Jem Sultan: The Adventures of a Captive Turkish Prince in Renaissance Europe - Hardcover

Freely, John

3.78

69 ratings by Goodreads

9780007150663: Jem Sultan: The Adventures of a Captive Turkish Prince in Renaissance Europe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007150660 ISBN 13: 9780007150663

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2004

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A remarkable tale of empire and exile, restoring to vivid life one of the most extraordinary and colourful figures of medieval history.

Jem Sultan, born in December 1459, was one of the wonders of his age. A Turkish prince held captive in Europe at a time when the Ottoman Empire was at its peak, he was renowned throughout the continent as a romantic, mysterious figure. Today he is almost forgotten in the West, but in Turkey he is still a heroic figure, a gallant poet-prince who never grows old, his tomb a place of pilgrimage.

Jem Sultan was a son of Sultan Mehmet II, known as the Conqueror after his capture of Constantinople in 1453. When Mehmet died in 1481 Jem and his brother Beyazet fought a year-long war for the succession. Jem lost, and fled to Rhodes. He was held for seven years in various castles in France, then imprisoned in the Vatican. He died in 1495, probably poisoned by the infamous Borgia Pope, Alexander VI. His body was finally returned to Turkey in 1499.

John Freely, who has had access to original documents in English, Turkish, French and Italian, tells the remarkable story of Jem Sultan from his childhood and youth in the palaces of the Ottoman Empire through his war with his brother and his long years of exile in Europe.

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Review:

From the reviews of John Freely’s Inside the Seraglio: Private Lives of the Sultans of Istanbul:

‘Fascinating, beautifully researched and riveting in its detail’ Christopher Fowler, Independent on Sunday

‘Richly coloured and highly entertaining’ Lawrence James, The Times

From the reviews of The Lost Messiah: In Search of Sabbatai Sevi:

‘A book that any historian would be proud of’ Damian Thompson, Mail on Sunday

About the Author:

John Freely is the distinguished author of many books on subjects related to Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean. His most recent book is The Lost Messiah: In Search of Sabbatai Sevi.

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