The Ottomans
The Ottoman Empire arose out of the leftovers of the old Seljuk sultans of Anatolia (Turkey). Beginning in 1299 AD, one of these Seljuks, Osman, began to expand his kingdom.
The weakness of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade and the Black Death of 1347 allowed the Ottoman sultans to cross over into Europe in 1352 and begin conquering Greece and the Balkans. By 1361, Murad I had captured Adrianople, and by 1386, Bayezid I had taken Sofia (modern Bulgaria).
Although things were going well in Europe, in West Asia the Ottomans were attacked in 1400 by a new enemy - the Mongols, under their new leader Tamerlane. A lot of their West Asian land was lost. Bayezid was so upset that he killed himself.
Because they were losing their battles in Asia, the Ottomans focused more
and more on Europe. They fought many wars with Venice
over control of the Eastern Mediterranean shipping
routes. In 1453 the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II and his Janissaries
even conquered Constantinople (modern Istanbul) from the Byzantine
emperors, ending the last piece of the Roman Empire.
In 1492, when King Ferdinand
and Queen Isabella made all the Jews
leave Spain, many of them came to live in the Ottoman Empire, where
the sultans welcomed them and let them follow their religion.
By 1517, the Ottomans had defeated the Mamluks to gain control of Egypt, and gradually they extended their control over the North African coast to conquer the Hafsids and the Marinids as well.
To find out more about the Ottomans, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your local library:
Main Islamic history page
Main Islam page
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