10
The Failed Final Jihad
After the conquest of Constantinople, Mehmed the Conqueror made
a glorious entrance into the city at Edirne Gate and rode through
the streets en route to Hagia Sophia. He hoped to crown his reign
with the conquest of Rome. En route to Vienna, Suleiman I pa-
raded through streets decorated in classical triumphal arches in the
manner of Roman triumphs after commissioning Venetian artisans
to produce a marvelous crown similar to a papal tiara, emperor’s
mitre crown, and ceremonial Habsburg helmets, uniting symbols
of Christian imperial regalia.^1 Convert maker Mehmed IV’s exodus
from his imperial capital and journey to Serbia en route to an antici-
pated triumphal horseback ride through Vienna was reminiscent of
the processions of his two illustrious predecessors. What better way
to promote the greatness of the Ottoman dynasty than by defeating
its greatest rival, the empire that controlled lands bordering Ottoman
Europe? What other action could justify the effective move of the
imperial seat to Edirne, the abode of the ghazis? Taking the Habsburg
city would cause Mehmed IV to be remembered among the preemi-
nent ghazis in Ottoman history. And by taking his son out of the cage
and along on campaign with him, to show him to the people, Meh-
med IV, by this point over forty years old, was also breaking with tra-
dition. He was giving his son a lesson in ghazi warfare, as he had on
the Kamaniça campaign, and promoting him as his rightful successor
through his presence on what would be an illustrious campaign lead-
ing to the conversion of people and places in central Europe.^2