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 through palace intrigue and fraternal dispute, Selim II became the first Sultan devoid of active military interest who was willing to abandon power to his ministers, provided he was left free to pursue his orgies and debauchery. 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 honorable 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 indicated dangers to come. A plan had been elaborated at Constantinople to unite 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 then to begin work on the canal. Meanwhile, an Ottoman fleet besieged Azov. However, a sortie of the garrison of Astrakhan drove back the besiegers. A Russian relief army of 15,000 attacked and scattered the laborers who were working on the canal and the Tatar force sent for their protection. Finally, the Ottoman fleet was destroyed by a storm. Early in 1570 the ambassadors of Ivan IV of Russia concluded 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. Selim issued a royal decree declaring that the treaty could be broken because Cyprus had once been part of 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 part of a chapter 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[3] 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.[4] 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."[5]
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."[6] 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. Further expansion did occur, although not at the same rate.
Legacy
Many commentators interpret Suleiman's reign as the zenith of Ottoman power. Known for his religious toleration and concern for justice, he was remembered as the "Lawgiver". The contrast between this and Selim's legacy could not be starker; the son of the Lawgiver was known as "the Sot" or "Drunkard" because of his addiction to alcohol.[7] Assessing Selim's legacy, Schevill wrote:
The brilliant Soluman was followed by a man who failed to inherit a single one of his father's merits, Selim II ... was incapable, indolent, pleasure-loving, and as foreign to the field and council-chamber as he was at home in the soft atmosphere of the imperial harem."[8]
The problem with any hereditary form of governance is that competency is not necessarily passed on, genetically, from father to son. Following Selim II's reign, too many Sultan's imitated his example instead of that of his father. Instead of concentrating on ruling the vast empire, ensuring that administrators acted justly and governed competently, they concentrated on enjoying a luxurious life-style. Initially, the Ottomans had used superior military tactics, their army was well equipped with the most recent weapons and well trained. European armies saw the Ottoman army as a model, and copied many practices. Under successive rulers who, like Selim, were disinterested in maintaining the army's superiority, it lost it technological superiority, lagging behind the armies against whom it fought. By the middle of the nineteenth century, reform of the army had become a priority. However, the Empire lacked the financial resources to fund purchasing modern weapons. During the Crimean War, when Turkey was allied with Great Britain against Russia, a large loan was taken out to pay for modernization. This loan was followed by others, until the Empire found itself heavily in debt to the great European powers.[9] By 1881, management of the Empire's "public debt" had been transferred to the European powers. This financial crises can be dated back to Selim's failure to reorganize the Empire's finances. On the one hand, after his father's death, the army needed less money as expansion slowed while the civil administration needed more. On the other hand, over the next several centuries, the way in which the military was funded remained basically unchanged. As the cost of equipment increased, a funding system that had worked well centuries ago could no longer cope with increased costs.
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.
- ↑ Granada, the last Muslim Emirate in Spain, fell to the Reconquista in 1492. In 1568, the small underground Muslim population rebelled.
- ↑ Kinross 1977, page 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.
- ↑ Schevill, page 244
- ↑ Schevill, page 244.
- ↑ Cleveland, page 86.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Cleveland, William L. 1994. A history of the modern Middle East. Boulder: Westview Press.ISBN 9780813305622
- 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 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Regnal Titles
| ||
| 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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