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(Prince) Cem or Cem Sultan
(Also seen as, Jem, Djem) (1459 -- 1495)
Bernard Lewis22 tells us that... After a unsuccessful bid for the
succession, Cem took refuge on the Island of Rhodes, then governed by the
Knights of St. John , and in 1482 sailed from there to France. He tried,
without success, to win support among the European rulers, who seem to have
regarded him rather as a hostage or as a pawn to be used against the
Turkish sultan. For a while he was virtually interned in France in the care
of the Knights of St. John. He was accompanied by a small group of Turkish
companions, one of whom, probably a certain Haydar, left a memoir which may
well be the earliest surviving narrative by a Turkish visitor to Christian
Europe. His brief notes on places and people in France and Italy
show...[that] the prince stayed in Nice for four months, and seems to have
amused himself quite well. Part of his entertainment consisted of going to
balls where the author of the memoir, like many later Muslim travelers, was
deeply shocked by this strange European custom: " They brought the
beautiful maidens of the city, and they cavorted around like cocks. In
their customs, the women do not cover themselves decently, but on the
contrary are proud to kiss and embrace. If they grow tired of their games
and need to rest, they sit on the knees of strange men. Their necks and
ears are uncovered. Among them, the prince had relations with many
beautiful girls." While he was in Nice the prince composed the
following couplet: "What a wonderful place is this city of Nice A man
who stays there can do as he please." Note: The fictionalized Haydar
'plays' the father of the hero of Habibullah at the Ottoman Court. One of
the two sons of Mehmed II, The Conqueror -- and a Pretender to the throne.
Upon Mehmed's death in 1481, Cem's brother, Bayezid II , ascended to the
throne, Cem contested him in a losing battle, and was forced to flee
Turkey, eventually finding his way to Europe. European rulers used Cem to
keep Sultan Bayezid in check after that -- and he remained a prisoner of
European luxury until his 'mysterious' death in Naples (1495). A
fictionalized Cem is featured in the adventure detective series, Habibullah
at the Ottoman Court...
Cem's Italian Portrait (now residing in Vatican City) by his Italian
contemporary, Pinturicchio58
Chronology of Events:
1481 Death of Mehmed II (3 May); accession of Bayezid II (20 May); Battle
of Yenisehir between Bayezid and Cem (20 June); surrender of the Ottoman
forces in Otranto (11 September). 1482 Cem and Kasim Bey the Karamanid in
Anatolia; Cem's flight to Rhodes (26 July); agreement on Cem between the
Knights of St John and Bayezid II (September); execution of Gedik Ahmed
Pasha (November). 1484 Bayezid II's campaign against Moldavia; annexation
of Kilia and Akkerman. 1484-91 War with the Mamluks of Egypt. 1482-1494 Cem
lives in grand style with Turkish entourage, as celebrity captive in France
and Italy 1495 Death of Cem in Naples (25 February).
A miniature of Cem Sultan (in Karaman) being beseeched by a run-away Rumeli
princess -- seeking shelter from the Christian husband who wants to kill
her...82 Ed. 5.0
Prince Cem battles his brother, Bayezid II, at Yenisehir...in an historic
German woodcut of that time58 Ed. 5.0
The Rise and Fall of Prince Cem ! "By the time Cem learned of his
father Mehmed II's death, it was too late for him to prevent [his brother]
Bayezid II's accession. Thus he went to Bursa, summoned all his supporters
along with those Turkomans and Muslims of Anatolia who had long resented
devsirme rule in Istanbul, and declared himself Sultan of Anatolia (May 28,
1481); he proposed division of the empire, with Bayezid ruling only in
Europe. Bayezid rejected the proposal, of course, defending the continued
unity of the Ottoman State, and received the support of Gedik Ahmet Pasa,
who was in Anatolia at the time to recruit new troops for the Italian
invasion and who was very popular among the Janissaries. In the end, the
decisive battle between the two [brothers] took place near Yenisehir (June
20, 1481). Bayezid's numerical supremacy, when combined with the powerful
attack of the Janissaries, enabled him to carry the day. Cem and the
remnants of his army were forced to flee, eventually taking refuge in the
Mamluk Empire in the company of the last Karamanid prince, Kasim Bey . Thus
began a long period of exile. Cem's effort to depose Bayezid and regain the
throne kept the sultan and his empire in apprehension until Cem's death 12
years later finally ended the threat. The fugitive prince initially was
given some assistance by the Mamluks and built a small force at Aleppo
(April 1482), where he was joined by a number of fugitive Turkoman princes
and Anatolian feudal holders who had been dispossessed by Bayezid. In the
meantime, Gedik Ahmet, Ishak Pasa, and the other devs irme ministers so
dominated [Sultan] Bayezid that, in despair, he began to place members of
the Turkish aristocracy in key positions and attempted to work through them
to regain his power. When Cem's new expedition entered Ottoman territory in
Cilicia (May 19, 1482), he found support from neither the devsirme nor the
Turkish aristocracy, and after advancing near Ankara (June 8), he despaired
of success and fled to Rhodes, where he accepted refuge offered by the
treacherous Pierre d'Aubusson, leader of the Knights [of St. John of
Jerusalem]. Bayezid's last main opponent in Anatolia was neutralized when
Kasim Bey surrendered and renounced all his claims to Karaman in return for
an appointment as Ottoman governor of Içel , thus being absorbed into the
Ottoman system in the same ways as many other Turkoman notables. Cem sailed
to France (September 1, 1482), still under the 'protection' of the Knights,
who apparently were "persuaded" by the sultan's agents to remove
him from the empire's immediate environs. Various negotiations followed
with different Christian powers still hoping to use Cem against [Sultan]
Bayezid, finally leading to an agreement to send him to Pope Innocent VIII
(in 1486), who was contemplating a new Crusade. When Charles VIII of France
invaded Italy and occupied Rome, he captured Cem (January 27,1495) and [was
going to send] him to France. [But before he could do that], Cem 'fell ill'
and died in Naples (February 25,1495), possibly as the result of poison --
administered at Bayezid's instigation, though this has never really been
proved."26 Was Cem Sultan murdered -- with a poisoned shaving
blade?Ed. 5.0 It's still the subject of debate -- whether Cem Sultan died
of an illness or as a result of foul play. But there doesn't seem to be
much support for historians claiming that he was killed with a poisoned
straight razor by KapacibasI Mustafa Aga -- who may have been sent from
Istanbul (to Rome where Cem was residing at the time) by Sultan Bayezid II.
However, it is generally agreed that he was murdered -- by a slow-acting
poison (arranged, perhaps, by someone in the Borgia family -- like Cesare,
Lucrezia, or even Pope Alexander VI) that steadily took effect after Cem
had been captured from the Pope by the French King, Charles VIII -- who
invaded Italy in 1495. Even in death, the unlucky prince (Cem) became a
cause for bickering among countries -- who couldn't agree on 'ownership' of
the corpse. His body was first sent to Gaeta (just a few miles northwest of
Naples, Italy) -- 86 days after the funeral service had been held by Celal
and Sinan beyler, two of Cem's loyal attendants. After several years of
argument among the French, the Vatican, and the Ottomans, the body was
moved to Lecce (near the Adriatic Sea on the south eastern-most tip of
Italy -- 200 miles from Naples) -- and after remaining there a while more,
it was finally sent by the Neapolitan King to the Ottomans. Cem Sultan's
body currently lies in the Mustafa-i Türbe (Tomb of Mustafa, the murdered
son of Süleyman the Magnificent) within the Muradiye Cami (Mosque of Sultan
Murad II) complex -- in Bursa (Turkey). [But, his sarcophagus was destroyed
in the Bursa earthquake of 1855.] Excerpted/translated/revised -- from the
article entitled, "TartIsma -- On sonunda Cem Sultan ve
dönem..."82 The image at left is a engraving proclaiming Cem's
sultanate in Bursa -- in 1481. The three plumes on the front of the turban
and the jeweled cape confirm Cem's sovereignty in this 'coat of
arms'...that was probably prepared by a western artist, which explains
Cem's longish hair showing beneath his turban.
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Said Ancestry
Maltagenealogy.com
Corrections and updating.
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