Suleiman the Magnificent Rules
In 1520, Suleiman I became sultan of the Ottoman Empire, beginning a reign of about forty-six years that is widely regarded as the empire's high point. Known in Europe as "the Magnificent" and in the Ottoman world as "Kanuni," the Lawgiver, he led armies deep into Europe and the Middle East, oversaw a flourishing of architecture and letters, and left behind a legal and administrative system that shaped the empire for generations.
Suleiman inherited a strong state. His father, Selim I, had doubled the empire's size in a short reign by defeating the Safavids of Persia and conquering the Mamluk Sultanate, which brought Syria, Egypt, and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina under Ottoman rule. The dynasty already held Constantinople, taken by Mehmed II in 1453, and a powerful standing army that included the elite Janissary infantry. Suleiman, who had served as a provincial governor before his accession, came to the throne with an established bureaucracy and a full treasury.
His early campaigns were striking. He captured Belgrade in 1521 and drove the Knights of St. John from Rhodes in 1522. In 1526 the Ottomans crushed the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohács, and Hungary's king died in the fighting. Much of the kingdom later came under Ottoman control or influence. In 1529 Suleiman besieged Vienna, the Habsburg capital, but autumn weather and stretched supply lines forced him to withdraw. A second attempt in 1532 did not reach the city. Vienna marked the practical limit of Ottoman advance in central Europe, though the empire remained a major presence there for well over a century. Suleiman also fought Persia, took Baghdad in 1534, and extended Ottoman naval power across the Mediterranean, aided by commanders such as Hayreddin Barbarossa.
At home, Suleiman is remembered for codifying and harmonizing laws that combined Islamic law with sultanic decrees, which earned him his Turkish epithet. The court sponsored poets, painters, and calligraphers, and the architect Mimar Sinan designed mosques and public buildings across the empire, including the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul. Suleiman himself wrote poetry under the pen name Muhibbi. His household drew lasting fascination as well, especially his marriage to Hürrem Sultan, a former concubine who became one of the most influential women in Ottoman history.
The later years of the reign were darker. Suleiman had his eldest son Mustafa executed in 1553, and rivalry among his remaining sons followed. He died in 1566 while on campaign in Hungary. Some historians see signs of strain, such as financial pressures and a less dynamic succession, in this period, though the idea of an abrupt decline after his death has been challenged. Even so, his reign became the benchmark against which later Ottoman rulers were measured.