May 26 1512 – 11 Sivan 5272
Sultan Bayezid II, who’d come to the aid of Spanish Jewry when they were expelled by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, died in Istanbul. Bayezid spent most of his reign consolidating the boundaries of the empire created by his father, Mehmet II. He famously mocked the Spanish monarchs for their foolishness in depriving their country of the benefits of Jews’ economic activities, telling his courtiers, “You venture to call Ferdinand a wise ruler, he who has impoverished his own country and enriched mine!” (Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 2, p. 460) Bayezid sent a fleet of ships commanded by Kamil Rees to the Spanish coast to ferry Spanish Jewish exiles into the Ottoman Empire’s open arms, and issued a firman or imperial decree explicitly ordering his provincial governors to give the Jews a friendly and welcome reception.