ABSTRACT
Early in his reign, while Europe was still under the impression that Mehmed II was an incompetent young man of no consequence and no threat to the continent, the sultan turned his attention to an immediate problem in the east and led an expedition into Anatolia to suppress the rebellious Ibrahim Beg of Karaman.1 While Mehmed was involved in this serious upheaval in Asia Minor, the Constantinopolitan court decided to revive the old game of “inventing” contenders to the Ottoman throne and of fomenting civil wars among the Turks, as it had successfully done under Manuel II Palaiologos at the beginning of the quattrocento and, with mixed results, in the early reign of John VIII, who did not make a good player in this game of diplomacy.2 Under Constantine XI this tactic, one that was much favored by Greek diplomats, proved totally counter-productive. Perhaps the ministers of the emperor were aware of the futility of their efforts; perhaps underlying their feeble attempts was a desire to secure much-needed funds for Constantinople’s empty treasury, for Constantine XI had proved unable to persuade his subjects and his allies, the Italians, to contribute their fair share. Consequently, Constantine XI decided to blackmail the sultan. In the care of the Greek emperor was Orhan, a distant relative of Mehmed II.3 After Mehmed had ascended the Ottoman throne, he approved the annual payment of 300,000 aspers, the revenues from Orhan’s property in the vicinity of the Strymon River, for his relative’s expenses in Constantinople.4While Mehmed was trying to put down Ibrahim Beg’s rebellion, the Greek court took the opportunity to apply pressure:5
hJga;r mwra;tw'n JRwmaivwn sunagwgh;ejskevyatovtina mataivan boulhvn, steivlasa pro;" aujto;n [Mehmed II] prevsbei", levgousin... ÆoJbasileu;" tw'n JRwmaivwn th;n tw'n kat je[to" ajsprw'n triakosivwn ciliavdwn posovthta oujkatadevcetai. Kai;ga;r oJ jOrcavn, ...uJpavrcei tevleio" a[ndra" th'/hJlikiva/...ejk tw'n duvo ou\n e}n aijtou'men, h]th;n provsodon diplasiavsate, h]to;n jOrca;n ajpoluvomen.Æ
1 MCT, p. 70; PaL 2: 108; FC, p. 64; LCB, p. 395; and Nicol, The Immortal Emperor, pp. 40 and 51. 2 For the events in Manuel’s reign, cf. Barker, Manuel II Palaeologus, ch. 4. For the failures of John VIII at the same game, cf. Philippides, Constantine XI Dragas ˚Palaeologus, ch. 3. 3 Orhan is thought to have been a grandson of Suleyman I, according to MCT, p. 70; LCB, p. 395; FC, p. 56; and Nicol, The Immortal Emperor, p. 52. There is only one statement in regard to Orhan’s family in Greek sources, that of Khalkokondyles 398B: jOrcavnhn to;n Mousoulmavnew [Suleyman?] uiJidou'n. Doubt, however, is expressed in Alderson, Table 24, n. 16.
