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Vote Results: Suleiman the Magnificent
🕑 Added 2015-10-23 10:25:32 +0000 UTC Those of you who took part in our mini-poll earlier this week may want to know that after your votes (and an extremely close race), Suleiman the Magnificent edged out the Fall of Constantinople and will be the subject of our upcoming Extra History series in 2016!If you were really hoping for one of the other two options, have no fear. We still think they'd be great topics to cover and would love to come back to them at a later date!
Comments
Extra History
I hadn't considered Christina's point that starting with someone like Suleiman, whom we can admire for his accomplishments, rather than something like the Fall of Constantinople might be a better introduction for a largely Western audience that (after Justinian/Theodora and the First Crusade series) might see the Ottomans in a negative light if we started with the Fall of Constantinople. Of course, we'd all like to come back to that period (and to Ataturk) but I'm excited to get into Suleiman's story next year. Also, Halil, thank you for that story about Mehmed! I hadn't heard that one before, and that's a killer line.
Extra History
I'm sure we'll come back to them! After all, once we've learned the end of Justinian's tale, who wouldn't want to hear about the Fall of Constantinople? And James in particular would love to tell the story of Ataturk.
Mehmet Kenan Sinav
Nooooo!!!! Thanks for doing the poll though! I know that you guys are going to do great job anyway, but I hope to see the other two topics in the future!!!!
Halil Köklü
I agree with the replies. Having an objective coverage of the time of Suleiman would be good indeed. Simon, good point on the parallels to the earlier series.
Simon Jump
It would of been nice to do the fall of Constantinople just because it goes with a few of the other series that have been recently (see what happens the other side of the Crusades, what happens to Byzantium in the end and some potentially interesting parallels with the world today) but to be honest in the west I feel its a period of history that isnt really taught (I wasnt even a aware of the Ottoman Empire until I played Empire: Total War) so personally I feel to present it at its height might be a good introduction for those that dont know much about it.
Christina Maria Jessen
I get your points, though I imagine that for people who aren't Turkish Suleiman is probably the least recognizable of these. Which is one of the reasons I voted for it. The other is that living in Denmark, I know that a lot of people would see the Fall of Constantinople as an example of evil Muslims, while Gallipoli and Atatürk would be about the fall of a great empire of people of color and reinforce some nasty stories we have here in the west. So I thought that the Ottoman Empire at its height is something people over here needs to hear more than the other two.
Luna
Conversely, I voted for Gallipoli and Ataturk specifically because I'm not familiar with the names. I originally voted for the Fall, but looked at the other choices and thought "wait a minute, I know nothing about these two. Learning opportunity!" I can totally understand your point, of course, and still look forward to the next series. :D
Halil Köklü
Mehmed the Conqueror is also an interesting topic as he led the campaign against Vlad III Dracula. Additionally, Mehmed has been coronated twice, first when he was 11. When he faced a crusade, he wrote to his father Murad, the former Sultan, "If you are the Sultan, come and lead your armies. If I am the Sultan I hereby order you to come and lead my armies.". Murad led the Ottoman Empire to victory in Varna.
Halil Köklü
Thanks for doing the poll. I would have been really disappointed to see Gallipoli and Ataturk winning as it's like skipping a glorious era and only covering the end of it. I do think that Gallipoli is an interesting topic for future series though, I have been there myself. I personally voted for the Fall of Constantinople for multiple reasons. One is that I am personally tired of the Sulaiman topic (a lot of TV coverage but they are usually interested in his Harem). I felt that FoC would have been a good topic for the first series as it is early enough to give a quick summary on the foundation of the Ottoman Empire. It is also interesting to see for Westerners that the Ottoman Empire has conquered a lot of Eastern Europe before turning to Constantinople. In fact, they moved their capital to Edirne, close to the Bulgarian border today. Looking forward to the series.
