Bayezid II

Bayezid II was Ottoman sultan from 1481 to 1512. His accession was challenged by his brother Cem Sultan, whose long captivity in western Europe turned an Ottoman succession dispute into an international diplomatic weapon. Bayezid consolidated the empire, fought Venice and other rivals, and was eventually forced to abdicate in favour of his son Selim I.

Bayezid’s reign balanced consolidation with continuing war in the Mediterranean and the Balkans. He welcomed many Sephardic Jews expelled from Iberia, while his government also faced rivalry among his sons over the succession. In 1512 he was forced to abdicate in favour of Selim I and died soon afterwards, ending a reign that had stabilised the empire after the aggressive expansion of Mehmed II.

Simon Turney’s The Thief’s Tale places Bayezid II at the beginning of the Ottoman succession struggle with his brother Cem, a conflict that ensnares the Greek brothers Skiouros and Lykaion in court politics. The Assassin’s Tale shows the international consequences of that rivalry years later, when Cem’s captivity in Italy makes him a diplomatic asset to popes, kings and Bayezid alike. The Priest’s Tale broadens the reign into the western Mediterranean, where the fall of Granada and the expulsion of Jews send refugees towards an Ottoman world represented by commanders such as Kemal Reis. The Pasha’s Tale finally returns to Constantinople, with Bayezid gathering his sons amid factional tension and forcing Skiouros to confront the unresolved consequences of the dynasty’s earlier struggle.