Became The Sultan Of The Ottoman Empire [EN]: Chapter 181

Became the Sultan of Osman – Episode 181

Rumors (3)

It was noise and a shaking bed that dragged his submerged consciousness back to the surface.

King João III of Portugal snapped his eyes open, startled by the commotion, the likes of which he had never heard in the twenty-year history of the Ribeira Palace.

The room was dark, as dawn had yet to break, and the muffled noise assaulted his ears.

Clutching the shaking bed, João struggled to make sense of the situation with his sluggish mind when the door to his bedchamber burst open.

“Your Majesty! You must flee at once! It’s an earthquake!”

At the word ‘earthquake,’ João leaped out of bed.

As he stood in his nightclothes, the cacophony of noise began to resolve itself into distinct sounds: the crash of ornaments and objects falling to the floor, the desperate cries of the palace staff fleeing from their sleep, and the eerie cracking of stone buildings.

Escorted by knights and attendants, João hurriedly fled the palace, followed by the queen and their only daughter, Maria.

“What in the world is going on…?”

João, who had been shouting in the plaza in front of the palace, collapsed to the ground at a sudden, deafening roar.

It was the sound of stone buildings collapsing, unable to withstand the violent earthquake, and the dust from the collapsing structures surged outwards like a shockwave.

“Are you alright?!”

João wore a bewildered expression, unable to respond properly to his cousin and queen, Catarina’s concern.

There had been two earthquakes recently, but even in the darkness, where he could barely see, he knew this was nothing like those.

As João staggered to his feet, a scream-like shout reached his ears.

“Your Majesty! We must leave this place immediately! We must move to survive!”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden!”

“The ships, the ships are aground!”

At the knight’s cry, those holding torches rushed to the harbor.
The Ribeira Palace was built on the Tagus River, which connects to the North Atlantic, and the area around the palace was a hub of industry, including a harbor, shipyards, and maritime trade management facilities.

Those who ran to the harbor, which was directly adjacent to the palace, saw the water receding rapidly, leaving ships stranded and listing in the nearly exposed harbor.

No one was foolish enough to miss the ominous signs of this inexplicable phenomenon.

“Quick, bring the horses! We must evacuate His Majesty!”

“Bring the horses!”

The knights shoved people aside as they fled to the stables, driving the horses into the plaza.

Ignoring the people scrambling to avoid the horses, the knights mounted the royals and high-ranking nobles and pulled on the reins.

The scene beyond the plaza was one of utter chaos.

Red flames and black smoke billowed from all over Lisbon, as fires broke out in the collapsed buildings.

People who had barely escaped the buildings in their nightclothes flocked to the open docks and plazas, which they thought were safe.

As he rode against the tide of people fleeing to the harbor, João’s eyes widened.
The great church had become a grotesque sight, and buildings that could no longer withstand the renewed tremors collapsed with cracking sounds.
The horrific scene felt like a knife twisting in his heart.

“We must go to São Jorge Castle!”

“To São Jorge Castle! We’re going to the castle!”

The knights, deciding on the nearest and safest place, headed for São Jorge Castle, the former royal palace before Ribeira, built on the highest hill in Lisbon.

Arriving at the castle after cutting through the crowds fleeing to higher ground, they found the gates already wide open to receive them.

Barely reaching the castle gates, João turned his head and was struck speechless.

“My God…”

He saw a massive wave, like a towering hill, rushing towards Lisbon.

People who had fled to the coast to survive were running madly in the opposite direction, but they could not outrun the approaching wave.

João squeezed his eyes shut as the wave engulfed the people and the city.

The earthquake, which measured over magnitude 7, destroyed a third of the city’s buildings, and over a thousand people who could not escape were buried alive.
The ensuing tsunami resulted in a total of 30,000 deaths.

January 26, 1531

The news of the massive disaster that struck Portugal swept across Europe.

***

Yusuf watched Michelangelo sculpting on the bridge named after Nene’s legs [a bridge built in honor of Nene].

With each delicate touch, fragments of marble fell into the Golden Horn [a major waterway in Istanbul] below.
A sculpture depicting the beautiful love of a man who was once a slave and a woman who was once a maid was being carved beside the bridge, and as Michelangelo paused to catch his breath from his frenzied work, Yusuf said with a chuckle in his voice.

“Aren’t you romanticizing it a bit too much?”

Yusuf knew the love affair between Hassan and Nene better than anyone except his mother, Fatima.

‘Savage’ suited them better than ‘sweet,’ and Hassan had practically begged for forgiveness from Allah dozens of times because of Nene, of all people.

Michelangelo, who had heard this directly from Hassan, sighed.

“I would have been more inspired if I hadn’t heard that story. Why did I have to hear such a thing?”

“Isn’t life a short comedy between long tragedies?”

The love he had won after a difficult courtship did not last long.

But perhaps it was because of that brief happiness that he was able to live in the present.
Yusuf turned away, briefly reflecting on Hassan, who was toiling to build a bridge across the Bosphorus [a strait connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara] as if it were the last thing he would ever do.

Looking at the crowds passing over the bridge, he seemed to understand why rulers had long sought to build structures that would last for ages.

“Your Majesty!”

Yusuf, who was about to cross the bridge to Topkapi Palace [the Ottoman Sultan’s residence in Istanbul], nodded as he saw Hassan calling out to him urgently.

“This is not a story for this place. Let’s go inside.”

If Hassan came in such a hurry, it was usually something important, but Yusuf’s steps were calm, as if he already knew.

Hassan followed Yusuf, who showed no curiosity, all the way to the audience chamber, where he knelt, and Yusuf sat on the throne.

“Speak.”

“A major earthquake has struck Portugal. Judging by the extent of the damage, it is estimated to be of a similar magnitude to the earthquake that occurred in Kostantiniyye [modern-day Istanbul] last time.”

Only 22 years had passed since the earthquake in Kostantiniyye in 1509.

It was a time when those who vividly remembered the situation were still alive and well, and Yusuf, who had directly witnessed the damage and participated in the recovery, had a sense of the extent of the damage.

“That’s unfortunate. Many poor souls must have died.”

A magnitude 7 earthquake would be enough to collapse some well-built wooden buildings, and most unreinforced stone buildings would collapse.

Considering that even in the Ottoman Empire, where he was involved, reinforcing steel was only used in bridge construction, extreme damage was inevitable in Lisbon.

He knew about this disaster in advance, but it was damage that could not be prevented anyway.

‘Even if I had warned them that an earthquake would occur, they wouldn’t have prepared for it.’

If their own king made such a prediction, they would point fingers and call him crazy, but they would never listen to the words of the enemy Ottoman Padishah [Ottoman Sultan] and take measures to prepare for the damage.

Even if they knew the possibility due to the foreshocks that occur before a major earthquake, they would not have been able to prepare for it because of face-saving.

Moreover, even if they were warned and prepared, it would be a problem.

It would only benefit Portugal, which was no different from an enemy, and he, who relied on modern knowledge rather than real prophecy, could not predict all earthquakes.

‘Considering that even the Lisbon earthquake that occurred this time was forgotten until the 20th century, it would not be strange if there were major earthquakes that I do not know about.’

He did not know how such a major disaster that caused great damage to the capital of Portugal was forgotten, but it might have been completely forgotten if he had not discovered the manuscript left by a person who witnessed the tragedy in 1909.

He could not actively intervene because there was a risk of being resented and ridiculed if he pretended to be a real prophet but failed to foresee the next disaster.

Yusuf, who had reacted dryly as it was a damage he already knew, asked Hassan.

“What are the reactions of Portugal and other countries to this disaster?”

“It has not been long since the situation occurred, so only the high-ranking officials of each country know. We need to monitor the situation a little more.”

“As planned, it is important to pay attention to the reactions of religions and subjects within the empire, but also keep a close eye on the reactions of the West.”

To be honest, he had mentioned it as if he were dropping it in a hunting ground, so he judged that it would be known to the West after the earthquake occurred, but the rumors spread faster than expected.

At least, it was unexpected that the rumors would reach Portugal before the earthquake occurred.

As planned, the West should have thought that the pagan emperor was deifying himself, as they did when he predicted the Constantinople earthquake, but things went wrong.

With the prophecy issue intertwined in an already complicated situation with religious issues, the future development is unpredictable.

“I understand, Your Majesty. I will be as careful as possible and report any special matters immediately.”

“Yes, that’s all you need to do.”

As Hassan took his leave, Yusuf tapped the armrest with his hand.

“No matter how much I think about it, I can’t figure it out.”

If it was something within the Ottoman Empire, he could control the situation, manipulate public opinion, or lead it in a favorable direction, but he could not influence the reactions within Western countries, which were beyond his control.

Yusuf put aside his complicated thoughts for a moment.

“The only thing I can do is to deal with it step by step while watching the situation.”

He could afford to be patient.

Even if the worst-case scenario occurred and a war broke out, the current Ottoman Empire would be fine.
The Ottoman Empire, where Yusuf’s will was the empire’s will, watched the situation unfold in silence.

***

When the rumor that the Ottoman Padishah had foreseen the disaster in Portugal spread, it was merely a fun piece of gossip.

It was not officially announced, and the source was unclear, so it would be strange for an ordinary person to seriously believe it.

It was so public that not only nobles but also those who were interested in outside news knew about it, but it was considered something that could be dismissed as a false rumor at any time.

That is, until it became a reality.

“An earthquake has occurred in Portugal; is it not impossible unless he is a true prophet?”

When it became known that Portugal had suffered enormous damage due to the earthquake, this reaction flared up uncontrollably.

The clergy of the West were the first to react violently.

“It is nonsense to say that a pagan is a prophet! It is just a coincidence!”

“It does not make one a master marksman to hit the center of the target with one shot out of a hundred. Even this confusion is what he wants!”

“Everyone must come to their senses! If you fall for their wicked words and deeds, the Lord will be angry!”

The authority of the church had already fallen to the bottom due to the overlapping disasters of the Reformation, the Sack of Rome, and the reconstruction of Rome with the help of the pagan Ottoman Empire.

Here, the rumor that the pagan emperor was a prophet gave the clergy a great sense of crisis.

As the clergy moved with the momentum to hold a religious trial if they spread such nonsense, no one in other Western countries at least openly talked about this matter.

However, the situation in Portugal, which had suffered direct damage from this disaster, was different.

After the earthquake, several strong aftershocks continued, and the Portuguese lived in fear, building tents and shacks in squares and fields.

The bodies of people swept away by the tsunami floated on the Tagus River in front of Lisbon every day.

Lisbon was so devastated that it was difficult to maintain sanity, and in this Lisbon, monks moved.

“The Lord has said! All these disasters have arisen from the sins of mankind!”

The monk shouted loudly at those gathered in the square.

“Then, is this terrible damage due to our sins? Are we the ones who offer devout worship to the Lord every week? No! Then who is it?!”

“It’s because of the Jews!”

“Yes! This disaster is because of the Jews and the New Christians [Jews who converted to Christianity]!”

The Jews who chose to convert to avoid the Reconquista [the historical process of the Iberian Christians kingdoms conquering the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims], which drove the Jews and Muslims out of the Iberian Peninsula, were called New Christians (Cristiano Nuevo) and had long been suspected and slandered.

They turned their deep despair and aimless anger to the object of long-standing hatred, and the monk continued.

“And it’s not just them! The pagan emperor who knew all these disasters in advance! If he had not caused this disaster, how could he have known the fact in advance?!”

“That’s right!”

“The pagan emperor is the Antichrist! He is the enemy to be driven out!”

Not only had their fleet suffered extreme damage because of the Ottoman Empire, but they had also lost the hard-won sea routes, so the antipathy towards the Ottoman Empire was extreme in Portugal.

The insane claim spread rapidly in Portugal, and this rumor crossed over to the Ottoman Empire.

It touched the hearts of the Ottoman subjects.

“To insult the Padishah, who is the protector of Islam and the protector of Christianity, is an intolerable act!”

“We cannot stand by and watch. Let us punish those who insult the Padishah!”

The madness that had been suppressed in the Ottoman Empire also erupted.