The 17th century is also known as the "Age of Crisis” by many scholars, as it witnessed global-scale climate problems, civil uprisings, conflicts and massacres. These crises also paved the way for expectations for apocalypse and the arrival of the messiah in both Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

However, none of these expectations was more influential or famous than the global scale Jewish Sabbatai Zevi movement of 1666, which led to the formation of a new crypto-Judaic group in the Ottoman Empire, called "dönme,” or renegade. The history of Sabbatai and his posthumous followers attracted high attention and paved the way for conspiracy theories. Although his messianic claims created a great deal of upheaval, his memory gradually began to fade from collective consciousness. This is the history of Sabbatai Zevi.

An eccentric rabbi

Unlike in many other parts of the world, Jewish life in the Ottoman Empire enjoyed relative peace and stability under the Islamic dhimmi system. Most of the Jews of the Ottoman Empire were migrants following the expulsion from Spain in 1492. Throughout history, Jews were repeatedly persecuted or expelled by their Christian rulers, and these sufferings were often interpreted as divine punishment for their sins. However, a Jewish Kabbalist (mystic) in the second half of the 16th century, Isaac Luria, reinterpreted these tribulations as part of a cosmic plan for the ultimate salvation of the Jewish people and the arrival of the messiah, who would lead the Jews to the "Promised Land.” His ideas spread rapidly throughout the Jewish diasporas scattered across the known world, where Jews increasingly anticipated the arrival of a messiah who would lead them to the so-called "Promised Land."

Sabbatai Zevi was born into this atmosphere. He was born in Izmir, in the Ottoman Empire, on Aug. 1, 1626. According to the Hebrew calendar, his birth date was 9 Av 5386, a date of particular significance, as many Jews believed that the messiah would be born on this day, commemorating the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans. His father worked as a broker for the English Levant Company, and his brothers were also involved in trade. Keen on learning and reading from an early age, Sabbatai’s parents decided to educate him for the rabbinate. He became well-versed in the Torah and Talmud and developed a deep fascination with Kabbalah.

He was a promising scholar whose studies were financed by his wealthy family. However, this promising scholar soon began to develop eccentric behaviors, such as ritual washing at the seaside and prolonged fasting. He also started to alter aspects of Jewish law and to introduce new doctrines. In his early 20s, he married twice, yet he never consummated either marriage. As a result of his eccentric teachings and conduct, he increasingly came to be regarded as a fool by the Jewish community of Izmir. According to German-Jewish historian Gershom Scholem, he was suffering from bipolar disorder.

Wandering messiah

The Khmelnytskyi massacres of 1648 in Poland deeply affected Jewish communities across the globe, and Sabbatai Zevi was no exception. Within the framework of Lurianic teachings, these massacres were interpreted as a forerunner of the imminent arrival of the messiah. Sabbatai, an eccentric yet nonetheless accomplished scholar, came to claim that he himself was the messiah for whom the Jews had been waiting.

At this stage, he shared his claim only with a close circle of friends while remaining in Izmir and continuing his studies. However, his behavior soon became intolerable to the community, particularly when he pronounced the Tetragrammaton (the name of God), an act considered so scandalous that it led to his exile from Izmir. He then went to Selanik (Thessaloniki), one of the major centers of Kabbalistic teaching. Yet his conduct once again proved ruinous, most notably when he staged a symbolic act by dressing the Torah as a bride and himself as the groom. This episode deeply angered the Jewish rabbinic authorities, resulting in another exile.

Following this, he traveled to Istanbul, where he reportedly took a fish and mistook it for a baby. From Istanbul, he journeyed to the Morean Peninsula and then returned briefly to Izmir. Thereafter, he traveled to Egypt and Jerusalem, where he held important positions within the local Jewish communities. During this period, he appeared to have recovered from his earlier afflictions and no longer claimed to be the messiah. He married for a third time, to a Jewish woman named Sarah, who herself claimed that she was destined to be the "Bride of the Messiah.”

While living a reclusive yet respected life along the Egypt-Jerusalem axis, a young Jewish scholar named Abraham Nathan of Gaza claimed that he had communicated with God and had been informed that Sabbatai Zevi was the long-awaited messiah of the Jews. Nathan invited Sabbatai to Gaza, where he resided, and attempted to persuade him to accept his messianic calling. Although Sabbatai was initially reluctant, he eventually embraced Nathan’s claim.

In 1665, Sabbatai publicly proclaimed himself the messiah and designated Nathan as his prophet. This proclamation was disseminated to Jewish communities abroad through an extensive network of letters. Within a short time, and despite opposition from most rabbinic authorities, Jews from Morocco to Scotland accepted his claim. Many abandoned their businesses and everyday affairs, devoting themselves to worship and messianic expectation. Large numbers of Jews subsequently flocked to Izmir, to which Sabbatai had returned.

Becoming a global phenomenon

In Izmir, Sabbatai began to develop the nucleus of a community and to alter the core religious practices of Judaism. His followers increasingly displayed hostility toward Jews who rejected his claims, and on one occasion, they even attacked the Portuguese Synagogue. From this point onward, Sabbatai openly proclaimed his messiahship and went so far as to challenge the authority of the Ottoman sultan, whom he declared he would depose and replace. He even proceeded to appoint so-called Jewish governors to various Ottoman provinces.

Despite these developments, the Ottoman authorities initially refrained from intervening, as they perceived the affair to be an internal matter within the Jewish community, rather than a direct threat to imperial order.

However, when the local Muslim populace began to grow restless due to the disturbances in the city, they reported the matter to the local qadi, who in turn informed the Sublime Porte. While Sabbatai was reportedly traveling to Istanbul, seemingly with the intention of claiming the throne from the sultan, the imperial government ordered his detention. He was intercepted in Gallipoli and brought to the capital.

In Istanbul, Sabbatai’s presence sparked widespread rumors and disturbances. Grand Vizier Ahmed Pasha, who was preparing for a campaign in Crete, considered his presence potentially destabilizing and had him sent back to Gallipoli, which was regarded as a more secure place of imprisonment. Interestingly, among Jews, this episode was interpreted as a miraculous event, and thousands of Jews flocked to Gallipoli. It is fair to say that belief in Sabbatai as the Messiah had, by this point, become a mainstream movement within Judaism.

Ottoman imperial order

As Sabbatai received delegations from Jewish communities throughout the world, a Jewish scholar named Nehemia Cohen came to Gallipoli and challenged him in debate. Cohen denounced Sabbatai as a heretic and a traitor and proceeded to Istanbul, where he reported his activities to the grand vizier. The matter was then brought before Sultan Mehmed IV, who ordered that Sabbatai be tried in his presence.

Sabbatai was brought to Edirne in September 1666. The trial was recorded in detail by the sultan’s personal chronicler, Abdi Pasha, and by Sir Paul Rycaut. The sultan observed the proceedings from behind a curtain and personally directed the trial. Sabbatai was asked whether he claimed to be the messiah, a charge he immediately renounced, declaring instead that he was merely a simple rabbi. He was then ordered to demonstrate a miracle; failing this, he would be executed. Unable to perform any miracle, his fate appeared sealed. At this point, only one path to survival remained: conversion to Islam.

Sabbatai’s conversion was welcomed by the Ottoman authorities, as Mehmed IV was pursuing a policy that encouraged voluntary conversion at the time. Upon embracing Islam, Sabbatai took the name Aziz Mehmed Efendi. It was long claimed that he was appointed chief porter of the palace; however, thanks to the research of Erhan Afyoncu, we now know that he merely received a pension from the imperial treasury.

Jewish communities were deeply disappointed by the conversion of their so-called messiah. Nevertheless, a small cadre of believers remained faithful to him and followed him into Islam. Aziz Mehmed Efendi, for his part, did not cease his religious activity after converting. He formed a new cult in which he blended elements of Islam and Judaism, continued to claim divine revelations, and was eventually exiled to Albania, where he died in 1676.

A new cult: Renegades

After his death, his followers believed that his soul had passed into his brother-in-law. Known to outsiders as "renegades,” these followers continued their religious practices. This group, in various forms, has persisted in maintaining its traditions down to the present day.

Sabbatai Zevi, or Aziz Mehmed Efendi, was a remarkable figure who influenced the course of history for more than a few centuries. He and his followers have been associated with numerous conspiracy theories, despite the fact that relatively little is firmly known about them. Caught between faith, fear and rumor, Sabbatai Zevi remains a figure where history fades into legend. His life, suspended between belief and betrayal, continues to haunt the boundary between history and myth.

Sabbatai Zevi’s story cannot be reduced to simple fraud or madness. It reflects the anxieties of an age shaped by crisis, uncertainty and religious expectation. It also illustrates the Ottoman state’s capacity to manage religious diversity while preserving imperial order.