Western History 96: Who was Sulamein the Magnificent?

The 16^th century was renowned for its powerful monarchs – Henry VIII and Elizabeth I in England, Francis I in France and the Hapsburg's Charles V and Philip II.  The Ottoman Turk Suleiman the Magnificent can be added to the list.

In addition to being a lover of a poetry, a philosopher and a lawgiver, Sulamein was arguably the greatest of all the Ottoman rulers. He ruled between the years 1520 and 1566 doubling the size of the Ottoman Empire. It was during Sulamein’s reign that Mecca and Medina fell into the Ottoman orbit, as did territory in Yemen and Persia (he fought the Safavids). In Europe he seized both Belgrade  (1521) and Hungary (he defeated the Hungarians at Mohacs in 1526) and laid siege to Vienna (1529).

Hapsburg defence would halt his progress at Vienna. He was defeated by Charles V in Tunis in 1535. In the Mediterranean Sulamein defeated the forces of Venice and Spain in 1543 (Nice) and 1558 (Menorca). He was allied with the French forces of Francis I in 1536 in opposition to the Hapsburg enemy (described by the historian Carl Bruckhardt – as the sacrilegious union of the lily and the crescent).

Sulamein could not repeat his success at Malta (1565) that he had had in Rhodes (1522) and his siege of the island failed to drive out the Knights of Malta (St. John) whose fate was spared by the action of a Spanish relief force.

After Sulamein’s death the Ottoman Empire would decline. The defeat at Lepanto  (1571) at the hands of the Holy League (an alliance of Venice, Hapsburg Spain, Papal States, Genoa, Tuscany and several smaller allies) would ensure that this vital body of water would remain in Christian hands.