The Hapsburg dynasty was based in Austria but, through wars and marriage alliances, it controlled a large part of western Europe, including Spain, Portugal, Poland and Hungary, as well as parts of the Netherlands and Italy. Suleiman laid siege to Vienna, Austria, in 1529. After 19 days, sections of the walls had been pierced and some of the outer suburbs burned. However, a long and costly siege followed and, ultimately, Suleiman withdrew his forces. Three years later, Suleiman launched another failed attempt at taking Vienna. This failure marked the end of the Sultan’s period of empirical expansion and Suleiman instead focused on administering the territory he had already gained. 4.5.2 Life and law under Suleiman In Türkiye, Suleiman is known as Sultan Suleiman el-Kununi — the Lawgiver — because he organised a large-scale rewriting of the legal code. This was necessary because the empire contained many new regions and different ways of life.
SOURCE3 A statue of Suleiman the Magnificent in Istanbul, Türkiye
SOURCE4 An inscription in which Suleiman describes his power, from M. Guboglu, Palaeografia si diplomatica Turco-Osmana, Bucarest , 1958, p. 167, facsimile no. 7, quoted in H. Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire , Phoenix Press, p. 41 I am God’s slave and sultan of this world. By the grace of God I am head of Mohammed’s community. God’s might and Mohammed’s miracles are my companions. I am Suleyman, in whose name the hutbe [religious sermon] is read in Mecca and Medina. In Baghdad I am the shah, in Byzantine realms the Caesar, and in Egypt the sultan; who sends his fleets to the seas of Europe, the Maghrib and India. I am the sultan who took the crown and throne of Hungary and granted them to a humble slave. The voivoda [governor] Petru raised his head in revolt, but my horse’s hoofs ground him into the dust, and I conquered the land of Moldavia.
SkillBuilder discussion Using historical sources 1. How does the inscription
SOURCE5 Portrait of Suleiman, attributed to the Venetian Renaissance painter Titian. There is no evidence that Titian ever met or saw Suleiman.
by Suleiman the Magnificent help
historians understand how he viewed himself and his power in the Ottoman Empire? 2. Why is it important to know that the portrait of Suleiman, SOURCE5 , attributed to Titian was created without the artist having met or seen Suleiman? 3. Discuss how the above affects its reliability as a historical source.
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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