Prince Cem (December 22, 1459 - February 25, 1495) was a pretender to the Ottoman throne in the 15th century. He was a son of Mehmed II the Conqueror and younger brother of Sultan Bayezid II.
Succession of Mehmed II
At the death of Mehmet the Conqueror, Bayezid was the governor of Sivas, Tokat and Amasya, and Cem ruled the provinces of Karaman and Konya. An account of the ascendancy of Bayezid and Cem's banishment to Europe, first under the protection of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John on the island of Rhodes and ultimately that of the Pope himself is, to say the least, a rather strange story with ironically Byzantine twists.
Contrary to Islamic law, which prohibits any unnecessary delay in burial, Mehemet II's body was transported to Istanbul, where it lay neglected; three days passed prior to perfumed candles being placed with the corpse so as to mitigate its stench. The grand Vizier Karamani Mehmet Pasha believing himself to be fulfilling the wishes of the recently deceased Sultan attempted to arrange a situation whereby the youngest son Cem, whose governing seat at Konya was closer than his brother's [Bayezid] at Amasya, would arrive in Istanbul prior to his older sibling so as to claim the throne. Alas, in spite of his attempts at secrecy, the Sultan's death and the grand vizier's plan was discovered by the Janissaries, who has been forbidden from entering the capital. As a result of Karamani Mehemet's scheming, in addition to their support of Bayezid over Cem, the Janissary corps entered the capital and murdered the vizier. Prompted by the arrival of their ruler's corpse in the capital and the murder of Vizier Karamani Mehmet Pasha's killing, there was ubiquitous rioting. Understanding the danger of the situation former grand vizier Ishak Pasha, took the initiative, of beseeching Bayezid to arrive with all due haste; in the meantime, he took the sanguinary measure of proclaiming the latter's eleven-year-old son Prince Korkud-Korkut- regent until the arrival of his father.[1]
Prince Bayezid arrived at Constantinople on May 21 and was declared Sultan. Only six days later Cem captured the city of Inegöl with an army of 4000. Sultan Bayezid sent his army under the command of vizier Ayas Pasha to kill his brother. On May 28, Cem had defeated Bayezid's army and he declared himself Sultan of Anatolia and made his capital Bursa. He proposed dividing the empire between them, leaving Bayezid only Europe. Bayezid furiously rejected the proposal and marched on Bursa. The decisive battle between the two took place near the town Yenişehir. Cem lost and fled with his family to Mamluk Cairo.
In Cairo, Cem received a letter from his brother, offering Cem one million akçes (the Ottoman currency) in order to dissuade him from competing for the throne. Cem rejected the offer and in the following year he launched a campaign in Anatolia. On May 27, 1482 he besieged Konya but was soon forced to withdraw to Ankara. He intended to give it all up and return to Cairo but all of the roads to Egypt were under Bayezid's control.
Imprisonment and death
Prince Cem (middle) and Pierra d'Aubusson at a dinner in Rhodes
Cem and a few followers asked protection at the Spanish captain of Bodrum Castle. Pierre d'Aubusson, grand master of the Knights of St. John then invited Cem to Rhodes. On June 29 he went there as a guest and was received with honour. In return of the overthrow of the sultan, Prince Cem offered perpetual peace between the Ottoman Empire and Christendom. However, the sultan paid the Knights a large amount to keep Cem captive. The Knights betrayed him and Cem became a well-treated prisoner. Afterwards, Cem was sent to the castle of Pierre d'Aubusson in France. Sultan Bayezid sent a messenger to France and requested Cem to be kept there and he agreed to make an annual payment in gold for his brother's expenses.
Cem was transferred in March 1489 to the custody of Pope Innocent VIII, who unsuccessfully attempted to use Cem to begin a new crusade.[2] The Pope also tried to convert Cem to Christianity without success. Cem came in use anyway, because whenever Bayezid intended to launch a military campaign against Christian nations of the Balkans, the Pope would threaten to release the pretender. In exchange for maintaining the custody of Cem, Bayezid paid Innocent VIII 120,000 crowns (at the time, equal to all other annual sources of papal revenue combined), a relic of the Holy Lance (which allegedly had pierced the side of Christ), and an annual fee of 45,000 ducats.[3]
Cem died in Capua on February 25, 1495. Sultan Bayezid declared national mourning for three days. He also requested to have Cem's body for a Muslim funeral, but not until four years after Cem's death his body was brought to the Ottoman lands. He was buried in Bursa.
Literary depictions
In the 1490s a book in Latin was written about Cem's life. It was illustrated by Guillaume Caoursin, vice-chancellor of the Knight Hospitaller. It was published in centres in several countries : Venice, Paris, Bruges, Salamanca, Ulm and London. The many illustrations in this book are the first accurately described representations in Western Europe of costumes and weapons of the Turkish people.
Cem's life also served as inspiration for Ivo Andrić's book The Damned Yard.
Literature
- Duffy, Eamon, (2006). Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300115970.
- Finkel, Caroline. (2006). Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923. Basic Books.
- Freely, John. (2004). Jem Sultan. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-00-715067-9
References
- ^ Finkel, 2006, pp. 81-82.
- ^ Finkel, 2006, p. 87.
- ^ Duffy, 2006, p. 196.
