Historic epic poem dedicated to Mehmed the Conqueror published in Turkish, English

By Isa Toprak

ANKARA (AA) – Discovered by Turkish researchers, a centuries-old epic poem written to honor Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, commonly knowns as Mehmed the Conqueror, has been published in Turkish and English for the first time.

The long epic poem consists of four books and around 5,000 verses written by Italian poet Giovanni Mario Filelfo in honor of Mehmet the Conqueror during the Renaissance period.

Two researchers – Filiz Barin Akman, an English literature professor at Ankara Social Sciences University, and academic writer Beyazit Akman – began working on the poem when they came across with it thanks to a reference made in an academic book during their time in the US as they were doing their master’s degree.

The couple searched out that the Latin manuscript of the book was in a library in Geneva, Switzerland. They also found out that a transcription of the work, prepared in 1978, was in Italy. Thanks to the former Turkish ambassador in Vatican, Lutfullah Goktas, the book was delivered to the Akmans after he found it in a second-hand bookshop.

The work was translated from Latin to Turkish by Ahmet Deniz Altunbas, and to English by Ronnie Apter, an emerita professor from Central Michigan University, and Mark Herman from Columbia University.

With the support of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, the Akmans published the book in Turkish and English for the first time with the original title – “The Emiriad, the Life and Deeds of Mehmet Emperor of the Turks.”

Published by Istanbul-based Kopernik Kitap, the book’s foreword for the English edition was written by British historian Jerry Brotton from London-based Queen Mary University.

Speaking to Anadolu, Beyazit Akman said that this work is no different from Italian painter Gentile Bellini’s portrait of Fatih.

He said the poem’s writing process, content and the poet’s positive and negative point of view towards Turks attracted their attention.

“It is very interesting that the poem has been kept in library archives for five centuries. Normally you would expect to find a work of this caliber, at least in English, as it was written only in the 15th century, because it was in Latin, and because it was written by a Latin to a Turkish-Muslim sultan,” he added.

However, this book has not been published, the writer said. “With this long-term project, we brought this poem into two modern languages, English and Turkish, and brought it to the national and international academic community by analyzing its historical background, and text.”

Beyazit Akman said that they analyzed the poem through a literary criticism, a historical research, and a very serious analysis in terms of East-West and Christianity-Islamic relations.

- ‘Conquests and heroism of Fatih’

Filiz Barin Akman also said when they came across a reference to the work in a text while they were researching in the US in 2004, they searched for the English version of the work but could not find any translation.

They decided to publish the work in Turkish and English at that time, as she said, and started working in 2019 when they received the transcription of the work. It was completed almost a month ago.

She said it is a poetic work describing the victories, conquests and heroism of Mehmed II from his childhood until 1476. “This work was written to commemorate Mehmet the Conqueror among ancient commanders such as Hannibal of Carthage, Pyrrhus from the Hellenistic period, Cyrus (Persian Emperor), and Philip II of Macedon (the father of the Alexander the Great).”

The long Latin poem was requested to be written by Othman Lillo Ferducci, an Italian merchant, to pass Fatih’s glory to future generations. Filelfo started to compose the poem in 1471 and completed it in 1476, when Ferducci died, so the poem remained in the hands of its writer, the professor explained.

“In our research, we saw that the poem was not presented to Mehmed II,” she said.

“The only copy of the poem remained in Europe without ever coming to Istanbul, and went to the library where it is now in Switzerland.”

Since the writer could not take the poem to Mehmed II and deliver it due to the Turkish-Venetian wars, he gave it to Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, in 1477, she further said.

“When the poet died in 1481, all his works were distributed and remained with the nobles,” she said: “The poem was found and brought to Western Europe by nobleman Paul Pateu, a 17th century adviser to the French parliament.”

“In 1720, a Genevan cleric, Ami Lullin, studied the work he bought. When he died, the work was brought to the library in Switzerland,” Filiz Barin Akman added.

- Story of centuries-old poem

The story of the poem goes back to a letter sent by Othman Lillo Ferducci, an Italian merchant from central Italian city of Ancona, residing in Canakkale now northwestern Türkiye, to Mehmet the Conqueror, requesting the release of his brother-in-law, who was among the prisoners taken during the conquest of Istanbul.

Ferducci, whose father was a close friend of Murat II and named after Othman thanks to this friendship, was quite impressed by this gentlemanly act of Mehmed the Conqueror, who released the war prisoner without demanding any ransom, and probably then decided to have an epic poem written in his honor, according to the Akmans.

In 1471, Ferducci asked her Renaissance poet friend, Filelfo, born in 1426 in Istanbul’s Pera neighborhood, to write an epic poem about Mehmet the Conqueror, describing his achievements and conquests.

Filelfo explains the reason for preparing the work of four books, consisting of approximately 5,000 verses, with the following lines at the introduction of the work:

“Urged by the prayers of Othman Lillo Ferducci,

I record here the victories of a Turkish commander.

As is well known, a work thus requested, sprung

From this poet’s hand, will long endure.

I approach

This work unwillingly. So be it. However, I wish

There Latin lines could recount a different history:

That the Turks had surrendered to Venice, had remained, as of old,

Unnoticed in Asia, with no interest at all

In the guardian spirits of Europe. Not that Mehmet

Reaches the stars undeserving of praise by Mars

And all genteel society, but that the pontifical

Court detests him, as do all worshipers of Christ.”