European Supporters of Mehmed II

[Dom]

29 May 2013 will be the 560th anniversary of the fall of
Constantinople.

Years ago, I learned that the Venetian oligarchs remained neutral
during the seige of Constantinople in 1453. The Genoese participated
in the defense, and their force of 700 was commanded by Giovanni
Giustiniani who was mortally wounded.

Three weeks ago, when I visited the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, I
was stunned to see the medallion, by the Florentine Bertoldo di
Giovanni, celebrating Mehmed II and his conquest.

http://cdn2.all-art.org/artists-A/b10/97.jpg

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Mehmed+II+Bertoldo+di+Giovanni&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=li&biw=1280&bih=574&sei=peCKUYmCM-rR0gG5gIHQBw

It seems that the Florentine oligarchs supported Mehmed II. What other
European oligarchies supported him?

[jwshe...@satx.rr.com]

The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople (The Middle Ages
Series) [Paperback]
Donald E. Queller (Author), Thomas F. Madden (Author)

On August 15, 1199, Pope Innocent III called for a renewed effort to
deliver Jerusalem from the Infidel, but the Fourth Crusade had a very
different outcome from the one he preached. Proceeding no further than
Constantinople, the Crusaders sacked the capital of eastern
Christendom and installed a Latin ruler on the throne of Byzantium.
This revised and expanded edition of The Fourth Crusade gives fresh
emphasis to events in Byzantium and the Byzantine response to the
actions of the Crusaders. Included in this edition is a chapter on the
sack of Constantinople and the election of its Latin emperor.

A History Book Club selection.

http://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Crusade-Conquest-Constantinople-Middle/dp/0812217136

[Dom]

On May 20, 2:19 pm, "jwsheffi...@satx.rr.com"

> http://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Crusade-Conquest-Constantinople-Middle/d...

My message concerned 1453, and I asked: What other European
oligarchies supported Mehmed II?

[AlexMilman]

You did not prove that Venice SUPPORTED him either. Medal could easily
be a private business: Mehmed II was a patron of the arts and
cultivated Italian artists. Venetian Republic was at war with Mehmed
more than once.

BTW, why are you using term 'oligarchy'? All states of the time were
not democratic but they are rarely referenced as 'oligarchies'. This
term notwithstanding, he was supported by the Khanate of Crimea.

[Dom]

As I stated in my original message, I have read that Venice remained
NEUTRAL. According to the following, the Florentine oligarchs were
looking forward to "the imminent Turkish invasion of the Kingdom of
Naples."
=================

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O134080/mehmed-ii-medal-di-giovanni-bertoldo/

Bertoldo di Giovanni was household sculptor to the Medici family in
Florence and designed this, his only signed medal, under the patronage
of Lorenzo de'Medici (Il Magnifico) in about 1480. An envoy was sent
from Mehmed II requesting artists be sent from Florence to Istanbul,
however Bertoldo himself never went to the Sultan's court. He probably
derived this portrait from the artist Gentile Bellini's portrait medal
of Mehmed II, executed during his time in the Sultan's court, an
example of which may have been sent to Florence as a diplomatic gift.
Lorenzo may have commissioned this medal in turn in gratitude for the
Sultan's seizure of the man who assassinated his brother, Guiliano
de'Medici, in the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478, and to demonstrate
Florentine artistic pre-eminence.
The reverse of the medal shows a triumphal chariot holding the
personifications of Ottoman conquered territories. It celebrates
Mehmed's military glory and connects him visually with the Triumphs of
the Roman Emperors, thus flattering his position as self-styled heir
to the Holy Roman Empire after his capture of Constantinople and
defeat of the remains of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. The impresa of
a flaming chair used by the Kings of Naples, enemies of Florence at
that time, is depicted on the side of the triumphal chariot. This
highly political portrait medal implies Lorenzo's support of the
imminent Turkish invasion of the Kingdom of Naples.