When news of Suleiman the Magnificent's death on September 6, 1566 reached Europe, kings, queens, and clergy across the continent breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Suleiman had reigned as the supreme leader of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 50 years, during which time he became one the most feared and powerful men in the world.

Suleiman's empire was enormous, stretching from North Africa to the Arabian peninsula, up to Armenia, across Turkey to the Balkans, and all the way to Hungary. He ruled 25 million people and commanded vast natural resources.

Plus his military prowess was nothing short of legendary; Suleiman equipped his army with the latest weapons and trained them in advanced tactics. And his famous Janissary corps became one of the world's first formalized elite units.

Even more terrifying for Europeans was that Suleiman was a Muslim. So his empire and military capabilities represented a clear and present danger to the Catholic Church and Western Civilization.

No wonder they cheered his death… because Suleiman's heirs did not live up to his legacy. In fact, Suleiman's reign is considered the high point in the history of the Ottoman Empire.

Now, modern historians do not like to use the world 'decline'. It's not polite or politically correct. Instead they prefer to use terms like 'challenge' and 'transformation'.

So let's just say that the empire was regularly 'challenged' after Suleiman's death.

His son, Selim II, was a generous man who loved giving away money through public welfare. Selim's son, Murad III, unsurprisingly inherited a major fiscal crisis, compounded by severe inflation.

Murad's son, Mehmed III, deliberately surrounded himself with incompetent half-wits, just to ensure that he would not be overthrown.