The Ottomans: Anatolian March
Principality, 1300-1366
1299-1324
, Osman I Gazi. Establishes rule around Bursa in NW Anatolia
1324-1360
, Orhan I Gazi. Crosses into Balkans in 1345 as ally of Byzantine Emperor, John
Cantacuzenus, against Serbs; marries his daughter, Theodora; 1353, John C. Again calls in
Orhan and this time Ottomans stay; set up base at Gallipoli; JohnC. seeks help from
Bulgars and Serbs against Ottomans but they refuse; John C. abdicates (1354 ) and is
succeeded by John Palaeologus. Ottoman capital at Bursa.
The Ottomans: Balkan Kingdom,
1365-1403
1350-1389,
Murat I. Successful campaign in Thrace obliges John V, Palaelogus, to recognize capture of
Philippopolis and Adrianople (Edirne) and to agree to become Ottoman vassal (1363); Murat
moves Ottoman capital to Edirne in 1366; origins of Janissary Corps and the devshirme
probably date to Murat’s reign. King Sisman of Bulgaria defeated, accepts vassal
status in 1379; Serbs defeated and dynasty of Stephen Dusban ended; John V appeals to
Christian Europe but gets no help; his vassaldom deepens, must render military service to
sultan and give over his son as hostage far punctual performance of his obligations;
Macedonia is conquered; completion of subjugation of Bulgaria and Serbia; Sofia falls in
1385; one last concerted effort by Balkan Slavs against Ottomans at Battle of Kossovo
(1389) ends in complete Ottoman victory, but during the battle Sultan Murat assassinated
by a Serb pretending to be a traitor, Milosh Obilic. Murat’s son, Bayezit, assumes
command and immediately executes his brother to avoid possibility of a dynastic struggle.
1389-1403,
Bayezit I, Yildirim(The Thunderbolt). Bayezit takes the throne and finishes off the
victory at Kossovo, captures and executes Lazar (last Serbian tsar) whose daughter,
Despina, becomes a wife of the Ottoman sultan. 1393, Bulgarian dynasty is extinguished and
Bulgarian patriarchate ended; Bulgarian lands are absorbed and Bulgarian church reduced to
dependence on Greek patriarchate at Byzantium. 1394, Pope Boniface IX proclaims crusade at
urging of King Sigismund of Hungary; led by Sigismund, Catholic forces are defeated by
Ottomans in Battle of Nikopolis (1396). With no effective resistance remaining, Ottomans
conquer most of Greece and southern Albania. The Balkans, except for the immediate areas
around Constantinople, Athens, and Salonika and the extreme southern Morea are ruled by
Bayezit from his capital at Edirne. Administrative structure strengthened and centralized
through elaboration of tahrir-defter (cadastral survey-record books) system based on
military fiefs (timars). Expansion of Ottoman rule eastward over Anatolian principalities
through combination of diplomacy, dynastic marriages, and military expeditions brings
Ottomans into conflict with Timur Leak (Tamerlane) who invades Anatolia and challenges
Bayezit at battle of Ankara in 1402. Bayezit is defeated, captured, dies in captivity in
1403.
The Ottomans: From Ankara to
Constantinople, 1403 - 1453
1403-1413,
dynastic struggle; civil war among Bayezit’s sons; Suleyman and Musa eventually
killed; Mehmet emerges as victor; Christians fail to take advantage of this opportunity to
throw off Ottoman rule.
1413-1421,
Mehmet I, the Restorer. Devotes his energy to reunification of Ottoman lands and
reconsolidation of sultan’s authority; European territories kept fairly intact and
most Anatolian provinces recovered; avoiding unnecessary foreign conflicts, Mehmet
provides a breathing period in which to heal wounds and reintegrate previous conquests.
1421-1451,
Murat II. A strange combination of worrier and saintly recluse. Resumes expansion in
Europe; wars with Venice; Salonika falls; Ottomans occupy most of
Albania
and Epirus. War with Hungary provokes another crusade against Ottomans; coalition of
Hungary, Poland, Bosnia, Wallachia, and Serbia led by the Hungarian, John Hunyadi, wins a
victory; Murat signs ten-year truce at Szegedin (1444 ), voluntarily abdicates in favor of
his 14-year-old son, Mehmet, and retires to life of religious study and contemplation.
Hungarians, encouraged by the Papacy, break truce and renew crusade; Murat comes out of
seclusion, resumes throne, and defeats crusaders at Varna. Four years later (1448 ), in
second Battle of Kossovo, Murat defeats Hunyadi who has again invaded Serbia, ending any
serious threat from Hungary; Albania, under Scanderbeg, continues to resist. The
essentially conservative policy of Murat’s reign reflects the influence of the
Jandarli viziers.
1451
- 1481, Mehmet II, Fatih (The Conqueror). Fall of Constantinople in 1453 only the
beginning of an aggressive policy of conquest; capital moved from Edirne to Istanbul;
shift of political power from provincial notables and feudal lords to the sultan’s
slaves (kapikullari); the Palace School and the organization of religious education
through the medrese system; elaborate court and expanded bureaucracy; the imperial
tradition is firmly established and the classical age of the Ottoman Empire has begun. War
with Serbia, aided by Hungary; Hunyadi and the Serbian king, Brankovich, both die in 1457;
family quarrels over succession; one claimant appeals to Pope for aid, offering to make
Serbia a papal dependency; people declare they prefer rule of Muslim Sultan to Catholic
Pope and open their cities to Mehmet; Serbian independence ends in 1459. Ottomans invade
Bosnia in 1453; Bosnian nobles refuse to support Catholic king, Stephen, and hand over
fortresses to Mehmet, many converting to Islam at the same time, thus beginning the
process which ultimately sees most Bosnians become Muslims. Herzegovina is occupied a year
or so later, and Albania is absorbed following Skanderbeg’s death in 1467. War with
Venice ends in 1479 with the Venetians giving up Scutari (Uskudar) and other stations on
the coast and agreeing to pay a tribute for permission to trade in the Black Sea. In 1480,
an Ottoman force occupies Otranto in southern Italy, causing panic throughout the Catholic
Europe. Mehmet besieges Rhodes (1480-81), held by the Knights of St. John, a relic of the
Crusades, but dies before the siege is successful.
Assembled by Richard L. Chambers,
The University of Chicago
