Tori Zhou
In the first half of the sixteenth century, many countries in Western Europe celebrated a golden age of art, science, exploration, and passionate religious emotion and controversy. Vasco da Gama’s and Christopher Columbus’ explorations gave way to new markets for European enterprise, and the teachings of Martin Luther and his followers torn the Roman Catholic Church asunder. It was also an important era of decisive moment in the growth of nations:
The very moment he obtained the title of Sultan from his father, Suleiman made it very clear to the servants of the empire that the new ruler intended to be respected as well as beloved: he ordered for the “erection of a mortuary chapel with a mosque and a school in honor of the departed” (Merriman 31); he distributed of the bakshish or donation to the Janissaries, other household troops, and to various civil officials; he set free six hundred Egyptian captives; he gave a number of merchants – who have had their goods confiscated for trading with Persia – an indemnity; and, finally, he executed a few “evil-doers” (Merriman 31). He demonstrated positive qualities of his predecessors through his action: like Medmed I, he “did his utmost to give his subjects peace, and his honorable character commanded the respect of all men” (Merriman 12-13); like Murad II, he was pious, just, and honorable (Merriman 13); and like Mehmed II, he was a champion of Islam, but remained tolerant towards his Christian subjects (Merriman 18).
Suleiman also managed to achieve things his predecessors couldn’t. While land conquests under Mehmed II were largely successful – resulting in the domination of the Venetian mainland, the termination of the Greek Empire of Trebizond, and the conquering of the Genoese settlements in the Crimea (Merriman 20) – the Turks struggled on sea. Rhodes – the island fortress of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem – remained a bitter remembrance that they found themselves honor bound to wipe out. Suleiman abided that honor, and, in years 1521 and 1522, succeeded in obliterating Rhodes. (Merriman 21)
- Italy became at once the intellectual guide and the political prey of ruder and stronger powers. The Holy Roman Empire of the German people, though internally more disrupted than ever, was officially headed by the mighty House of Hapsburg, the marvelous success of whose marriage policy had already won it the lordship of the Netherlands and the kingship of the Iberian realms, and promised the speedy realization of its traditional aim: Austriae est imperare orbi universe. France and England, consolidated under the strong rule of the Valois and the Tudors, were full of youthful life and energy and eager to expand, while Spain in a few short years acquired the largest empire on the globe. (Merriman 1)
The very moment he obtained the title of Sultan from his father, Suleiman made it very clear to the servants of the empire that the new ruler intended to be respected as well as beloved: he ordered for the “erection of a mortuary chapel with a mosque and a school in honor of the departed” (Merriman 31); he distributed of the bakshish or donation to the Janissaries, other household troops, and to various civil officials; he set free six hundred Egyptian captives; he gave a number of merchants – who have had their goods confiscated for trading with Persia – an indemnity; and, finally, he executed a few “evil-doers” (Merriman 31). He demonstrated positive qualities of his predecessors through his action: like Medmed I, he “did his utmost to give his subjects peace, and his honorable character commanded the respect of all men” (Merriman 12-13); like Murad II, he was pious, just, and honorable (Merriman 13); and like Mehmed II, he was a champion of Islam, but remained tolerant towards his Christian subjects (Merriman 18).
Suleiman also managed to achieve things his predecessors couldn’t. While land conquests under Mehmed II were largely successful – resulting in the domination of the Venetian mainland, the termination of the Greek Empire of Trebizond, and the conquering of the Genoese settlements in the Crimea (Merriman 20) – the Turks struggled on sea. Rhodes – the island fortress of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem – remained a bitter remembrance that they found themselves honor bound to wipe out. Suleiman abided that honor, and, in years 1521 and 1522, succeeded in obliterating Rhodes. (Merriman 21)
Suleiman, as Sultan, was given a lot of responsibility over the Ottoman Empire. He was “head of the Islamic state, defender, executor, and interpreter of the Sacred Law, and defender of the faith,” with the central function of guaranteeing justice in the land. However, while the Ottoman Empire had a centralized government in which the Sultan was the supreme ruler, Suleiman and his predecessors couldn’t have made as much progress without the establishment and development of a highly advanced organization of state that effectively controlled all of its provinces, inhabitants, and officials. The modern conception of the state is one of a single one. However, there were main two institutions in the Ottoman Empire’s government. In Dr. Albert Howe Lybyer’s The Government of the Ottoman Empire, the two institutions were described and discussed as the Ottoman Ruling Institution, and the Moslem Institution of the Ottoman Empire. (Lybyer 36) Both reflected a world of order and hierarchy in which promotion and status were rewarded on merit.
The Ottoman Ruling Institution included “the officers of [the sultan’s] household, the executive officers of the government, the standing army composed of cavalry and infantry, and a large body of young men who were being educated for service in the standing army, the court, and the government.” (Lybyer 36) The men in this institution were responsible for conducting the whole of the government except for matters that could be controlled by Sacred Law. The Ruling Institution “maintained public order, defended the empire against its enemies, and endeavored by conquest to enlarge its possessions and with them the domain of the Sacred Law.” (Lybyer 193) Lybyer writes about the Ruling Institution:
The Moslem Institution of the Ottoman Empire included men born of Moslem parents, born and brought up free, who were responsible for applying the Sacred Law as judges assisted by jurisconsults. (Lybyer 37) The Moslem Institution was firmly grounded in “the allegiance, the fundamental beliefs, and the affections of the entire Moslem-born population of the empire.” (Lybyer 224)
Both the Ruling Institution and the Moslem Institution were uniquely powerful and independent within the empire, but they were paralleled by lesser institutions:
The Ottoman Ruling Institution included “the officers of [the sultan’s] household, the executive officers of the government, the standing army composed of cavalry and infantry, and a large body of young men who were being educated for service in the standing army, the court, and the government.” (Lybyer 36) The men in this institution were responsible for conducting the whole of the government except for matters that could be controlled by Sacred Law. The Ruling Institution “maintained public order, defended the empire against its enemies, and endeavored by conquest to enlarge its possessions and with them the domain of the Sacred Law.” (Lybyer 193) Lybyer writes about the Ruling Institution:
- The whole institution kept itself in power, and defended and enlarged the empire, by being organized as an army. With exceptions, all its officers of government were soldiers and all its army officers had governmental duties. It constituted a standing army of cavalry and infantry, aided by artillery, commissary, and transport services; and it controlled a much larger feudal and irregular army. Through the feudal army it kept the country in subjection. By garrisons it held the towns quiet. In case of rebellion, it threw a great force upon the insurgents, and beat them down with cruel and resistless energy. (Lybyer 195)
The Moslem Institution of the Ottoman Empire included men born of Moslem parents, born and brought up free, who were responsible for applying the Sacred Law as judges assisted by jurisconsults. (Lybyer 37) The Moslem Institution was firmly grounded in “the allegiance, the fundamental beliefs, and the affections of the entire Moslem-born population of the empire.” (Lybyer 224)
Both the Ruling Institution and the Moslem Institution were uniquely powerful and independent within the empire, but they were paralleled by lesser institutions:
- The Ruling Institution was followed closely by the governments of Egypt and North Africa, and less closely by those of the tributary and vassal states; but all these were strictly subordinate and exercised what authority they possessed only within definite territorial limits. The Moslem Institution was followed closely by the Greek and Armenian and Jewish national institutions, and to some extent by the organization of the foreign colonies. Each of these various institutions rested on a religious organization or theory, cared for the learning, religion, and law of its people, and rendered justice in matters not covered by the Ottoman administration; but all were wholly independent of the Moslem Institution, and since they were based on personality instead of territory, they exercised jurisdictions which were territorially co-extensive with its jurisdiction and often with the jurisdictions of each other. (Lybyer 37)