Selim II
Selim II (W)
Family
Selim's first and only wife, Nurbanu Sultan, was a Venetian who was the mother of his successor Murad III and three of his daughters. As a Haseki Sultan she received 1,000 aspers a day, while lower-ranking concubines who were the mothers of princes received 40 aspers a day. Selim bestowed upon Nurbanu 110,000 ducats as a dowry, surpassing the 100,000 ducats that his father bestowed upon Hürrem Sultan. According to a privy purse register cited by Leslie Pierce, Selim had four other women, and each of them was mother of a prince. Augusta Hamilton records that he had two thousand concubines.
- Consorts
- Nurbanu Sultan, mother of Murad III;
- Mother of Şehzade Mehmed;
- Mother of Şehzade Mustafa;
- Mother of Şehzade Suleiman;
- Mother of Şehzade Abdullah.
Sons
Selim had seven sons:
- Murad III (4 July 1546, Manisa Palace, Manisa – 15 January 1595, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, buried in Murad III Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia), son of Nurbanu Sultan;
- Şehzade Mehmed (died 1572, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, buried in Hürrem Sultan Mausoleum, Süleymaniye Mosque);
- Şehzade Abdullah (murdered 22 December 1574, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, buried in Selim II Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
- Şehzade Cihangir (murdered 22 December 1574, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, buried in Selim II Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque)
- Şehzade Mustafa (murdered 22 December 1574, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, buried in Selim II Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
- Şehzade Osman (murdered 22 December 1574, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, buried in Selim II Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque);
- Şehzade Suleiman (murdered 22 December 1574, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, buires in Selim II Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque).
Daughters
Selim had at least four daughters:
- Ismihan Sultan (1545, Manisa Palace, Manisa – 8 August 1585, Istanbul, buried in Selim II Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque), daughter with Nurbanu, married firstly in 1562 to Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, married secondly in 1584 to Kalaylıkoz Ali Pasha;
- Gevherhan Sultan (1544, Manisa Palace, Manisa - fl. 1622, Istanbul, buried in Selim II Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque), daughter with Nurbanu, married firstly in 1562 to Piyale Pasha, married secondly in 1579 to Cerrah Mehmed Pasha;
- Şah Sultan (1544, Manisa Palace, Manisa – 3 November 1577, Istanbul, buried in Zal Mahmud Paşa Mausoleum, Eyüp), daughter of Nurbanu, married firstly in 1562 to Çakırcıbaşı Hasan Pasha, married secondly in 1574 to Zal Mahmud Pasha;
- Fatma Sultan (1559, Konya Palace, Konya – October 1580, Istanbul, buried in Selim II Mausoleum, Hagia Sophia Mosque), married in 1574 to Kanijeli Siyavuş Pasha;
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Selim II (Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثانى Selīm-i sānī, Turkish: II.Selim; 30 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Sarı Selim ("Selim the Blond") or Sarhoş Selim ("Selim the Drunk"), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death in 1574. He was a son of Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Hurrem Sultan. Selim had been an unlikely candidate for the throne until his brother Mehmed died of smallpox, his half-brother Mustafa was strangled to death by the order of his father, his brother Cihangir died of grief at the news of this latter execution, and his brother Bayezid was killed on the order of his father after a rebellion.
Selim died on 15 December 1574 and was buried in Hagia Sophia. |
Early life
Selim was born in Constantinople (Istanbul), on 28 May 1524, during the reign of his father Suleiman the Magnificent. His mother was Hurrem Sultan, a slave and concubine who was born an Orthodox priest's daughter, and later was freed and became Suleiman's legal wife.
In 1545, at Konya, Selim married Nurbanu Sultan, whose background is disputed. It is said that she was originally named Cecelia Venier Baffo, or Rachel, or Kale Katenou. She was the mother of Murad III, Selim's successor.
Hubbi Hatun, a famous poet of the sixteenth century, was a lady-in-waiting to him.
Selim II’s audience with Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and Lokman. (L) |
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Reign
Selim II gained the throne after palace intrigue and fraternal dispute, succeeding as sultan on 7 September 1566. Selim's Grand Vizier, Mehmed Sokollu and wife, Nurbanu Sultan, a native of what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, controlled much of state affairs, and two years after Selim's accession succeeded in concluding at Constantinople a treaty (17 February 1568) with the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian II, whereby the Emperor agreed to pay an annual “present” of 30,000 ducats and granted the Ottomans authority in Moldavia and Walachia.
A plan had been prepared in Constantinople for uniting the Volga and Don by a canal in order to counter Russian expansion toward the Ottomans' northern frontier. In the summer of 1569 a large force of Janissaries and cavalry were sent to lay siege to Astrakhan and begin the canal works, while an Ottoman fleet besieged Azov. However, a sortie from the Astrakhan garrison drove back the besiegers. A Russian relief army of 15,000 attacked and scattered the workmen and the Tatar force sent for their protection. The Ottoman fleet was then destroyed by a storm. Early in 1570 the ambassadors of Ivan IV of Russia concluded at Istanbul a treaty that 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, led to the naval defeat against Spain and Italian states in the Battle of Lepanto in the same year.
The Empire's shattered fleets were soon restored (in just six months, it consisted of about 150 galleys and eight galleasses), and the Ottomans maintained control of the eastern Mediterranean (1573). In August 1574, months before Selim's death, the Ottomans regained control of Tunis from Spain, which had captured it in 1572.
Selim is known for restoring to Mahidevran Sultan her status and her wealth. He also built the tomb of his eldest brother, Şehzade Mustafa, who was executed in 1553.
In the famine of 1573, due to severe cold the farmers of that time did not provide good for the people. Selim gave people food and vegetables in the food kitchen. In April 1574, a fire broke in the printing house of Topkapi Palace and burned many rooms including the cooks and maids were burned and the kitchen was also burned. A few days later the captain, the Janissary, Istanbul lord and Mimar Sinan determined the location and size of the new kitchens to come to the fire. Mimar Sinan Ağa cleaned the fire place of the "building of the official building (design)" of Üslüb-ı ahar. The construction of the new Matbalı-ı Amir, which is broader and longer than the previous one, was taken from Divan-ı Ali Square. |
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