Customer Reviews

Queen Isabella Sforza Szapolyai of Transylvania and Sultan Suleyman of the Ottoman Empire: A Case of Sixteenth-Century Muslim-Christian Collaboration

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Take at least three disparate elements, tie them together in a fascinating exploration of monotheism as we now know it, add finely honed research into the topic of religious toleration, stir in the history of a remarkable woman and voila! ~ you have a reader-friendly narrative of a compelling opus with five pages of bibliography to continue the conversation.

Author Alicia McNary Forsey tells us the little known story of Queen Isabella as she takes us into the world of religious history with the story of the resilient Queen Isabella (no ~ NOT the one who sent Columbus to the Americas!) and the deep influence of Islam's powerful insistence upon one God into the times of the Reformation among eastern Europe.

Insights from this book will help us to recognize the positive impact of Islam at a time when most of us know nearly all negative news from today's alarming headlines. Most of us know only the story of Luther and the history of his influence on reforming the excesses of the Roman church during these harrowing years.

To cite a paragraph or two of enlightenment: "Unfortunately, some historians have not turned a kind eye on Isabella, if mentioning her at all, when she in fact accomplished a great deal. While credit is usually given to her son John II for drafting the first universalist edict of religious tolerance of its kind in the west in 1568, it was actually his mother who was responsible for it in 1567. The later and better known edit of religious tolerance attributed to Isabella's son, who became the King of Transylvania after her death, would never have been possible without the good fortune of a mother who set his foot to the path. He became the first, last, and only Unitarian* king in history.

* Unitarianism has persisted to this day, with followers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, India, Europe, New Zealand, and elsewhere. The four countries where Unitarianism has been established in polity and organization by westerners since the 16th century are: Transylvania (then Hungary; now part of Rumania), Poland, England, and the United States. The first Unitarians in Canada were from Northern Ireland, not from the United States, as you might expect."

(pages 117- 118)

I just finished reading this amazing and fascinating book. What a historical dramatic time, and Queen Isabella "rocked" (to steal a well-used word of my nephew's). It's a tale I doubt many people know, and this multi-layered story is still with me, several days after I finished the book. In fact, I've been thinking of its film possibilities. I can't begin to imagine the amount of research this work required but appreciate how entertainingly it is presented. The true-to-life characters parade before us, page after page, with all their strengths and foibles and inconsistences and dreams. Powerful stuff. Recommended.

Bravo! This is the kind of information my heart cries out for. I devoured this book in one sitting. The truth regarding religious tolerance seems to be all too rare in today's world, a world which seems to indulge in the political harboring of lies.

Here is one gem of a book that truly shines. Dr. Forsey has opened a chapter of the past for us that I find exciting to ponder. The people, rich and poor, the politics, religious beliefs, the homes, rooms, and even the clothing, are rendered here in her words to create a picture that reveals how life really was at that time in history.

There is only one problem with this book. It is out of reach for too many potential readers due to the purchase price. This is truly sad.

Carolyn Chandler

In this narrative, a tapestry of two remarkable lives---those of the 16th century's Queen Isabella of Transylvania and Sultan Suleyman of the Ottoman Empire---the reader will find religious freedom blossoming under Muslim rule. The author's triumph in documenting the influences connecting these two explains why early Unitarians would have proclaimed, "God is One." This book is a testament to Forsey's determination to get to the roots of why a Michael Servetus, when exiled in Transylvania, could safely dispute Trinitarian doctrine during an era when Christians in Europe were killing dissenters as heretics.

This book brings the times of the Ottoman Empire to life because Rev. Forsey breathes life into these historical figures. Queen Isabella is an intelligent woman, forced to rise above the constraints of her time. Sultan Suleyman is a man you would want to know, a person who was royal, dynamic and even a feminist for his time. Rev. Forsey delves into the archives of history and pulls real people of the dusy tomes making it possible for the reader to experience lives long past.