Alexander of Montenegro

Count Alexander of Montenegro (1585? –1648), also known as Şehzade Yahya (sometimes spelled Jachia or Jahja), was an impostor and a self-claimed pretender to the Ottoman throne who claimed to be the son of Sultan Murad III.

Biography Background According to Alexander's own writings, when his brother, Mehmed III, became Sultan, he followed the Ottoman custom of executing all of his brothers (potential rival claimants to the Ottoman throne). Yahya's mother Safiye was concerned that this could also eventually happen to him after the death of his father, so he was smuggled out of the empire, first to Greece, and then to present-day Bulgaria. He was then supposedly baptized at an Orthodox Christian monastery, where he lived for the next eight years of his life.

Battle for Ottoman throne

Alexander's narrative then claims that eventually, Alexander's two older brothers died, but in 1603, since Alexander had escaped the country to avoid fratricide, his nephew Ahmed I became the Ottoman sultan. Alexander believed that as the next oldest son of Murad III, he was next in line to be Ottoman Sultan and felt cheated out of his rightful destiny. He would dedicate the rest of his life to gaining the Ottoman throne. However, the standard Ottoman practice at the time for determining the succession was not birth order of sons; instead the Ottoman laws of succession to the throne stated that after the death of their father, the Ottoman princes would fight among themselves until one emerged triumphant.

From 1603 on, Alexander made frequent trips to northern and western Europe to gain support for his claim to the throne (visiting Florence, Madrid, Rome, Kraków, Antwerp, Prague, and other cities). At one point he managed to win the support of the Tatar Khan Shahin, and of the Cossacks as well. Between 1614 and 1617, he schemed with Serbian Orthodox Christian bishops in the Sanjak of Prizren and Western Roman Catholic bishops and leaders as part of his strategy to gain the Ottoman throne. A few years later, with the assistance of Russian and Ukrainian cossacks, he led a fleet of 130 ships and unsuccessfully attacked Constantinople. He died in 1648 or 1649

Maurice of Drisht (1635 - 1693). Born in Turin and died in Palmanova as captain of Venice. He married Eleonora Romano of Gorizia and had two daughters: Maria Anna of Drisht (1674 - 14 August 1694). Born in Palmanova, dead in Udine. Elena of Drisht (4 August 1675 - 29 August 1727). Born in Palmanova, dead in Udine. She married Lucrezio Treo of Udine. Elena of Drisht (1638 - 1697). Born in Turin. In 1658 she married the pisan noble Andrea Biagi and had two children: Caterina Biagi. She married Ottaviano Alasio of Pisa. Vincenzo Biagi. Unmarried and without issue, he was captain under the King of Spain.

In popular culture In the Turkish TV series Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, Count Alexander was played by Berk Cankat. In the series, he was not a European count but rather a prince named Yahya, the long-lost son of Sayfie Sultan and Murad III. In an attempt to save him from being executed by the new Sultan Mehmed III (who had all potential rival claimants killed), Safiye Sultan had the baby Şehazde Yahya sneak out of the palace. He was given the name Alexander (Alex for short). He became a janissary to find his family and fell in love with Kösem Sultan before she became the Haseki and legal wife of Ahmed I in the process—she did not reciprocate his feelings, leaving him hurt throughout the series. After converting to Islam from Christianity, he took on the name Iskender and later went on to become the leader of the raiders before his eventual position as an agha. When he learned of his true royal heritage, he tried to usurp the throne from Kösem Sultan's sons under Safiye's persuasion. As a result, Kosem had him killed in a ship explosion.