Was Cem Sultan murdered ?
 

Was Cem Sultan murdered -- with a poisoned shaving blade?Ed. 5.0It's still the subject of debate -- whether Cem Sultan died of an illness or as a result of foul play. But there doesn't seem to be much support for historians claiming that he was killed with a poisoned straight razor by Kapacibasi Mustafa Aga -- who may have been sent from Istanbul (to Rome where Cem was residing at the time) by Sultan Bayezid II. However, it is generally agreed that he was murdered -- by a slow-acting poison (arranged, perhaps, by someone in the Borgia family -- like Cesare, Lucrezia, or even Pope Alexander VI) that steadily took effect after Cem had been captured from the Pope by the French King, Charles VIII -- who invaded Italy in 1495. Even in death, the unlucky prince (Cem) became a cause for bickering among countries -- who couldn't agree on 'ownership' of the corpse. His body was first sent to Gaeta (just a few miles northwest of Naples, Italy) -- 86 days after the funeral service had been held by Celal and Sinan beyler, two of Cem's loyal attendants. After several years of argument among the French, the Vatican, and the Ottomans, the body was moved to Lecce (near the Adriatic Sea on the south eastern-most tip of Italy -- 200 miles from Naples) -- and after remaining there a while more, it was finally sent by the Neapolitan King to the Ottomans. Cem Sultan's body currently lies in the Mustafa-i Türbe (Tomb of Mustafa, the murdered son of Süleyman the Magnificent) within the Muradiye Cami (Mosque of Sultan Murad II) complex -- in Bursa (Turkey). [But, his sarcophagus was destroyed in the Bursa earthquake of 1855.] Excerpted/translated/revised -- from the article entitled, "TartIsma -- On sonunda Cem Sultan ve dönem..."



This image is a engraving proclaiming Cem's sultanate in Bursa -- in 1481. The three plumes on the front of the turban and the jeweled cape confirm Cem's sovereignty in this 'coat of arms'...that was probably prepared by a western artist, which explains Cem's longish hair showing beneath his turban.

Chronology of Events:
1481 Death of Mehmed II (3 May); accession of Bayezid II (20 May); Battle of Yenisehir between Bayezid and Cem (20 June); surrender of the Ottoman forces in Otranto (11 September). 1482 Cem and Kasim Bey the Karamanid in Anatolia; Cem's flight to Rhodes (26 July); agreement on Cem between the Knights of St John and Bayezid II (September); execution of Gedik Ahmed Pasha (November). 1484 Bayezid II's campaign against Moldavia; annexation of Kilia and Akkerman. 1484-91 War with theMamluks of Egypt. 1482-1494 Cem lives in grand style with Turkish entourage, as celebrity captive in France and Italy 1495 Death of Cem in Naples (25 February).
 

Prince Cem battles his brother, Bayezid II, at Yenisehir...in a historic German woodcut of that time