Amor Vincit Omnia

Aşk herşeyi fetheder

[art-and-things-of-beauty]

Max Moreau (Belgium, 1902-1992) - Portrait of a Moroccan man, watercolour.

[books-n-quotes]

“Angry, and half in love with you, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (via books-n-quotes)

[nizariat]

“You have a lot in common with the moon; its light and its beauty, and its distance from me فيك من القمر؛ نوره وجماله،و بعده عني”

—

[dastaan-e-dil-deactivated201404]

A Persian Poem

“Zendagi az tu, marg az man Rahaati az tu, narahaati az man Khushi az tu, ghaam az man Hama chiz az tu Wale tu az man.”  “Life is yours, death is mine Peace is yours, stress is mine Happiness is yours, sorrow is mine Everything is yours But you are mine”

[frumosfatih]

زندگی از تو مرگ از من راحتی از تو ناراحتی از من خوشی از تو غم از من همه چیز از تو ولی تو از من.

[haide-balkania]

How Balkan gays hookup

[flamande]

Persian rugs. Esfahan, Iran. September 2016.

[frumosfatih]

Arabesque. Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. 1890

[frumosfatih]

Sultan (Mehmed II) summoned Vlad the son of Dracula…he had with him his younger brother (Radu cel Frumos), who became his homosexual lover and lived with him…. As he desired the boy, he invited him to converse with him, proposed toasts in his honor, and invited him to his chamber. The boy did not suspect that the sultan would assault him sexually but when he saw that the sultan was so inclined, he fought off his advances and would not submit to have sex with the sultan. The sultan tried to kiss the unwilling boy. The latter took out a knife and stabbed the sultan on the thigh. He (Radu) fled without further delay, looking for a hiding place. The sultan’s physicians took care of the wound. In the meantime the boy had climbed a tree and had concealed himself. The sultan set out with his army and went away. At this point the boy climbed down and, a short while later, reached the gates (the Porte) and became the sultan’s homosexual lover. They do not frown upon those who engage in this lifestyle. He (Mehmed II) spent a great deal of time, night and day, with such people…. The king granted to this boy’s brother (Vlad III the Impaler) the lordship of Dacia (Wallachia).

Laonikos Chalkokondyles. Historiarum Libri X (via fatihfrumos)

This is translation from the work “The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople” in 1453 by Marios Philippides, ‎Walter K. Hanak. I have made a more precise translation based on the original Greek text and Romanian translation by professor Vasile Grecu (Expuneri Istorice, 1958). 

“Spending this winter in his palace, the Emperor sent for Vlad the son of Dracula — the king of Dacia; and he had his younger brother (Radu), who was his (Mehmed II) favorite and lived and stayed with him. And so it happened that at the time when he came to the power and had to attack Karamania, the Emperor, wanting to establish a relationship with this boy, almost died at his hands. For the fact that he (Radu) was a handsome boy, Emperor, called him to feasts and passionately offering him a cup, invited him to the bedchamber. So, the boy, not expecting anything like that from the Emperor, saw him rushing to him for such a thing! And resisted and did not give in to the desire of the king. And he (Mehmed) kissed the boy against his will. And (then) pulling out the dagger, the boy stroke his (Mehmed’s) thigh and immediately fled wherever he could. The healers treated Emperor’s wound. And the boy climbed a tree somewhere nearby and hid there. After the Emperor got ready and left, then the young man went down from the tree and went out onto the road, shortly after this he came back to the Gate (the sultan’s palace) and became Emperor’s beloved. But he (Mehmed) had a custom no less than those who lead the same way of life as him; because he is always with them and spends day and night with people like him. These foreigners believe that Emperor did not use this much, but very little. To Vlad, the boy’s brother, Emperor entrusted the kingdom of Dacia; and with the help of Emperor, Vlad, son of Dracula, invaded and seized the rule.”

translation by ©Elveo

*Dacia - Romania

* Karamania - southern (Mediterranean) coast of Anatolia (Turkey)

*”…became his beloved” - I this context the phrase “παιδιcὰ ἐγένετο βασιλέως ·χρῆστϑαι δὲ νομίζει” literally would be: “was taken by Emperor according to the custom”. I would also translate it as “he became his concubine” just as the earliest Latin translation states: “Eius concubinus factus est” (Konrad Klauser. 1515-1611). Why exactly a “concubine” and not just a favorite? Because the verb “νομίζει” (nomizi) means “to use according to custom.” And the term “χρῆστϑαι” from archaic Greek has many meanings, but in this context it means “to proclaim, declare and testify”. The term proves that Radu became the legal lover of Mehmed, and everyone knew about it. Radu returned to Mehmed and voluntarily surrendered to him, that means the relationship was with consent, despite the dramatic beginning. I must remind that Radu spent his youth in palace and stayed at Mehmed’s side all his life till his death. 

Original manuscript: Laonikos Chalkokondyles: Apodeixeis Historion (finished in 1462-1464)

[mindofserenity]

Sabr, my dear

[frumosfatih]

Night Constantinople, 1886. Ivan Aivazovsky

[ottoman-empire]

Bir zamanlar Fatih Camii ve avlusu..

[ottoman-empire]

Tarihini dosdoğru okuyamayan Türk genci gerçek atası Fatih’in hocasıyla camide bile karşılaşsa ayağa kalktığını nereden bilsin? Büyük mutasavvıf Molla Cami, atına binerken, alim hükümdar Hüseyin Baykara'nın atının yularını ve onun şair veziri Ali Şir Nevai'nin de üzengisini tuttuklarını bilmeyen Türk genci insandaki büyüklere hürmetin değerini nereden öğrensin? 

Kültür ve Medeniyet-Nurettin TOPÇU

(Resim: Sultân İkinci Murat Hân. Murâdiye Külliyesi Bahçesi ve Bursa uleması. Rahmeten vâsia)

[ottoman-empire]

Fatih Sultan Mehmed'in yaptırdığı, Ali Kuşçu'nun hocalık yaptığı, 1935 de “görüntüyü bozuyor” diye yıktırılan Ayasofya Medresesi.

[mutecevvil]

Nuruosmaniye Camii, Fatih / İstanbul

[artisteoelf]

Mehmed II and Radu cel Frumos | “Acısını alacağım” -  I’ll take your pain.

[peashooter85]

The Guns that Brought Down Constantinople,

By the mid 15th Century, the might Eastern Roman Empire had suffered under centuries of conquest by Arab and Turkish invaders, resulting in the empire stretching no father than the ancient capitol of Constantinople itself. The great city was no better off than the empire as a whole, its population reduced from a million inhabitants to less than 50,000, while the Byzantine Army could muster little more than 7,000 men. In contrast the Ottoman Empire completely surrounded the city, and was amassing a force of 50,000 - 80,000 men to complete the final conquest of Byzantium.

The last hope of the Byzantines were a series of large walls and fortresses which had successfully defended Constantinople since ancient times.  The city walls had fended off many invaders in the past, and Constantinople was considered the most heavily fortified city in Europe at the time. Storming Constantinople would certainly not be easy, however the Ottomans had an ace up their sleeves.

In 1452 a Hungarian military engineer named Urban offered his services as a cannon maker to the Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI.  The Emperor had neither the money to pay Urban, nor the resources to craft the cannon which Urban offered. As a result, Urban went to the Emperor’s rival, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, who certainly could pay Urban and had the technology and resources to produce his cannons.

To bring down the walls of Constantinople Urban directed the casting of several large bronze siege guns.  The largest was a massive cannon that fired massive 25 inch stone balls.  Weighing 19 tons, it took 2-3 hours to load and had to be transported by a team of 60 mules.

The Siege of Constantinople began on the 6th of April 1453.  Over the next 53 days, the Ottomans pounded the city walls with Urban’s guns. After nearly two months of constant bombardment, the walls of Constantinople could no longer hold out against the attack resulting in several breeches. On May 28th, the Ottoman Army stormed the city, easily overwhelming the outnumbered Byzantine defenders.

With the exception of the short lived Empire of the Trebizond, the Ancient Roman State had fallen for good. Mehmed II made Constantinople the new capitol and quickly sought to take on the mantle as emperor of a new Roman Empire, declaring himself Kayser-i Rum (Caesar of Rome), and declaring the Ottoman Empire as the “Third Roman Empire”.

[aabdulkareem]