Page 57 - All About History - Issue 56-17

Suleiman the Magnificent

Henry VIII

The sultan’s Empire
Top Trumps
architect How do the leaders compare

Mimar Sinan’s creative genius against each other?
helped forge Suleiman’s
golden age
Military strength
5 CHARLES V
wanted to consolidate his dynasty
Mimar Sinan was a Janissary in Suleiman’s
army for most of his early life and religious tolerance 4
eventually became captain of the guard. low-MediuM
This allowed him to travel abroad on PoPulation
numerous campaigns to places like Egypt 3 Million 2
and Greece, inspiring and developing his
love for architecture and engineering. total area 1
151.000 KM 2
Although he only began his architectural career at the
age of 46, his flair and genius were quickly recognised conquests
and earned him the position of royal architect. His career not Many atteMPts Made 2
spanned three sultans — Suleiman and his two successors,
Selim II and Murad II. In their honour, Sinan would
complete over 300 structures, ranging from mosques to
palaces, baths and pavilions, many of which are considered SULEIMAN
to be the finest examples of Islamic architecture. 8
Sinan is most famous for three architectural triumphs: Military strength
the Şehzade Mosque, built for Suleiman’s son Mehmed; had a large, ferocious arMy 2
the dazzling Süleymaniye Mosque in modern-day religious tolerance
Istanbul; and the elegant Mosque of Selim II in Edirne. He low 9
was greatly influenced by the 6th-century Byzantine PoPulation
architecture of Constantinople, in particular the Hagia
Sophia, whose domes dominated the capital’s skyline. 28 Million 9
Sinan’s works became the apogee of Ottoman total area
architecture as he used the classical dome structure for 4,000,000 KM 2 8
his mosques, each erected majestically on top of one conquests
another, framed by tall, slender minarets and surrounded very Militarily caPable
by peaceful gardens. He began to play with the design, 9
building pyramid-like bases, changing the proportions,
opening the interior of the structure, and creating windows Military strength 9
to allow more light. led the feared Jannisaries
The architect is believed to have remarked, “The religious tolerance Suleiman after the capture
Şehzade is my apprentice work, Süleimaniye my 6 of Buda in 1529
achievement, and the Selimiye my masterwork.” Yet any high
visitor to Istanbul would agree that his Süleimaniye Mosque PoPulation 7
was a triumph of architecture and design, a mesh of 5 Million
angular and spherical surfaces, and today it still stands as a total area 9
colossal symbol of the Ottoman Empire. 2,273,720 kM 2
conquests
an able Military strategist

the Ottomans’ most ambitious expedition and
thrust towards the West would ultimately result
in failure: in 1529, Suleiman marched through the
valley of the Danube and laid siege to Vienna. It
would be his first defeat and, despite a second
attempt in 1532, the very heart of the Holy Roman
Empire eluded him.
Still, Suleiman’s armies had struck fear among
his European counterparts. His formidable elite
infantry were the feared Janissaries, formed from
prisoners of war and slaves but mostly recruited
from Christian children in Greece, Albania and
the Balkans. Taken into the heart of the Ottoman
Empire, they were trained and tutored to become
the finest troops and were the most loyal
The beautiful interior of defenders of the sultan.
the Şehzade Mosque in The Austrian ambassador Ogier de Busbecq
modern-day Istanbul
wrote some years later that the sultan’s forces
showed incredible discipline: they were patient,
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