Content note: This episode contains descriptions of sexual violence and coercion that may not be appropriate for all listeners.
Though only in power for eight years, the Ottoman Empire’s Ibrahim the Mad made his own mark on history as a notoriously bad ruler, a sexual deviant, but also a bit of a fashion plate. He loved his furs and sparkly jewels.
He also made unwise decisions in foreign affairs, as when he responded to pirates by launching what would turn into a 24-year-long war with the Republic of Venice. As wars do, this led to supply chain disruptions and tax increases that eventually led to angry mobs and mass upheaval in Constantinople. Ibrahim was deposed in an uprising of the Janissary corp, the elite household guard of the Ottoman Sultans. He was strangled to death, as was the custom, in August of 1648.
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Sources
History’s 9 Most Insane Rulers, by Scott Rank (Amazon.com)
Why Ottoman Sultans Locked Away Their Brothers – JSTOR Daily
The detestable, debauched life of Ibrahim the Mad — the Ottoman Empire’s worst Sultan (bigthink.com)
The woman who oversaw 3 generations of the Ottoman Empire | Daily Sabah
Facts About Ibrahim I, The Man Who Lived In A Cage (ranker.com)
The Mad Sultan Who Committed Unspeakable Sins (msn.com)
The Historically Incompetent Reign Of Sultan Ibrahim The Mad | Cracked.com
Mighty sovereigns of Ottoman throne: Sultan Mehmed the Hunter | Daily Sabah
