Savcı Bey
Murad I blinding his son Savcı. Engraving from the German edition of "The present state of the Ottoman Empire" by Rycaut Paul (1694).
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Claimant)
Reign	1373
Opposing	Murad I
Died	1374 (1375)
Father	Murad I
Mother	Unknown

Savcı Bey (died in 1374) was a prince who, withAndronikos, rebelled against both of their fathers, the Ottoman SultanMurad I and the Byzantine EmperorJohn V Palaiologos, respectively, in the 1370s. Savcı was the youngest of Murad's three sons. The name of his mother and birth year are unknown. In Ottoman tradition, all princes (Turkish:şehzade) were required to serve as provincial (sanjak) governors as a part of their training. Savcı's sanjak wasBursa, the co-capital of the empire (along withEdirne).

When Ottoman Turks capturedEdirne (Adrianopolis), Byzantine emperorJohn V Palaiologos appealed to the West for help. Instead, he was detained as a debtor inVenice. Andronikos (laterAndronikos IV Palaiologos), his son and regent inConstantinople (modernIstanbul,Turkey), refused to pay the ransom for his father, and John had to give up the island Tenedos (modernBozcaada, Turkey) to buy his freedom. After that event, John assigned his younger son Manuel (laterManuel II Palaiologos) as his crown prince and accepted the suzerainty of Ottomans in 1373. Thus, when the Ottoman sultan asked for his services against some rebellions in Ottoman lands, he had to leave his capital. This absence gave Andronikos a chance to rebel.

On the Ottoman side, Savcı Bey, who was the youngest of three brothers, saw that under the shadow of his older brothers, he had almost no chance to be enthroned in the future and faced a probable death underthe traditional policy of fratricide in Ottoman succession. (This fear was not unreasonable; later when Murad I died older brotherBayezid I immediately killed the other brother Prince Yakup). He prepared to rebel to gain the post. While his father was occupied with suppressing the rebellions, Savcı saw his chance to revolt. Using the royal treasury under his disposal, he formed an army. The two rebellious princes, well aware of one another's interests, decided to collaborate and combined their forces.^[1][2]

After learning about their sons' joint rebellion, Murat and John returned from Anatolia. The armies of the fathers and the sons met inApikridion (an ambiguous location probably southwest of Constantinople), where Murat persuaded Savcı's soldiers to switch sides.^[3] Although the princes escaped toDidymoteicho (in modernGreece), they soon surrendered. After a short exchange, enraged Murat blinded Savcı. However, he changed his mind and had him executed. Although he asked John V to also blind his son, John was more merciful towards Andronikos and only blinded him in one eye. Andronikos went on to become the Byzantine emperor asAndronikos IV Palaiologos.^[4]

Savcı's son, Davud Murad, was fled toHungary. His name was mentioned in 1411 (during theOttoman Interregnum) as an unsuccessful candidate to Ottoman throne and much later as an ally ofJohn Hunyadi in his struggles against the Ottoman Empire.

• Purported coin minted with the title "Savcı bin Murad" (Savcı son of Murad)

• 14th-century people from the Ottoman Empire
• Ottoman princes
• 14th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire
• Executed Ottoman royalty
• Pretenders to the Ottoman throne
• Sons of sultans
• Rebel princes

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages where birth or death is being automatically determined
• Articles containing Turkish-language text
• Year of birth unknown
• Year of death unknown