Mehmed II's younger son lost the throne to his brother and spent 13 years as a paid captive of the Knights of Rhodes, the Pope and the King of France

Cem, born in 1459, was the third son of Mehmed the Conqueror. When Mehmed died in 1481, Cem said his father had chosen him and that his elder brother Bayezid II had taken the throne unjustly. He held Bursa for 18 days, struck coins and had the Friday sermon read in his name. He offered to split the empire; Bayezid answered that "between rulers there is no kinship". Beaten at Yenişehir in June 1481, Cem fled to Mamluk Cairo, made the pilgrimage to Mecca, tried again in 1482 and failed. On 29 July 1482 he landed at Rhodes. The Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson had promised him safe conduct; Bayezid agreed to pay the Knights 40,000 gold pieces, and Cem became a prisoner. Bayezid had Cem's son Oğuz executed in 1482. Cem was moved through Savoy and France. The Mamluk sultan offered 20,000 florins for him in 1487. On 4 March 1489 he reached Rome, and in 1490 an Ottoman envoy paid Pope Innocent VIII 120,000 gold pieces for three years' custody. Charles VIII of France took him toward Naples, where he died on 25 February 1495. A rumour said the Pope had poisoned him. His embalmed body was held at Gaeta until the King of Naples handed it over in 1499. He was buried in the Muradiye in Bursa.