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30 Evrim Türkçelik

strong storm near Istanbul 102 . Despite this disaster, Safiye Sultan, who
had “virtual executive power” in Istanbul during Mehmed III’s campaign
in Hungary 103 , had given orders to organize a pompous welcoming for his
son-in-law’s entry to the city with the sultan’s navy. The English mer-
chant John Sanderson, who was in Istanbul at that time, after giving the
details of Halil Pasha’s shipwreck, provides an account of his arrival at
Istanbul: “His entrance…in the best pompe he could. The Great Sultana,
his wife’s mother, caused the Bustangie Bassi to welcome him with five
peces ordenance dischardged frome the Seraglio” 104 . Nevertheless, as
Cappello indicates, the loss of these galleys continued to be remembered
years after as part of Halil Pasha’s negative image as admiral 105 .
The Ottoman court was a site of competition for power between vi-
ziers, and Halil Pasha was certainly not far from such rivalries. Halil
Pasha’s first serious rival appears to be Hızır Pasha, who was a probable
candidate in becoming son-in-law of Sultan Murad III. Hızır Pasha had
become vizier in 1591 and was awarded a seat in the Imperial Council
after his successful handling of the crisis between the Polish King and
the sultan in favour of the Ottomans 106 . Since then, he was held in good
esteem by Murad III, was favoured by Safiye Sultan, and was seen as a
prospective husband of Fatma Sultan 107 . However, although Hızır Pa-
sha had held expectations for quite a while to become sultan’s son-in-
law, the dynasty preferred Halil Pasha in 1593. Interestingly, Matteo
Zane stated that the reason why Halil Pasha prevailed in this rivalry
was Hızır Pasha’s weak physical appearance 108 , which was further con-
firmed by Leonardo Dona’s comments: “he [Halil Pasha] is a man of good
physical disposition, which in his marriage had him preferred to others
of greater condition” 109 . Halil Pasha’s status as damad placed him in
another rivalry, though a tacit one, with Ibrahim Pasha, who was also

102 Selaniki, Tarih-i Selaniki cit., p. 637.
103 L.P. Peirce, The Imperial Harem cit., p. 240.
104 J. Sanderson, The Travels of John Sanderson in the Levant 1584-1602, (ed.) W.
Foster, Hakluyt Society, London, 1931, p. 162.
105 Cappello implied that an important reason for the deficiencies in the Ottoman
navy was the loss of 15 galleys shipwrecked during Halil Pasha’s admiralty. Relazione
di Girolamo Cappello (1600), in M.P Pedani (ed.), Relazioni di ambasciatori veneti al se-
nato, Vol. 14: Costantinopoli, Relazioni inedite (1512-1789), Bottega d’Erasmo, Padua,
1996, p. 430.
106 E. Türkçelik, Damad Halil Paşa cit., p. 1643.
107 «È tenuto dal Re in bon concetto e ha il favore della sultana che maritarebbe seco
volentieri una delle due sue figliole». Matteo Zane to the Senate, Constantinople, 18 April
1592, Asv, Sdc, 35, f. 160r.
108 «Ed è stato gran pezzo in concetto di divenir genero del re; ma perchè è di debole
presenza, e la disposizione della persona appresso i turchi è parte molto riguardevole,
ha prevalso Alil bassà». Relazione di Matteo Zane (1594) cit., pp. 434-435.
109 «È huomo di bella dispositione di corpo, che nel matrimonio suo lo fece antiporre
ad altra persona di conditione maggiore». Relazione di Leonardo Dona (1595) cit., p. 293.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XX - Aprile 2023
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)