Listen Now

Hey everyone! Long time no see! In this episode, I cover the reasons for the long break between episodes, sorry about that! And then we get into the last stand between Suleiman's sons after his wife was no longer there to keep them civil. We have a ton of action and bling so don't miss out! Episodes will come out more regularly now that your faithful pod-master is a bit more settled! 

In this episode, we are going over the last years of Sultana Roxelane. We start off with her ambitious foundation in Jerusalem to support the poor and give room and board to pious Muslims who retire to the city to contemplate their faith in the place that Mohammad rose to the heavens meet Allah and learn the proper way to pray. Then we get into her part in the drama over succession between her sons Bayezed and Selim. Lastly, we end the episode on a sad note...

So there is one high in the ever-increasing series of lows in Suleiman's later years. Through an uneventful war with the Safavids, both sides decided further hostilities were detrimental and signed a treaty that lasted for decades. A reinforced treaty was also signed with Ferdinand in the West that would outlive Suleiman's reign and the Sultan finally had peace in both the East and the West for the first time during his long reign. But this was a minor high and devastating lows are about to come, first by a rebellion by the "False Mustafa."

So in this week's episode, we cover the fallout from the assignation of Prince Mustafa, Suleiman's oldest and most qualified son. We cover the blame that was thrown around most often towards the Sultana Roxelane, deserved or not.No matter who was at fault, the Empire lost what could have been a strong and highly capable leader who could have added to the vast success of his father.

Of course, nobody is perfect, no matter if you are a great leader or a lowly peasant. Even when honored with the title of magnificent, there are still skeletons in one's closet when all is said and done. Although the assignation of Sultan Suleiman I's first son Mustafa had more to do in the barbaric and ill-conceived succession practices, it was still the decision of the Sultan and it stained both his legacy, but also weakened the future of the empire by eliminating the most qualified heir of the Sultan.

So the string of Ottoman successes keeps going, but warning, in the next episode the Magnificent gets a chink in his armor. But before that he continues wiping the floor with Charles and his brother Ferdinand, delivering their most humiliating concession thus far. When we finish that tale, for now, we jump back to "east side" and the Safavids are causing trouble once again. Not as easy as the Habsburgs, the Safavids give the Ottomans a good back and forth before we wrap up this week's episode.

The Ottoman's run of success keeps on a rolling in this action-packed episode! From a stalemate in the Arabians Sea to a wipeout in Algeria to seizing even more control of Hungry from Charles V and his brother Ferdinand. Suleiman is truly living up to the title of magnificent and the Christian powers of Europe are still left with no solution to Ottoman domination.

In this episode of the history of the Ottoman Empire, we are back to the Suleiman vs. the West narrative. This time the Ottomans have their focus on Venice, who was supported by the Pope, and our old friend, and the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, who was aided by his great admiral, Doria. Finally, Suleiman is back to his winning ways, and not the false victories that he has been celebrating for his last few exhibitions, but actual victories that dealt major blows to the west and put the Ottomans in a position of power that they had never experienced before. Barbarossa also proved himself the superior to Doria not by decisive naval victories, but by outmaneuvering the superior forces of his western counterpart.

In this episode, we cover the rising tensions in the Mediterranean between Charles V And Suleiman I. Neither had adequate enough naval forces to take the other on, and there was a race between them to establish themselves in the seas. Both sides were lucky enough to secure themselves great admirals to aid them in establishing their respective empires navel presence. Andrea Doria for Charles V and Khair ad-Din Barbarossa for Suleiman. 

The first half of this episode is Suleiman's invasion of Persia, trying to steal with the Safavid problem once and for all!! But things go only a little better than his last European adventure.Traveling calamities, uncooperative Emperors, plagued the Ottomans again, but there were still gains made, most notably the city of peace, Baghdad. The second half of this episode can't be spoiled so download and listen to find out what comes next!

Back to the action! Back to Suleiman taking on the west, and kicking behinds! Oh wait, whoops, hold off on the gas for a moment, Suleiman is still stalling a little in his Ghazi campaigns against the west! In this episode we cover Suleiman's bling, his humiliating stalemate in Güns, and his loss of navel outposts in the Mediterranean. But we finish off with his diplomatic defeat of King Ferdinand of Hungry and a peace between the Sultan and the powers of the West so that he can focus on the east!

In this episode, we are covering more about all that made Suleiman the Magnificent. It was not only the battlefield that he excelled but was rare, all-purpose leader of his time. Suleiman was a very religious man, but not fanatical about his faith. Taking the best teachings of Islam like the importance put on justice being enforced equally between the elite and the average citizen, and Muslim and all others of the book. We also learn about one of the more influential woman of the empire, Suleiman's wife, Hurrem Sultan, otherwise known as Roxelane to Europe. And we finish off on the grandeur of Suleiman, he was not only one of the most effective military and just leaders, but also one of, if not the most, decadent.  

After reeling after his recent success, Suleiman was feeling himself and wanted to take on his big bad, Charles V. in Vienna. The Ottomans made it to the walls of Vienna, but as always Charles was nowhere near the hostilities with the Ottomans. Spoiler alert, but Suleiman's winning streak ends this episode.

Let's just face it, Sultan Süleyman I starts his rule out with a bang! We have covered him taking Belgrade, Rhodes, and now he is going back to Hungry with a bang! Before that we are introduced to Süleyman's right hand and Brother-in-law , Grand Vezir İbrahim Pash. İbrahim's first task was to settle affairs in the newly acquired Mamluk territories, after accomplishing that İbrahim would go on to achieve wide accolation for his performance in the Hungarian campaign, we leave this one on a high note for Süleyman, but that won't last long.

Süleyman isn't quite magnificent yet, but he is definitely proving himself on the battlefield. In this episode we are covering the Ottoman conquest of the Island of Rhodes, and in doing this Süleyman rectified the losses of his grandfather, Mehmed II.

So after doing our little pre work last episode on Sultan Süleyman I, we are ready to jump into the action of his magnificent rule, and so was he! In the first year of his rule he set out to right the wrongs of the past and finally capture Belgrade which was key to defeating their long enemy, Hungry, Gaining this key fortress was also geographically advantageous for further campaigning west! It was not a long war but an important victory (whoops 500 year old spoiler!) for the Ottomans!

Finally, i release another episode! Sorry once again for the delay, carpal tunnel is the worst, please remember to stretch when typing away! So we finally get to Suleiman! One of, if not the greatest Sultans in the line of Osman! This episode gives us an intro into his life and a bit about the world around him, for Suleiman was not the only great leader of his time.  I am also going over some of Suleiman's earliest proclamations and  a civil war that occurs early in Suleiman reign in his newly acquired Mamluk territories.

Who knew Selim would earn three episodes with less than 10 years on the thrown, but for such a short reign Selim packed it in! The conquest Selim experienced early in his rule has died down and this episode predominantly details the ramifications of Selim's victories on the Empire, and his build up to war with the Island of Rhodes, which he would never get the chance to fight. Lastly we review the life of Selim and how history, and his contemporaries viewed his reign.

Hey there everyone. first off I would like to offer my most sincere apologies for the lack of episodes for the last couple months. Life and a case of carpal tunnel have interfered with my  regular production. But with the research I have done we should be back on track! So this is an action packed episode about Selim's war with the Mamluks, and although the title is a major spoiler, I'l leave the details for you to discover while listening to the show!