The

The You are listening to a history of Europe Key Battles.

The Battle of Houghtin, Part 2 of 4.

The last time we focused on the Ottoman Empire was the Battle of Lepanto of the year 1571,

when a Christian alliance pushed back Turkish attempts to control the Mediterranean Sea.

The Sultan at the time, Salim II, is not well-regarded by historians,

especially in comparison with his

illustrious father and predecessor, Suleiman the Magnificent.

Selim's nickname of the Sot derived from his excessive drinking habits, vice which contributed to his

death.

In December 1574, Selim, plagued by concerns of numerous superstitions, paid a visit to a

Turkish bath.

The story goes that dead in his fears he drank, in one go, a whole bottle of wine.

Tottering unsteadily, he slipped, fell and broke his skull on the marble floor,

an ignominious end for an ineffective ruler.

The first ten sultans of the dynasty, from Osmond Bay to Sultan-Sulliman, had prepared their

sons for rulership by making them governors or provinces and surrounding them with advisors.

They reigned an average of 27 years and went on campaign with the troops.

Beginning with Selim, there was a succession of weak-rawlers, each ill-prepared for leadership.

The next ten averaged only 12 years on the throne, of whom five were deposed and two assassinated.

Salim's son and successor, Murat III, began his reign with the by now traditional act of murdering his brothers.

All five were strangled on his accession.

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