Selim II°

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SELIM II°

SELIM II ° (reigned 1566–74), Ottoman sultan, the son of Sultan *Suleiman the Magnificent and his favorite wife, Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana). During his reign *Cyprus was conquered from *Venice (1570–71). In the ensuing naval battle of Lepanto (October 1571), a combined fleet of Venice, the Papacy, and *Spain defeated the Ottoman fleet and destroyed it. Prominent Sephardi families such as Dona Gracia and her nephew and son-in-law Don Joesph *Nasi were close to the court during his reign. Other families, such as *Hamon, De Segura, and Ibn Ya'ish, were also influential. Joseph Nasi acquired the leasing of the taxes of Naxos along with the title of Duke, and Dona Gracia that of *Tiberias and its surroundings.

bibliography:

S. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, vol. 1 (1976), 175–79; M. Rosen, A History of the Jewish Community in Istanbul: i The Formative Years, 14531566 (2002), 210–1, index; H. Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire the Classical Age 13001600 (1973), index.

[Butrus Abu-Manneh (2nd ed.)]

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