Hersekzade or Hersekli Ahmed Pasha ("Ahmed Pasha, son of the Herzog";
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...
: ''Ahmed-paša Hercegović''; Aхмед-паша Херцеговић; 1459 – 21 July 1517), born as Stjepan Hercegović, he was the youngest son of the
Duke of Saint Sava
Duchy of Saint Sava ( sr-Cyr, Војводство Светог Саве, Vojvodstvo Svetog Save) was a late medieval polity in southeastern Europe, that existed from 1448 up to 1482, when it was absorbed by the Ottoman Empire. It was ruled by ...
Stjepan Vukčić Stjepan is a Croatian masculine given name, variant of Stephen, used by ijekavian speakers.
In Croatia, the name Stjepan was among the top ten most common masculine given names in the decades up to 1969.
Notable people with the name include:
* S ...
. In his adolescence he was taken to Constantinople, where he adopted
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
along with the peculiar way of life of the
Ottoman court
Ottoman court was the culture that evolved around the court of the Ottoman Empire.
Ottoman court was held at the Topkapı Palace in Constantinople where the sultan was served by an army of pages and scholars. Some served in the Treasury and the ...
, which made possible his advancement through the Ottoman government and military ranks, eventually occupying highest offices of the
Empire's government and military as a
statesman
A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level.
Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to:
Newspapers United States
* ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a n ...
and navy's
grand admiral
Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, the highest rank in the several European navies that used it. It is best known for its use in Germany as . A comparable rank in modern navies is that of admiral of the fleet.
Grand admirals in individual n ...
.
Early life
Stjepan was born into the
Kosača family in 1459. He was third and youngest son of
Herceg Stjepan Vukčić, at the time most powerful
Bosnian noblemen. Stjepan's half-siblings from his father's first marriage included
Queen Katarina, wife of
King Stjepan Tomaš,
Vladislav Hercegović
Vladislav Hercegović ( sr-Cyrl, Владислав Херцеговић; 1426 or 1427 – 1489) was oldest son of Stjepan Vukčić. The Kosača noble family held lands in the region of Herzegovina. Vladislav received his father's land and the tit ...
, and
Vlatko Hercegović
Vlatko Hercegović (Cyrillic: Влатко Херцеговић), (born 1428 – died 1489), was the second and the last ''Herzog of Saint Sava'', succeeding his father Stjepan Vukčić in 1466.
Succession
After the fall of the kingdom in 146 ...
, their father's successor. Stjepan's family belonged to the
Bosnian Church
The Bosnian Church ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Crkva bosanska, Црква Босанска) was a Christian church in medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina that was independent of and considered heretical by both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox ...
, but were "shaky Christians" like most of their countrymen. His half-sister, Catherine, converted to Roman Catholicism upon marriage and became pious follower of the church, while Stjepan himself adopted Islam and changed his name to Ahmed after moving to Constantinople in about 1473.
Career
Hersekli Ahmed Pasha
was a five-time
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire and
Grand Admiral
Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, the highest rank in the several European navies that used it. It is best known for its use in Germany as . A comparable rank in modern navies is that of admiral of the fleet.
Grand admirals in individual n ...
to the
sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
, serving five times as Grand Vizier in the period from 1497 to 1515. He died on 21 July 1517 of natural causes, toward the end of the reign of
Selim I
Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite last ...
.
Family
He married
Hundi Sultan, a daughter of Sultan
Bayezid II
Bayezid II ( ota, بايزيد ثانى, Bāyezīd-i s̱ānī, 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512, Turkish: ''II. Bayezid'') was the eldest son and successor of Mehmed II, ruling as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, ...
by his concubine
Bülbül Hatun
Bülbül Hatun ( ota, بلبل خاتون; "''Songbird''" died 1515) was a consort of Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire.
Life
Bülbül Hatun entered in the Bayezid's harem when he was still a prince and the governor of Amasya. She had tw ...
, in 1484.
They had at least two sons and two daughters:
* Sultanzade Musa Bey
* Sultanzade Mustafa Bey
* Kamerşah Hanımsultan
* Hümaşah Hanımsultan
See also
*
List of grand dukes of Bosnia
The title ''Grand Duke of Bosnia'' was a court title in the Kingdom of Bosnia, bestowed by the King to highest military commanders, usually reserved for most influential and most capable among highest Bosnian nobility. To interpret it as an offi ...
References
;Bibliography
*
{{Authority control
Grand Viziers of Selim I
Kapudan Pashas
Civil servants from the Ottoman Empire
Military personnel of the Ottoman Empire
1459 births
1517 deaths
15th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire
16th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire
1490s in the Ottoman Empire
1500s in the Ottoman Empire
1510s in the Ottoman Empire
Kosača noble family
Pashas
Damats
Slavs from the Ottoman Empire
Bosnian Muslims from the Ottoman Empire
Bosnia and Herzegovina former Christians
Converts to Islam from Christianity
Ottoman Bosnian nobility
Hercegović noble family