Suleiman the Magnificent and Francis I: why were they allies?

Soliman is recognized as one of the most prominent monarchs of the 16th century: he symbolizes the height of the economic, political and cultural power of the Ottoman Empire. It introduced decisive legislative changes affecting society, the economy, the judiciary and education. Its general penal code (the “Kanun”) fixed the legal form of the Ottoman Empire for several centuries. Suleiman is also a patron who oversees Ottoman art, literature and architecture: he is renowned for supporting a series of monumental architectural developments (Süleymaniye Mosque), which place Constantinople at the center of Islamic civilization. Soliman also restored the Dome of the Rock and the walls of Jerusalem as well as the Kaaba of Mecca.

The reasons for an alliance

From his advent in 1520 and taking advantage of the war that began between Francis I and Charles Quint, Soliman resumed the expansion policy of his father Selim, towards two well-defined geographical areas: the Danube and the Mediterranean. In 1521, he seized the city of Belgrade, which was a strategic stronghold, then set out to conquer Rhodes in 1522. The island occupied by the Knights of Saint-Jean-de-Jerusalem, served as a base for Christian corsairs. which paralyze the traffic of Turkish merchant ships and the route of Muslim pilgrims. After a siege of five months, Rhodes signed his surrender and Soliman acquired control of the entire eastern Mediterranean thanks to the capture of the island.

In 1525, Charles V was victorious over Francis I in Pavia (Italy): the King of France is taken prisoner and sent to Madrid where he remained detained for a year, pending the payment of a ransom and the signing of the Treaty of Madrid in January 1526, which made him temporarily renounce his claims on the peninsula Italian. During the captivity of the King of France, his mother Louise of Savoy sent two embassies to Soliman in order to obtain an alliance with the Ottoman sultan. François Ier wishes to get closer to the only power which can really worry Charles V, whose immense European territory encircles the kingdom of France. In 1528, a first agreement was concluded between the two sovereigns; when Suleiman continued his expansion towards the borders of the Germanic Empire, the Christian West was convinced that it was a strategic plan prepared jointly by the King of France and the Ottoman Sultan. Francis I succeeded in countering the propaganda which made him the “very Christian executioner of Christendom” by obtaining assurances from Soliman on the safety of places of worship.

Soliman between Europe and Asia

Under Charles V and his brother Ferdinand Archduke of Austria, the Habsburgs occupied Buda and the Hungary. In 1529, Soliman ascends the Danube and takes the city of Buda before attempting the siege of Vienna. With an army of 16,000 men, the Austrians inflicted their first defeat on Soliman, inaugurating a rivalry between Ottomans and Habsburg which would last until the First World War. The failure of Suleiman in front of Vienna represents the apogee of the Ottoman power and of its territorial extension in Europe.

After having “secured” its European borders, Soliman chose to turn to the Persian (Iran), believing that the Safavid dynasty represents a threat to the Ottoman Empire. The shah had the governor of Baghdad, loyal to Soliman, assassinated; in 1533, Soliman ordered his grand vizier Ibrahim Pasha to lead an army in Asia. In 1534, Suleiman and Ibrahim Pasha made a push towards Persia and the city of Baghdad (Current Iraq) fell in 1535, which confirms Soliman as “commander of the believers” and legitimate successor of the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad.

Two circumstances bring Soliman back to the West: Charles V’s offensives in the direction of the Maghreb and Francis I’s requests for a political alliance. In 1535, the King of France sent a diplomatic delegation to Constantinople, to propose to Soliman a joint naval operation against Genoa, which was Charles V’s main maritime base in the Mediterranean. French Ambassador Jean de la Forest has received secret military instructions to organize this joint offensive and the Ottoman Empire will provide considerable financial support to the King of France (perhaps 100,000 ducats?). Joint naval operations continued until the death of Francis I, then under his successor Henry II. North Africa becomes a strategic place because the Ottoman fleets are based in the ports of Algiers and Tunis. The privateer Barberousse is the grand admiral of Soliman’s fleet: he is considered the founder of the Ottoman Navy.

The Franco-Ottoman alliance

In February 1536, a treaty of alliance in good and due form was concluded: known under the name of “Capitulations”, this treaty offers to France a right of permanent representation with embassy and consulate, as well as commercial advantages with the ” Gorgeous Door »(Seat of government of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire). Described as an “unholy alliance” in the West, it is the “first non-ideological diplomatic alliance between a Christian empire and a non-Christian empire”. Ambassador Jean de la Forêt is negotiating on the model of trade agreements previously signed by Venice and Genoa with the Ottoman Empire. The “Capitulations” allow the French to obtain guarantees concerning the security of goods and people and a virtual monopoly on trade with the Orient. Foreign vessels are allowed to trade with the Turkey but under French banner and after payment of taxes. The French can practice their religion in the Ottoman Empire and are entrusted with the care of the holy places. The “Capitulations” were renewed in 1604 and maintained until the birth of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.

The consequences of the alliance between France and the Ottoman Empire are multiple: it calls into question the power of the Habsburgs in Europe, it allows the increase of cultural and commercial exchanges between the two States. It gives the Ottoman Empire an important weight on the balance of European political forces.