1552 Munster Leaves Turkey Mehmed Selim Suleiman Rhodes

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1552 Description of the Ottoman Empire from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Mehmed II, Bayezid II, Selim I, Suleiman I
Peace with Venice, Siege of Rhodes, Wars in the Balkans, Conquest of Egypt, Capture of Belgrade and Rhodes
Two Leaves

Two authentic woodcut leaves from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. French edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1552. Book IV, pages 1193-4, 1197-8.

Sebastian Münster (1488-1552) was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and Hebrew scholar whose Cosmographia (1544; "Cosmography") was the earliest German description of the world and a major work - after the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493 - in the revival of geographic thought in 16th-century Europe. Altogether, about 40 editions of the Cosmographia appeared during 1544-1628. Although other cosmographies predate Münster's, he is given first place in historical discussions of this sort of publication, and was a major influence on his subject for over 200 years. Cosmographia contained not only the latest maps and views of many well-known cities, but included an encyclopaedic amount of detail about the known - and unknown - world and undoubtedly must have been one of the most widely read books of its time. Aside from the well-known maps and views present in the Cosmographia (including the first separate printed map of the Western Hemisphere), the text is thickly sprinkled with vigorous woodcuts: portraits of kings and princes, costumes and occupations, habits and customs, flora and fauna, monsters and horrors.

Click here for more information about Münster and Cosmographia, including the content and list of editions and artists

These two authentic woodcut leaves from the early French edition of Cosmographia are devoted to Turkey.The Ottoman Empire, created by Turkish tribes from Anatolia, lasted from the decline of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th century until the establishment of Turkey as a republic in 1922. It was named for Osman, an emir in Bithynia who began the conquest of neighbouring regions and who founded the empire's dynasty about 1300. The leaves cover the period of the Ottoman sultans Mehmed II, Bayezid II, Selim I, and Suleiman I.

Page 1193 (top) describes the reign of Mehmed II ("Mahomet", Muhammad II). To the West, Mehmed was a source of anguish and terror. Stung by his capture of Constantinople, successive popes talked of crusades against the Turk and exhorted the European powers to join the common cause. Although such plans foundered, Mehmed faced a strong Western foe in Venice, which found Turkish disruption of its Levantine commerce intolerable. From 1463 to 1479 Venice made war on Mehmed, supporting the Albanians and the Turkomans against him and attacking his coasts. But in 1470 the Venetians lost Negroponte (Euboea), and a few years later Mehmed's forces, victorious in Albania, menaced Venice itself around the Adriatic headlands. The republic was therefore forced to accept disadvantageous peace terms. On the other hand, when Mohammed attempted to seize the island of Rhodes in 1480, it was successfully defended by the knights of St. John (Hospitalers). In 1481, as he prepared a new expedition against Rhodes, Mohammed suddenly fell ill and died on May 3. The text mentions all these events.

Page 1193 (bottom) and 1194 talk about Bayezid II, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. Bayezid II's overriding concern was the quarrel with his brother Cem ("Zyzime"), who claimed the throne and sought military backing from the Knights of St. John in Rhodes. Eventually the Knights handed Cem over to Pope Innocent VIII. The Pope thought of using Cem as a tool to drive the Turks out of Europe, but as the Papal Crusade failed to come to fruition, Cem was left to languish and die in a Neapolitan prison. Throughout his reign, Bayezid II engaged in numerous campaigns to conquer the Venetian-held despotate of Morea, accurately defining this region as the key to future Ottoman naval power in the Eastern Mediterranean. In the Balkans, he rounded off the empire south of the Danube and Sava by taking Herzegovina (1483), leaving only Belgrade outside Ottoman control. The Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus was interested mainly in establishing his rule over Bohemia and agreed to peace with the Ottomans (1484), and, after his death, struggles for succession left this front relatively quiet for the remainder of Bayezid's reign. Because these advances conflicted with the ambitions of Poland, in 1483-84 war ensued, until the diversion of Poland by the threat of Muscovy under Ivan III the Great left this front quiet also after 1484. Bayezid then tried to use Hungarian internal dissension to take Belgrade, without success, and raiding forces sent into Transylvania, Croatia, and Carinthia were turned back.

Pages 1197 and 1198 (top) talk about Selim I ("The Grim"), the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. The text talks about the conquest of the Middle East. Between 1514 and 1517 Selim subdued the Persian Safavid dynasty, secured easy victories in Syria, and executed the Mameluke sultan in Egypt. He also finished moving the government from Edirne to Istanbul, developed a criminal code, and created a naval fleet. At his death the empire stretched from the Danube River and the Adriatic Sea to the banks of the Nile River and the Indian Ocean.

Page 1198 describes the beginning of the reign of Suleyman I the Magnificent (1494-1566) ("Solyman", Suleiman) - sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566, who not only undertook bold military campaigns that enlarged his realm but also oversaw the development of what came to be regarded as the most characteristic achievements of Ottoman civilization in the fields of law, literature, art, and architecture. Suleyman succeeded his father Selim I as sultan in September 1520 and began his reign with campaigns against the Christian powers in central Europe and the Mediterranean. Belgrade fell to him in 1521 and Rhodes, long under the rule of the Knights of St. John, in 1522. See scans for more details; click image to view larger version.

Pages measure 8.3 x 12.8 inches. Printed on laid paper. The leaves are in good condition. Imperfections: minor browning; marginal water stains; one faint marginal fold. It is exceptionally interesting historical document which will look great with a mat and frame.

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