ghazi mehmed iv and candia 157
the plain at Dimetoka and was prepared for victory: “May God not deprive me
on this road.”^61
The sultan exchanged more letters with the grand vizier regarding how totreat the Venetian ambassador in Yenişehir. In an anxious letter to Fazıl Ahmed
Pasha, he asked him what to tell the Venetian based on news from the front:
“My grand vizier, what do you say, when the ambassador arrives, what response
do I give him? If you are of the opinion that you are about to conquer the cita-
del, I will tell the ambassador we want the Venetians to turn it over to us. But if
not, and it will be required to prolong the siege for another year, then it means
the empire has been rendered weak, powerless, and impotent in sending sol-
diers, munitions, and other necessities of war to the island.”^62
The letters exchanged between the sultan and his grand vizier often referred,explicitly or implicitly, to connections among manliness, victory in battle, and
propagation of the faith. This metaphor of sexual impotence is tied directly to
the empire’s honor and by extension to that of the sultan. Comprehending the
import of the writ, the grand vizier wept for three days and nights and became
greatly distressed. It took him days to write a response. He wrote letters to all
key men of state, including the sheikhulislam and Vani Mehmed Efendi, hop-
ing they could help assuage the sultanic anger. Finally he informed the sultan
that the army was fatigued but that the citadel would soon be theirs. He asked
God to be on their side, to not let the citadel remain in infi del hands. Using the
language of manliness, he wrote that it was necessary to give the ambassador
a manly response. The sultan acted accordingly, but the Venetian ambassador
gave what was considered a “swinish response,” wanting the citadel to remain
Venetian. His honor as a man at stake, the sultan declared that his forces would
not withdraw.^63
In February 1 669, the grand vizier held a great divan at which all militaryand administrative leaders gathered to hear the writ of the sultan. When it was
read, as Silahdar writes, “the eyes of the ghazis of Islam, which were fi lled with
blood, fl owed with tears like a fl ood.”^64 All cried, except for the traitorous head
of the bombardiers, who, because he said “I am going to the Franks [west-
ern Europeans],” was dressed in chains. Hasan Agha relates how the sultan’s
writ called on all gathered soldiers and commanders to personal discipline and
bravery, to give no respite to the enemy of religion.^65 He told them that their
perseverance was honorable and worthy of reward in this world and the next.
He urged them to show him their zeal, battling the enemy like manly braves,
sacrifi cing heart and soul, struggling together, subjugating Candia after great
effort. He wrote that it would be a shame upon Islamic zeal if any among them
fl ed the battlefi eld or if his army simply withdrew. The subjugation of the
citadel was his uttermost imperial desire; accordingly, he would do whatever