiers which the West corrupted into Janissaries Murad the first that originated this unique Corps circa thirteen sixty perhaps as a way of freeing his Christian population from potentially dangerous youth they were not numerous some 20,000 under Suleiman they were highly trained in all the skills of war they were forbidden to marry or engage in economic activities they were indoctrinated with martial pride and ardor and the faith and they were as brave in war as they were restlessly discontent in peace behind these superlative soldiers came a militia of some 100,000 men kept in order and spirit by the ISA posses and the Janissaries the favorite weapons were still the bow and arrow and the lands firearms were just coming into use and at close quarters men wielded the mace and the short sword Suleiman's army and military science were the best in the world at that time no other army equal did in handling artillery in sapping and military engineering in discipline and morale in care for the health of the troops in the provisioning of great numbers of men through great distances however the means were too excellent merely to serve an end the army became an end in itself to be kept in condition and restraint it had to have Wars and after suleiman the army above all the Janissaries became the masters of the Sultan's the conscripted and converted sense of Christians formed most of the administrative staff of the central Turkish government we should have expected that a Muslim Sultan would fear to be surrounded by men who might like skander beg yearn for the faith of their fathers on the contrary Suleiman preferred these converts because they could be trained from childhood for specific functions of administration very likely the bureaucracy of the Ottoman state was the most efficient in existence in the first half of the 16th century though it was notoriously subject to bribery the Diwan or divan like the cabinet in a Western government brought together the heads of administration usually under the presidency of the Grand Vizier it had advisory rather than legislative powers but ordinarily its recommendations were made law by a kanoon or decree of the Sultan the judiciary was meant by Cadiz or judges and mullahs were superior judges from the ulama a French observer remarked the diligence of the courts in the promptness of trials and verdicts and a great English historian believed that under the early Ottoman rulers the administration of justice was better in Turkey than in any European land the subjects of the Sultan's were more orderly than most Christian communities and crimes were rarer the streets of Constantinople were policed by Janissaries and were probably freer from murders than any other capital in Europe the regions that fell under Muslim rule roads Greece and the Balkans preferred it to their former condition under the Knights or the Byzantines or the Venetians and even Hungary thought it fared better under Suleiman than under the Hapsburgs most of the administrative offices of the central government were located in thus arrived or Imperial quarters not a palace but a congeries of buildings gardens in courts housing the Sultan is Sir Ali Oh his servants his aides and 80,000 of the bureaucracy to this enclosure three miles in circuit admission was by a single gate highly ornamented and called by the French the Selim fort a term which by a whimsy of speech came to mean the Ottoman government itself second only to the Sultan in this centralized organization was the Grand Vizier the word came from the Arabic was ear bearer of burdens he bore many for he was head of the Diwan the bureaucracy the judiciary the army and the diplomatic corps he supervised Foreign Relations made the major appointments and played the most ceremonious roles in the most ceremonious of European governments the heaviest obligation was to please the Sultan in all these matters for the Vizier was usually an ex Christian technically a slave and could be executed without trial at a word from his master Suleiman proved his own good judgment by choosing Beziers who contributed a great deal to his success Ibrahim Pasha that is Abraham the governor was a Greek who had been captured by Corsairs and brought to Suleiman as a promising slave the Sultan found him so diverse sleek competent that he entrusted him with more and more power paid him sixty thousand ducats or about a million and a half dollars a year gave him a sister in marriage regularly ate with him and enjoyed his conversation musical accomplishments and knowledge of languages literature in the world in the flowery fashion of the East Suleiman announced that all that Ibrahim Pasha says is to be regarded as proceeding from my own pearl reining mouth this was one of the great friendships of history almost in the tradition of classic Greece one wisdom Ibrahim lacked to conceal with external modesty as internal pride he had many reasons to be proud it was he who raised the Turkish government to its highest efficiency he whose diplomacy divided the West by arranging the alliance with France he who was lemon marched into Hungary pacified Asia Minor Syria and Egypt by reforming abuses and dealing justly and affably with all but he had also reason to be circumspect he was still a slave and the higher he raised his head the thinner grew the thread that held the royal sword above it he angered the army by forbidding it to sack Tabriz and Baghdad and trying to prevent its sack of Buda in that village he rescued part of Matthias Corvinus his library and three bronze statues of Hermes Apollo and Artemis these he set up before his palace in Constantinople and even his liberal master was disturbed by this flouting of the Semitic commandment against graven images gossip charged him with despising the Quran sometimes he gave entertainments surpassing those of Suleiman in Causton magnificence members of the Diwan accused him of talking as if he led the Sultan like attained lion on a leash rock solana favorite of the harem resented Ibrahim as influence and day by day with feminine persistence filled the Imperial ear with suspicions and complaints the Sultan was finally convinced on March 31st 1536 Ibrahim was found strangled in bed presumably as the result of a royal command it was a deed whose barbarism matched the burning of Servetus or burqa far more barbarous was the law of Imperial fratricide mohammed ii had phrased it frankly in his of laws the majority of the lis just said declared that those of my illustrious children who shall ascend the throne shall have the right to execute their brothers in order to ensure the peace of the world they are to act accordingly that is the Conqueror calmly condemned to death all but the eldest born of his royal progeny it was another discredit to the Ottoman system that the property of a person condemned to death reverted to the Sultan who was therefore under perpetual provocation to improve his finances by closing his mind to an appeal we should add that Suleiman resisted this temptation as against such vices of autocracy we may acknowledge in the Ottoman government and in direct democracy the road to every dignity but the Sultanate was open to all Muslims even to all converted Christians however the success of the early Sultan's might have argued for the aristocratic heredity of ability for nowhere else in contemporary government was so high an average of ability so long maintained as on the Turkish throne to morals the diversity of Ottoman from Christian ways flagrantly illustrated the geographical and temporal variation of moral codes polygamy who reigned quietly where Byzantine Christianity had so recently exacted formal monogamy women hid themselves in sir Ali O's or behind veils where once they had mounted the throne of the Caesars and Suleiman attended dutifully to the needs of his harem with none of the qualms of conscience that might have disturbed or enhanced the sexual escapades of Francis the first Charles v Henry the eighth or Alexander the sixth Turkish civilization like that of ancient Greece kept women in the background and allowed considerable freedom to sexual deviations Ottoman homosexuality flourished where Greek friendship had once won battles and inspired philosophers the Turks were allowed by the Quran for wives and some concubines but only a minority could afford the extravagance the warring ottomans often far removed from their wanted women took as wives or concubines current 8l amo the widows or daughters of the Christians they had conquered no racial prejudice intervened Greek Serbian Bulgarian Albay in Hungarian German Italian Russian Mongol Persian Arab women were welcomed with open arms and became the mothers of children who were all alike accepted as legitimate and ottoman adultery was hardly necessary under the circumstances and when it occurred it was severely punished the woman was obliged to buy an ass and ride it through the city the man was flogged with a hundred strokes and was required to kiss and reward the executioner who doubt them a husband could secure a divorce by mere declaration of intent but a wife could free herself only by complex and deterrent litigation Suleiman remained a bachelor till his fortieth year since the wife of budges at the first had been captured and allegedly abused by Timur and his tatars the Ottoman Sultans to forestall another such indignity had made it a rule not to marry and to admit none but slaves to their bed Suleiman surah leo contained some 300 concubines all bought in the market are captured in war and nearly all of Christian origin when they expected a visit from the Sultan they attired themselves in their finest robes and stood in line to greet him he saluted courteously as many as time allowed and placed his handkerchief on the shoulder of one who especially pleased him that evening on retiring he asked that the recipient should return his handkerchief the next morning she would be presented with a dress of cloth of gold and her allowance would be increased the Sultan might remain in the harem two or three nights spreading his bounty then he returned to his own palace to live day and night with men women rarely appeared in the palace and took no part in state dinners or ceremonies nevertheless it was considered a great honor to be assigned to the sir Ali Oh any inmate of it who reached the age of 25 without earning a handkerchief was freed and usually found a husband of high estate in Suleiman's case the institution did not lead to physical degeneration for in most matters he was a man of signal moderation social life among the Ottomans was unisexual and black the gaze stimulus of women's charms and laughing chatter yet manners were as refined as in Christendom probably more refined than in any lands except China India Italy and France domestic slaves were numerous but they were humanely treated many laws protected them and manumission easy the public sanitation was poor personal cleanliness was common the institution of public baths which the Persians seem to have taken from Hellenistic Syria was transmitted to the Turks in Constantinople and other large cities of the Ottoman Empire the public baths were built of marble and attractively decorated some Christian saints had prided themselves on avoiding water the was required to make his ablutions before entering the mosque or saying his prayers in Islam cleanliness was really next to godliness table manners were no better than in Christendom meals were eaten with the fingers of wooden plates there were no Forks wine was never drunk in the house there was much drinking of it in taverns but there was less drunkenness than in western lands coffee came into use among the Muslims in the 14th century we hear of it first in Abyssinia thence it appears to have passed into Arabia the Muslims we are told used it originally to keep themselves awake during religious services we find no mention of it by a European writer till 1592 physically the Turk was tough and strong and famed for endurance booze Beck was astonished to note how some Turks received a hundred blows on the soles of their feet or on their ankles so that sometimes several sticks of dogwood are broken on them without drawing any cry of pain even the ordinary Turk carried himself with dignity helped by robes that concealed the absurdities of the well fed form commoners donned a simple fez which dressy persons enveloped in a turban both sexes had a passion for flowers Turkish gardens were famous for their color thence apparently came into Western Europe the lilac tulip mimosa cherry laurel and ranunculus there was an aesthetic side to the Turks which their Wars hardly revealed we are surprised to be told by Christian travelers that except in war they were not by nature cruel but docile tractable gentle loveable and generally kind Francis Bacon complained that they seemed kinder to animals than to men cruelty emerged when security of the faith was threatened then the wildest passion was let loose the Turkish code was especially hard in war no foe was entitled to quarter women and children were spared but able-bodied enemies even if unarmed and unresisted might be slaughtered without sin and yet many cities captured by Turks fared better than Turkish cities captured by Christians when Ibrahim Pasha took Tabriz in Baghdad in 1534 he forbade his soldiers to pillage them or harm the inhabitants when Suleiman again took Tabriz in 1548 he too preserved it from plunder or massacre but when Charles the fifth took Tunis in 1535 he could pay his army only by letting it loot Turkish law however rivaled the Christian in barbarous penalties thieves had a hand cut off to shorten their grasp official morals whereas in Christendom the Turks were proud of their fidelity to their word and they usually kept the terms of capitulation offered to surrendering foes but Turkish casuist s' like such Christian counterparts as st. John Capistrano held that no promise could bind the faithful against the interest or duties of their religion and that the Sultan might abrogate his own treaties as well as those of his predecessors Christian travelers reported honesty a sense of justice benevolence integrity and charity in the average Turk but practically all Turkish office holders were open to bribery a Christian historian adds that most Turkish officials were X Christians but we should further add that they had been brought up as Moslems in the provinces the Turkish pasha like the roman proconsul hastened to a massive fortune before the whim of the ruler replaced him the exact it from his subjects the full price that he had paid for his appointment the sale of officers was as common in Constantinople or Cairo as in Paris or Rome three letters and arts the weakest link in Ottoman civilization was its poor equipment for the acquisition and transmission of knowledge popular education was generally neglected a little knowledge is a dangerous thing instruction was mostly confined to students intending to study pedagogy law or administration in these fields the curriculum was lengthy and severe mohammed ii and suleiman took time to reorganize and improve the madrasahs and the Beziers rivaled the Sultan's and gifts to these mosque colleges teachers in these Institute enjoyed a higher social and financial status than their counterparts in Latin Christendom their lectures were formerly on the Quran but they managed to include literature mathematics and philosophy and their graduates though richer in theology than in science kept fully abreast of the West in engineering and government only a small minority of the population could read but nearly all of these wrote poetry not excepting Suleiman like the Japanese the Turks held public competitions in which poets read their offerings Suleiman took a courtly pleasure in presiding over such parnassia games the Turks honored a hundred poets in this age but our immersion in our own grandeur and idiom has left us unaware of even their greatest lyric poet Mahmoud Abdul his career spanned for reigns for though he was 40 when Suleiman died he had another 34 years of life in him he gave up his early trade as a sadler to live by his verse and would surely have suffered want had not Suleiman befriended him with sign occurs adding praise to Prophet the Sultan wrote a poem on the excellence of Bucky's poetry Bucky paid him back in a powerful dirge mourning Suleiman's death even in translation which loses dignity by seeking to preserve the multiple rhymes of the original something of the poems passion and splendour emerges Prince of fortunes Cavalier e2 whose charger bold when air he Caracol dorp ranched cramped was earth turn e square e to the luster of who soared the maggie about his head he the dread gleaming of whose brand the frank can well declare like tender rose leaf gently laid he in the dust his face and earth the treasurer placed him like a jewel in the case in truth he was the radiance of rank high and glory great a Shah Iskander died end of Doras armed state before the dust beneath his feet the sphere bent low its head earth shrine of adoration was his royal pavilions gate the smallest of his gifts the meanest beggar made a prince exceeding bounteous exceeding kind a potentate weary and worn by this sad changeful sphere Dean natal him gnorga to be did he his rank and glory abdicate what wonder if our eyes no more life in the world behold his beauty fair as sun and moon did earth irradiate now let the cloud blood drop on drop weep and its form bend low and let the Judas tree and you in blossoms Gore huge blow with his sad anguish let the Stars eyes rain down bitter tears and let the smoke from hearts on fire the heavens all darkened show the bird his soul hath humor like aloft flown to the skies and not remaineth save a few bones on the earth below eternal may the glory of the heaven Hyksos true dwell blessings beyond the monarchs soul and spirit and farewell the Turks were too busy conquering powerful states to have much time for those delicate arts that had heretofore distinguished Islam some fine Turkish miniatures were produced with characteristic simplicity of design and breadth of style representative painting was left to the scandalous Christians who in this age continued to adorn with frescoes the walls of their churches and monasteries so non well francilee knows perhaps borrowing some stimulus from Italian Renaissance murals frescoed the Church of protein on Mount Athos between 1535 and 1536 with paintings freer bolder and more graceful than those of Byzantine times the Sultan's imported artists from West and East genteel a Bellini from Venice Holly and Wally John miniaturist s-- from heretical Persia in painting tiles however the Ottomans needed no alien aid they used them to dazzling effect his Nick made a name with the excellence of its fianc Scutari bruza and Haraki all in Asia Minor specialized in textiles they're broke aids and Velvets adorned with floral themes in crimson and gold impressed and influenced Venetian and Flemish designers Turkish carpets like the poetic brilliance of the Persian but their stately patterns and warm colors evoke to admiration in Europe Colbert induced louis xiv to order french weavers to copy some turkish palace rugs but to no avail the Aslam McMaster II remained beyond the reach of Occidental skill Turkish art reached its peak in the mosques of Constantinople not even Mossad in it's crowded architectural splendor nor Isfahan in the days of Shah Abbas perhaps only Persepolis under Xerxes equaled in Persian or Muslim history the grandeur of Suleiman's capital here the spoils of ottoman victories were shared with Allah in monuments expressing at once piety and pride and the determination of the Sultan's to all their people with art as well as arms Suleiman rivaled his grandfather Muhammad the Conqueror in building seven mosques rose to his order and one of these from 1556 taking his name surpassed Saint Sophia in beauty even while imitating its assemblage of minor cue pillars around a central dome here however the minarets raising their treble prayer too audacious Heights served a sparkling counterpoint to the massive base the interior is a confusing wealth of decoration golden inscriptions on marble or fance columns of porphyry arches of white or black marble windows of stained glass set in tracer eid stone pulpit carved as if it were a lifetime's dedication this is perhaps too sumptuous for reverence too brilliant for prayer an Albanian Sinan designed this mosque in 70 more and lived we are told to the age of 110 v Suleiman himself it was the West that named Suleiman the Magnificent his own people called him kanuni the lawgiver because of his share in codifying Ottoman law he was magnificent not an appearance but in the size and equipment of his armies in the scope of his campaigns in the adornment of his city in the building of mosques palaces and the famous 40 arches aqueduct magnificent in the splendor of his surroundings and retinue magnificent of course in the power and reach of his rule his empire marched from Baghdad to within 90 miles of Vienna to within 120 miles of Venice the Adriatic quondam Queen except in Persia and Italy all the city celebrated in biblical and classical or were his Carthage Memphis Tyre Nineveh Babylon Palmyra Alexandria Jerusalem Smyrna Damascus Ephesus Nicaea Athens and to Thebes never had the Crescent held so many lands and seas in the hollow of its curve was the excellence of his rule commensurate with its extent probably not but we should have to say this of any spacious realm except to Keemun in Persia and Rome under the anton ion's the area governed was too vast to be well administered from one center before the coming of modern communications transport and roads laxity and corruption ran through the government yet Luther said it is reported that there is no better temporal rule than among the Turks in religious toleration Suleiman was bolder and more generous than his Christian compeers these thought religious conformity necessary to national strength Suleiman allowed Christians and Jews to practice their religion freely the Turks wrote Cardinal Pole do not compel others to adopt their belief he who does not attack their religion may profess among them what religion he will he is safe in November 15 61 while Scotland England and Lutheran Germany were making Catholicism a crime and Italy and Spain were making Protestantism a crime Suleiman ordered the release of a Christian prisoner not wishing to bring any man from his religion by force he made a safe home in his empire for Jews fleeing from the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal his defects appeared more clearly in his family relations than in his government all are agreed that despite Wars which he excused as defense by offense he was a man of refined and kindly sentiment generous humane and just his people not only admired him they loved him when on Friday he went to the mosque they observed complete silence while he passed he bowed to them all Christians and Jews and Mohammedans and then prayed for two hours in the temple we do not hear in his case of that addiction to the harem which was to undermine the health and power of some later Sultan's but we do find him so susceptible to the fashions of love as to forget prudence just to send even parental affection in the earlier years of his reign his favorite mistress was a Circassian slave known as the rose of spring marked by that dark and chiseled Beauty which for centuries has characterized the women of the regions around the eastern end of the Black Sea she bore him a son Mustafa who grew into a handsome able and popular youth Suleiman entrusted him with important offices and missions and trained him to merits as well as inherit the throne but in the course of love coram the laughing won a Russian captive whom the West called rocks Ilana won the Sultan away from the circassian and her beauty gaiety and wiles kept him in chanted until tragedy was consummated overriding the rule of his recent predecessors Suleiman made Kareem his wife in 1534 and he rejoiced in the sons and daughters that she gave him but as he aged in the prospect of Mustafa succession loomed Karem dreaded the fate of her sons who might legitimately be killed by the new Sultan she succeeded in marrying her daughter to roost M Pasha who in 1544 became Grand Vizier and through this wife roost M was brought to share cremes fear of Mustafa's coming power meanwhile Mustafa had been sent to govern dia Baqir and had distinguished himself by his valor attacked and generosity for M used his virtues to destroy him she insinuated to suleiman that Mustafa was courting popularity with a view to seizing the throne was them charged that the youth was secretly wooing the Janissaries to his cause the harassed Sultan now 59 doubted doubted wondered believed he went in person to era Glee summoned Mustafa to his 10th and had him killed as soon as he appeared this in 1553 karemma drew stem then found it simple to induce the sultan to have mustafa son slain lest the youth should seek revenge Grimm's son Saleem was made Prince and heir and she died content in 1558 but Salim's brother budges at seeing assassination as his fate raised an army to challenge Selim civil war raged barges ette defeated fled to Persia in 1559 Shaunta mosque for 300,000 ducats from Sulaiman and a hundred thousand from salim surrendered the contender budget set was strangled in 1561 and his five sons were put to death for social security the ailing Sultan we are told thanked Allah that all these troublesome offspring were departed and that he could now live in peace but he found peace boring he brooded over the news that the Knights whom he had out stood from roads were strong in Malta and were rivaling the Algerian pirates with their own rapacious sorties if Malta could be made used the 71 year old Sultan the Mediterranean would be safe for Islam in April 15 64 he sent a fleet of 150 ships with 20,000 men to seize the strategic Isle the Knights skillfully led by the resourceful at jean de la Villette fought with their wanted bravery the Turks captured the fort of San Telmo by sacrificing six thousand men but they took nothing else and the arrival of a Spanish army compelled them to raise the siege the old magnificent could not end his life on so sour a note maximilian ii ii had succeeded ferdinand his Emperor held back the tribute promised by his father and attacked turkish outposts in hungary suleiman decided on just one more campaign and resolved to lead it himself in 1566 through sofia Nisa and Belgrade he rode with 200,000 men on the night of September 5th to 6th 1566 while besieging the fortress of Zee Gabbar yielded his life upright in his tent like the station he was too proud to take death lying down on September 8th is he get far fell but the siege had cost the Turks 30,000 lives and summer was fading the truce was signed and the army marched disconsolately back to Constantinople bringing not victory but a dead Emperor must we judge and rank him compared with his analogues in the West he seems at times more civilized at times more barbarous of the four great rulers in this first half of the 16th century Frances despite his swashbuckling vanity and his hesitant persecutions strikes us as the most civilized yet he looked to Suleiman as his protector and Ally without whom he might have been destroyed Suleiman won his lifelong duel with the West indeed the emperor maximilian ii in 1568 resumed payment of tribute to the Port Charles v had stopped the Sultan at Vienna but what Christian army had dared approach Constantinople Suleiman was the master of the Mediterranean and for a time it seemed that rome remained Christian by his and Barbarossa's sufferance he ruled his empire indifferently well but how much more successfully than Port Charles struggling against the princely fragmentation of Germany he was a despot by unquestioned custom and the consent of his people did the absolutism of Henry the eighth in England or of Charles in Spain win such public affection and confidence Charles could hardly have been capable of ordering the execution of his son on mere suspicion of disloyalty but Charles in his old age could cry out for the blood of heretics and Henry could send wives and Catholics and Protestants to the block with a pyre without missing a meal Suleiman's religious tolerance limited though it was makes these executions look barbarous by comparison Suleiman fought too many Wars killed half his progeny and a creative Vizier slain without warning or trial he had the faults that go with unchecked power but beyond question he was the greatest and ableist ruler of his age
