The Ottoman Empire ruled the near East, dominated the Mediterranean, and terrorized Europe for centuries. However, its origins are obscure. The Beginnings of the Ottoman Empire illuminates the founding of the Empire, drawing on Turkish, Greek, Arabic, and Latin sources as well as coins, buildings, and topographic evidence. Clive Foss takes the reader through the rugged homeland of Osman, the founder of the Ottomans, placing his achievement in the context of his more powerful neighbours, most notably the once mighty Byzantine Empire, then in the terminal stages of its decline. Foss then charts the progress of Osman's son Orhan, until the fateful moment in 1354 when his forces crossed into Europe and began their spectacular conquests.
Author(s): Clive Foss
Series: Oxford Studies in Byzantium
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 288
City: Oxford
Cover
The Beginnigs of the Ottoman Empire
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
List of Maps
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Notes
1: The Homeland of the Ottomans
The Sources
Ottoman Prehistory (APZ cap. 2)
The First Settlement (APZ cap. 2)
The Summer Pastures
First Battles and Conquests (APZ caps. 3, 5)
“1286” First Victory (APZ cap. 5)
“1286” (APZ cap. 5)
Karacahisar, Sultanönü, and Conflict with Germiyan: “1288–1300”
1292: Köse Mihal of Harmankaya and Raids Across the Sangarius (APZ cap. 10)
“1288”: Marriages and Massacre: APZ 11–12
“1299”: Osman Proclaims his Independence: APZ 14–15
Osman’s Timars: APZ 16
“1302”: Defeating a Coalition: APZ 17
Bursa Blockaded: APZ 18
“1304”: Conquest of Malagina: APZ 20
Attacks to the North; First Threats to Nicaeaand Nicomedia; APZ 22
“1326”: Bursa Surrenders: APZ 23
Expeditions East and West: APZ 25–27
Conquest of Izmit: APZ 30
“1331”: Conquest and Settlement of Iznik: APZ 32–33
Rounding off the Conquest of Bithynia: APZ 34
Orhan Acquires Karesi: APZ 35–36
Orhan Completes Acquisition of Karesi, Becomes Padishah: APZ 37
How Reliable a Tradition?
Notes
2: The View from Byzantium
Notes
3: Reconciling the Accounts
Notes
4: Non-Narrative Sources
Coins
Inscriptions and buildings
Documents
Notes
5: The Overlords
Notes
6: Osman and his Neighbors
Osman
Germiyan
Osman and Germiyan
Kastamonu
Four Minor States
An Anomalous City
Karesi
Saruhan
Aydın
Menteşe
The Mongols
A Bright Future for Some
APPENDIX
The Date of the Death of Osman
Notes
7: Western Asia Minor in the 1330s
Menteşe
Western
Inscriptions
Coins
Aydın
Western Sources
Coins
Inscriptions
Umur Bey
Philadelphia
Saruhan
Karesi
Western
Coins
Germiyan
Western
Coins
Ottoman
Göynük Hisar
Gerede
Sultanönü
“Qawiya”
Kastamonu
The Mongols
The Turcoman Emirates
Notes
8: The Aftermath
The Turning Points
Philadelphia
Saruhan
Karesi
Germiyan
Ottoman
Kastamonu
The Mongols
Notes
9: Final Thoughts
Notes
Bibliography
Sources
Secondary works
Index
