The Faceless King: Radu cel Frumos and his history

"See how that Turk of Cathay has drunk a cup of red wine and rushed forth to murder and plunder the land of the heart!" g. 71 Este é o primeiro dístico ( beyit ) do gazal 71 que, junto com outros 83 gazals, compõe o diwān de Mehmed II, escrito sob o pseudônimo de Avni. Foi recentemente publicado em um único volume editado pelo  Professor Muhammet Nur Doğan (2016, edição trilíngue turco otomano/turco moderno/inglês). Esse gazal 71 mostrou-se um dado definitivo para comprovar a descrição que  Chalkokondyles (e também o chamado  Anônimo de Zoras, com diferenças), em sua  obra Histórias , faz do incidente entre o sultão e Radu e que foi datado no início do segundo sultanato daquele (fevereiro de 1451). Lendo o gazal 71  em minha cópia do Fâtih Dîvânı ve Şerhi ,  num dia de verão, ouvi um clique distante que me fez acessar o Wikipedia para comparar o gazal com o parágrafo "batata quente" do historiador grego  Chalkokondyles, na época ainda publicado...

It was the Spring of 1451.  Mehmed, the 19 year old sultan-in-waiting, had reascended the throne on February 18, soon after his father, Murad II, died in Edirne. On the eve of a campaing in Anatolia to pull back the Karamanid beg, Ibrahim II, who had attacked Ottoman land right after Mehmed's ascention, a n  incident  involving Mehmed and Radu took place in the capital, Edirne, and was described by court  historian  Laonikos Chalkokondyles (c. 1423 - c. 1490), a Greek chronicler: It happened that the sultan was almost killed by the boy [Chalkokondyles never mentions the name of the boy, but calls him Vlad's brother on the introductory sentence, not appearing here] when he had wanted to have sex with him. This was when he had first [sic] gained the throne and was preparing to campaign against Karaman.   He was in love with the boy and invited him for conversation [a meeting, a date, meclis in Ott.] , and then as a sign of his respect he invited him for dr...