Mesih Pasha, 21st Grand Vizier

Mesih Pasha or Misac Pasha[1] (died November 1501) was an Ottoman statesman of Byzantine Greek origin, being a nephew of the last Roman emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos. He served as Kapudan Pasha of the Ottoman Navy and was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire in 1501.

En, Tr

Life

Origin and early life

Mesih was related to the Palaiologoi, the last ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. According to the 16th-century Ecthesis Chronica, he was the son of a certain Gidos Palaiologos, identified by the contemporary Historia Turchesca (attributed to Donado da Lezze or Giovanni Maria Angiolello) as a brother of a Byzantine emperor.[2] This emperor is commonly held to have been Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine emperor, who was killed during the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in 1453.[3] If true, since Constantine XI died childless, and had the Ottomans failed to conquer Constantinople, Mesih or his brother Hass Murad Pasha might have succeeded him. Instead, Mesih rose to become one of the most powerful men in the state that destroyed the Byzantine Empire.[4] The Byzanto-Italian chronicler Theodore Spandounes, who claimed that Mesih was the brother of his own paternal grandmother, wrote that Mesih was ten years old at the time of Constantinople's fall. He and two of his brothers, one of whom was Hass Murad, were captured, converted to Islam, and raised as pages under the auspices of Sultan Mehmed II, as part of the devşirme system.[2][5]

Career under Mehmed II

Rise under Bayezid II

Disgrace and restoration to favour

Grand Vizierate and death

Family

Mesih had three known sons: Ali Bey, Mahmud Čelebi, and Bali Bey, who served as sanjak bey of Vulçitrin in 1503.[8]

References

Sources

See:

• Theodore Spandounes: On the Origins of the Ottoman Emperors, Cambridge University Press, 24 Jul 1997
• Other online google books 1
• Other online google books 2
• https://kulturenvanteri.com/tr/yer/mesih-pasanin-mezari/#17.1/41.01...
• Biography Mesih Paşa Source / Kaynak: İslâm Ansiklopedisi

From: Biography Mesih Paşa Source / Kaynak: İslâm Ansiklopedisi (google translation)

Mesih Pasha was of Greek origin and belonged to the Paleologos dynasty. According to Angiolello, the last Byzantine Emperor was XI. He is the son of Constantinos' brother. He is also related to the Venetian noble Contarini family on his mother's side. He was captured with his older brother Has Murad Pasha during the conquest of Istanbul, and both of them were taken into the service of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror and raised in the palace. According to a document dated 1491, it is understood that a third brother remained a Christian and lived in the vicinity of Syros (Serres).

There is no information in the sources about the first duties of Mesih Pasha. According to Kemalpaşazâde, he reached the rank of vizier at the end of Fatih's reign. This is most likely in the autumn of 1476 or the beginning of 1477. In two documents dated (November 26, 1477) and (1478), Mesih Pasha is mentioned as the second vizier. (1480) According to Angiolello, as the newly appointed fourth vizier, he was assigned to an expedition against the island of Rhodes, which was held by the Knights of Saint Jean. Since his siege was not successful, he was dismissed from the position and according to some sources, he was sent to the Sanjak Principality of Gallipoli. However, the fact that Gedik Ahmed Pasha was also shown as the Gallipoli sanjak lord in the same period makes this appointment suspicious. However, the fact that Mesih Pasha (1483) had a mosque, a caravanserai, a head house, a bozahouse and an unfinished madrasah built in Gallipoli can be seen as evidence that he was there during those years. The reason why Franz Babinger referred to the person who promised the Ottoman navy and flag to the Venetians in return for the domination of the Peloponnese with 40,000 gold coins as Mesih Pasha when he was the sanjak governor of Gallipoli in 1470 was due to a misreading of the document. In the document, "Maut" (Mahmud) is written, not Mesih.

In May or June of 1482, probably under the pressure of the then grand vizier - and Gedik Ahmed Pasha's father-in-law - İnegöllü İshak Pasha, he became the vizier of the dome, replacing Cezerî Kasım Pasha. Thus, he established a certain closeness with İshak Pasha and the ruling group of Gedik Ahmed Pasha, who apparently shook the sultan's trust several times. However, he left no doubt about his loyalty to Bayezid II.. Perhaps for this reason, after Cem Sultan's escape to the island of Rhodes (September 1482), he took part in the diplomatic scene and, together with Gedik Ahmed Pasha, negotiated with the ambassadors of the Knights of Rhodes on this sensitive issue. Although the negotiations were at risk for a while due to Gedik Ahmed Pasha's harsh attitude, İsa Pasha brought this issue to a conclusion that could be considered successful. This situation is II. It increased Bayezid's confidence in himself. As a matter of fact, after the murder of Gedik Ahmed Pasha (November 1482), he became the second vizier instead. After a short while, when İshak Pasha was sent to the Sanjak Principality of Thessaloniki, which was a kind of retirement position, he became vizier according to Kemalpaşazâde and remained in this position until (1485). Oruç b. Although Dâvud Pasha is shown as the first vizier for this period in the expanded copy of Âdil's Târîh-i Âl-i Osman, the accuracy of this information is doubtful. As a matter of fact, according to Kemalpaşazâde, the "vizier" (1484) he participated in Bayezid II.'s Kili and Akkirman campaigns.

(1485) he was suddenly dismissed and appointed as sub-chief of Plovdiv, but the reason for this is not stated in the sources. His being sent to such a humble place as punishment may be related to the Cem issue or the Ottoman-Mamluk wars that broke out at that time. In an archive in the Topkapi Palace Museum Archives, probably from those years, Mesih Pasha, addressing Bayezid II., he writes that his deprivation of the sultan's favor was due solely to the intrigues of his enemies and asks him to allow the sultan to come to him again. Partly under the influence of this (1487), Kefe was appointed as the sanjak principality. It is understood from a Kaffa customs book dated (1488) that he pursued his own economic interests in addition to some political activities and was involved in the slave trade from Azov through his kethüda.

When Bayezid II.'s younger son Mehmed (1489) was appointed as the governor of Kefe, Mesih Pasha most likely left there. According to the Arabic foundation deed dated (1491), there was a mosque with zawiyas in the Kapi Masjid neighborhood of Eğridir at that time, but not even a trace of it remains today. The fact that he dedicated it to buk'a suggests that he was on duty in the Hamid sanjak at that time.

(1497) Kemalpaşazâde, shows Mesih Pasha as the sanjak lord of Silistra, and also the margrave of Akkirman and Kili. Oruç b. In Âdil's Târîh-i Âl-i Osman, he is recorded only as Akkirman sanjak bey. In a record dated (1501), there is a reference to his presence as a sanjak lord in Silistra. Accordingly, while he was a sanjak principality, he corresponded with Moldavia Voivode Stefan regarding a debt lawsuit. During the attack of Polish King Johann Albrecht on Moldavia in the summer of 1497, İsa Pasha did not participate in the war and sent his voivode Yahya Agha. Maybe that's why, after the Polish army retreated, Mesih Pasha was dismissed. (1499) When the Peloponnese campaign against Venice started, he went on a pilgrimage.

Mesih Pasha, who could not regain the sultan's trust for fourteen years, became vizier again upon the death of Çandarlızâde İbrâhim Pasha (December 14, 1499), according to both Sanuto and Kemalpaşazâde, upon his return from pilgrimage. However, two months later, he had to leave the viziership to Hadım Yakub Pasha, probably because he was considered a friend of Venice. As the second vizier and his friend Hersekzâde Ahmed Pasha as the third vizier, they participated in the Mora campaign, which continued in 1500.

Mesih Pasha, who became vizier again after the Venetian war, set out from Istanbul (25 March 1501) to suppress a rebellion of Karamanoğlu Mustafa, supported by the people of Varsak, in Taşili. He suppressed the uprising and established military fortifications in the Taşili region and established control. He also ensured the obedience of the clan lords who participated in the rebellion. Since he completed his mission successfully (July 1501), he was asked to return to Istanbul. After his return to Istanbul, he did not inform the sultan that Lesbos was taken by the French and Venetian allied navies. He incurred the wrath of Bayezid. The sultan even hit his head with the bow in his hand several times and said harsh words to him. A few days after this incident (November 17, 1501), while he was supervising the fire extinguishing efforts in Galata, he was seriously injured in his leg by a falling stone and then died. Although he had a mosque built in Istanbul (Bodrum Mosque, converted from a church) the year he died, he was buried next to his older brother Has Murad Pasha's mosque in Aksaray, Istanbul. The gravestone is still there.

Historian-poet Bihiştî's comparison of Mesih Pasha to the Iranian poet Câmî indicates that the pasha wrote poetry, even if it is a eulogy. According to the same author, he was a friend of arts and scientists. The names of the three sons of Mesih Pasha are known: Ali Bey, Mahmud Çelebi and (1503) Bâlî Bey, the sanjak bey of Vulçıtr. It is also stated that he was the trustee of his grandson Ahmed Bey's (1519) foundation in Gallipoli.

Source: İslâm Ansiklopedisi

• Aksaray, Fatih
• Murat Pasha Mosque, Aksaray