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BAYEZID II

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 556 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BAYEZID II . (1447-1512), See also:

sultan of See also:Turkey, was the son of Mahommed II., whom he succeeded in 1481, but only after gaining over the See also:janissaries by a large donative, which hence-forth became for centuries the invariable See also:prerogative of that undisciplined See also:body on the See also:accession of a new sultan. Before he could establish himself on the See also:throne a See also:long struggle ensued with his See also:brother See also:Prince Jem. Being routed, Jem fled for See also:refuge to the knights of St See also:John at See also:Rhodes, who, in spite of a safe-conduct granted to him, accepted a See also:pension from Bayezid as the See also:price for keeping him a See also:close prisoner. (See See also:AUBUSSON, See also:PIERRE D'.) So long as Jem lived he was a perpetual menace to the sultan's See also:peace, and there was considerable rivalry among the sovereigns of See also:Europe for the See also:possession of so valuable an See also:instrument for bringing pressure to See also:bear upon the See also:Porte for the purpose of extracting See also:money or concessions. By See also:common consent the prince was ultimately entrusted to See also:Pope See also:Innocent VIII., who used him not only to See also:extract an See also:annual See also:tribute out of the sultan, but to prevent the See also:execution of Bayezid's ambitious designs in the Mediterranean. His successor, See also:Alexander VI., used him for a more questionable purpose, namely, not only to extract the arrears of the pension due for Jem's safe-keeping, but, by enlarging on See also:Charles V.'s intention of setting him up as sultan, to persuade Bayezid to aid him against the See also:emperor. There appears, however, to be no truth in the See also:report that Bayezid succeeded in bribing the pope to have Jem poisoned. The prince, who had lived on excellent terms with Alexander, died at See also:Naples in See also:February 1495, possibly as the result of excesses in which he had been deliberately encouraged by the pope. Whether as a result of his fear of the rivalry of Jem, or of his See also:personal See also:character, Bayezid showed little of the aggressive spirit of his warlike predecessors; and See also:Machiavelli said that another such sultan would cause Turkey to cease being a menace to Europe. He abandoned the attack on Rhodes at the first check, made concessions, for the See also:sake of peace, to See also:Venice and reduced the tribute due from See also:Ragusa. His See also:wars were of the nature of raids, on the Dalmatian See also:coast and into Croatia, See also:Hungary, See also:Moldavia and See also:Poland.

The See also:

threat of the growing See also:power in the See also:Aegean of Venice, which had acquired See also:Cyprus in 1489, at last roused him to a more serious effort; and in 1499 the See also:war See also:broke out with the See also:republic, which ended in 1502 by the See also:annexation to Turkey of See also:Lepanto and Modon, Coron and See also:Navarino in the Morea. Bayezid himself conducted the See also:siege of Modon in 1500. The See also:comparative inactivity of Bayezid in the direction of Europe was partly due to preoccupation elsewhere. In the See also:south he was threatened by the dangerous rivalry of Kait See also:Bey, the See also:Mameluke sultan of See also:Egypt, who had extended his power northwards as far as See also:Tarsus and See also:Adana. In 1488 he gained a See also:great victory over the Ottomans, and in 1491 a peace was made which was not again broken till after Bayezid's See also:death. On the See also:side of See also:Persia too, where the decisive See also:battle of Shurur (1502) had raised to power See also:Ismail, the first of the See also:modern See also:line of shahs, danger threatened the sultan, and the latter years of his reign were troubled by the spread, under the See also:influence of the new See also:Persian power, of the Shi'ite See also:doctrine in See also:Kurdistan and See also:Asia See also:Minor. The forces destined to maintain his authority in Asia had been entrusted by Bayezid to his three sons, Ahmed, Corcud and See also:Selim; and the sultan's declining years were embittered by their revolts and rivalry. Soon after the great See also:earthquake of 1509, which laid See also:Constantinople in ruins, Selim, the ungovernable See also:pasha of See also:Trebizond, whose vigorous See also:rule in Asia had given Europe an See also:earnest of his future career as sultan, appeared before See also:Adrianople, where Bayezid had sought refuge. The sultan had designated Ahmed as his successor, but Selim, though temporarily defeated, succeeded in winning over the janissaries. On the 25th of See also:April 1512 Bayezid was forced to abdicate in his favour, and died a few days later. See J .B. See also:Bury in the See also:Cambridge Modern See also:History, vol. i. See also:chap. iii. and bibliography p.

700.

End of Article: BAYEZID II

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