Marea Neagră în lupta pentru succesiunea la tronul otoman din anii 1510-1512
The Black Sea and the struggle for succession to the Ottoman throne, 1510-1512

Summary/Abstract: The present study is based on the account made by the Venetian ambassador Andrea Foscolo in 1512, published not long ago, of his mission to Istanbul, which occurred towards the end of Sultan Bayezid II’s reign. The battle for succession between the Sultan’s sons, which began rather early, was eventually won by Selim, the beylerbey of Trebizond, who made an alliance with the Khan of Crimea, Mengli Giray, and who was able to place under his influence, successively, the princes of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new data provided here include the accurate chronology and the number of ships with which Selim sailed from Trebizond to Caffa, Crimea, in the autumn of 1510, and the information according to which, once the news about Selim’s enterprise had reached the Ottoman capital, the crossing points on the Danube were blocked. All the efforts made by Selim in 1510-1512 attest to the importance attributed by him to the Black Sea, in his struggle against his opponents. A better assessment can also be made of the major role of the Crimean Khanate and the Romanian Principalities, especially at a time when the Ottoman Empire was subjected to centrifugal tendencies, such as in the case investigated here.

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