Turkey - Maltese Order, - OSMAN FILS D'IBRAHIM EMPEREUR DES TURCS

Fine antique copper engraving with the portraits of Osman, son of Emperor/Sultan Ibrahim, and of his mother ,an Imperial Concubine. With engraved explanatory text ,in decorative engraved borders.

The text says , that after an unsuccessful jealous attempt by the Sultans main wife to poisson this concubine, she decided to travel to Mecca as a pilgrim and also to recover her health, together with her and the Sultans son Osman.

The Sultan provided one of the finest and largest Galleons for this cause.

But near the island of Rhodos in the Greek Archipelagos, the galleon and the accompanying fleet of other merchant ships were intercepted by a squadron of Maltese Order Pirates. After a long and bloody fight ,with loss of many lives on both sides, finally the galleon was captured by the Maltese.

The prince and his mother were taken to Malta.

This infuriated Sultan Ibrahim so much that he decided not to pay the ransom, but to send a large fleet and an army of 90.000 to attack Malta.

The fleet never made it to Malta, but captured several fortified places on the island of Crete, so starting a 25 years war between the Turkish and the Venetians, which resulted in the capture of Crete by the Turks in 1669, after the fall of the islands capital Candia [ today Irakleion] following a 20 years siege

The small cartouche on the bottoms states ,the portraits taken from Malta by the Sieur de Beaulieu ,and printed by command of the King of France in 1645