Word: suleiman
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...brutal conquerors are somewhat onesided. The damage wrought in Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 was, in the light of those times, very slight. Contrast this with the incredible rape, vandalism and slaughter that accompanied the Christian armies of the Fourth Crusade when they sacked Constantinople in 1204. Suleiman I, as well as many others of his dynasty, looks like an angel when compared with many of his "civilized" Christian contemporaries in Europe...
...Magnificent & the Sot. The metals and jewels for the sultans' baubles usually came from abroad. Selim's only son, Suleiman the Magnificent, was probably responsible for a good part of the collection. Under him, the empire stretched to the Adriatic Sea and gobbled up Rhodes. Suleiman's admirals could pillage the Mediterranean, and it was thought proper for a grateful admiral to shower his sultan with gifts...
...Suleiman himself was a sulky Sultan. He was rightly called The Lawgiver, but he beheaded grand viziers right and left, even had his two ablest sons murdered. The one remaining son eventually became Selim the Sot, the first of a long line of drunkards and degenerates that ruled until after World War I, when the sultanate fell and the great Mustapha Kemal Ataturk took over the rule of Turkey...
...Topkapi Museum was originally a palace built in the 1470s for the retinue of Mohammed the Conqueror. As the empire grew, so did the retinue, until under Suleiman, it numbered more than 5,000. Attached to the imperial household, working in tiny studios scattered through the rambling palace grounds, were artisans and craftsmen whose job was to transform the raw plunder of war into objects that enhanced the glory of the sultan. The artisans also instructed the sultans' sons, for each young prince had to have at least one skill not connected with the throne. Suleiman was an expert...
...used up seven years' tax revenue from Egypt to realize his dream. In 1099, crusaders mounted a gold cross on the dome and turned it into a church. Later, Saladin Avon it back for Islam, lovingly coated the interior arches with mosaic, the walls with marble. Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the exterior walls covered with splendid blue tiles...