Bayezid II . Ottoman Sultan from 1481 to 1512 . It consolidated Ottoman rule in the Balkans , Anatolia, and the eastern Mediterranean . Known as “El Justo”, he cared about the welfare of the population and was modest in his personal expenses. He carried out an extensive program of construction of mosques, religious schools, colleges and hospitals. It welcomed the Jews and Muslims expelled from Spain during the Inquisition .
Summary
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- 1 Biographical synthesis
- 1 Fight for the throne
- 2 Reign
- 2.1 Emigration of Jews and Muslims
- 2.2 Succession
- 3 Death
- 2 Sources
Biographical synthesis
He was born on 3 December as as 1448 , in the Dimetoka Palace in Thrace , Greece . Eldest son of Mehmed II and Mukrime Hatun.
Fight for the throne
On the death of his father in 1481 , his brother Cem contested the succession. Bayezid, supported by a powerful group of officers from the court of Constantinople , succeeded in taking the throne. Cem was taken prisoner by the Knights of Saint John in Rhodes and sent to Pope Innocent VIII. The Pope thought of using it as an instrument to be able to expel the Turks out of Europe , but the Papal Crusade could not be carried out and Cem was abandoned in a Neapolitan prison, where he died after an illness.
Reign
He ascended the Ottoman throne in 1481. Among his own people he was known as “The Just One” and praised as a ruler. He cared about the welfare of the population and was modest in his personal expenses. He carried out an extensive program of construction of mosques, religious schools, colleges and hospitals. It provided a period of great economic development characterized by stability and security. Edirne and Bursa continued to develop rapidly, assuming, with their mosques and other great buildings, the character of the imperial cities. The Bayezid II Mosque complex in Edirne was the largest building for social services of the 15th century.
He was tolerant towards other religions. Land belonging to the Koutloumousiou Monastery on Mount Athos was exempted from tithing . But the local Muslims were actively hostile towards the monks , exploiting the peasants who worked for them, cultivating the lands belonging to the monastery , and demanding continued payment of the tithe. Bayezid II ordered the governor and mayor of Thessaloniki to carry out the order and restore the property seized from the monastery. He was also one of the sponsors of poetry , supported academics and lawyers in his empire and abroad as well. He established a school of music, philosophy, theology, and astronomy.
He continued the territorial consolidation that his father had begun. Herzegovina , in the Balkans , was brought under direct Ottoman control in 1483 . The occupation of two fortresses in the estuaries of the Danube and Dniester rivers in 1484 , strengthened the dominance of the Ottomans on the overland route to Crimea .
He led the war against the Venetian Empire from 1499 to 1503 in the Levant and the Balkans, taking the process of consolidation of the Ottoman Empire to a higher level. The result was the Ottoman conquest of the Venetian fortresses in the Morea and on the Adriatic coast , a triumph that amply justified the shipbuilding program that it had approved in the years before the start of the war.
Emigration of Jews and Muslims
In July 1492 , the new state of Spain expelled its Jewish and Muslim population as part of the policy of the Inquisition . Bayezid II sent the Ottoman fleet under the command of Admiral Kemal Reis to Spain, in order to evacuate them safely to the Ottoman lands. He granted the refugees permission to settle in the Ottoman empire and become citizens. He also addressed a proclamation to all the governors of his European provinces, ordering them not only to refrain from turning away the Spanish refugees, but to give them a warm welcome instead. He threatened with death anyone who treated Jews harshly or denied them admission to the empire. Muslims and Jews ofAl-Andalus contributed greatly to the growing power of the empire, introducing new ideas, methods, and skilled labor. The first printing press in Constantinople was established by Sephardic Jews in 1493 . During the reign of Bayezid II, the Jews enjoyed a period of unprecedented flourishing and cultural development.
Succession
Selim , the youngest of his sons, had little chance to succeed his father, as Ahmed, prince governor in Amasya (northern Turkey ) was the favorite.
When it was rumored that Bayezid was about to abdicate in favor of Ahmed, Selim traveled to Caffa, ruled by his son, city Suleiman I . From there he crossed the Balkans and in March 1511 his army reached Edirne, where his father had been residing since the 1509 earthquake . Meanwhile, a major Kızılbaş Turkmen revolt broke out in Teke, in southwestern Anatolia . When the rebels defeated the imperial forces sent against them under Korkud and marched against Bursa, Bayezid yielded to Selim’s demands and appointed him prince-governor of the Danubian province of Semendire (present-day Smederevo, in Serbia.). However, he did not trust his father. When he learned that the grand vizier was planning to put Ahmed on the throne, he decided to act. However, the 3 of August of 1511 was defeated by the army of Bayezid II and fled to Caffa.
When Ahmed learned of the battle between Selim and Bayezid II, he went to Istanbul in the hope that his father would abdicate in his favor. However, the Janissaries supported Selim and blocked Ahmed’s entrance to the capital. Frustrated, he headed to Anatolia, intending to return to his supporters. Meanwhile, another Kızılbaş rebellion broke out around Tokat in the north-center of the country, and yielding to pressure from the Janissaries, Bayezid invited Selim to Istanbul, appointing him commander-in-chief of the army. Selim came to the city in April 1512 ; With the support of the Janissaries he deposed his father and proclaimed himself sultan on April 24 . It was the first time that the Janissaries orchestrated the abdication of the reigning sultan.
Bayezid II Mosque
Death
Bayezid II died on 26 of maypole of 1512 , when he went to Dimetoka, his birthplace in Thrace . He was buried in the Istanbul Mosque that bears his name.
