30 Facts About Bayezid I

Bayezid I, known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt, was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402.

Bayezid I adopted the title of Sultan-i Rum, Rum being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire.

Bayezid I defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Nicopolis in what is Bulgaria in 1396.

Bayezid I was the son of Murad I and his Greek wife, Gulcicek Hatun.

Bayezid I was an impetuous soldier, earning the nickname "Thunderbolt" in a battle against the Karamanids.

Bayezid I ascended to the throne following the death of his father, Murad I, who was killed by Serbian knight Milos Obilic during, or immediately after, the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, soon after which Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Sultanate.

In 1390, Bayezid I took as a wife Princess Olivera Despina, the daughter of Prince Lazar of Serbia, who lost his life in Kosovo.

Bayezid I recognized Stefan Lazarevic, the son of Lazar, as the new Serbian leader - later despot - with considerable autonomy.

Upper Serbia resisted the Ottomans until Bayezid I captured Skopje in 1391, converting the city into an important base of operations.

However, Bayezid I doubted the loyalty of his Muslim Turkish followers, so he relied heavily on his Serbian and Byzantine vassal troops in these conquests.

Nevertheless, Bayezid I pushed on and overwhelmed the remaining beyliks, as well as taking the cities of Aksehir and Nigde, as well as their capital Konya from the Karaman.

At this point, Bayezid I accepted peace proposals from Karaman, concerned that further advances would antagonize his Turkoman followers and lead them to ally with Kadi Burhan al-Din.

Once peace had been made with Karaman, Bayezid I moved north against Kastamonu which had given refuge to many fleeing from his forces, and conquered both that city as well as Sinop.

In 1394 Bayezid I crossed the River Danube to attack Wallachia, ruled at that time by Mircea the Elder.

In 1394, Bayezid I laid siege to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

Bayezid I built the magnificent Ulu Cami in Bursa, to celebrate this victory.

The beleaguered Byzantines had their reprieve when Bayezid I fought the Timurid Empire in the east.

Bayezid I's army was considered one of the best in the Islamic world.

In 1397, Bayezid I defeated the emir of Karaman in Akcay, killing him and annexing his territory.

In 1400, Timur succeeded in rousing the local Turkic beyliks who had been vassals of the Ottomans to join him in his attack on Bayezid I, who was considered one of the most powerful rulers in the Muslim world during that period.

Many writers claim that Bayezid I was mistreated by the Timurids.

However, writers and historians from Timur's own court reported that Bayezid I was treated well, and that Timur even mourned his death.

Bayezid I was allegedly chained, and forced to watch how his beloved wife, Olivera, served Timur at dinner.

Sharafaddin Yazdi in Zafar-nama wrote that Bayezid I was treated with respect, and at his request, Turco-Mongols found his son among the captives and brought him to his father.

Ibn Arabshah wrote that "Bayezid I's heart was broken to pieces" when he saw that his wives and concubines were serving at a banquet.

Bayezid I cared little for state affairs, which he entrusted to his governors.

Bayezid I's purpose was to increase the nation of the Prophet and to decrease that of the Romans.

Bayezid I managed to expand the territory of the Ottoman Empire to the Danube and the Euphrates.

The defeat of Bayezid I became a popular subject for later Western European writers, composers, and painters.

Sultan Bayezid I was portrayed in the Serbian 1989 historical drama film Battle of Kosovo, as a participant of the Battle of Kosovo by actor Branislav Lecic, and in the Romanian historical drama Mircea by Ion Ritiu as a young Sultan who fought in the battles of Rovine, Nicopolis and Angora.