Hello everyone, my name is Robius and today I present to you the thirteenth episode in
the new iteration of Assassin's Creed the Real History.
Once again, I'll be picking up from the last video by continuing my sub-series whereby
I chronologically cover the time periods used as the backdrops for the various Assassin's
Creed titles, filling you in on their major historical events, breaching any historical
gaps left by the games, and introducing you to the individuals who actually existed.
With all that said, today's episode will concentrate on one of the Ottoman Civil wars
of succession, which represented the set piece for Assassin's Creed Revelations.
For that reason, please be aware of story spoilers throughout the entire video.
Prior to discussing the actual Ottoman Civil War that makes up the topic of today's video,
I think it would be beneficial to explain a few of the surrounding circumstances that
led to its occurrence.
It can first be said that this event developed within a period commonly referred to as the
Classical Age of the Ottoman Empire, which truly saw its beginnings with the conquest
of Constantinople by the Sultan Mehmed II in 1453 and signalled a period of expansion
for the empire.
Following the death of Sultan Mehmed II, his son Bayezid II took the throne in 1481.
After more than two decades of rule, in his later years Bayezid II's sons began a conflict
surrounding the succession of the Ottoman sultanate.
This would come to be unofficially identified as one of the Ottoman Civil Wars.
Although many elements led to this tension, it was arguably in 1509 that the conflict
truly began.
That year there was a sizeable earthquake in the city of Constantinople, which was also
known as Istanbul, among other names, at the time.
Following this natural disaster, the Sultan Bayezid II, who was older and ill, could no
longer remain in the city, for which reason he departed for their alternate capital in
Edirne.
Interpreting this as a sign of weakness, public opinion shifted as citizens felt their Sultan
may not be capable of properly ruling their Empire, thus creating an opening for Bayezid's
sons to make their desire for the sultanate known.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that within the Assassin's Creed lore, this is the point
where Manuel Palaiologos, one of the apparent heirs to the now-dissolved Byzantine throne,
began his fictionalized attempts to re-establish Byzantine rule.
Nevertheless, the sultan's oldest living son at the time was Şehzade Ahmet, who acted
as the governor of the Anatolian city of Amasya.
Although his neighbouring regions in Anatolia faced unrest due to the interference of Safavid
influence, Ahmet was still considered the favourite for the throne and was even supported
by the Grand Vizier Hadim Ali Pasha.
The second potential contender was another of Bayezid's sons, Şehzade Korkut, who
served as the governor of Teke.
Finally, the last contender for the Ottoman throne was Şehzade Selim who governed Trabzon
at the time.
During the preceding years, he had gained the admiration of the Janissaries, the Sultan's
elite fighting corps, due to his successful military expeditions.
Interpreting the rising influence of Shah Ismail and his Safavid allies as a need for
stronger Ottoman leadership, despite being the youngest, Selim began to strategize for
his ascension.
Now, the reason it's important to understand where each son governed is because it traditionally
represented an indirect declaration by the Sultan of his successor.
Ottoman customs stated that the first son to reach the capital upon the death of the
previous ruler would become the new sultan.
Therefore, the region a son was assigned to govern usually represented who the sultan
preferred to have as his successor.
Taking that into consideration, this meant that Ahmet was in the best position to succeed
Bayezid as he was located closest to the capital.
Around this period, Selim wrote to the Sultan, requesting that he and his son Suleiman be
granted governing positions within regions closer to the capital.
Bayezid decided to initially decline Selim's request, however to ease the tension, he provided
both Selim's son and Ahmed's son with governing positions in nearer regions.
Although this originally worked, following the aftermath of the earthquake incident,
Selim decided to make his move in 1510.
This involved the prince gathering troops, leaving his region and travelling to Kefe,
the city governed by his son.
Recognizing this, both Korkut and Ahmed each began to travel closer to the capital.
Meeting with Suleiman in Kefe, Selim took things a step further and proclaimed the Empire's
current leadership to be weak, as it was no longer mainly run by the sultan but rather
by his viziers, who he blamed for their current political difficulties.
Through messengers, Bayezid demanded Selim return to Trabzon with the prince responding
that he would only stand down if provided with a closer city to govern, otherwise he
rather be executed.
Although it is difficult to place it exactly, due to the vagueness of certain recorded dates
concerning these events, it would have been around this time when Assassin's Creed Revelations
would have begun, with Ezio reaching Masyaf in March of 1511.
Clearly, it can be said that this entire interaction with the fictional byzantine Templars defending
the fortress was invented for the sake of the story.
Historically, communications soon broke down between the Sultan and his son, leading the
prince to gather his forces and march towards Edirne with the intention to speak with his
father in person.
Before arriving, Selim was met by more of the Sultan's messengers who offered partial
tax revenue from other regions, but continued to refuse his territorial requests.
Selim declined the offers and continued his march towards his father.
Displeased, the sultan organized his own army and travelled towards his son.
The military forces met each other but did not fight.
Selim requested a meeting with the sultan, however at the recommendation of his viziers,
Bayezid declined.
Through messengers, Selim pushed for his father to abdicate the throne and choose a successor,
however Bayezid refused and a settlement was eventually reached whereby Selim received
one of the territories he originally requested and was provided with permission to launch
expeditions against the Hungarians.
Concluding the negotiations, Bayezid insisted that he would not abdicate the throne.
During the entirety of this conflict of succession, complications arose in another part of the
Empire.
In Anatolia, pro-Safavid rebel forces gathered under the command of the religious military
leader they called Şahkulu, or the servant of the Shah.
Capitalizing on the confusion caused by the conflict of succession, this uprising rapidly
developed from a minor inconvenience to a significant problem when the rebels began
raiding the settlements in prince Korkut's region.
They stole treasures, valuable resources and killed governing figures while the prince
was away making his claim to the throne.
After a first ottoman army was sent to quell the rebellion and failed, with its commander
being executed on Şahkulu's orders, since Bayezid was pre-occupied dealing with the
tension created by Selim, he requested that his other son Ahmet lead an army to finish
the fight.
Looking to gather more influence to help secure the throne, Ahmet accepted and was joined
by his supporter, the Grand Vizier Hadim Ali Pasha as they marched on the rebels.
After extensive fighting the superior Ottoman forces had the advantage as the rebels fled.
However, instead of pushing forward and defeating them, Prince Ahmet instead tried to use this
opportunity to gain Janissaries support in his bid for the sultanate.
Disgusted with his behavior on the battlefield they declined.
Consequently, Ahmet departed and left the Grand Vizier to finish the fight for him.
Historically, after his return from this campaign, despite the tension between the sultan and
Selim diminishing, Ahmet was furious when he learned of their agreement, stating that
by giving his brother what he wanted, Bayezid had essentially handed him the throne.
As the sultan would not change his mind, Ahmet responded by stating that he would block access
to Selim's new region.
It's worth mentioning that it was during this months-long conflict that Ezio would
have first arrived in the Ottoman capital and begun his adventure alongside the local
brotherhood of Assassins.
During this period he became acquainted with the man who eventually come to known as Piri
Reis, at the time an accomplished sailor and a studying cartographer that Revelations presented
as a member of the Ottoman Assassin order.
Nonetheless, in the real history, the Grand Vizier's forces eventually caught up with
the rebels and a final battle ensued in which the Ottomans were finally victorious.
In consequence, although the rebels were essentially defeated and they had lost their leader, Ahmed's
claim to the sultante had been furthered weakened by the loss of his most powerful supporter,
the Grand Vizier Hadim Ali Pasha, who was also killed in this concluding battle in July
of 1511.
Seeking to maximize on his technical victory against the rebels, Ahmed pushed his father
to abdicate the throne in his favor.
At this time, Bayezid, who'd returned to Constantinople, facing the loss of his Grand
Vizier, and the continued conflict between his sons, decided to consider the idea of
abdicating the throne and named Ahmed his apparent successor.
Learning of these developments, Selim dropped his Hungarians campaign plans, gathered his
army and marched towards the capital.
He sent a messenger, asking Bayezid why would go back on his promises.
Under pressure, the Sultan mustered his soldiers and responded with force to what he interpreted
as insurrectionist disobedience, handing Selim his first military defeat and forcing the
younger prince to retreat back to Crimea.
Bayezid then formally invited Ahmed to the capital for a meeting.
However, as the prince travelled to meet his father, there was an unexpected development.
The Janissaries, staunch supporters of Selim, became aware of this plan and in response
to hearing about the Viziers' intentions to simply pay them off to accept Ahmed's
rule, they rebelled.
As Ahmed arrived, a few thousand janissaries attacked the homes of his political supporters,
making it clear that he was not welcome in the city.
In response, the prince retreated.
I believe it worth mentioning that some sources contradict this account by stating that Bayezid
actually felt threatened by Ahmed and, fearing he may try to kill him and usurp the throne,
he asked the Janissaries to prevent him from entering the city.
Although we can't be certain of exactly how this played out, it still led to the same
result of Ahmed being forced to flee.
Furious at the janissaries' insubordination, the prince began to plot his own military-backed
attempt of taking the throne by force.
Ahmed proceeded to capture different regions, attempting to gain local support to his cause.
As he organized this uprising against the Sultan's forces, ignoring his father's
commands to return to his governing region, Ahmed asked if his brother Korkut, who'd
now stepped down as a contender to the throne, could travel to the capital and gauge the
situation.
This portion was clearly portrayed differently in the game.
Within Revelations' narrative, Ahmet and Suleiman had already been in the capital.
While there, following an attempt by the fictional Byzantine Templars to capture Suleiman, Ahmet
came into conflict with the Janissary captain who was supposed to be defending their family.
Soon after, this same captain was killed by Ezio.
The game then presented that due to this murder occurring immediate after Ahmet quarreled
with the man, he was blamed of orchestrating the deed by the elite soldiers, leading the
Sultan to banish him from the city for overstepping his bounds.
Either way, despite this being an alternate development, it led to the same conclusion
in which Ahmet was no longer granted access to the capital.
Historically speaking, now realizing that circumstances had changed in his favor, Selim
decided to contact his father, voicing his allegiance.
The sultan is said to have responded by inviting his son back to the capital, in hopes that
he could quell the rebellion that Ahmed was organizing.
It was during this fictional interval that the game had Ezio destroy the Great Chain
to escape Constantinople and then travel to Cappadocia, where he toppled the Byzantine
Templar organization and killed both Şahkulu and Manuel Palaiologolos.
Here, Ezio also discovered that Ahmed was actually the Templar Grandmaster of the order
and that he was planning to access Altair's library to acquire the knowledge necessary
to put an end to the feud for the sultanate.
In reality, upon arriving in Constantinople, Selim finally met with Bayezid in person,
which he had not done for years, and they began their negotiations for dealing with
Ahmed.
During these talks, leading figures within the Janissaries met with the generals of the
Ottoman military.
They stated that Bayezid was no longer capable of leading their Empire and that Selim had
to replace him.
The generals passed the message on to Bayezid, who initially refused, but reconsidered when
it was explained that the Janissaries intended to kill the Ottoman generals and the Sultan
if he did not comply.
Selim and Bayezid continued to discuss their plans, with the Sultan initially insisting
that his son concentrate on leading their military against internal and external threats.
However, Selim made it clear that if he were made chief commander of the Ottoman forces,
he simply wouldn't differ in rank from the viziers, many of whom still opposed the prince.
Furthermore, he felt the only person who could effectively lead their nation in this coming
time of war, was a sultan.
With all of these factors in mind, Bayezid accepted Selim's conditions and abdicated
the throne, with his son waiting until his father had left the palace before having his
coronation ceremony in late April of 1512.
Assassin's Creed Revelations concluded at this point of the history.
The game altered events by having Ezio chase down and fight Ahmet while saving his love
interest Sofia.
As the men reached the end of their fight, Selim suddenly arrived, proclaimed that he
had been chosen as the new Sultan and proceeded to choke Ahmet and throw him off a cliff to
his death.
Although this represented the end of the game's story, it's important to recognize that
it was completely fictionalized.
Moving on to the next chapter in the video, we can now discuss the post-game history and
concentrate on the events that followed Assassin's Creed Revelations conclusion.
Historically, after Selim's ascension, Bayezid was essentially exiled to his native region,
although he died before arriving.
Within the first year of his rule as Sultan, Selim confronted Ahmed's uprising.
Ahmed contacted his brother, asking him to respect the Anatolian territory he had established
himself as his consolation for having lost the sultanate.
Although Selim refused, he desired peace with his brother.
Unfortunately, the new Sultan's allies continued to complain about Ahmed who overreached his
political bounds on multiple occasions.
Selim felt his hand had been forced and he prepared a response.
Calling his son Suleiman to the capital, he put the prince in charge of governing the
Empire temporarily during this military campaign.
Leaving on July 29th 1512, Selim marched his army towards Ahmed's territory, forcing
his brother to flee from city to city.
Messengers communicated Ahmed's request for a governing position in Karaman in exchange
for being Selim's loyal follower.
The Sultan disagreed as he no longer trusted Ahmed, and instead offered him the opportunity
to leave the Ottoman Empire altogether if he really wanted peace.
Ahmed accepted the offer and left.
However, as Selim travelled towards the capital, Ahmed returned to Ottoman territory and with
his followers raided the city of Amasya.
Seeking closure on the issue, Selim had false letters published, pretending to be nobles
who opposed his sultanate and who were looking for allies in overthrowing the sultan.
He sent these to his brothers and received positive responses, as they did not wish to
submit to Selim.
Feeling that he was left with no choice, since he needed to concentrate on the Eastern threats
to his Empire and could no longer expend these significant efforts in managing internal struggles,
the new sultan launched a purge.
This led him to individually face off against all of his internal adversaries, ultimately
executing all of his brothers, nephews and their supporters, removing any challenge to
his throne.
Having reached the end of this historic bloody event, we can move along to the final chapter
of the video and review everything we learned so far while comparing its depiction in the
game to the actual history.
Prior to starting, I think it's important to acknowledge that Assassin's Creed Revelations
was far more concentrated on Ezio's personal plot and consequently there wasn't as much
emphasis put on the historical events of the period as there could have been.
With that in mind, the completely fictionalized components of the story were as follows; Clearly
there was no underlying battle between an order of Assassins and a group of Byzantine Templars
over the acquisition of the mystical Masyaf keys.
This also meant that there was no internal war for the control of the Ottoman capital
between these factions.
Furthermore, prince Suleiman wasn't actually threatened with a potential kidnapping plot.
In terms of the concluding events, Constantinople's so-called Great Chain that blocked the harbour
wasn't destroyed by a single man, who then went on to dismantle the fictionalized remnants
of the Byzantine military which had apparently formed as insurrectionary force.
Moving on, let's talk about the portions of the game where the writers took actual
events but manipulated certain elements to better fit the story.
The first among these was Suleiman's presence in the city throughout the game.
Although it is likely that the young prince visited the capital at certain intervals,
I wasn't able to find concrete confirmation that he would have been there throughout the
duration of Revelations.
Next, was the representation of the remnants of the Byzantine Empire.
Despite there clearly having been portions of the former empire that still existed in
the region, the Byzantines were not forming an underground military effort to take their
city back.
In fact, Manuel Palaiologos, who was represented as the leader of this movement in the game,
actually came to Constantinople years earlier and surrendered his rights to the throne to
Bayezid's father, the Sultan Mehmed II in exchange for being provided an estate and
a pension by the Ottomans.
Another component that the writers manipulated was the instance where Ahmet was barred from
the capital.
The game implies this was due to him being incorrectly blamed for ordering the death
of a janissary captain, when in reality in most cases this incident is attributed to
the janissaries strongly opposing his potential future leadership.
Following this, the next alteration was having Şahkulu act as a leading figure in organizing
the fictional Byzantine insurrectionist.
Although this man was a rebel leader, he was never associated with the Byzantines and had
actually already died months before he was killed by Ezio in the game.
Lastly, even though it is fair to say that Selim did in fact kill Ahmet, the game displayed
this event as occurring immediately after he took the throne, when in reality it was
nearly a year later after Ahmet displayed multiple instances of dissention against the
new sultan.
Taking in all of that information, let us now consider whether this Ottoman Civil War
of Succession was fairly depicted in Assassin's Creed Revelations.
In my personal opinion, it was a reasonable portrayal, however it suffered greatly from
the fact that the main plotline of the game only occasionally returned to the history,
with most of the narrative concentrating of Ezio's personal mission, rather than having
him more involved as was the case in his past games.
However, despite its alterations to the history, and its degree of detachment from the larger
scope of things, I still very much enjoyed segments of its portrayal of the battle for
the Ottoman throne.
The writers painted a great picture by introducing us to the confident prince Ahmet, almost certain
at this point that he would become sultan while only giving us mentions of the then-exiled
Selim and his violent tendencies.
Furthermore, they really set the stage for how strongly the janissaries supported Selim
over his brother, without necessarily going in depth as to how influential they were in
securing his ascension.
Lastly, I also liked how they involved the young prince Suleiman in the narrative, giving
players glimpses of his philosophy and thought process, which gives us a small of idea of
what his later rule as the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificient would come to represent.
And, with that final thought we have reached the end of today's video.
If you appreciated this content, please share this series with your friends and be sure
to check out the other episodes.
For now I still intend to follow this trend of covering all the time periods, but please
feel free to leave me your topic request for future videos.
My sources for making this video will be in the description bar below.
Thanks for watching.
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