Editing Bayezid I

{{Short description|Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Bayezid I
| title        = {{ubl|Sultan-ı İklîm-i Rum|Sultanu'l-Guzat ve'l-Mücahidin<ref>{{cite book |author=Kemal Çiçek |author2=Ercüment Kuran |author3=Nejat Göyünç |author4=Halil İnalcık |author5=İlber Ortaylı |author6=Güler Eren|publisher=Yeni Türkiye|year=2000|page=31|quote=In the letter coming with the envoy, Sultan Bayezid I became pleased for it addressed him as "Sultanu'l-Guzat ve'l-Mücahidin" (The Sultan of Ghazis and Holy Warriors)...|title=The Great Ottoman-Turkish Civilisation: Philosophy, science, and institutions}}</ref>|[[Khan (title)|Khan]]}}
| titletext    = 
| more         = 
| type         = 
| image        = [[File:Bayezid_I_by_Cristofano_dell'Altissimo.jpg]]

| alt          = 
| caption      = Bayezid I painted in the 16th century
| succession   = [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan of the Ottoman Empire]] ([[Padishah]])
| moretext     = 
| reign        = 16 June 1389 – 20 July 1402
| coronation   = 
| cor-type     = 
| predecessor  = [[Murad I]]
| regent       = 
| reg-type     = 
| successor    = {{Collapsible list|title={{nobold|[[Ottoman Interregnum|''Interregnum'']] (1402 – 1413)}}|
| [[Süleyman Çelebi]] (1402–1411)
| [[İsa Çelebi]] (1403)
| [[Musa Çelebi]] (1411–1413)
}}
[[Mehmed I]]
| spouse       = [[Devletşah Sultan Hatun]]<br />[[Devlet Hatun]]<br />[[Olivera Lazarević|Olivera Despina Lazarević]]<br />[[Hafsa Hatun]]<br/>[[Maria Fadrique]]<br />[[#Consorts|Others]]
| spouse-type  = Consorts
| issue        = [[Fatma Hundi Hatun]]<br/>[[Süleyman Çelebi]]<br/>[[İsa Çelebi]]<br/>[[Musa Çelebi]]<br/>[[Mustafa Çelebi]]<br/> [[Mehmed I]]
| issue-link   = #Sons
| issue-pipe   = Among others
| full name    = Bayezid Khan bin Murad Khan
| house        = [[Ottoman dynasty|Ottoman]]
| house-type   = Dynasty
| father       = [[Murad I]]
| mother       = [[Gülçiçek Hatun]]
| birth_date   = {{circa|1360}}
| birth_place  = [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Beylik]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1403|3|8|1360|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Akşehir]], then under [[Timurid Empire|Timurid]] occupation
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = [[Bayezid I Mosque]], Bursa
| signature_type = [[Tughra]]
| religion     = [[Sunni Islam]]
| signature    = Tughra_of_Bayezid_I.svg
}}

'''Bayezid I''' ({{langx|ota|بايزيد اول}}; {{langx|tr|I. Bayezid}}), also known as '''Bayezid the Thunderbolt''' ({{langx|ota|link=no|یلدیرم بايزيد}}; {{langx|tr|Yıldırım Bayezid|link=no}}; {{circa|1360}} – 8 March 1403),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bayezid-I|title=Bayezid I - Ottoman sultan|website=britannica.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402083632/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bayezid-I|archive-date=2 April 2016}}</ref> was the [[sultan of the Ottoman Empire]] from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''[[Rûm]]'' being the Arabic name for the [[Eastern Roman Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L6-VRgVzRcUC|title=The Imperial Harem: Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire|first=Leslie P.|last=Peirce|date=11 May 1993|publisher=Oxford University Press|via=Google Books|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923193805/https://books.google.nl/books?id=L6-VRgVzRcUC&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y&hl=nl|archive-date=23 September 2017|isbn=978-0-19-508677-5}}</ref> In 1394, Bayezid unsuccessfully [[Siege of Constantinople (1394–1402)|besieged Constantinople]]. Bayezid vanquished all the Beyliks and proceeded to conquer and vassalize the entirety of Anatolia. In 1402, he once more besieged Constantinople, appearing to find success, but he ultimately withdrew due to the invasion of the Turco-Mongol conqueror [[Timur]].<ref name="Mango, Cyril 2002. pp. 273">Mango, Cyril. ''The Oxford History of Byzantium''. New York: Oxford UP, 2002. pp. 273–274 {{ISBN?}}</ref> He defeated the [[Crusaders]] at the [[Battle of Nicopolis]] in what is now [[Bulgaria]] in 1396. He was later defeated and captured by [[Timur]] at the [[Battle of Ankara]] in 1402 and died in captivity in March 1403, which triggered the [[Ottoman Interregnum]].

==Biography==

Bayezid was the son of [[Murad I]]<ref name=Runciman>Runciman, Steven ''The Fall of Constantinople''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 36</ref> and his [[Greeks|Greek]] wife, [[Gülçiçek Hatun]].<ref name=Lowry>Lowry, Heath W. (2003) ''The Nature of the Early Ottoman State''. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, p. 153</ref> His first major role was as governor of [[Kütahya]], a city that he earned by marrying the daughter of a [[Germiyanid]] ruler, [[Devletşah Hatun|Devletşah]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=TDV|title=Bayezid I|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/bayezid-i|author=Halil Inalcik}}</ref> He was an impetuous soldier, earning the nickname "Thunderbolt" in a battle against the [[Karamanids]].
 
Bayezid ascended to the throne following the death of his father, Murad I, who was killed by Serbian knight [[Miloš Obilić]] during (15 June), or immediately after (16 June), the [[Battle of Kosovo]] in 1389, soon after which Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Sultanate. Immediately after obtaining the throne, he had his younger brother strangled to avoid a plot. In 1390, Bayezid took as a wife Princess [[Olivera Despina]], the daughter of Prince [[Lazar of Serbia]],<ref>Halil Inalcik, "Bayezid I", ''The Encyclopedia of Islam'', Vol. I, Ed. H.A.R. Gibb, J.H. Kramers, E. Levi-Provencal and J. Schacht, (Brill, 1986), 1118.</ref> who also lost his life in Kosovo. Bayezid recognized [[Stefan Lazarević]], the son of Lazar, as the new Serbian leader - later despot - with considerable autonomy.

[[File:Qur'anic Manuscript - Mid to Late 15th Century, Turkey.jpg|thumb|262px|A Bayezid-era manuscript of the [[Quran]]]] Upper Serbia resisted the Ottomans until Bayezid captured [[Skopje]] in 1391, converting the city into an important base of operations.

==Efforts to unify Anatolia==

Meanwhile, Bayezid began unifying Anatolia under his rule. Forcible expansion into Muslim territories could have endangered the Ottoman relationship with the [[gazi]]s, who were an important source of warriors for this ruling house on the European frontier. Thus Bayezid began the practice of first securing ''[[fatwa]]s'', or legal rulings from Islamic scholars, to justify wars against these Muslim states. However, Bayezid doubted the loyalty of his Muslim [[Turkish people|Turkish]] followers, so he relied heavily on his Serbian and Byzantine vassal troops in these conquests.<ref>Stanford Shaw, ''History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey'' (Cambridge: University Press, 1976), vol. 1 p. 30</ref>

In a single campaign over the summer and fall of 1390, Bayezid conquered the beyliks of [[Beylik of Aydın|Aydin]], [[Sarukhanids|Saruhan]] and [[Menteshe]]. His major rival Sulayman, the emir of [[Karaman]], responded by allying himself with the ruler of [[Sivas]], [[Kadi Burhan al-Din]] and the remaining Turkish beyliks. Nevertheless, Bayezid pushed on and overwhelmed the remaining beyliks ([[Hamidids|Hamid]], [[Beylik of Teke|Teke]], and [[Germiyan]]), as well as taking the cities of [[Akşehir]] and [[Niğde]], as well as their capital [[Konya]] from the Karaman. At this point, Bayezid accepted peace proposals from Karaman (1391), 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 moved north against [[Kastamonu]] which had given refuge to many fleeing from his forces, and conquered both that city as well as [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinop]].<ref>Shaw, ''History of the Ottoman Empire'', vol. 1 pp. 30f</ref> However, his subsequent campaign was stopped by Burhan al-Din at the [[Battle of Kırkdilim]].

From 1389 to 1395 he conquered [[Bulgaria]] and [[Northern Greece]]. In 1394 Bayezid crossed the River [[Danube]] to attack [[Wallachia]], ruled at that time by [[Mircea I of Wallachia|Mircea the Elder]]. The Ottomans were superior in number, but on 10 October 1394 (or 17 May 1395), in the [[Battle of Rovine]], on forested and swampy terrain, the [[Wallachia]]ns won the fierce battle and prevented Bayezid's army from advancing beyond the Danube.<ref>John V.A. Fine, ''The Late Medieval Balkans'', (The University of Michigan Press, 1994), 424.</ref>

In 1394, Bayezid [[Siege of Constantinople (1394–1402)|laid siege to Constantinople]],<ref name="Mango, Cyril 2002. pp. 273"/> the capital of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. [[Anadoluhisarı]] fortress was built between 1393 and 1394 as part of preparations for the second Ottoman [[siege of Constantinople]], which took place in 1395. On the urgings of the Byzantine emperor [[Manuel II Palaeologus]], a new [[crusade]] was organized to defeat him. This proved unsuccessful: in 1396 the [[Christianity|Christian]] allies, under the leadership of the King of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]] and future [[Holy Roman Emperor]] (in 1433) [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]], were defeated in the [[Battle of Nicopolis]]. Bayezid built the magnificent [[Bursa Grand Mosque|Ulu Cami]] in Bursa, to celebrate this victory.

Thus the siege of Constantinople continued, lasting until 1402.<ref>Nancy Bisaha, ''Creating East And West: Renaissance Humanists And the Ottoman Turks'', (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), 98.</ref> The beleaguered [[Byzantine]]s had their reprieve when Bayezid fought the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid Empire]] in the east.<ref>Dimitris J. Kastritsis, ''The Sons of Bayezid: Empire Building and Representation in the Ottoman Civil War of 1402–13'', (Brill, 2007), 5.{{ISBN?}}</ref> At this time, the empire of Bayezid included [[Thrace]] (except Constantinople), [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]], [[Bulgaria]], and parts of [[Serbia]] in Europe. In Asia, his domains extended to the [[Taurus Mountains]]. His army was considered one of the best in the Islamic world.

==Clash with Timur==
[[File:Chlebowski-Bajazyt w niewoli.jpg|thumb|262px|Bayezid I held captive by [[Timur]], painting by [[Stanisław Chlebowski]] (1878)]]
[[File:Yildirim Tomb 7151.jpg|thumb|262px|Bayezid's ''[[türbe]]'' (tomb) at [[Bayezid I Mosque]]]]

In 1397, Bayezid defeated the emir of Karaman in Akçay, killing him and annexing his territory. In 1398, the sultan conquered the Djanik emirate and the territory of Burhan al-Din, violating the accord with the [[Turco-Mongol]] emir Timur. Finally, Bayezid occupied Elbistan and Malatya.

In 1400, [[Timur]] succeeded in rousing the local Turkic [[Anatolian beyliks|beyliks]] who had been vassals of the Ottomans to join him in his attack on Bayezid, who was also considered one of the most powerful rulers in the Muslim world during that period. Years of insulting letters had passed between Timur and Bayezid. Both rulers insulted each other in their own way while Timur preferred to undermine Bayezid's position as a ruler and play down the significance of his military successes.

This is the excerpt from one of Timur's letters addressed to the Ottoman sultan:

{{Blockquote|Believe me, you are but [[Ant#Etymology|pismire]] ant: don't seek to fight the elephants for they'll crush you under their feet. Shall a petty prince such as you are contend with us? But your {{linktext|rodomontade}}s <nowiki>[</nowiki>{{linktext|braggadocio}}] are not extraordinary; for a [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turcoman]] never spoke with judgement. If you don't follow our counsels you will regret it.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sharaf al-Dīn ʻAlī Yazdī|author-link=Sharaf al-Dīn ʻAlī Yazdī |title=The History of Timur-Bec|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9u5WAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA150|year=1723|publisher=J. Darby|page=150}}</ref><ref>Rhoads Murphey, Exploring Ottoman Sovereignty: Tradition, Image and Practice in the Ottoman Imperial Household 1400–1800; published by Continium, 2008; p. 58</ref>}}

In the fateful [[Battle of Ankara]], on 20 July 1402, the Ottoman army was defeated. Bayazid tried to escape, but was captured and taken to Timur.<ref name="Kinross, B.P 1999. p. 86-88">Kinross, B.P; ''"Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire"''. 1999. pp. 86–88; {{ISBN|5-232-00732-7}}</ref> Historians describe their first meeting as follows:
{{Blockquote|When Timur saw Bayezid, he laughed. Bayezid, offended by this laugh, told Timur that it was indecent to laugh at misfortune; to which Timur replied: "It is clear then that fate does not value power and possession of vast lands if it distributes them to cripples: to you, the crooked, and to me, the lame."<ref>Ivanin M.I. ''On the art of war and the conquests of the Mongol-Tatars and Central Asian peoples under Genghis Khan and Tamerlane''. St. Petersburg, 1875. p. 315.</ref>}}

Many writers claim that Bayezid was mistreated by the Timurids. However, writers and historians from Timur's own court reported that Bayezid was treated well, and that Timur even mourned his death.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XDmZXIDiZG8C&q=timur+%22mourned%22+bayezid&pg=PA208|title=Empires of Islam in Renaissance Historical Thought|last1=Meserve|first1=Margaret|date=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-04095-3|language=en}}</ref> One of Bayezid's sons, [[Mustafa Çelebi]], was captured with him and held captive in [[Samarkand]] until 1405.

Four of Bayezid's sons, specifically [[Süleyman Çelebi]], [[İsa Çelebi]], [[Mehmed Çelebi]], and [[Musa Çelebi]], however, escaped from the battlefield and later started a civil war for the Ottoman throne known as the [[Ottoman Interregnum]].<ref>Dimitris J. Kastritsis, 1–3.</ref> After Mehmed's victory, his coronation as [[Mehmed I]], and the deaths of the other three, Bayezid's other son [[Mustafa Çelebi]] emerged from hiding and began two failed rebellions against his brother Mehmed and, after Mehmed's death, his nephew [[Murad II]].

== Bayezid in captivity ==
[[File:Timur the Great&#039;s imprisonment of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid (cropped).jpg|thumb|Bayezid's supposed humiliation; his wife Olivera is semi-naked at Timur's banquet. (German [[album amicorum]], 16th century)]]
[[File:Bajazet et Tamerlan (cropped).png|thumb|Bayezid in the cage, 1746]]
In Europe, the legend of Bayezid's humiliation in captivity was very popular. He was allegedly chained, and forced to watch how his beloved wife, [[Olivera Despina|Olivera]], served Timur at dinner.<ref>Alderson A. D. T''he Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty.''  Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956.</ref> According to a legend, Timur took Bayezid with himself everywhere in a barred [[palanquin]] or cage, humiliating him in various ways, used Bayezid as a support under his legs, and at dinner had him placed under the table where bones were thrown at him.<ref>Milwright M., Baboula E. ''Bayezid's Cage: A Re-examination of a Venerable Academic Controversy''. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.  2011.  Vol. 21, iss. 3.  p. 243</ref>

Different versions on Bayezid's death existed, too. One of them mentioned the suicide of Bayezid.<ref name="Akgunduz A. 2011. p. 75">Akgunduz A.; Ozturk S. ''Ottoman History – Misperceptions and Truths.''  Rotterdam: IUR Press, 2011. p. 75. {{ISBN|978-9090261-08-9}}</ref> Allegedly, the Sultan committed suicide through hitting his head against the bars of his cell or taking poison. The version was promoted by Ottoman historians: [[Lutfi Pasha]], [[Ashik Pasha-Zade]].<ref>Akgunduz A.; Ozturk S. ''Ottoman History – Misperceptions and Truths.'' Rotterdam: IUR Press, 2011. p. 74. {{ISBN|978-9090261-08-9}}</ref> There was also a version where Bayezid was supposedly poisoned on Timur's order. This is considered unlikely, because there is evidence that the Turco-Mongol ruler entrusted the care of Bayezid to his personal doctors.<ref name="Akgunduz A. 2011. p. 75"/>

In the descriptions of contemporaries and witnesses of the events, neither a cell nor humiliation is mentioned.

German traveller and writer [[Johann Schiltberger]] did not write anything about the cell, bars or violent death. Another contemporary, [[Jean II Le Maingre]], who witnessed Bayezid's captivity, wrote nothing about the cell or poisoning either. Clavijo, who came to Timur's court in 1404 as part of the embassy and visited Constantinople on his return trip, also did not mention the cell. All Greek sources of the first decade of the 15th century are equally silent about the cell.<ref>Milwright M., Baboula E. ''Bayezid's Cage: A Re-examination of a Venerable Academic Controversy''. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.  2011.  Vol. 21, iss. 3.  p. 242</ref> [[Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi|Sharafaddin Yazdi]] ({{died in|1454}}) in ''[[Zafarnama (Yazdi biography)|Zafar-nama]]'' wrote that Bayezid was treated with respect, and at his request, Turco-Mongols found his son among the captives and brought him to his father. Regarding Bayezid's wife, Sharafaddin wrote that Timur sent her and his daughters to her husband. Olivera allegedly became a Muslim under the influence of Timur.<ref>Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi. ''Zafar-name''. Tashkent: SAN'AT, 2008 . p. 519. {{ISBN|978-9943-322-16-5}}</ref>

First references to a disrespectful attitude towards Bayazid appear in the works of [[ibn Arabshah]] (1389–1450) and [[Constantine of Ostrovica]]. Ibn Arabshah wrote that "Bayezid's heart was broken to pieces" when he saw that his wives and concubines were serving at a banquet.<ref>Ibn Arabshah. ''History of Amir Temur''. Translated by Bababekova, H. N. Tashkent: Makhpirat Institute of the History of the Peoples of Central Asia, 2007. p. 188</ref>

Ibn Arabshah wrote the following about the captivity of Bayezid:
{{Blockquote|Ibn Usman became a prey and was locked up like a bird in a cage.<ref>Ibn Arabshah. ''History of Amir Temur''. translated by Bababekova, H. N. Tashkent: Makhpirat Institute of the History of the Peoples of Central Asia, 2007. p. 184</ref>}}

However, this is just a "flowery style", and not a real cell. According to literary historian [[H.A.R. Gibb]], "the flowery elegance of style has also affected historiography. Most of the authors of the Timurid era succumbed to its influence ."<ref>Gibb H. A. R. ''Muslim historiography''. translated by Gryaznevich P. A. Arabic literature. Classical period. ed. Belyaev, V. I. Publishing house of Eastern Literature, 1960.  pp. 117–156, 188</ref>

Constantine of Ostrovica wrote neither about the cell, nor about the nudity of Bayezid's wife; though he did write that Bayezid committed suicide. In the story of Constantine, just like in that of ibn Arabshah, the sultan was so struck by the fact that his wife carried wine to a feast that he poisoned himself with a poison from his ring.<ref>Constantine from Ostrovitsa. ''Notes of the Janissary''. Written by Constantine Mikhailovich of Ostrovica. Introduction. Translation and comm. by Rogova, A. I. published by Nauka, 1978. p. 136 (Monuments of the Medieval history of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe)</ref>

Ottoman historian [[Mehmed Neshri]] (1450–1520) described Bayezid's imprisonment and mentioned the cell twice. According to him, Timur asked Bayezid what he would do in Timur's place with regard to the captive. "I would have planted him in an iron cage," Bayezid answered. To which Timur replied: "This is a bad answer." He ordered to prepare the cage and the Sultan was put into it.<ref>Mehmed Neshri. ''Bogged down into the light: History on the Ottoman court''. ed: Maria Kalitsin. Sofia: Fatherland Front, 1984. p. 420</ref>

The complete set of legends may perhaps be found in the work of [[Pope Pius II]] ''Asiae Europaeque elegantissima descriptio'', written in 1450–1460 (published in 1509): Bayezid is kept in a cage, fed with garbage under the table, Timur uses Bayezid as a support to get on or off a horse. Further development can be found in later authors, such as [[Theodore Spandounes]]. The first version of his story was written in Italian and completed in 1509, and a French translation was published in 1519. In these versions of the text, Spandounes wrote only about the golden chains and that the sultan was used as a stand. Spandounes added the cell only in later versions of the text. Later versions of the text also include a description of the public humiliation of Bayezid's wife:

{{Blockquote|He had a wife of Ildrim [Yıldırım, i.e., Bayezid], who was also a captive. They ripped off her clothes to the navel, exposing shameful areas. And he (Timur) made her serve food to him and his guests like that.<ref>Theodore Spandounes. ''On the Origins of the Ottoman Emperors''. transl. and ed. by: Donald M. Nicol. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. p. 200</ref>}}

==Family==
[[File:1396-Battle of Nicopolis.jpg|thumb|262px|The [[Battle of Nicopolis]], as depicted by an Ottoman Turkish miniaturist in 1588<ref>"Battle of Nicopolis (1396)" from Seyyid Lokman (1588): ''Hünernâme''</ref>]]

===Consorts===
Bayezid I had at least nine consorts:<ref>{{cite book|first=Mehmet Fuat|last=Köprülü|title=Edebiyat araştırmaları|publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi|year=1966|page=76}}</ref><ref name="necdet">{{cite book|first=Necdet|last=Öztürk|title=Osmanlı Sosyal Hayati|publisher=Işık Yayıncılık Ticaret|date=2014}}</ref><ref name="ulucay">{{cite book|first=M. Çağatay|last=Uluçay|title=Padişahların kadınları ve kızları|publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu|year=1985|pages=24–25}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Sakaoğlu |first=Necdet |title=Bu mülkün kadın sultanları: valide sultanlar, hatunlar, hasekiler, kadınefendiler, sultanefendiler |date=2008 |publisher=Oğlak Yayıncılık ve Reklamcılık |isbn=978-975-329-623-6 |series=Oğlak bilimsel kitaplar |location=İstanbul |pages=31, 76–90}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Alderson |first=Anthony Dolphin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u75BAAAAYAAJ&q=alderson+ottoman+dynasty |title=The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty |date=1956 |publisher=Clarendon Press |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Öztuna |first=Yılmaz |title=Devletler ve hânedanlar |date=1991 |publisher=Başbakanlık Basımevi |isbn=978-975-17-0469-6 |series=Kültür Bakanlığı yayınları ; Kaynak eserler dizisi |location=Ankara}}</ref>

* ''Fülane'' Hatun. Daughter of [[Konstantin Dejanović|Konstantin of Kostendil]], she married Bayezid in 1372 while her older sister married [[Murad I]] and an other her sister married [[Yakub Çelebi]], son of Murad and half-brother of Bayezid. 
* [[Devletşah Hatun|Devletşah Sultan Hatun]] ({{Circa|1365}} - 23 January 1414). Daughter of [[Süleyman of Germiyan]] and Mutahhare Abide Hatun, granddaughter of [[Rumi]], she married Bayezid in 1378. 
* A daughter of [[John V Palaiologos]] and [[Helena Kantakouzene]]. She married Bayezid in 1386.<ref>Several of [[John V Palaiologos|John V]]'s daughters and granddaughters married Ottoman princes: his daughter Maria married [[Murad I]], two more his sons Bayezid I and [[Yakub Çelebi|Yakub]], while a fourth, Irene, married Halil, Murad's half-brother. Two granddaughters, daughters of [[Theodore I Palaiologos|Theodore]] and [[Zampia Palaiologina|Zampia]], married a son and grandson of Bayezid I, [[Süleyman Çelebi|Süleyman]] and [[Küçük Mustafa|Mustafa]].</ref>
* [[Devlet Hatun]] (died in 1422). Slave concubine, mother of [[Mehmed I]]. 
* [[Olivera Lazarević|Maria Olivera Despina Hatun]] (1372 – 1444). Serbian princess, daughter of [[Prince Lazar|Prince Lazar of Serbia]] and [[Princess Milica of Serbia|Princess Milica]], she married Bayezid in 1390. She was the Bayezid's favorite consort, but was extremely unpopular with the Ottomans court and people: she was accused of bribing the sultan and introducing alcohol to the court. She was captured by Timur together with her husband, and possibly forced to serve him naked.
* [[Hafsa Hatun]]. Daughter of [[Isa of Aydin|Fahreddin Isa Bey]] of the [[Aydinids]], she married Bayezid in 1390. 
* [[Maria Fadrique]] (1370 - 1394). Daughter of [[Louis Fadrique]] and [[Helena Asanina Kantakouzene|Helena Asanina Kantakuzene]], she entered in Bayezid's harem between 1393 and 1394. She died, maybe executed, in 1394.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="Nicol">{{Cite book |last=Nicol |first=Donald MacGillivray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ScbAAAAYAAJ |title=The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus) Ca. 1100-1460: A Genealogical and Prosopographical Study |date=1968 |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, trustees for Harvard University |pages=163 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Angelina de Grecia|Angelina Hatun]] (1380 - 1440). Daughter of the Hungarian count János (Juan), was freed by Timur and handed over to [[Henry III of Castile]]. She later married Diego González de Contreras. 
* Maria Hatun. Angelina's sister, she was freed by Timur and handed over to Henry III of Castile. She later married Payo González de Soto Mayor.

===Sons===
Bayezid I had at least twelve sons:<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name="Kastritsis 2007 41">{{harvtxt|Kastritsis|2007|p=41}}</ref><ref>Sakaoğlu 2008, pp.82</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=www.akademya.biz |url=http://archive.org/details/sicill-i.osmani_01 |title=sicill-i.osmani |language=Turkish}}</ref> 
* Ertuğrul Çelebi (1376<ref name=":0" /> –1400<ref>{{Cite web |title=SÜLEYMAN ÇELEBİ, Emîr |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/suleyman-celebi-emir |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi |language=tr}}</ref>), [[Wali (administrative title)|wali]] of [[Aydinids|Aydin]]. He was born in Küthaya. He took part in the [[Candar dynasty|Candar]] campaign and fought in the [[Battle of Kırkdilim|Battle of Kirkdilim]], on 20 July 1391. He died of unknown causes and was buried in Bursa. 
* [[Süleyman Çelebi]] (1377<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Oxford dictionary of Byzantium |date=1991 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Pr |isbn=978-0-19-504652-6 |editor-last=Každan |editor-first=Aleksandr P. |location=New York |pages=1975}}</ref> - 1411). Emir of [[Rumelia]], claimant to the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman throne]] during the [[Ottoman Interregnum]].
* [[İsa Çelebi]] (1380<ref>Sakaoğlu 2008, p.76</ref> - 1403) – with Devletşah Hatun. Governor of [[Anatolia]], claimant to the Ottoman throne during the Ottoman Interregnum.
* [[Mustafa Çelebi]] (1380<ref name=":0" /> – 1402 or 1422?). Claimant to the Ottoman throne during Mehmed I and [[Murad II]]'s reigns.
* [[Musa Çelebi]] (died in 1413) – with Devletşah Hatun. Emir of [[Rumelia]], claimant to the Ottoman throne during the Ottoman Interregnum.
* [[Mehmed I]] ({{Circa|1386}}–1421) – with Devlet Hatun. Governor of [[Anatolia]], he won the civils wars during the Ottoman Interregnum and later became Sultan.
* Yusuf Çelebi. Süleyman Çelebi sent him as a hostage to Constantinople for order of [[Manuel II Palaiologos|Manuel II]], where he converted to Christianity and changed his name to Demetrios.
* Kasım Çelebi. Süleyman Çelebi sent him as a hostage to Constantinople together with his full-sister, Fatma Hatun, for order of Manuel II. He had a son, Orhan Çelebi.
* Hasan Çelebi. Still a child at the time of his father's death, he was killed during the subsequent civil wars between his older brothers.
* Ömer Çelebi. 
* Korkud Çelebi. 
* Ibrahim Çelebi.

===Daughters===
Bayezid I had at least five daughters:<ref name=":0" /><ref>Sakaoğlu 2008, pp.90-98</ref><ref name="ulucay1" />
* [[Fatma Hundi Hatun|Fatma Hundi Sultan Hatun]]<ref name="ulucay1">{{cite book|author=Mustafa Çağatay Uluçay|title=Padişahların kadınları ve kızları|pages=25–26|publisher=Ankara, Ötüken|year=2011}}</ref> (1375–1430). She married to [[Amir Sultan|Seyyid Şemseddin Mehmed Buhari Emir Sultan]] in 1390 and she had four sons, Emir Ali and other three, and two twins daughters. Legend has it that Hundi and Seyyid were married in secret after having a vision of [[Muhammad]], and that Bayezid only accepted their marriage after his son-in-law was "miraculously" saved from soldiers sent to kill him. According to another version, Seyyd, guest of Bayezid, took advantage of his absence from court to seduce Hundi and marry her.
* Erhundi Hatun. She married to Yakup Bey, son of Pars Bey.<ref name="ulucay1"/> In 1393, she was offered in marriage to [[Ladislaus of Naples]], who wanted Ottoman help against [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund of Hungary]], but the marriage never materialized due to the clause requiring the princess's conversion to Christianity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Berend |first=Nora |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SgokDwAAQBAJ&dq=Ladislaus+Bayezid+I+daughter&pg=PT555 |title=The Expansion of Central Europe in the Middle Ages |date=2017-05-15 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-89008-3 |language=en |chapter=Polish-Hungarian Personal Union}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Housley |first=Norman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kAtqDAAAQBAJ&dq=Ladislaus+Bayezid+I+daughter&pg=PA166 |title=The Crusade in the Fifteenth Century: Converging and competing cultures |date=2016-06-17 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-03688-3 |pages=166 |language=en}}</ref>
* Öruz Hatun<ref name="ulucay1"/> - with Despina Hatun. In 1403 she married [[Abu Bakr Mirza (grandson of Timur)|Abu Bakr Mirza]], son of [[Miran Shah|Mirza Celaleddin Miranşah]], son of [[Timur]]. She had at least a child, a daughter, Ayşe.<ref name="ulucay1"/> 
* Paşa Melek Hatun - with Despina Hatun. In 1403 she married Şemseddin Mehmed, son of Emîr Celaluddîn İslâm,<ref name=":0" /> a general of Timur, in [[Samarkand]].
* Fatma Hatun (1393–1417). Süleyman Çelebi sent her as a hostage to Constantinople together with her full-brother, Kasim Çelebi, for order of Manuel II. Later she married an Ottoman [[sanjak-bey]] in 1413.

==Personality==
[[File:Bayezit proclamé sultan - miniature du XVe siècle.jpg|thumb|Bayezid is proclaimed sultan, 15th-century miniature]]According to the British orientalist, Lord Kinross, Bayezid was distinguished by haste, impulsivity, unpredictability and imprudence.<ref name="Kinross, B.P 1999. p. 70-71">Kinross, B.P; ''"Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire"''. 1999. pp. 70–71; {{ISBN|5-232-00732-7}}</ref> He cared little for state affairs, which he entrusted to his governors. As Kinross writes, between campaigns Bayezid was often engaged in pleasures: gluttony, drunkenness and debauchery. The court of the sultan was famous for its luxury and was comparable to the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] court during its heyday.<ref>Kinross, B.P; ''"Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire"''. 1999. p. 73 {{ISBN|5-232-00732-7}}</ref>

At the same time, the sultan was a talented commander.<ref name="Kinross, B.P 1999. p. 70-71"/> Despite his lust for earthly pleasures, Bayezid was a religious man and used to spend hours in his personal mosque in [[Bursa]]. He also kept Islamic theologians in his circle.<ref>Kinross, B.P; ''"Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire"''. 1999. p. 73; {{ISBN|5-232-00732-7}}</ref>

In the words of the contemporary Greek historian Doukas:<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPkcAAAAYAAJ | isbn=978-0-8143-1540-8 | title=Decline and Fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks | year=1975 | publisher=Wayne State University Press }}</ref>
{{Blockquote
|text=[Bayezid] was a feared man, precipitate in deeds of war, a persecutor of Christians as no other around him, and in the religion of the Arabs a most ardent disciple of Muhammad, whose unlawful commandments were observed to the utmost, never sleeping, spending his nights contriving intrigues and machinations against the rational flock of Christ.... His purpose was to increase the nation of the Prophet and to decrease that of the Romans. Many cities and provinces did he add to the dominion of the Muslims.|}}

==Evaluation of rule==
Bayezid managed to expand the territory of the Ottoman Empire to the [[Danube river|Danube]] and the [[Euphrates river|Euphrates]]. However, his reign culminated with a humiliating defeat at Ankara, whereby the empire was reduced to the size of a [[Anatolian beyliks|beylik]] from the time of [[Orhan I|Orhan]]. This small territory was divided between Bayezid's two sons by Timur and many beyliks regained their independence. The defeat at Ankara marked the beginning of the [[Ottoman Interregnum|Ottoman interregnum]], which lasted 10 years.<ref name="Kinross, B.P 1999. p. 86-88"/>

==In fiction==
[[File:Tamerlan und Bajazet (Celesti).jpg|thumb|right|''[[Tamburlaine]] and Bajazeth'' (ca. 1700) by [[Andrea Celesti]].]]

The defeat of Bayezid became a popular subject for later Western European writers, composers, and painters. They embellished the legend that he was taken by Timur to [[Samarkand]] with a cast of characters to create an oriental fantasy that has maintained its appeal over the years. [[Christopher Marlowe]]'s play ''[[Tamburlaine (play)|Tamburlaine the Great]]'' was first performed in [[London]] in 1587, three years after the formal opening of English-Ottoman trade relations when [[William Harborne]] sailed for Constantinople as an agent of the [[Levant Company]].

In 1648, the play ''Le Gran Tamerlan et Bejezet'' by [[Jean Magnon]] appeared in London, and in 1725, [[Handel]]'s ''[[Tamerlano]]'' was first performed and published in London;<ref>London: Printed & sold by J. Cluer, [1725]</ref> [[Antonio Vivaldi|Vivaldi]]'s version of the story, ''[[Bajazet (opera)|Bajazet]]'', was written in 1735. Magnon had given Bayezid an intriguing wife and daughter; the Handel and Vivaldi renditions included, as well as Tamerlane and Bayezid and his daughter, a prince of Byzantium and a princess of [[Trabzon|Trebizond]] (Trabzon) in a passionate love story. A cycle of paintings in [[Schloss Eggenberg]], near [[Graz]] in [[Austria]], translated the theme to a different medium; this was completed in the 1670s shortly before the Ottoman army attacked the [[Habsburgs]] in central [[Europe]].<ref>Finkel, C. (2006) ''The History of the Ottoman Empire: Osman's Dream''. New York: Basic Books; p. 30</ref>

The historical novel ''The Grand Cham'' (1921) by [[Harold Lamb]] focuses on the quest of its European hero to gain the assistance of Tamerlane in defeating Bayezid.<ref>Lamb, Harold. ''Swords from the West''. Lincoln; University of Nebraska Press, 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-8032-2620-3}} (p. 603)</ref> Bayezid (spelled Bayazid) is a central character in the [[Robert E. Howard]] story ''Lord of Samarcand,''<ref>Howard, Robert E. (1973) ''Sowers of the Thunder,'' Ace Science Fiction</ref> where he commits suicide at Tamerlane's victory banquet. Bayazid is a main character in the novel ''The Walls of Byzantium'' (2013) by [[James Heneage]].<ref>" ''The Walls of Byzantium''...[where] The Armies of the Ottoman Emperor Bayazid threaten Constantinople and the few remaining outposts of its empire". Cited in "Three More Tales of the Byzantine Empire". ''[[BBC History]]'' Magazine, 10 September 2015 (p. 74).</ref>

==In popular culture==
Sultan Bayezid was portrayed in the Serbian 1989 historical drama film ''Battle of Kosovo'', as a participant of the [[Battle of Kosovo]] by actor [[Branislav Lečić]], and in the Romanian historical drama ''[[Mircea (film)|Mircea (Proud heritage)]]'' by [[Ion Ritiu]] as a young Sultan who fought in the battles of [[Battle of Rovine|Rovine]], [[Battle of Nicopolis|Nicopolis]] and [[Battle of Angora|Angora]].

In the 29th Degree of the Scottish Rite, [[Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, Northern Jurisdiction, USA|Northern Masonic Jurisdiction]], Bayezid appears as a central figure in a drama that is historical fiction.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Sources==
* {{EI2 | last = İnalcık | first = Halil | author-link = Halil İnalcık | title = Bāyazīd | volume = 1 | pages = 1117–1119 | doi= 10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_1302 }}
* Harris, Jonathan (2010) ''The End of Byzantium''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press {{ISBN|978-0-300-11786-8}}
* {{Cite book|last=Imber |first=Colin |title=The Ottoman Empire, 1300–1650: The Structure of Power |edition=2nd |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |place=New York |date=2009 |isbn=978-0-230-57451-9 }}
* {{cite book | last = Kastritsis | first = Dimitris | title = The Sons of Bayezid: Empire Building and Representation in the Ottoman Civil War of 1402–13 | publisher = Brill | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-90-04-15836-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=u_evCQAAQBAJ }}
* Nicolle, David (1999) ''Nicopolis 1396: The Last Crusade''. Oxford: Osprey Books {{ISBN|978-1-85532-918-8}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bayezid I}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101227153900/http://www.waitmeturkey.com/yildirim-bayezid-i-ottoman-empire-sultan.html Yıldırım Bayezid I]}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Ottoman Dynasty|House of Osman]]||1360||8 March 1403}}
{{S-reg|}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Murad I]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Sultan]]|years= 16 June 1389 – 20 July 1402}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Mehmed I]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Sultans of the Ottoman Empire}}
{{Sons of the Ottoman Sultans}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayezid 01}}
[[Category:Bayezid I| ]]
[[Category:1361 births]]
[[Category:1403 deaths]]
[[Category:14th-century sultans of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:15th-century sultans of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:People of the Bulgarian–Ottoman wars]]
[[Category:Monarchs taken prisoner in wartime]]
[[Category:Muslims of the Battle of Nicopolis]]
[[Category:Ottoman people of the Byzantine–Ottoman wars]]
[[Category:Turkish poets]]
[[Category:Sons of sultans]]
[[Category:People who died in prison custody]]
[[Category:People from the Ottoman Empire who died in prison custody]]
[[Category:Fratricides]]