The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II - Conqueror of Constantinople and Master of an Empire (31 page)

Jem’s forces made several probing attacks on the
kale
at Bursa, after which his emissaries were able to persuade some of the janissaries in the garrison to come over to their side, the traitors killing those who remained loyal to Beyazit. The people of Bursa then opened the city gates to Jem. Most of Bursa’s populace were sympathetic to the rebellion, having also been influenced by a popular astrologer who had predicted that Jem would be the next sultan. Many hoped that under Jem the city might regain its former status as capital of the Ottoman Empire. They believed that with their city as his base Jem could go on to conquer the rest of the empire, or at least force his brother to divide it between them, with Bursa as capital of the Anatolian part of the realm.

On 2 June 1481, a month after his father’s death, Jem had silver coins in his own name minted at Bursa, and at the next Friday noon prayer imams in all the mosques of the city praised him as sultan in their
hutbe
, or sermon. These two symbolic acts meant that Jem was the acknowledged ruler of the Ottoman state, if only in the tiny part of it that his troops controlled.

Beyazit had by then crossed the Bosphorus to Üsküdar with the troops of the Istanbul garrison. He sent Ayas Pasha ahead with an advance force of 2,000 janissaries to reinforce the garrison at Bursa. But when Ayas arrived at Bursa he found it already in the possession of the rebels, and after a brief battle he was forced to surrender to Jem. When Beyazit learned that Jem had taken Bursa he sent reinforcements to Ayas under his son Prince Abdullah, provincial governor at Manisa. Abdullah reached Bursa only to find that Ayas had already surrendered, so he had to withdraw his forces. Thus a stand-off ensued, and Beyazit was compelled to wait at Üsküdar for the arrival of Gedik Ahmet and his army from Albania.

Jem chose this moment to send a deputation to negotiate with Beyazit, the principal envoy being his great-aunt Selçuk Hatun, a daughter of Mehmet I, who was accompanied by several members of the
ulema
from Bursa. He proposed that he and his brother divide the empire, with Beyazit ruling the European provinces from Istanbul and Jem reigning over Anatolia from Bursa. But Beyazit rejected the proposal, quoting the old Muslim saying ‘There are no ties of kinship between princes’, and continued to marshal all the loyal troops in the empire to attack Jem in Bursa. He also sent a secret agent to contact Jem’s chamberlain, Astinoğlu Yakup Bey, whom Beyazit had corrupted with an enormous bribe and the promise of being made
beylerbey
of Anatolia. The agent instructed Yakup to come over to Beyazit’s side with his troops when an opportunity presented itself, and the chamberlain readily agreed.

As soon as Beyazit received news that Gedik Ahmet and his army from Abania were approaching Istanbul he marched his own troops to Iznik, the Greek Nicaea, thirty miles north-east of Bursa. There he was joined by Prince Abdullah, and together they continued on to Yenişehir, ten miles to the south of Iznik, where they would rendezvous with Gedik Ahmet’s army of over 16,000 men. This would bring Beyazit’s force to about 40,000 - double the size of Jem’s - and these were all troops of the regular army, including the seasoned veterans under Gedik Ahmet, the most capable commander in the Ottoman service. The rebels were for the most part irregulars and Karamanian volunteers, whose commanders included men such as Jem’s tutor Nasuh Bey, who had little or no military experience.

Jem met with his commanders to decide upon a plan of action. Most of his officers advised him to hold out in the
kale
of Bursa and not to face the superior forces of Beyazit. But Fenerlioğlu Hasan Çelebi strongly recommended that they take their chances against the imperial army, since they did not have the arms and supplies to withstand a prolonged siege. His view was supported by Astinoğlu Yakup Bey, who knew that a battle in open country would give him the opportunity to switch sides at the right moment. Their advice suited Jem’s natural impetuosity, leading him to decide that he would rather fight than be besieged, and so he led his army out of Bursa to do battle with his brother.

Jem led the main body of his army towards Yenişehir, sending a detachment of janissaries under Nasuh Bey to hold a pass near Iznik. Sinan Pasha, the
beylerbey
of Anatolia, was sent by Beyazit to attack Nasuh Bey, whom he quickly drove from the pass. He then marched in to the plain of Yenişehir, where Beyazit’s other forces had now converged, including the army from Albania under Gedik Ahmet. Jem’s commander, Uzguroğlu Mehmet, led the rebel forces out onto the plain to confront Beyazit’s forces early in the morning of 22 June 1481. Jem led the first cavalry charge himself, shouting ‘Victory or Death!’.

At the outset of the battle Astinoğlu Yakup Bey rode off with his troops on the pretext of making a flanking attack on the imperial army, but as soon as he was out in the open he switched to the side of Beyazit, who was waiting to welcome him. This quickly turned the tide of battle against the rebels, and by noon Jem’s forces had been routed and were in headlong retreat. As the chronicler Nesri wrote of the battle of Yenişehir: ‘The Karaman crows scattered like young from the nest when they saw the eagles of Beyazit.’ Jem, who was slightly wounded in the battle, fled for his life along with his family and a group of loyal followers. His reign as sultan in Bursa had ended abruptly after only twenty days.

Jem and his companions managed to make their way to Konya, after having been attacked along the way by Türkmen tribesmen who robbed them of all their possessions. They remained in Konya for only three days, leaving when they learned that Beyazit and his army were heading their way.

Jem decided their only chance was to head for south-eastern Anatolia beyond the Taurus Mountains, where they would be in Mamluk territory. Their route took them across the bleakest part of the Anatolian plateau, and as they rode along they were again attacked by Türkmen tribesmen, whom they had to bribe in order to continue on their way. After stopping briefly at Ereğli they left the Anatolian plateau and passed through the Taurus Mountains via the Cilician Gates - the same route that Alexander the Great had taken in 334 BC - descending to the Mediterranean coast at Tarsus, where they entered Mamluk territory. They then made their way by easy stages to Egypt, and on 30 September they arrived in Cairo, where Jem and his companions were given refuge by Sultan Kaitbey.

Meanwhile, Beyazit had led his army eastward to Konya, where he arrived four days after Jem’s departure. Beyazit remained in Konya and ordered Gedik Ahmet Pasha to continue in pursuit of Jem. The pasha led the imperial army south-eastward as far as Ereğli, where he gave up the chase, for to continue further would have taken him into Mamluk territory. He then took the army back to Konya and reported his failure to Beyazit, who felt that Gedik Ahmet could have caught Jem had he moved more swiftly, which added to the deep resentment he felt towards the pasha.

There was nothing more that Beyazit could do for the time being. He appointed Prince Abdullah as provincial governor of Karaman, and having ordered Gedik Ahmet to follow him he started back towards Istanbul. As the imperial army proceeded westward the Türkmen tribesmen along the way petitioned Beyazit to absolve them of their taxes, saying that they should be rewarded for having attacked Jem and his followers on their flight after the Battle of Yenişehir. Beyazit would not commit himself and told them to present their case before the Divan in Istanbul. When they did so subsequently, Beyazit had the Türkmen chieftains executed for having interfered in royal affairs.

When Beyazit reached Bursa the janissaries in his bodyguard demanded that they be permitted to sack the city and punish those who had supported Jem. Beyazit restrained them with bribes, but nevertheless they put to the sword a number of dervishes who had been supporters of Jem, as well as killing those janissaries who had gone over to the rebels.

Beyazit then returned to Istanbul, and eight days later Gedik Ahmet Pasha and his army reached the capital. As soon as the pasha arrived he was summoned to Topkapı Sarayı, where Beyazit had him arrested and imprisoned without explanation. Beyazit probably knew that Gedik Ahmet favoured Jem, and he also felt that the pasha had deliberately dallied in pursuing his brother, allowing him to escape. Beyazit had long hated Gedik Ahmet for having maligned him to his father Mehmet, and he had been waiting for the chance to take his revenge.

When news of Gedik Ahmet’s arrest spread the next morning the janissaries stormed the palace and threatened Beyazit, demanding that he release the pasha, who was a great favourite of theirs. The old general, who was of Serbian origin, had been taken up in the
devşirme
as a youth and enrolled in the janissaries during the reign of Murat II. He had risen to the rank of vezir under Mehmet II, for whom he had commanded the Ottoman army in a number of victorious campaigns, including the capture of Otranto. He was a heavy drinker but never let this dull his ability as a commander, and he was highly respected by his men, beloved for his generosity and fairness. The troops saw his arrest as another example of Beyazit’s disregard for them as common soldiers and his preference for those of the
ulema
, and they were outraged. The violence of their reaction alarmed Beyazit, who was still deeply worried that Jem might gain the support of the military. And so Gedik Ahmet was released from prison, reappointed as vezir and restored as commander-in-chief of the army.

Beyazit had another reason for reinstating Gedik Ahmet, for he was now faced with a serious uprising by the Karamanid Türkmen under Kasım Bey, who had succeeded as emir on the death of his brother Pir Ahmet in 1475. Kasım Bey had attacked an Ottoman force under Ali Pasha, the military governor in Konya. Beyazit sent Gedik Ahmet with an army to aid Ali Pasha and put down the Türkmen revolt in Karaman. Kasım Bey attacked Ali Pasha’s forces again near Mut, but on the approach of Gedik Ahmet’s army he retreated across the Taurus Mountains to Tarsus. Gedik Ahmet then set up his winter camp near the town of Larende (Karaman), south of Konya, which he used as his headquarters to quell the revolt in central Anatolia and keep an eye on Kasım Bey.

Meanwhile, news of the death of Sultan Mehmet had reached western Europe. The first foreign ambassador in Istanbul to learn of Mehmet’s death was Niccolo Cocco, the Venetian
bailo
. Cocco immediately wrote to Doge Giovanni Mocenigo, sending the letter off with the captain of a Venetian galley, which reached Venice on 29 May 1488, twenty-five years to the day after the fall of Constantinople.

When the captain arrived at the Palazzo Ducale he was told that the doge was in conference with the Signoria, but without waiting he burst into the council chamber and cried out: ‘
La Grande Aquila è morta!
(“The Great Eagle is dead!”)’. After the doge read Cocco’s letter he gave orders to ring the
marangona
, the great bell in the campanile of San Marco that counted off the Venetian hours and was tolled on special occasions, usually to mark the death of a doge, the appearance of enemy forces or a victory for the republic. The news quickly spread through the city, and soon all the other church bells of the city were tolling along with the
marangona
, as the entire population of Venice celebrated the death of the man they knew as the Grande Turco.

The doge sent a courier to Rome to inform Pope Sixtus, who had cannons fired from Castel Sant’Angelo, the great fortress on the Tiber near the basilica of St Peter and the Vatican. All the church bells of the city were rung to alert the populace, after which the Pope, followed by the College of Cardinals and all the ambassadors, led a procession from St Peter’s to the church of Santa Maria del Popolo. As night fell Rome was illuminated by a tremendous display of fireworks; bonfires were lit and services of thanksgiving were held in churches throughout the city, beginning a celebration that lasted for three days. The scenes of jubilation in Venice and Rome were repeated throughout western Europe as word spread of Mehmet’s death and the deliverance of Christendom. As the Venetian chronicler Marino Sanudo wrote two centuries later, reflecting on the passing of the Grand Turk: ‘It is fortunate for Christendom and Italy that death stopped that fierce and indomitable barbarian.’

Nowhere was the news of Mehmet’s death received with more joy than on Rhodes, which was in ruins from the recent Turkish siege, its surviving populace grieving for those who had been killed, many of the knights still nursing their wounds, including the Grand Master Pierre d’Aubusson. On 31 May 1481 the vice chancellor of the Hospitallers, Guillaume Caoursin, addressed an assembly of the surviving knights convoked by the Grand Master, delivering an oration entitled ‘
De morte Magni Turci
’. His opening words were an expression of fierce joy at the passing of Sultan Mehmet, whose terrible crimes against Christendom led Caoursin to refer to him as ‘this second Lucifer…this second Antichrist’.

If a pen could describe the pleasure in my heart, and speech explain the happiness in my soul, today has certainly provided the occasion…, for lo! not without God’s love and the divine judgment, to which all things are subject, the festering wound of Christendom has been healed, the consuming fire put out…, and we behold the dispatch of the fiercest enemy of orthodoxy. Satan, whose minion he was, has rejoiced at the coming of his lost companion, and the denizens of hell have greeted his advent with great applause - if we can conceive of any joy among them. The grim abode of eternal confusion is the just due of the unspeakable tyrant who has destroyed the souls of so many children whom he compelled to abjure their faith, and thus blinded they have descended into hell. (He had caused virgins and matrons to be defiled, slaughtered young men and old, profaned sacred relics, polluted churches and monasteries, destroyed, oppressed and seized kingdoms, principalities and cities, including Constantinople, which he took for himself and made the scene of unbelievable crimes.)