Savcı Bey

Savcı Bey was an Ottoman prince who participated in a joint rebellion with a Byzantine prince against their fathers in 1370s. Savcı was the youngest of Murat I's three sons. The name of his mother and birth year are unknown. In Ottoman tradition all princes (Turkish: Şehzade) were required to serve as provincial (sanjak) governors as a part of their training. Savcı's sanjak was Bursa, the co-capital of the empire.

Rebellion

Main article: Byzantine civil war of 1373–1379

When Ottoman Turks captured Edirne (Adrianopolis), Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos appealed to the West for help. But he was detained as a deptor in Venice. Andronikos (later Andronikos IV Palaiologos), his son and regent in Constantinople (modern İstanbul, Turkey), refused to pay the ransom, and John had to give up the island Tenedos (modern Bozcaada, Turkey) to buy his freedom. After that event, John assigned his younger son Manuel (later Manuel II Palaiologos) as his crown prince and accepted the suzerainty of Ottomans in 1373. Thus, when the Ottoman sultan asked for his services against some rebellions in Ottoman lands, he had to leave his capital. That gave Andronikos a chance to rebel.

On the Ottoman side, Savcı Bey who was the youngest of three brothers, saw that under the shadow of his older brothers he had almost no chance to be enthroned in the future. Probably he was also afraid of his older brothers. (This fear was not rootless; later when Murat I died older brother Beyazit I immediately killed the other brother). He prepared to rebel to gain the post. His father was occupied with suppressing the rebels and he saw his chance to revolt. Using the royal treasury under his disposal, he formed an army. The rebellious princes, well aware of each other's interests, decided to collaborate and combined their forces.

End of the rebellion

After learning about the joint rebellion, the fathers returned from Anatolia. The armies of the fathers and the sons met in Apikridion (an ambiguous location probably south west of Constantinople), where Murat persuaded Savcı's soldiers to switch sides. Although the princes escaped to Didymoteicho (in modern Greece), they soon surrendered. After a short interview, enraged Murat blinded Savcı. But then he changed his mind and had him executed. Although he also asked John to blind his son, John was more gentle to Andronikos, who was only partially blinded.

Aftermath

Savcı's son Davut fled to Hungary. His name was mentioned in 1411 (during the Ottoman Interregnum) as an unsuccessful candidate to Ottoman throne and much later as an ally of John Hunyadi in his struggles against the Ottoman Empire.

External links

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