Today I want to tell a short story, a story of a rise to power, wealth, and influence within the perilous context of the Topkapi Palace in 16th century Constantinople. It’s the story of a Jewish woman named Esperanza Malchi, the world which she flourished in, the heights she reached, and the violence that eventually consumed her. Unfortunately, there is no great wealth of source material on Malchi, but, as always, there are a number of interesting things to talk about along the way. We’ll begin with the time she was born into.
The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 2: The Battle of Angora/Ankara
Last episode, we left Schiltberger as he left Nicopolis and told of a long captivity to come with the Ottomans. Here that new Ottoman lord Bayezid was facing, in the figure of this Karaman, a brother-in-law, but more importantly the powerful leader of a Turcoman dynasty to rival the Ottomans, the Karamanids of southeast Anatolia. According to Schiltberger, Karaman had refused to be subject to him, being, as Karaman was, feeling slightly “Rains of Castmere-ish,” as great a lord as he. So Bayezid sets out with 150k men, and Karaman to meet him with 75k, or at least with large numbers of men.
The Travels of Johann Schiltberger 1: The Battle of Nicopolis
"I, Johanns Schiltberger, left my home near the city of Munich, situated in Bayern, at the time that King Sigismund of Hungary left for the land of the Infidels. This was, counting from Christ’s birth, in the thirteen hundred and ninety-fourth year, with a lord named Leinhart Richartingen. And I came back again from the land of the Infidels, counting from Christ’s birth, fourteen hundred and twenty seven. All that I saw in the land of the Infidels, of wars, and that was wonderful, also what chief towns and cities I have seen and visited, you will find described hereafter, perhaps not quite completely, but I was a prisoner and not independent. But so far as I was able to understand and to note, so have I [noted] the countries and cities as they are called in those countries, and I here make known and publish many interesting and strange adventures, which are worth listening to."
So begins Schiltberger’s written account of his great journeys, and so begins our story