Honored by the Glory of Islam. Conversion and Conquest in Ottoman Europe

ghazi mehmed iv and candia 149

and horrifying scenes of battle. For example, in a work entitled in Latin “Maho-

met the Fourth of This Name, Emperor of the Turks and of All the Orient, the

Worst Enemy of the Christian Religion,” Mehmed IV sits beneath a cloud-fi lled

sky astride a magnifi cent, powerful horse.^44 With front legs raised, an open

mouth, and fi xed gaze—a typical pose for a conqueror’s horse—the animal is

ready to charge. It wears a feathered headdress held in place with a diamond

aigrette under which a frightening, lionlike face descends, partly obscuring the

horse’s face. A winged-lion clasp that holds its ceremonial dress sits across its

FIGURE 7. 1. Mehmed IV in the eyes of his enemies. Anonymous, “Maho-

met Istivs Nominis IIII Tvrcarvm et Totivs Orientis Imperator Infestissimvs

Christianæ Religionis Hostis” (Mahomet the fourth of this name, emperor

of the Turks and of all the Orient, the worst enemy of the Christian religion),

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, Porträtsammlung, Bildarchiv

und Fideikommißbibliothek, Pg 26 25/ 1 , Ptf. 30: (28). Reproduced with

permission.