Bayezid I (Ottoman Turkish:بايزيد اول;Turkish:I. Bayezid), also known asBayezid the Thunderbolt (Ottoman Turkish:یلدیرم بايزيد; Turkish:Yıldırım Bayezid;c. 1360 – 8 March 1403),[2] was thesultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title ofSultan-i Rûm,Rûm being the Arabic name for theEastern Roman Empire.[3] In 1394, Bayezid unsuccessfullybesieged Constantinople. Bayezid vanquished all the Beyliks and proceeded to conquer and vassalize the entirety of Anatolia. In 1402, he once more besieged Constantinople, appearing to find success, but he ultimately withdrew due to the invasion of the Turco-Mongol conquerorTimur.[4] He defeated thecrusaders at theBattle of Nicopolis in what is nowBulgaria in 1396. He was later defeated and captured byTimur at theBattle of Ankara in 1402 and died in captivity in March 1403, which triggered theOttoman Interregnum between his sons.
Bayezid was the son ofMurad I[5] and hisGreek wife,Gülçiçek Hatun.[6] His first major role was as governor ofKütahya, a city that he earned by marrying the daughter of aGermiyanid ruler,Devletşah.[7] He was an impetuous soldier, earning the nickname "Thunderbolt" in a battle against theKaramanids.
Bayezid ascended to the throne following the death of his father, Murad I, who was killed by Serbian knightMiloš Obilić during (15 June), or immediately after (16 June), theBattle of Kosovo in 1389, soon after which Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Sultanate. Immediately after obtaining the throne, he had his younger brother strangled to avoid a plot. In 1390, Bayezid took as a wife PrincessOlivera Despina, the daughter of PrinceLazar of Serbia,[8] who also lost his life in Kosovo. Bayezid recognizedStefan Lazarević, the son of Lazar, as the new Serbian leader - later despot - with considerable autonomy.
Upper Serbia resisted the Ottomans until Bayezid capturedSkopje in 1391, converting the city into an important base of operations.
Meanwhile, Bayezid began unifying Anatolia under his rule. Forcible expansion into Muslim territories could have endangered the Ottoman relationship with thegazis, who were an important source of warriors for this ruling house on the European frontier. Thus Bayezid began the practice of first securingfatwas, or legal rulings from Islamic scholars, to justify wars against these Muslim states. However, Bayezid doubted the loyalty of his MuslimTurkish followers, so he relied heavily on his Serbian and Byzantine vassal troops in these conquests.[9]
In a single campaign over the summer and fall of 1390, Bayezid conquered the beyliks ofAydin,Saruhan andMenteshe. His major rival Sulayman, the emir ofKaraman, responded by allying himself with the ruler ofSivas,Kadi Burhan al-Din and the remaining Turkish beyliks. Nevertheless, Bayezid pushed on and overwhelmed the remaining beyliks (Hamid,Teke, andGermiyan), as well as taking the cities ofAkşehir andNiğde, as well as their capitalKonya from the Karaman. At this point, Bayezid accepted peace proposals from Karaman (1391), concerned that further advances would antagonize his Turkoman followers and lead them to ally with Kadi Burhan al-Din. Once peace had been made with Karaman, Bayezid moved north againstKastamonu which had given refuge to many fleeing from his forces, and conquered both that city as well asSinop.[10] However, his subsequent campaign was stopped by Burhan al-Din at theBattle of Kırkdilim.
From 1389 to 1395 he conqueredBulgaria andNorthern Greece. In 1394 Bayezid crossed the RiverDanube to attackWallachia, ruled at that time byMircea the Elder. The Ottomans were superior in number, but on 10 October 1394 (or 17 May 1395), in theBattle of Rovine, on forested and swampy terrain, theWallachians won the fierce battle and prevented Bayezid's army from advancing beyond the Danube.[11]
Thus the siege of Constantinople continued, lasting until 1402.[12] The beleagueredByzantines had their reprieve when Bayezid fought theTimurid Empire in the east.[13] At this time, the empire of Bayezid includedThrace (except Constantinople),Macedonia,Bulgaria, and parts ofSerbia in Europe. In Asia, his domains extended to theTaurus Mountains. His army was considered one of the best in the Islamic world.
In 1397, Bayezid defeated the emir of Karaman in Akçay, killing him and annexing his territory. In 1398, the sultan conquered the Djanik emirate and the territory of Burhan al-Din, violating the accord with theTurco-Mongol emir Timur. Finally, Bayezid occupied Elbistan and Malatya.
In 1400,Timur succeeded in rousing the local Turkicbeyliks who had been vassals of the Ottomans to join him in his attack on Bayezid, who was also considered one of the most powerful rulers in the Muslim world during that period. Years of insulting letters had passed between Timur and Bayezid. Both rulers insulted each other in their own way while Timur preferred to undermine Bayezid's position as a ruler and play down the significance of his military successes.
This is the excerpt from one of Timur's letters addressed to the Ottoman sultan:
Believe me, you are butpismire ant: don't seek to fight the elephants for they'll crush you under their feet. Shall a petty prince such as you are contend with us? But yourrodomontades [braggadocio] are not extraordinary; for aTurcoman never spoke with judgement. If you don't follow our counsels you will regret it.[14][15]
In the fatefulBattle of Ankara, on 20 July 1402, the Ottoman army was defeated. Bayazid tried to escape, but was captured and taken to Timur.[16] Historians describe their first meeting as follows:
When Timur saw Bayezid, he laughed. Bayezid, offended by this laugh, told Timur that it was indecent to laugh at misfortune; to which Timur replied: "It is clear then that fate does not value power and possession of vast lands if it distributes them to cripples: to you, the crooked, and to me, the lame."[17]
Many writers claim that Bayezid was mistreated by the Timurids. However, writers and historians from Timur's own court reported that Bayezid was treated well, and that Timur even mourned his death.[18] One of Bayezid's sons,Mustafa Çelebi, was captured with him and held captive inSamarkand until 1405.
Four of Bayezid's sons, specificallySüleyman Çelebi,İsa Çelebi,Mehmed Çelebi, andMusa Çelebi, however, escaped from the battlefield and later started a civil war for the Ottoman throne known as theOttoman Interregnum.[19] After Mehmed's victory, his coronation asMehmed I, and the deaths of the other three, Bayezid's other sonMustafa Çelebi emerged from hiding and began two failed rebellions against his brother Mehmed and, after Mehmed's death, his nephewMurad II.
Bayezid's supposed humiliation; his wife Olivera is semi-naked at Timur's banquet. (Germanalbum amicorum, 16th century)Bayezid in the cage, 1746
In Europe, the legend of Bayezid's humiliation in captivity was very popular. He was allegedly chained, and forced to watch how his beloved wife,Olivera, served Timur at dinner.[20] According to a legend, Timur took Bayezid with himself everywhere in a barredpalanquin or cage, humiliating him in various ways, used Bayezid as a support under his legs, and at dinner had him placed under the table where bones were thrown at him.[21]
Different versions on Bayezid's death existed, too. One of them mentioned the suicide of Bayezid.[22] Allegedly, the Sultan committed suicide through hitting his head against the bars of his cell or taking poison. The version was promoted by Ottoman historians:Lutfi Pasha,Ashik Pasha-Zade.[23] There was also a version where Bayezid was supposedly poisoned on Timur's order. This is considered unlikely, because there is evidence that the Turco-Mongol ruler entrusted the care of Bayezid to his personal doctors.[22]
In the descriptions of contemporaries and witnesses of the events, neither a cell nor humiliation is mentioned.
German traveller and writerJohann Schiltberger did not write anything about the cell, bars or violent death. Another contemporary,Jean II Le Maingre, who witnessed Bayezid's captivity, wrote nothing about the cell or poisoning either. Clavijo, who came to Timur's court in 1404 as part of the embassy and visited Constantinople on his return trip, also did not mention the cell. All Greek sources of the first decade of the 15th century are equally silent about the cell.[24]Sharafaddin Yazdi (d. 1454) inZafar-nama wrote that Bayezid was treated with respect, and at his request, Turco-Mongols found his son among the captives and brought him to his father. Regarding Bayezid's wife, Sharafaddin wrote that Timur sent her and his daughters to her husband. Olivera allegedly became a Muslim under the influence of Timur.[25]
First references to a disrespectful attitude towards Bayazid appear in the works ofibn Arabshah (1389–1450) andConstantine of Ostrovica. Ibn Arabshah wrote that "Bayezid's heart was broken to pieces" when he saw that his wives and concubines were serving at a banquet.[26]
Ibn Arabshah wrote the following about the captivity of Bayezid:
Ibn Usman became a prey and was locked up like a bird in a cage.[27]
However, this is just a "flowery style", and not a real cell. According to literary historianH.A.R. Gibb, "the flowery elegance of style has also affected historiography. Most of the authors of the Timurid era succumbed to its influence ."[28]
Constantine of Ostrovica wrote neither about the cell, nor about the nudity of Bayezid's wife; though he did write that Bayezid committed suicide. In the story of Constantine, just like in that of ibn Arabshah, the sultan was so struck by the fact that his wife carried wine to a feast that he poisoned himself with a poison from his ring.[29]
Ottoman historianMehmed Neshri (1450–1520) described Bayezid's imprisonment and mentioned the cell twice. According to him, Timur asked Bayezid what he would do in Timur's place with regard to the captive. "I would have planted him in an iron cage," Bayezid answered. To which Timur replied: "This is a bad answer." He ordered to prepare the cage and the Sultan was put into it.[30]
The complete set of legends may perhaps be found in the work ofPope Pius IIAsiae Europaeque elegantissima descriptio, written in 1450–1460 (published in 1509): Bayezid is kept in a cage, fed with garbage under the table, Timur uses Bayezid as a support to get on or off a horse. Further development can be found in later authors, such asTheodore Spandounes. The first version of his story was written in Italian and completed in 1509, and a French translation was published in 1519. In these versions of the text, Spandounes wrote only about the golden chains and that the sultan was used as a stand. Spandounes added the cell only in later versions of the text. Later versions of the text also include a description of the public humiliation of Bayezid's wife:
He had a wife of Ildrim [Yıldırım, i.e., Bayezid], who was also a captive. They ripped off her clothes to the navel, exposing shameful areas. And he (Timur) made her serve food to him and his guests like that.[31]
Fülane Hatun. Daughter ofKonstantin of Kostendil, she married Bayezid in 1372 while her older sister marriedMurad I and an other her sister marriedYakub Çelebi, son of Murad and half-brother of Bayezid.
Maria Olivera Despina Hatun[39](1372 – 1444). Serbian princess, daughter ofPrince Lazar of Serbia andPrincess Milica, she married Bayezid in 1390. She was the Bayezid's favorite consort, but was extremely unpopular with the Ottomans court and people: she was accused of bribing the sultan and introducing alcohol to the court. She was captured by Timur together with her husband, and possibly forced to serve him naked.
Angelina Hatun (1380 - 1440). Daughter of the Hungarian count János (Juan), was freed by Timur and handed over toHenry III of Castile. She later married Diego González de Contreras.
Maria Hatun. Angelina's sister, she was freed by Timur and handed over to Henry III of Castile. She later married Payo González de Soto Mayor.
Yusuf Çelebi. In 1403, Süleyman Çelebi sent him, together with Kasim Çelebi and Farla Hatun, as a hostage to Constantinople for order ofManuel II, as a guarantee for the marriage between Süleyman and Theodora, niece of Manuel (illegitimate daughter ofTheodore I). Later, he converted to Christianity and changed his name to Demetrios.
Kasım Çelebi. In 1403, Süleyman Çelebi sent him as a hostage to Constantinople together with his full-sister, Fatma Hatun, and their half-brother, Yusuf, for order of Manuel II, as a guarantee for the marriage between Süleyman and Theodora, niece of Manuel (illegitimate daughter of Theodore I). He had a son, Orhan Çelebi.
Hasan Çelebi. Still a child at the time of his father's death, he was killed during the subsequent civil wars between his older brothers.
Bayezid I had at least five daughters:[37][49][50]
Fatma Hundi Sultan Hatun[50] (1375–1430). She marriedSeyyid Şemseddin Mehmed Buhari Emir Sultan in 1390 and she had four sons, Emir Ali and other three, and two twins daughters. Legend has it that Hundi and Seyyid were married in secret after having a vision ofMuhammad, and that Bayezid only accepted their marriage after his son-in-law was "miraculously" saved from soldiers sent to kill him. According to another version, Seyyd, guest of Bayezid, took advantage of his absence from court to seduce Hundi and marry her.
Erhundi Hatun. She married Yakup Bey, son of Pars Bey.[50] In 1393, she was offered in marriage toLadislaus of Naples, who wanted Ottoman help againstSigismund of Hungary, but the marriage never materialized due to the clause requiring the princess's conversion to Christianity.[51][52]
Paşa Melek Hatun - with Despina Hatun. In 1403 she married Şemseddin Mehmed, son of Emîr Celaluddîn İslâm,[37] a general of Timur, inSamarkand.
Fatma Hatun (1393–1417). In 1403 Süleyman Çelebi sent her as a hostage to Constantinople together with her full-brother, Kasim Çelebi, and their half-brother Yusuf, for order ofManuel II, as a guarantee for the marriage between Süleyman and Theodora, niece of Manuel (illegitimate daughter ofTheodore I). Later she married an Ottomansanjak-bey in 1413.
Bayezid is proclaimed sultan, 15th-century miniature
According to the British orientalist, Lord Kinross, Bayezid was distinguished by haste, impulsivity, unpredictability and imprudence.[53] He cared little for state affairs, which he entrusted to his governors. As Kinross writes, between campaigns Bayezid was often engaged in pleasures: gluttony, drunkenness and debauchery. The court of the sultan was famous for its luxury and was comparable to theByzantine court during its heyday.[54]
At the same time, the sultan was a talented commander.[53] Despite his lust for earthly pleasures, Bayezid was a religious man and used to spend hours in his personal mosque inBursa. He also kept Islamic theologians in his circle.[55]
In the words of the contemporary Greek historian Doukas:[56]
[Bayezid] was a feared man, precipitate in deeds of war, a persecutor of Christians as no other around him, and in the religion of the Arabs a most ardent disciple of Muhammad, whose unlawful commandments were observed to the utmost, never sleeping, spending his nights contriving intrigues and machinations against the rational flock of Christ.... His purpose was to increase the nation of the Prophet and to decrease that of the Romans. Many cities and provinces did he add to the dominion of the Muslims.
Bayezid managed to expand the territory of the Ottoman Empire to theDanube and theEuphrates. However, his reign culminated with a humiliating defeat at Ankara, whereby the empire was reduced to the size of abeylik from the time ofOrhan. This small territory was divided between Bayezid's two sons by Timur and many beyliks regained their independence. The defeat at Ankara marked the beginning of theOttoman interregnum, which lasted 10 years.[16]
The defeat of Bayezid became a popular subject for later Western European writers, composers, and painters. They embellished the legend that he was taken by Timur toSamarkand with a cast of characters to create an oriental fantasy that has maintained its appeal over the years.Christopher Marlowe's playTamburlaine the Great was first performed inLondon in 1587, three years after the formal opening of English-Ottoman trade relations whenWilliam Harborne sailed for Constantinople as an agent of theLevant Company.
In 1648, the playLe Gran Tamerlan et Bejezet byJean Magnon appeared in London, and in 1725,Handel'sTamerlano was first performed and published in London;[57]Vivaldi's version of the story,Bajazet, was written in 1735. Magnon had given Bayezid an intriguing wife and daughter; the Handel and Vivaldi renditions included, as well as Tamerlane and Bayezid and his daughter, a prince of Byzantium and a princess ofTrebizond (Trabzon) in a passionate love story. A cycle of paintings inSchloss Eggenberg, nearGraz inAustria, translated the theme to a different medium; this was completed in the 1670s shortly before the Ottoman army attacked theHabsburgs in centralEurope.[58]
The historical novelThe Grand Cham (1921) byHarold Lamb focuses on the quest of its European hero to gain the assistance of Tamerlane in defeating Bayezid.[59] Bayezid (spelled Bayazid) is a central character in theRobert E. Howard storyLord of Samarcand,[60] where he commits suicide at Tamerlane's victory banquet. Bayazid is a main character in the novelThe Walls of Byzantium (2013) byJames Heneage.[61]
^Rhoads Murphey, Exploring Ottoman Sovereignty: Tradition, Image and Practice in the Ottoman Imperial Household 1400–1800; published by Continium, 2008; p. 58
^abKinross, B.P;"Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire". 1999. pp. 86–88;ISBN5-232-00732-7
^Ivanin M.I.On the art of war and the conquests of the Mongol-Tatars and Central Asian peoples under Genghis Khan and Tamerlane. St. Petersburg, 1875. p. 315.
^Alderson A. D. The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956.
^Milwright M., Baboula E.Bayezid's Cage: A Re-examination of a Venerable Academic Controversy. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 2011. Vol. 21, iss. 3. p. 243
^abAkgunduz A.; Ozturk S.Ottoman History – Misperceptions and Truths. Rotterdam: IUR Press, 2011. p. 75.ISBN978-9090261-08-9
^Akgunduz A.; Ozturk S.Ottoman History – Misperceptions and Truths. Rotterdam: IUR Press, 2011. p. 74.ISBN978-9090261-08-9
^Milwright M., Baboula E.Bayezid's Cage: A Re-examination of a Venerable Academic Controversy. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 2011. Vol. 21, iss. 3. p. 242
^Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi.Zafar-name. Tashkent: SAN'AT, 2008 . p. 519.ISBN978-9943-322-16-5
^Ibn Arabshah.History of Amir Temur. Translated by Bababekova, H. N. Tashkent: Makhpirat Institute of the History of the Peoples of Central Asia, 2007. p. 188
^Ibn Arabshah.History of Amir Temur. translated by Bababekova, H. N. Tashkent: Makhpirat Institute of the History of the Peoples of Central Asia, 2007. p. 184
^Gibb H. A. R.Muslim historiography. translated by Gryaznevich P. A. Arabic literature. Classical period. ed. Belyaev, V. I. Publishing house of Eastern Literature, 1960. pp. 117–156, 188
^Constantine from Ostrovitsa.Notes of the Janissary. Written by Constantine Mikhailovich of Ostrovica. Introduction. Translation and comm. by Rogova, A. I. published by Nauka, 1978. p. 136 (Monuments of the Medieval history of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe)
^Mehmed Neshri.Bogged down into the light: History on the Ottoman court. ed: Maria Kalitsin. Sofia: Fatherland Front, 1984. p. 420
^Theodore Spandounes.On the Origins of the Ottoman Emperors. transl. and ed. by: Donald M. Nicol. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. p. 200
^"Battle of Nicopolis (1396)" from Seyyid Lokman (1588):Hünernâme
^Köprülü, Mehmet Fuat (1966).Edebiyat araştırmaları. Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi. p. 76.
^Öztürk, Necdet (2014).Osmanlı Sosyal Hayati. Işık Yayıncılık Ticaret.
^Uluçay, M. Çağatay (1985).Padişahların kadınları ve kızları. Türk Tarih Kurumu. pp. 24–25.
^abSakaoğlu, Necdet (2008).Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: valide sultanlar, hatunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler. Oğlak bilimsel kitaplar. İstanbul: Oğlak Yayıncılık ve Reklamcılık. pp. 31,76–90.ISBN978-975-329-623-6.
^abÖztuna, Yılmaz (1991).Devletler ve hânedanlar. Kültür Bakanlığı yayınları ; Kaynak eserler dizisi. Ankara: Başbakanlık Basımevi.ISBN978-975-17-0469-6.
^abcdSaid Öztürk, and Ahmet Akgündüz.Ottoman History - Misperceptions and Truths. IUR PRESS.
^Uluçay, Çağatay (2011).Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları (in Turkish). Ötüken Neşriyat.ISBN9789754378405.
^Several ofJohn V's daughters and granddaughters married Ottoman princes: his daughter Maria marriedMurad I, two more his sons Bayezid I andYakub, while a fourth, Irene, married Halil, Murad's half-brother. Two granddaughters, daughters ofTheodore andZampia, married a son and grandson of Bayezid I,Süleyman andMustafa.
^Finkel, C. (2006)The History of the Ottoman Empire: Osman's Dream. New York: Basic Books; p. 30
^Lamb, Harold.Swords from the West. Lincoln; University of Nebraska Press, 2009ISBN978-0-8032-2620-3 (p. 603)
^Howard, Robert E. (1973)Sowers of the Thunder, Ace Science Fiction
^"The Walls of Byzantium...[where] The Armies of the Ottoman Emperor Bayazid threaten Constantinople and the few remaining outposts of its empire". Cited in "Three More Tales of the Byzantine Empire".BBC History Magazine, 10 September 2015 (p. 74).
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