Selim II
Selim II (Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثانى Selīm-i sānī, Turkish:II.Selim) (May 28 1524 – December 12 1574), also known as "Selim the Sot," was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death. He was a son of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–66) and his favorite wife Roxelana (also known as Hürrem).
Accession
After gaining the throne after palace intrigue and fraternal dispute, Selim II became the first Sultan devoid of active military interest and willing to abandon power to his ministers, provided he was left free to pursue his orgies and debauches. Therefore, he became known as Selim the Drunkard or Selim the Sot (Turkish:Sarhoş Selim). His Grand Vizier, Mehmed Sokollu, a Serbian devsirme[1] from what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, controlled much of state affairs, and two years after Selim's accession succeeded in concluding at Constantinople an honourable treaty (February 17 1568) with the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian II (1564–76), whereby the Emperor agreed to pay an annual "present" of 30,000 ducats and essentially granted the Ottomans authority in Moldavia and Walachia.
Against Russia Selim was less fortunate, and the first encounter between the Ottoman Empire and her future northern rival gave presage of disaster to come. A plan had been elaborated at Constantinople for uniting the Volga and Don by a canal, and in the summer of 1569 a large force of Janissaries and cavalry were sent to lay siege to Astrakhan and begin the canal works, while an Ottoman fleet besieged Azov. But a sortie of the garrison of Astrakhan drove back the besiegers; a Russian relief army of 15,000 attacked and scattered the workmen and the Tatar force sent for their protection; and finally, the Ottoman fleet was destroyed by a storm. Early in 1570 the ambassadors of Ivan IV of Russia concluded at Constantinople a treaty which restored friendly relations between the Sultan and the Tsar.
Expeditions in the Hejaz and Yemen were more successful, but the conquest of Cyprus in 1571, which provided Selim with his favorite vintage, led to the calamitous naval defeat against Spain and Italian states at Lepanto in the same year, freeing the Mediterranean Sea from corsairs. This was the "main event" in his reign. Cyprus had been controlled by the Republic of Venice since 1489. Mohammed Sukulli, Selim's vizier, opposed the war because Venice had a treaty with the Ottomans. Swelim issued a royal decree declaring that the treaty could be broken because Cyprus had once been Ottoman territory.[2]
The Empire's shattered fleets were soon restored (in just six months; it consisted of about 150 galleys and 8 galleasses) and the Ottomans maintained control of the Mediterranean (1573). In August 1574, months before Selim's death, the Ottomans regained control of Tunisia from Spain who had controlled it since 1572.
Marks of decay
Lord Patrick Kinross' account of Selim's reign is how he starts a chapter of his book called "The Seeds of Decline." He sees the massive outlay for the fleet-rebuilding following the Battle of Lepanto as the start of the Empire's slow decay. Kinross also says that Selim's reputation for drunkenness was solidified in his decision to invade Cyprus rather than supporting the Morisco Revolt in Granada as well as in the manner of his death; Selim died after a period of fever brought on when he drunkenly slipped over on the wet floor of an unfinished bath-house.[3] Schevill says that complete disaster was avoided due to the skills of Selim's vizier, Mohammed Sukulli, whom his father had appointed, "a statesman of rare vision" who enabled the "ship of state for a time to sail on its course with acquired momentum."[4]
One reason for the decline in Ottoman fortunes was the fact that the borders established under Suleiman became more or less permanent, as further expansion was curtailed. The whole administrative system, however, was "geared to the needs of an expanding state." The institutions "failed to harmonize with the new and unfamiliar stresses of a border that was becoming statis."[5] Inheriting none of his father's skills, Selim was unable to provide the leadership needed to transform the taxation system into one that could sustain civil governance not military expansion.
Legacy
Many commentators interpret Suleiman's reign as the zenith of Ottoman power. Known for his
Notes
- ↑ A Christian taken as tribute or instead of taxation into the Sultan's household, a form of slavery.
- ↑ Parry, Vernon J. and Cookpage, M.A. 1976. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521099912 page 108.
- ↑ Kinross 1977, p age 273.
- ↑ Schevill, Ferdinand. 1922. The History of the Balkan Peninsula: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day. NY: Harcourt, Brace and Company, page 244.
- ↑ Schevill, page 244.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Finkel, Caroline. 2006. Osman's dream: the story of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923. New York: Basic Books.ISBN 9780465023967
- Goodwin, Jason. 1999. Lords of the horizons: a history of the Ottoman Empire. New York: H. Holt.ISBN 9780805040814
- Clot, André. 1992. Suleiman the magnificent. New York: New Amsterdam. ISBN 9781561310395
- Kinross, Patrick Balfour. 1977. Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire. NY: Morrow. ISBN 9780688030933
- Norwich, John Julius, 1989. A History of Venice. NY: Knopf. ISBN 9780394524108
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
External links
| House of Osman Born: May 28, 1524; Died: December 12, 1574 | ||
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| Regnal Titles
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| Preceded by: Suleiman I |
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Sep 5, 1566 – Dec 12, 1574 |
Succeeded by: Murad III |
| Sunni Islam titles | ||
| Preceded by: Suleiman I |
Caliph of Islam Sep 5, 1566 – Dec 12, 1574 |
Succeeded by: Murad III |
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