Fix the mistake: The Three Great Islamic Empires

The Establishment of the Ottoman Empire and the Conquest of Constantinople

The Ottoman Dynasty, which emerged in western Anatolia (Asia Minor) at the end of the 13th century, destroyed the Byzantine Empire in little more than 150 years and grew into the largest empire in the Islamic world.

The Establishment of the Ottoman Dynasty

  • Around 1299: Osman I became independent from a small Turkic state in Anatolia and founded the Ottoman Dynasty (Empire)
  • The ideal of the ghazi (holy warrior): absorbed Turkic warriors who fought along the frontier with the Byzantine Empire
  • 1354: Began expanding into Europe (the Balkan Peninsula)
  • 1389: Defeated a coalition of Christian states in the Balkans at the Battle of Kosovo
  • 1402: Was defeated by Timur at Ankara and temporarily retreated (the Interregnum)

The Conquest of Constantinople (1453)

  • Mehmed II (the Conqueror) breached the Theodosian Walls with cannons
  • The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) fell → a symbol of the end of medieval Europe
  • Constantinople was renamed Istanbul → became the capital of the Ottoman Empire
  • It became a multiethnic city where Greeks, Armenians, and Jews lived together
Example ①
Give two reasons why the conquest of Constantinople is considered a "turning point in world history."
Answer: ① The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) fell, ending the legal tradition of the Roman Empire that had continued for more than 1,000 years (a symbol of the end of the Middle Ages). ② Byzantine scholars fled to Western Europe and brought Greek classical works with them, which is said to have accelerated the Italian Renaissance. In addition, the Ottoman Empire took control of the eastern trade routes connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, which also helped lead Western Europe to hasten the search for new sea routes during the Age of Exploration.
Key Points
  • Osman I founded the Ottoman Dynasty around 1299; Constantinople was conquered in 1453
  • Mehmed II breached the seemingly impregnable walls with cannons
  • The fall of Byzantium → the end of the Middle Ages, acceleration of the Renaissance, and a cause of the Age of Exploration
  • Constantinople → renamed Istanbul and developed into a multiethnic city

Practice Questions

  1. Who was the Ottoman sultan who conquered Constantinople?
  2. State the indirect influence this conquest had on the Age of Exploration.
  3. State the other name for the Byzantine Empire and the year in which it fell.

Answers and Explanations

  1. Answer: Mehmed II the Conqueror ("el-Fâtih")
    Explanation: He breached the Theodosian Walls with cannons (the giant cannon of Urban).
  2. Answer: Because the Ottoman Empire controlled the trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean, European merchants searched for new routes to Asia that would allow them to reach it without going through Muslim merchants → this was one motive for the Age of Exploration led by Portugal and Spain (Columbus and Vasco da Gama).
    Explanation: The view that "the Ottomans promoted the Age of Exploration" was a former conventional theory and has been disputed in recent years, but it remains important for examinations.
  3. Answer: The Eastern Roman Empire, 1453
    Explanation: It was the empire whose capital was the city founded by Constantine I in 330. It differed from the Western Roman Empire, which fell in 476.

歴史（中央アジア）: related lessons