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Kapudan Pasha

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The Kapudan Pasha ( Ottoman Turkish : قپودان پاشا , modern Turkish : Kaptan Paşa ), also known as the Kapudan-ı Derya (Ottoman Turkish: قپودان دریا , modern: Kaptan-ı Derya , "Captain of the Sea") was the Grand Admiral of the navy of the Ottoman Empire . Typically, he was based at Galata and Gallipoli during the winter and charged with annual sailings during the summer months. The title of Kapudan Pasha itself is only attested from 1567 onwards; earlier designations for the supreme commander of the fleet include Derya Bey (" bey of the sea") and Re'is Kapudan ("head captain").

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130-569: The title Derya Bey as an official rank within the Ottoman state structure originated during the reign of Bayezid I ( r.  1389–1402 ). Following the 1453 conquest of Constantinople , Mehmed II raised Baltaoğlu Süleyman Bey to the status of sanjak bey for his efforts against the Byzantines in the Golden Horn . Baltaoğlu received the sanjak of Gallipoli (the principal Turkish naval base) and

260-403: A Muslim under the influence of Timur. First references to a disrespectful attitude towards Bayazid appear in the works of ibn Arabshah (1389–1450) and Constantine 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. Ibn Arabshah wrote the following about the captivity of Bayezid: Ibn Usman became

390-688: A contemporary tendency to blame the defeat of the crusade on the immorality of the crusaders, and that it is impossible to verify such claims. At Orşova , where the Danube narrows at the Iron Gates gorge, the column crossed to the right bank using pontoons and boats over eight days. Their first target was Vidin , previously the capital of Western Bulgaria and then under Turkish control. The ruler of Vidin, Ivan Sratsimir of Bulgaria , having no desire to fight for his Turkish conquerors against an overwhelming force of crusaders, promptly surrendered. The only bloodshed

520-517: A crusade to either Prussia or Hungary , sent his envoy Guy de La Trémoille to Venice and Hungary to evaluate the situation. Burgundy originally envisioned a crusade led by himself and the Dukes of Orléans and Lancaster , though none would join the eventual crusade. It was very unlikely that defense against the Turks was considered a particularly important goal of the crusade. Burgundy's interest in sponsoring

650-594: A damage." Bayezid toured the battlefield later that day, hoping to find the corpse of the King of Hungary. His rage was only heightened by the discovery of the massacred prisoners from Rahovo. He ordered all of the prisoners assembled before him the following morning (26 September). The Turks recognized Jacques de Helly, a French knight who had served under Murad I , and had him identify the chief nobles for ransom. Coucy, Bar, D'Eu, Gui de La Tremoïlle and several others were grouped with Nevers to be spared. Those judged to be under

780-683: A fleet of Venetian vessels to blockade the Turks in the Sea of Marmara and for the Venetians to sail up the Danube to meet the crusaders in Wallachia in July. Coucy was not with the crusader body as it traveled, having been detached on a diplomatic mission to Gian Galeazzo Visconti , the Duke of Milan . Furious at French political maneuvering that had removed Genoa from his influence, Gian Galeazzo had been attempting to stop

910-426: A force abroad, nor of any royal preparation needed to organize and dispatch such a force. Reports of Henry of Bolingbroke or other "son of the Duke of Lancaster" leading an English contingent must be false since the presence of Henry and every other such son, as well as almost every other significant noble in the land, is recorded at the King's wedding five months after the crusade's departure. Atiya also thought that

1040-420: A narrative of the battle estimating the crusader strength at the final battle at 17,000, though he also overestimated Turkish forces as a wildly inflated 200,000. German historians of the 19th century attempting to estimate the combatants on each side came to the figures of about 7,500–15,000 Christians and about 12,000–20,000 Turks, while noting that, from the point of logistics, it would have been impossible for

1170-495: A prey and was locked up like a bird in a cage. However, this is just a "flowery style", and not a real cell. According to literary historian H.A.R. Gibb , "the flowery elegance of style has also affected historiography. Most of the authors of the Timurid era succumbed to its influence ." 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

1300-536: A real battle. Two weeks passed as the bored crusaders entertained themselves with feasts, games, and insulting the martial prowess of their enemy. Whether through drunkenness or carelessness, the crusaders posted no sentries, though foragers venturing away from the camps brought word of the Turks' approach. Bayezid was at this time already through Adrianople and on a forced march through the Shipka Pass to Tirnovo . His ally Stefan Lazarević of Serbia joined him on

1430-484: 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 but pismire 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 your rodomontades [ braggadocio ] are not extraordinary; for a Turcoman never spoke with judgement. If you don't follow our counsels you will regret it. In

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1560-559: A serving admiral ( Kapudan-i Hümayun ), a chief of the Imperial Arsenal ( Tersane Kethüdasi ) or, at the very least, by the sanjak-bey of Rhodes , from the turn of the 17th century the appointment of court favourites and/or persons lacking in military or naval experience marked the beginning of Ottoman naval decline. As a part of the Tanzimat reforms of 1839-1876, the Eyalet of

1690-518: A session of the Croatian Parliament , and joined the royal Hungarian army led by Sigismund. Coucy arrived well before Nevers, who had stopped in the upper Danube for receptions and festivities thrown by German princes. Nevers did not arrive in Vienna until 24 June, a full month behind the crusader vanguard led by d'Eu and Boucicaut. A fleet of 70 Venetian vessels loaded with provisions was sent down

1820-524: A war council on the 24th, in which he and Mircea of Wallachia suggested a battle plan in which the Wallachian foot soldiers, who had experience in fighting the Turks, would be sent in the first attack to meet the Turkish vanguard; this was usually a poorly armed militia, normally used for pillage but used in battle to tire opponents before they met better quality Turkish forces. Sigismund claimed that this vanguard

1950-530: Is a bad answer." He ordered to prepare the cage and the Sultan was put into it. The complete set of legends may perhaps be found in the work of Pope Pius II Asiae 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 as Theodore Spandounes . The first version of his story

2080-566: Is a main character in the novel The Walls of Byzantium (2013) by James Heneage . Sultan Bayezid was portrayed in the Serbian 1989 historical drama film Battle of Kosovo , as a participant of the Battle of Kosovo by actor Branislav Lečić , and in the Romanian historical drama Mircea (Proud heritage) by Ion Ritiu as a young Sultan who fought in the battles of Rovine , Nicopolis and Angora . In

2210-466: Is dismissed by Tuchman, who claims that 100,000 men would have taken a month to cross the Danube at Iron Gate , while the crusaders took eight days. The closest record to a first-person account was made by Johann Schiltberger , a German follower of a Bavarian noble, who witnessed the battle at the age of 16 and was captured and enslaved for 30 years by the Turks before returning home, at which time he wrote

2340-486: Is heavily contested in historical accounts. Historian Tuchman notes the Battle of Nicopolis was considered so significant that the number of combatants given by medieval chroniclers ranges as high as 400,000, with each side insisting that the enemy outnumbered them two-to-one, which for the crusaders offered some solace for their defeat and for the Turks increased the glory of their victory. The oft-given figure of 100,000 crusaders

2470-716: The Baltic coast. After the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the Ottomans had conquered most of the Balkans and had reduced the Byzantine Empire to the area immediately surrounding Constantinople , which they blockaded from 1394 on . In 1393 the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Shishman had lost Nicopolis — his temporary capital — to the Ottomans, while his brother, Ivan Stratsimir , still held Vidin but had been reduced to an Ottoman vassal. In

2600-560: The Christian allies, under the leadership of the King of Hungary and future Holy Roman Emperor (in 1433) Sigismund , were defeated in the Battle of Nicopolis . Bayezid built the magnificent Ulu Cami in Bursa, to celebrate this victory. Thus the siege of Constantinople continued, lasting until 1402. The beleaguered Byzantines had their reprieve when Bayezid fought the Timurid Empire in

2730-777: The Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes , who were the standard bearers of Christianity in the Levant since the decline of Constantinople and Cyprus . Venice supplied a naval fleet for supporting action, while Hungarian envoys encouraged German princes of the Rhineland , Bavaria , Saxony , and other parts of the empire to join. French heralds had proclaimed the crusade in Poland , Bohemia , Navarre , and Spain , from which individuals came to join. The Italian city-states were too much engaged in their customary violent rivalries to participate, and

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2860-536: The Ottoman Interregnum . Bayezid was the son of Murad I and his Greek wife, Gülçiçek Hatun . His first major role was as governor of Kütahya , a city that he earned by marrying the daughter of a Germiyanid ruler, Devletşah . He was an impetuous soldier, earning the nickname "Thunderbolt" in a battle against the Karamanids . Bayezid ascended to the throne following the death of his father, Murad I, who

2990-633: The Turkish Straits , they would eventually obtain a monopoly over the trade routes between Europe and the Black Sea , where the Genoese had many important colonies like Caffa , Sinop , and Amasra . The Genoese also owned the citadel of Galata , located at the north of the Golden Horn in Constantinople , to which Bayezid had laid siege in 1395. In 1394, Pope Boniface IX proclaimed a new crusade against

3120-771: The kazas of Galata (until the Conquest a Genovese colony) and of İzmit (whose tax remittance consisted of ship timber). The success of Hayreddin Barbarossa ( c.  1478 -1546) saw the Kapudan Pasha elevated to the ranks of beylerbey and vizier in 1535, with his territories expanded into the Eyalet of the Archipelago and Algiers . Hayreddin's successors succeeded to these holdings, but saw their rank drop to two-horsetail vizier for several centuries. The official residence of

3250-511: The sipahis surged forward in the counterattack sounding trumpets, banging kettle drums and shouting the Tekbir , the French realized how desperate their situation was and some knights fled back down the slope. The rest fought on, "no frothing boar nor enraged wolf more fiercely", in the words of one contemporary chronicler. Admiral de Vienne, to whom was granted the honor as the eldest knight of carrying

3380-467: The 1460s, gives the figure of the crusader army as 130,000 in his Behçetu't-Tevârih . The strength of the Ottoman forces is also estimated at 15–20,000; but inflated figures are common here as well. Numerous sources provide estimates of the size of the army as up to 60,000 including the Ottoman historian Şükrullah, who, writing in the 1460s, gives the figure of the Ottoman army as 60,000 in his Behçetu't-Tevârih ; alternately described as roughly half of

3510-412: The 14th century excelled." With a historian's hindsight Johan Huizinga remarked upon "the lamentable consequences of statecraft recklessly embarking on an enterprise of vital import in the spirit of a chivalrous adventure ", though participants and contemporary chroniclers did not analyse the event in these terms. After this defeat, Western Europe made no further moves to stop the Turkish advance in

3640-544: The 29th Degree of the Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction , Bayezid appears as a central figure in a drama that is historical fiction. Battle of Nicopolis In the Holy Land (1095–1291) Later Crusades (1291–1717) Northern (1147–1410) Against Christians (1209–1588) Popular (1096–1320) The Battle of Nicopolis took place on 25 September 1396 and resulted in

3770-477: The 350-mile length to Gallipoli , stripped of clothing down to their shirts and most without shoes, with hands tied and beaten by their captors. At Gallipoli, the noble captives were kept in the upper rooms of a tower while the 300 prisoners that were the Sultan's share of the common captives were kept below. The ship carrying Sigismund passed within half a mile of the tower as it went through the Hellespont, for which

3900-653: The Archipelago was reduced in rank and granted to the wali of Rhodes in 1848. The Kapudan Pashas retained their rank, but were thereafter solely military servicemen. A total of 161 captains served until 13 March 1867 when the post of Derya Kaptan was abolished and replaced by ministers ( Bahriye Nazırı ) of the Ottoman Naval Ministry . After 1877, these were replaced by the Fleet Commanders . Bayezid I Bayezid I ( Ottoman Turkish : بايزيد اول ; Turkish : I. Bayezid ), also known as Bayezid

4030-521: The Balkans until the 1440s. England and France soon renewed their war. Wallachia continued its stance against the Ottomans, repelling expeditions in 1397 and 1400. In 1402 Sultan Bayezid I was defeated and captured by Timur (Tamerlane), and Mircea cel Batran and the Kingdom of Hungary took advantage of the resulting anarchy to campaign against the Ottomans. The Hungarians, Poles and Wallachians were defeated at

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4160-549: The Crusader army. The Ottoman force also included 1,500 Serbian heavy cavalry knights under the command of Prince Stefan Lazarević , who was Sultan Bayezid's brother-in-law and vassal since the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. While Philip, Duke of Burgundy , had originally planned to lead the crusade along with John of Gaunt and Louis of Orleans , all three withdrew, claiming that the peace negotiations with England required their presence, though perhaps also because none dared leave

4290-517: The Danube, while Nevers enjoyed yet more parties thrown by his brother-in-law Leopold IV, Duke of Austria . Nevers then asked his brother-in-law for a staggering loan of 100,000 ducats , which took time to arrange, and eventually arrived in Buda in July. Once the leaders had arrived, strategy had to be coordinated with Philibert de Naillac , Master of the Knights Hospitaller, and representatives of

4420-456: The Danube. In 1394, Bayezid laid siege to Constantinople , the capital of the Byzantine Empire . Anadoluhisarı fortress was built between 1393 and 1394 as part of preparations for the second Ottoman siege of Constantinople , which took place in 1395. On the urgings of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus , a new crusade was organized to defeat him. This proved unsuccessful: in 1396

4550-561: The Elder ) the Prince of Wallachia , about 6,000 Germans and nearly 15,000 Dutch, Bohemian, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Bulgarian, Scottish and Swiss troops on the land, with the naval support of Venice, Genoa and the Knights of St. John. These result in a figure of about 47,000–49,000 in total; possibly up to 120,000 or 130,000 according to numerous sources, including the Ottoman historian Şükrullah who, in

4680-452: The European frontier. Thus Bayezid began the practice of first securing fatwas , or legal rulings from Islamic scholars, to justify wars against these Muslim states. However, Bayezid doubted the loyalty of his Muslim Turkish followers, so he relied heavily on his Serbian and Byzantine vassal troops in these conquests. In a single campaign over the summer and fall of 1390, Bayezid conquered

4810-450: The European side. The War Council in Buda was immediately the forum of a fierce dispute. The previous year, Bayezid had declared that he would attack Hungary by May, yet he had not appeared by end of July. Hungarian scouts sent out as far as the Hellespont could find no sign of him, causing the French to proclaim that he was a coward. Sigismund of Hungary assured the crusaders that Bayezid would come, and advised that it would be wiser to let

4940-515: The French action as a grave insult to their king, while the French accused the Hungarians of trying to rob them of the glory of victory through combat. Leaving a garrison to hold Oryahovo, the crusaders continued towards Nicopolis , assaulting one or two forts or settlements along the way, but bypassing one citadel from which messengers escaped to inform Bayezid of the Christian army. On 12 September

5070-424: The French standard into battle, was wounded many times as he attempted to rally his countrymen before being struck down. Other notable knights who were slain include Jean de Carrouges , Philippe de Bar , and Odard de Chasseron . The Turks threatened to overwhelm Nevers, and his bodyguard threw themselves to the ground in submission to plead for the life of their liege lord. Notwithstanding the declaration of jihad ,

5200-517: The Hungarians were in danger of being attacked themselves. The Republic of Venice feared that Ottoman control of the Balkan peninsula, which included Venetian territories like parts of Morea and Dalmatia , would reduce their influence over the Adriatic Sea , Ionian Sea , and Aegean Sea . The Republic of Genoa , on the other hand, feared that if the Ottomans were to gain control over River Danube and

5330-569: The Kapudan Pasha was in the Divankhane in the Imperial Arsenal in the Golden Horn, but he was often away as his governorship of the Eyalet of the Archipelago entailed visiting its various provinces in person every year. The post was one of great power and prestige within the Ottoman hierarchy: Evliya Çelebi reports that it had an annual income of 885,000 silver akçe . Additional income, to

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5460-468: 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 against Kastamonu which had given refuge to many fleeing from his forces, and conquered both that city as well as Sinop . However, his subsequent campaign

5590-514: The King of France would be accepted. In August, Sigismund's delegation of four knights and a bishop arrived in the court of Paris to paint a description of how "40,000" Turks were despoiling and imperiling Christian lands and beg, on Sigismund of Hungary's behalf, for help. Charles VI, having secured a peace with England through the marriage of his daughter, was able to reply that it was his responsibility to protect Christianity and punish Sultan Bayezid . French nobility responded enthusiastically to

5720-550: The Levant, Boucicaut and Guy de Tremoille reached Rhodes, where de Tremoille fell ill and died around Easter. French negotiators in the Sultan's court finally reached agreement on a ransom of 200,000 gold florins in June. Comte d'Eu died on 15 June. With a down payment of 75,000, the prisoners were released on 24 June on their promise to stay in Venice until the rest of the ransom was paid. However,

5850-686: The Thunderbolt (Ottoman Turkish: یلدیرم بايزيد ; Turkish: Yıldırım Bayezid ; c.  1360 – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of Sultan-i Rûm , Rûm being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire . In 1394, Bayezid unsuccessfully besieged Constantinople . Bayezid vanquished all the Beyliks and proceeded to conquer and vassalize

5980-443: The Turks discouraged the formation of European coalitions against them. They maintained their pressure on Constantinople , tightened their control over the Balkans , and became a greater threat to Central Europe. There were many minor crusades in the 14th century, undertaken by individual kings or knights. Most recently there had been a failed crusade against Tunisia in 1390, and there was ongoing warfare in northern Europe along

6110-642: The Turks lined the captives along the shore and mockingly called out for Sigismund to come and rescue his comrades. Sigismund, while in Constantinople, had made overtures to ransom the captives, but Bayezid was aware that Hungary's wealth had been depleted in the crusade and that richer ransoms could be had from France. After two months in Gallipoli, the prisoners were transferred to Bursa , the joint Ottoman capital located in Asia, where they awaited word of their ransom. In

6240-495: The Turks make the long march to them, rather than make the same long march to find them. This strategy was rejected by the French and their allies. Coucy, acting as spokesman, stated, "Though the Sultan's boasts be lies, that should not keep us from doing deeds of arms and pursuing our enemies, for that is the purpose for which we came." Sigismund had little choice but to acquiesce, though chroniclers also write that Coucy's speech excited jealousy in D'Eu, who felt that he should have had

6370-427: The Turks were as interested in the riches that could be gained by ransoming noble captives as anyone else, and took Nevers prisoner. Seeing Nevers taken, the rest of the French yielded. The timeline of events is hazy, but it appears that as the French were advancing up the slope, sipahis were sweeping down along the flanks in an envelopment. Accounts tell of the Hungarians and other nationalities in confused combat on

6500-470: The Turks, although the Western Schism had split the papacy in two, with rival popes at Avignon and Rome , and the days when a pope had the authority to call a crusade were long past. The two decisive factors in the formation of the last crusade were the ongoing Hundred Years' War between Richard II 's England and Charles VI 's France and the support of Philip II , Duke of Burgundy . In 1389,

6630-569: The Venetian fleet. Forty-four Venetian ships had carried the Hospitallers from Rhodes through the Aegean into the Sea of Marmara , and some continued into the Black Sea and up the Danube without engaging in battle. The fact that the Turks, who had an inferior naval presence, did not challenge the Venetians for control of the sea is seen as evidence that Bayezid and the majority of his forces were already on

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6760-679: The Visconti escutcheon , Galeazzo's first wife having been from the French royal house, and to make every effort to gain his assistance. Meanwhile, those envoys sent in early December had reached Venice and, having learned of the fate of the captives, were attempting to make their way to Bursa. Venice, which was the French conduit to the Muslim east due to her trade network, became the center for exchange of news, cash and ransomed captives. On 13 February 1397, de Coucy, ill and perhaps suffering from battle wounds, died. Released on their own accord to seek funds in

6890-445: The age of 20 were taken as slaves by the Turks. The rest, thought to number several thousand, were bound together in groups of three or four and had their hands tied to be marched naked before the Sultan. Ordered to proceed, a group of executioners proceeded to kill each group in turn, either by decapitation or by severing their limbs from the body. Nevers and the rest of the noble captives were forced to stand beside Bayezid and watch

7020-459: The amount of 300,000 kuruş in the 18th/19th centuries, came from leasing a number of Aegean islands to tax farmers ( iltizam ). The heyday of the post of Kapudan Pasha came in the 16th century, when a succession of capable holders brought Ottoman naval power to its height, and for a time ensured its supremacy in the Mediterranean. Although in theory the post could only be filled by

7150-482: The antipathy caused by the long war between the English and French, resulting in the English refusing to consider putting themselves under a French-led crusade, regardless of the recently concluded peace. Nevertheless, obviously inflated figures continue to be repeated. These include 6,000–12,000 Hungarians, about 11,000 French, English and Burgundian troops, about 12,000 Wallachians led by Mircea cel Batran ( Mircea

7280-424: The army must follow, but that it would be wiser to advance in concert with the Hungarians and other allies. D'Eu rejected any wait and the council fell into a fierce dispute, with the younger hawks charging that the elder knights were not prudent, but fearful. The argument seems to have been settled when D'Eu decided to advance. D'Eu took control of the vanguard of the French knights, while Nevers and Coucy commanded

7410-409: The assurance that their lives and property would be spared. The French promptly broke Sigismund's agreement, pillaging and massacring the town after the gates were open, and later claiming that they had taken the town by conquest because their men-at-arms had topped the walls the night before. A thousand residents, both Turkish and Bulgarian, were taken hostage and the town set ablaze. The Hungarians took

7540-553: The battle earned him the cognomen Fearless ( Sans-Peur ). According to the Chronica Hungarorum , King Sigismund of Hungary was so delighted at the sight of the large army gathered around him in Buda , he exclaimed in joy: "Who would be so bold as to dare to resist us? If the enormous weight of the sky were to fall on us, with spears that we carry, we would also hold it up so that no harm would come to us." The number of combatants

7670-422: The battlefield and later started a civil war for the Ottoman throne known as the Ottoman Interregnum . After Mehmed's victory, his coronation as Mehmed I , and the deaths of the other three, Bayezid's other son Mustafa Çelebi emerged from hiding and began two failed rebellions against his brother Mehmed and, after Mehmed's death, his nephew Murad II . In Europe, the legend of Bayezid's humiliation in captivity

7800-479: The bells toiling in all the churches in Paris." A delegation with rich gifts for Bayezid left Paris on 20 January 1397 to negotiate the ransoms. De Helly, bound by his oath to return, had already departed with letters for the captives. Gian Galeazzo's help became vital, as he had extensive contacts in the Ottoman court. Envoys were sent informing him of belated approval by the King allowing the fleur-de-lis to be added to

7930-408: The beyliks of Aydin , Saruhan and Menteshe . His major rival Sulayman, the emir of Karaman , responded by allying himself with the ruler of Sivas , Kadi Burhan al-Din and the remaining Turkish beyliks. Nevertheless, Bayezid pushed on and overwhelmed the remaining beyliks ( Hamid , Teke , and Germiyan ), as well as taking the cities of Akşehir and Niğde , as well as their capital Konya from

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8060-425: The bloodshed or convinced by his ministers that he was unnecessarily enraging Christendom against him, called off the executioners. Leaving aside the more hyperbolic account, the number of dead is said to have ranged from 300 to 3,000, though the number of dead on the battlefield was much more. Of those who fled the battlefield, few survived. So many attempted to swim to the boats in the Danube that several sank from

8190-417: The camp that Bayezid was only six hours away. The crusaders, said to be drunk over dinner, reacted in confusion; some refused to believe the report, some rose in panic, and some hastily prepared for battle. At this point, supposedly because of a lack of spare guards, the prisoners taken at Rachowa were massacred. Even European chroniclers would later call this an act of "barbarism". At daybreak on 25 September

8320-416: The castle before their allies, arriving in the morning just as the Turkish forces had come out to destroy the bridge across the moat. In fierce combat the French secured the bridge but were unable to push forward until Sigismund arrived. The forces combined and managed to reach the walls before night forced the combatants to retire. The next morning the inhabitants of Oryahovo agreed to surrender to Sigismund on

8450-463: The combatants began to organize themselves under the banners of their leaders. At this point, Sigismund sent his Grand Marshal to Nevers to report that his scouts had sighted the Turkish vanguard and asked for the offensive to be postponed for two hours, when his scouts would have returned with intelligence as to the numbers and disposition of the enemy. Nevers summoned a hasty council of advisors, in which Coucy and Jean de Vienne , admiral of France and

8580-594: The command of Stefan Lazarević , which proved critical. Sigismund's force was overwhelmed. Convinced to flee, Sigismund and the Master managed to escape on a fisherman's boat to the Venetian ships in the Danube. Count Hermann of Cilli , governor of Habsburg Carniola and a cousin of Sigismund's deceased wife , led the force that allowed the escape and would later become the king's father-in-law . Bayezid and his vassal Stefan Lazarević recognized Nicholas II Garai , Lazarević's brother-in-law, fighting on Sigismund's side. A deal

8710-533: The concept of unity of command was not yet embraced by medieval warriors. Rules of discipline for the crusade were decreed at a War Council on 28 March 1396, which included the final provision, "Item, that [in battle] the Count and his company claim the avante garde ", revealing that the chivalric code continued to require knights to prove their valor by leading the charge. The crusade set forth from Dijon on 30 April 1396, heading to Bavaria by way of Strasbourg via

8840-488: The countryside around Nicopolis to have supplied food and fodder for scores of thousands of men and horses. (Medieval armies acquired supplies by taking them from the surrounding area as they marched, as opposed to using the supply lines of modern armies.) From France, it was said about 5,000 knights and squires joined, and were accompanied by 6,000 archers and foot soldiers drawn from the best volunteer and mercenary companies; totalling some 11,000 men. Next in importance were

8970-472: The crooked, and to me, the lame." 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. One of Bayezid's sons, Mustafa Çelebi , was captured with him and held captive in Samarkand until 1405. Four of Bayezid's sons, specifically Süleyman Çelebi , İsa Çelebi , Mehmed Çelebi , and Musa Çelebi , however, escaped from

9100-491: The crusade was in increasing his and his house's prestige and power and, historian Barbara Tuchman notes, "since he was the prince of self-magnification, the result was that opulent display became the dominant theme; plans, logistics, intelligence about the enemy came second, if at all." In 1394, Burgundy extracted 120,000 livres from Flanders , sufficient to begin preparations for a crusade, and in January 1395 sent word to King Sigismund of Hungary that an official request to

9230-414: The crusaders came within view of the fortress of Nicopolis on its limestone cliff. Nicopolis, located in a natural defensive position, was a key stronghold controlling the lower Danube and lines of communication to the interior. A small road ran between the cliff and river, while the fortress was actually two walled towns, the larger one on the heights on the cliff and the smaller below. Further inland from

9360-493: The crusaders. Coucy, his diplomatic mission complete and accompanied by Henry of Bar and their followers, left Milan for Venice, from where he requisitioned a ship on 17 May to take him across the Adriatic Sea , landing in the Croatian port of Senj on 30 May before making his way overland to the rendezvous in Buda. Croatian forces led by Ban Nicholas II Garai moved towards Buda from the coastal town of Nin in June, following

9490-501: The declaration; Philip of Artois, Count of Eu , the Constable of France , and Jean Le Maingre , the Marshal of France , declared participation in the crusade the duty of every "man of valor". Another major participant was John I , future Duke of Burgundy and Count of Nevers at the time. He was one of the principal leaders of the French forces sent to aid in the war. John's bravery during

9620-405: The descriptions of contemporaries and witnesses of the events, neither a cell nor humiliation is mentioned. German traveller and writer Johann 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

9750-430: The ears of anyone who discussed rumors of the Turks' approach as being damaging to the morale of the crusaders. One of the few to concern himself with scouting the situation was de Coucy, who took a group of 500 knights and 500 mounted archers south. Learning of a large group of Turks approaching through a nearby pass, he separated 200 horsemen to carry out a feint retreat , drawing the pursuing Turks into an ambush where

9880-671: The east. At this time, the empire of Bayezid included Thrace (except Constantinople), Macedonia , Bulgaria , and parts of Serbia in Europe. In Asia, his domains extended to the Taurus 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

10010-528: The eldest French knight on the crusade, advised obeying the wishes of the Hungarian king, which seemed wise to them. At this, D'Eu declared that Sigismund simply wished to hoard the battle honors for himself and declared his willingness to lead the charge. Coucy, who declared D'Eu's words to be a "presumption", asked for the counsel of Vienne, who noted, "When truth and reason cannot be heard, then must rule presumption." Vienne commented that if D'Eu wished to advance,

10140-596: 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. Sharafaddin Yazdi (d. 1454) in Zafar-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

10270-553: 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 Mongol conqueror Timur . He defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Nicopolis in what is now Bulgaria in 1396. He was later defeated and captured by Timur at the Battle of Ankara in 1402 and died in captivity in March 1403, which triggered

10400-443: The escape of Sigismund. Jacques de Helly, the knight who had identified the nobles after the battle, had been charged by Bayezid, under his vow to return, to inform the King of France and Duke of Burgundy of his victory and demands for ransom. On Christmas, de Helly rode into Paris and, kneeling before the king, recounted the expedition, the battle, defeat and Bayezid's massacre of the prisoners. He also carried letters from Nevers and

10530-507: The eventual rout of the Turkish infantry, who fled behind the relative safety of the sipahis. Coucy and Vienne recommended that the French pause to reform their ranks, give themselves some rest and allow the Hungarians time to advance to a position where they could support the French. They were overruled by the younger knights who, having no idea of the size of the Turkish force, believed that they had just defeated Bayezid's entire army and insisted on pursuit. The French knights thus continued up

10660-422: The executions. Jean Le Maingre, called "Boucicaut" , was recognized in the line, and Nevers fell to his knees before the Sultan and indicated with intertwined fingers that they were like brothers. Thus convinced that Boucicaut was worth a noble ransom, he was spared and grouped with the other high nobles. The killing continued from early morning until late afternoon, at which point Bayezid, either himself sickened by

10790-521: The eyes of the Bulgarian boyars , despots, and other independent Balkan rulers, the crusade was a great chance to reverse the course of the Ottoman conquest and take back the Balkans from Islamic rule. In addition, the front line between Islam and Christianity had been moving slowly towards the Kingdom of Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary was now the frontier between the two religions in Eastern Europe, and

10920-467: The fateful Battle of Ankara , on 20 July 1402, the Ottoman army was defeated. Bayazid tried to escape, but was captured and taken to Timur. 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,

11050-460: The first week of December, rumors of unimaginable defeat arrived in Paris. As no certain news was to be had, rumor-mongers were imprisoned in the Grand Châtelet and, if convicted of lying, sentenced to death by drowning. The King, Burgundy, Orleans and Duc de Bar all sped envoys to Venice and Hungary to bring word back. On 16 December merchant ships brought word to Venice of defeat at Nicopolis and

11180-447: The fortified walls, the cliff sloped steeply down to the plain. Well-defended and well-supplied, the Turkish governor of Nicopolis, Doğan Bey, was certain that Bayezid would have to come to the aid of the town and was prepared to endure a long siege. The crusaders had brought no siege machines with them, but Boucicaut optimistically stated that ladders were easily made and worth more than catapults when used by courageous men. However,

11310-427: The hill, though accounts state that more than half were on foot by this point, either because they had been unhorsed by the lines of sharpened stakes or had dismounted to pull up stakes. Struggling in their heavy armor, they reached the plateau on the top of the slope, where they had expected to find fleeing Turkish forces, but instead found themselves facing a fresh corps of sipahis, whom Bayezid had kept in reserve . As

11440-477: The honor of spokesman due to his position as Constable of France. The crusaders began to march down the left bank of the Danube, though part of the Hungarian army veered north to gather the forces of Transylvania and the Mircea the Elder -led forces of Wallachia . The remainder of the Hungarians brought up the rear of the crusader column. As the crusaders moved into Muslim-held territory, pillaging and mistreatment of

11570-490: The invocation of St. George as a war cry at Nicopolis signified the presence of English soldiers, for whom George was a patron saint; but Froissart , who mentions this, claims that the cry was made by the French knight Philippe d'Eu . Furthermore, there was no collection of ransom money in England to pay for captives, as there was in every other country that had sent men to the battle. Sporadic mention in contemporary accounts of

11700-510: The lack of siege weapons, the steep slope up to the walls and the formidable fortifications made taking the castle by force impossible. The crusaders set up positions around the town to block the exits, and with the naval blockade of the river, settled in for a siege to starve out the defenders. Nevertheless, they were convinced that the siege of the fortress would be a mere prelude to a major thrust into relieving Constantinople and did not believe that Bayezid I would arrive so speedily to give them

11830-476: The load; afterward, those on the boats pushed away those trying to board. Many who attempted to swim all the way across the river drowned. Sigismund, fearful of Wallachian treachery, sailed to the Black Sea and Constantinople before making his way home by sea. Those Crusaders who made it across the Danube and tried to return home by land found that the land they were traveling over had already been stripped of forage by

11960-413: The main body. The French knights, accompanied by their mounted archers, rode out with their backs to Nicopolis to meet the Turks, who were descending the hills to the south. The Knights Hospitaler, Germans, and other allies stayed with the Hungarian forces under Sigismund. The subsequent events are obscured by conflicting accounts. Tuchman notes, "Out of the welter of different versions, a coherent account of

12090-401: The most experienced warrior and statesman of the realm, and prevailed on him to be "chief counselor" to Nevers during the crusade. The ambiguity of the crusaders' command structure would prove to be crucial in the outcome. While Nevers was given a long list of "counselors", as well as another list of prominent French lords on the crusade with whom Nevers could consult "when it seemed good to him",

12220-498: The movements and fortunes of the battlefield is not to be had; there is only a tossing kaleidoscope." The French charge crushed the untrained conscripts in the Turkish front line and advanced into the lines of trained infantry, though the knights came under heavy fire from archers and were hampered by rows of sharpened stakes designed to skewer the stomachs of their horses. Chroniclers write of horses impaled on stakes, riders dismounting, stakes being pulled up to allow horses through, and

12350-593: The nobles found it unthinkable to travel in less than their accustomed splendor and borrowed nearly as much as the ransom amount in reprovisioning themselves. Arriving in Venice in October after stopping in various islands to recover and borrow money, the financial transactions required to both provide the ransom and pay for the travel arrangements and living expenses of the nobles were tremendously complicated. A three-sided transaction between Burgundy, Sigismund and Venice took 27 years to settle. A plague outbreak in Venice required

12480-517: The nobles to move temporarily to Treviso , but still claimed Henri de Bar. The last of the Crusader leaders (Nevers, Boucicaut, Guillaume de Tremoille and Jacques de la Marche), along with seven or eight other knights, re-entered France in February 1398. They were greeted by minstrels, parties and parades as they journeyed across the kingdom, though Tuchman notes, "the receptions probably represented not so much popular enthusiasm as organized joy, in which

12610-460: The other noble captives. Those for whom he did not carry letters were assumed to be dead, and weeping members of the court gathered around de Helly to seek more information about loved ones. According to the Monk of St. Denis, "affliction reigned in all hearts" and Deschamps wrote of "funerals from morning to eve". 9 January was declared a day of mourning throughout France and that day "it was piteous to hear

12740-595: The plain and of a stampede of riderless horses, which Tuchman speculates pulled free from their tethers, at the sight of which the Transylvanians and the Wallachians concluded that the day was lost and abandoned the field. Sigismund, the Master of Rhodes, and the Germans fought to prevent the envelopment with "unspeakable massacre" on both sides. At this point, the Turks received a reinforcement of 1,500 Serbian knights under

12870-501: The population reportedly grew. While crusaders had been reported to engage in periodic pillage and raping while passing through Germany, the indiscipline of the French reportedly reached new heights when they entered "schismatic" lands. Chroniclers also waxed eloquent on the immorality and blasphemy of the crusaders, writing detailed accounts of drunkard knights lying with prostitutes for days, despite writing from at best second-hand accounts. Tuchman cautions that such chroniclers were part of

13000-446: The presence of "English" may be attributed to Knights Hospitaller of the English langue subgrouping, who joined their comrades for the crusade after leaving Rhodes (where the Hospitallers were based at the time) and sailing up the Danube. Possible reasons for the English absence include the increasing tension between the King and the Duke of Gloucester, which may have convinced the two that they had best keep their supporters close, and

13130-438: The rear is to dishonor us, and expose us to the contempt of all" and declared that he would claim front place as Constable and anyone in front of him would do him mortal insult. In this he was supported by Boucicaut; Nevers, reassured by the confidence of the younger French lords, was easily convinced. With the French set on a charge, Sigismund left to make a battle plan for his own forces. Apparently within hours, he sent word to

13260-489: The rest of his men, waiting concealed, attacked their rear. Giving no quarter, de Coucy's men killed as many as they could and returned to the camp where his action shook the camp from its lethargy and drew the admiration of the other crusaders. Tuchman argues that it also increased the overconfidence of the French and again drew the jealousy of D'Eu, who accused Coucy of risking the army out of recklessness and attempting to steal glory and authority from Nevers. Sigismund called

13390-480: The retreating force of Wallachians. Reduced to wandering through the woods in rags and robbed of whatever possessions they had, many of the starved survivors died along the way. Perhaps the most famous of the few who reached home after this journey was Count Rupert of Bavaria ( Ruprecht Pipan ) , eldest son of the future King Rupert of Germany , who arrived at his doorstep in beggar's rags and died several days later from his trials. The captives were forced to march

13520-688: The rout of an allied Crusader army (assisted by the Venetian navy) at the hands of an Ottoman force, raising the siege of the Danubian fortress of Nicopolis and leading to the end of the Second Bulgarian Empire . It is often referred to as the Crusade of Nicopolis as it was one of the last big Crusades of the Middle Ages , together with the Crusade of Varna in 1443–1444. By their victory at Nicopolis,

13650-463: The son of Lazar, as the new Serbian leader - later despot - with considerable autonomy. Upper Serbia resisted the Ottomans until Bayezid captured Skopje in 1391, converting the city into an important base of operations. Meanwhile, the sultan began unifying Anatolia under his rule. Forcible expansion into Muslim territories could have endangered the Ottoman relationship with the gazis , who were an important source of warriors for this ruling house on

13780-541: 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. Ottoman historian Mehmed 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

13910-564: 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 of Trebizond (Trabzon) in a passionate love story. A cycle of paintings in Schloss Eggenberg , near Graz in Austria , translated the theme to a different medium; this

14040-488: The suicide of Bayezid. 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 . There was also a version where Bayezid was supposedly poisoned on Timur's order. This is considered unlikely, because there is evidence that the Turkic ruler entrusted the care of Bayezid to his personal doctors. In

14170-599: The territory of Burhan al-Din, violating the accord with the Turco-Mongol emir Timur. Finally, Bayezid occupied Elbistan and Malatya. In 1400, Timur succeeded in rousing the local Turkic beyliks 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

14300-476: The transfer of Genoese sovereignty to France and Coucy was dispatched to warn him that France would consider further interference a hostile act. The quarrel was more than political. Valentina Visconti , the wife of the Duke of Orleans and Gian Galeazzo's beloved daughter, had been exiled from Paris due to the machinations of Queen Isabeau the same month as the departure of the crusade. The Duke of Milan threatened to send knights to defend his daughter's honor but, in

14430-536: The upper Danube , from where they used river transport to join with Sigismund in Buda . From there the crusader goals, though lacking details of planning, were to expel the Turks from the Balkans and then go to the aid of Constantinople, cross the Hellespont , and march through Turkey and Syria to liberate Palestine and the Holy Sepulchre , before returning in triumph to Europe by sea. Arrangements were made for

14560-407: The vicinity of the throne if their chief rivals stayed. However, Burgundy retained control of the enterprise he was funding by naming 24-year-old John, Count of Nevers , the Duke's eldest son, for nominal command. Burgundy, perhaps recognizing that his son, as well as Constable d'Eu and Marshal Boucicaut, who were both under 35, lacked the necessary experience, summoned Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy ,

14690-419: The wake of the disaster at Nicopolis, it was widely believed that he had relayed intelligence to Bayezid I of crusader troop movements. There is no firm evidence of this and it is likely that Gian Galeazzo became a scapegoat after the fact due to the existing animosity with France, though there remains the possibility that the Duke of Milan, who had murdered his own uncle to ensure his own power, did in fact betray

14820-506: The war had ground to one of its periodic truces. Further, in March 1395, Richard II proposed a marriage between himself and Charles VI's daughter Isabella in the interests of peace and the two kings met in October 1396 on the borders of Calais to agree to the union and agree to lengthen the Truce of Leulinghem . The support of Burgundy, among the most powerful of the French nobles, was also vital. In 1391, Burgundy, trying to decide between sending

14950-422: The way. Sigismund had sent 500 horsemen to carry out reconnaissance in force around Tirnovo, 70 miles (110 km) to the south, and they brought word back that the Turks were indeed coming. Word also reached the besieged inhabitants of Nicopolis, who blew horns and cheered. Boucicaut claimed the noise of their celebration was a ruse as he believed that the Sultan would never attack; he further threatened to cut off

15080-480: The widely reported and acclaimed English participation never actually occurred. The report of 3,000 English knights comes from contemporary Antonio Fiorentino, and was taken as fact by historian Aziz S. Atiya and others following him. A thousand knights would have actually amounted to "four to six thousand men and at least twice as many horses", counting foot-soldiers and other retainers. However, there are no records of financial arrangements being made in England to send

15210-465: The words of the contemporary Greek historian Doukas: [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

15340-660: The years. Christopher Marlowe 's play Tamburlaine the Great was first performed in London in 1587, three years after the formal opening of English-Ottoman trade relations when William Harborne sailed for Constantinople as an agent of the Levant Company . In 1648, the play Le Gran Tamerlan et Bejezet by Jean Magnon appeared in London, and in 1725, Handel 's Tamerlano was first performed and published in London; Vivaldi 's version of

15470-592: 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. Bayezid I had at least nine consorts: Bayezid I had at least twelve sons: Bayezid I had at least five daughters: According to the British orientalist, Lord Kinross, Bayezid was distinguished by haste, impulsivity, unpredictability and imprudence. He cared little for state affairs, which he entrusted to his governors. As Kinross writes, between campaigns Bayezid

15600-537: Was completed in the 1670s shortly before the Ottoman army attacked the Habsburgs in central Europe . The historical novel The Grand Cham (1921) by Harold Lamb focuses on the quest of its European hero to gain the assistance of Tamerlane in defeating Bayezid. Bayezid (spelled Bayazid) is a central character in the Robert E. Howard story Lord of Samarcand, where he commits suicide at Tamerlane's victory banquet. Bayazid

15730-510: Was divided between Bayezid's two sons by Timur and many beyliks regained their independence. The defeat at Ankara marked the beginning of the Ottoman interregnum , which lasted 10 years. 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 to Samarkand with a cast of characters to create an oriental fantasy that has maintained its appeal over

15860-570: Was killed by Serbian knight Miloš Obilić during (15 June), or immediately after (16 June), the Battle 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 Princess Olivera Despina , the daughter of Prince Lazar of Serbia , who also lost his life in Kosovo. Bayezid recognized Stefan Lazarević ,

15990-487: Was made, and Sigismund's army surrendered, completing their defeat in detail . Sigismund would later state to the Hospitaller Master, "We lost the day by the pride and vanity of these French. If they believed my advice, we had enough men to fight our enemies." Chronicler Jean Froissart would declare. "Since the Battle of Roncesvalles when [all] twelve peers of France were slain, Christendom received not so great

16120-465: Was not worthy of the attention of knights. Sigismund proposed that, once the shock of first clash had passed, the French form the front line to rush in, while the Hungarians and the other allies follow to support the attack and keep the sipahis (Turkish heavy cavalry) from sweeping around the crusaders' flanks. D'Eu denounced the proposal as demeaning to the knights, who would be forced to follow peasant footmen into battle. He reportedly stated, "To take up

16250-520: Was often engaged in pleasures: gluttony, drunkenness and debauchery. The court of the sultan was famous for its luxury and was comparable to the Byzantine court during its heyday. At the same time, the sultan was a talented commander. Despite his lust for earthly pleasures, Bayezid was a religious man and used to spend hours in his personal mosque in Bursa . He also kept Islamic theologians in his circle. In

16380-517: Was stopped by Burhan al-Din at the Battle of Kırkdilim . From 1389 to 1395 he conquered Bulgaria and northern Greece . In 1394 Bayezid crossed the River Danube to attack Wallachia , ruled at that time by Mircea the Elder . The Ottomans were superior in number, but on 10 October 1394 (or 17 May 1395), in the Battle of Rovine , on forested and swampy terrain, the Wallachians won the fierce battle and prevented Bayezid's army from advancing beyond

16510-431: Was the execution of Turkish officers in the defending garrison, though the incident served to further convince the French that Turks were incapable of challenging the crusaders in the field. The next target was Oryahovo (Rachowa), a strong fortress located 75 miles (121 km) from Vidin. Frustrated by the lack of opportunity to show their bravery in deeds of arms, the French carried out a forced march at night to reach

16640-617: 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 the Danube and the Euphrates . However, his reign culminated with a humiliating defeat at Ankara, whereby the empire was reduced to the size of a beylik from the time of Orhan . This small territory

16770-449: Was very popular. He was allegedly chained, and forced to watch how his beloved wife, Olivera , served Timur at dinner. According to a legend, Timur took Bayezid with himself everywhere in a barred palanquin 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. Different versions on Bayezid's death existed, too. One of them mentioned

16900-479: 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

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