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Bayezid represents one of the first
sultan who turned the clock, and from his time the Ottoman empire becomes
more xenophobic towards European administration, technology and culture.
Where earlier sultans would have selected the apparently best solution
whether it be European or Middle
Eastern, sultans now started focusing mainly on culture and religion.For Bayezid, this involved
strengthening the waqfs, Muslim
institutions and removing many European elements from the court.Bayezid was described by the Venetian
ambassador as "very melancholic, superstitious and stubborn". He
was pious and put much emphasis on building Muslim structures, mosques,
colleges, hospitals and bridges. But he was also a friend of general
sciences and arts, supporting jurists, scholars and poets.In military terms, Bayezid's regime was
one where the Ottoman territory was consolidated in the European lands, but
where the borders towards the Asian neighbours (especially the Mamlukes
and the arising Safavids) were just as unresolved as before. The empire had
to wait for later sultans to bring conquest and stability here.
BIOGRAPHY
1447 December: Born in Demotika in the Ottoman province of
Thrace, as the oldest son of sultan Mehmed
2.
1481: On the deathbed of his father, Bayezid is appointed new sultan.
This is contested by Bayezid's brother, Cem.
1483: Hercegovina is brought under Ottoman control.
1484: Ottoman control over Crimea (where the khan had been a vassal
under the Ottoman sultan since 1475) is strengthened when fortresses on the
river mouths of Danube and Dniester are conquered.
1499: War against Venetian strongholds in the Levant
and the Balkans starts.
1503: The war against Venice ends with Ottoman conquests in today's
Greece.
1511: The Kizilbash people, living inside the Ottoman Empire were
adherents of Shah Isma'il 1 of the Safavids, and rises in rebellion against
the sultan.
— A dispute over the succession breaks out between Bayezid's sons, Selim
and Ahmed. In order to strengthen their positions, they make allies with
enemies of the empire.
1512 April: Bayezid faces disruption of the empire from the
dispute between his sons, and decides to abdicate in favour of one of his
sons, Selim 1.
— May 26: Dies in Demotika.