Classical Age of the Ottoman Empire
This page is specifically about the apex of Ottoman history. For the main article of this character, see
Ottoman Empire.
“”The Sultan commands all lands; all who resist are his enemies, and all who obey, his subjects. His shadow falls over both East and West.
|
—  Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha
|
The Classical Age of the Ottoman Empire describes the period of 
Ottoman history from the conquest of 
Constantinople in 1453 under 
Mehmed II up until the second half of the sixteenth century, roughly the end of the reign of 
Suleiman the Magnificent. This period was the peak of the Ottoman Empire, as he was the dominant political, military, and cultural force that spanned three continents: 
Europe, 
Asia, and 
Africa. This period was also the most significant period of 
expansion and 
consolidation. A system of 
patrimonial rule based on the 
absolute authority of the sultan reached its apex, and Ottoman developed the institutional foundations which he would maintain, in modified form, for several centuries.
Four sultans reigned in this era: Mehmed II (1451-1481), 
Bayezid II (1481-1512), Selim I (1512-1520), and Suleiman I (1520-1566). There was also Cem Sultan, a claimant of the Ottoman throne who ruled for about a month in 1481.
History
Beginning of a Great Power
After some turmoil in the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed II, known as Mehmed the Conqueror, was restored as sultan in 1451. He was determined to conquer Constantinople, a city that stood firm after so many sieges. But this time is different. The 
Byzantine Empire is now weak, his land reduced to just the 
Greek part of the Balkan peninsula, some islands in the 
Mediterranean Sea, and tiny scrapes of land in 
Anatolia. In early April of 1453, he sieged the city for seven weeks before the walls came crumbling down.
Ottoman Empire remade the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, and renamed the city to 
Istanbul and made this city his capital. He destroyed many 
Christian symbols, he scratched the eyes out of paintings of Christian saints. But this was just the beginning of a new era of Ottoman dominance. The fall of Constantinople marked the beginning of a process that transformed the Ottoman Empire from a regional power to a formidable empire.
Due to the rivalries between the 
Muslim Ottomans and the Christian Europeans, the Ottomans cut off the ancient trade route through Europe and Asia, known as the Silk Road. This would led Europeans to try find new ways to Asia via sea and kick off the 
colonization of the 
New World.
The conquest of Constantinople allowed Mehmed II to turn his attention to Anatolia. He tried to create a single political entity in Anatolia by capturing Turkish states called Beyliks and the Greek 
Empire of Trebizond in northeastern Anatolia and allied himself with the 
Crimean Khanate. Uniting the Anatolian Beyliks was first accomplished by Sultan 
Bayezid I, more than fifty years earlier than Mehmed II, but after the destructive Battle of 
Ankara back in 1402, the newly formed Anatolian unification was gone. Mehmed II recovered the Ottoman power on other Turkish states. These conquests allowed him to push further into Europe.
Conquest, conquest, conquest
In the century that followed, Ottoman Empire started conquesting the eastern Mediterranean, Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkans, extending their influence into the 
Black Sea region, much to 
Russia's disgust. Under the leadership of Sultan Mehmed II and his successors, the Ottomans pushed into the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
Key territories were captured, such as the 
Serbia in 1459. Mehmed would also go on to conquer 
Despotate of the Morea in the Peloponnese in 1460 and the Greek Empire of Trebizond in northeastern Anatolia in 1461. Thus, the last Byzantine rump states were defeated.
In 1462, Mehmed II came into conflict with Prince 
Vlad III Dracula of 
Wallachia, who had spent part of his childhood alongside Mehmed. Vlad had ambushed, 
massacred or captured several Ottoman forces, then announced his impalement of over 23,000 captive Turks. Mehmed II abandoned his siege of 
Corinth to launch a punitive attack against Vlad in Wallachia but suffered many casualties in a surprise night attack led by Vlad, who was apparently bent on personally killing the Sultan. Confronted by Vlad's scorched earth policies and demoralizing brutality, Mehmed II withdrew, leaving his ally 
Radu the Handsome (who was also Vlad's brother) with a small force in order to win over local 
boyars who had been persecuted by Vlad III. Radu eventually managed to take control of Wallachia, which he administered as Bey[1], on behalf of Mehmet II. Vlad eventually escaped to 
Hungary, where he was imprisoned on a false accusation of treason against his overlord.
In 1463, after a dispute over the tribute paid annually by 
Bosnia, Ottoman invaded him and conquered him very quickly, executing his last king 
Stephen Tomašević and his uncle (also anti-king) Radivoj.
Ottoman also turned his attention to the Black Sea region. He secured the Crimean Khanate as a vassal state in 1475, gaining control over the northern shores of the Black Sea. This provided strategic advantages in terms of trade and military presence against his eastern adversaries, such as the Russian Tsardom.
In 1480 an invasion of 
Otranto in 
Italy was launched, but the death of Mehmed II the following year led to an Ottoman withdrawal. The reign of the next sultan, Bayezid II (r. 1481-1512) was one of consolidation after the rapid conquests of the previous era, and the empire's territory was expanded only marginally. In 1484 Bayezid led a campaign against 
Moldavia, subjecting him to vassal status and annexing the strategic ports of 
Kiliia and 
Akkerman. Major 
Venetian ports were conquered in Greece and 
Albania during the Venetian-Ottoman war of 1499-1503, most significantly Modon, Koron, and 
Durazzo. However, by the end of his reign, Ottoman territory in the east was coming under threat from the newly established 
Safavid Empire.
Rapid expansion resumed under Selim I (r. 1512-1520). During his reign, Selim I (called Yavuz "the Grim") was able to expand the empire's borders greatly to the south and east. Around 1512 the 
Ottoman naval fleet developed under his rule, such that the Ottoman Turks were able to challenge the Republic of Venice, a naval power which established his 
thalassocracy alongside the other Italian maritime republics upon the Mediterranean Region. Ottoman defeated the Safavids in the Battle of 
Chaldiran in 1514, annexing much of eastern Anatolia and briefly occupying 
Tabriz. Meanwhile in North Africa, Ottoman extended his reach by taking control of major coastal cities, one such example is the conquest of 
Algiers in 1516. Ottoman's expansion into the Middle East was marked by the conquest of the 
Mamluk Sultanate in 1516-1517. This victory brought the regions of Egypt, Syria, and the Hejaz, including the holy cities of 
Mecca and 
Medina, under Ottoman control. The incorporation of these regions not only enhanced the empire's territorial expanse but also his spiritual authority in the Muslim world. It also increased the influence of Islamic practices on the government of the empire, and facilitated much greater interaction between the 
Arabic-speaking world and the Ottoman heartlands in Anatolia and the Balkans. Under Selim's reign the empire's territory expanded from roughly 341,100 sq mi (883,000 km²) to 576,900 sq mi (1,494,000 km²), which allowed the Ottomans to exert influence over the lucrative Mediterranean trade and to challenge European powers such as 
Spain and 
Portugal.
Expansion continued during the first half of the reign of Suleiman I (r. 1520–1566), who conquered 
Belgrade in 1521, which cemented Ottoman dominance in the region. The island of 
Rhodes was successfully sieged in 1522. Next was Hungary, who was invaded in 1526, where Hungary's king Louis II was defeated and killed in the Battle of 
Mohács, with 
Buda briefly occupied. Ottoman annexed of much of Hungary, establishing his presence deep into Central Europe. Lacking a king, Hungary descended into civil war over the succession, and the Ottomans gave support to John Zápolya as a vassal prince.
Elsewhere, Suleiman led major campaigns against Safavid Iran, conquering 
Baghdad in 1534 and annexing Iraq.
In 1535 the Habsburg 
Holy Roman Emperor, 
Charles V (Charles I of 
Spain) won an important victory against the Ottomans at 
Tunis, but in 1536 King 
Francis I of 
France allied himself with Suleiman against Charles. In 1538, the fleet of Charles V was defeated at the Battle of Preveza by Hayreddin Barbarossa, securing the eastern Mediterranean for the Turks for 33 years. Francis I asked for help from Suleiman, then sent a fleet headed by Hayreddin Barbarossa who was victorious over the Spaniards, and managed to retake 
Naples from them. Suleiman bestowed on him the title of beylerbey. One result of the alliance was the fierce sea duel between Dragut and 
Andrea Doria, which left the northern Mediterranean and the southern Mediterranean in Ottoman's hands.
Ottoman rule was further extended with the incorporation of much of North Africa, the conquest of coastal Yemen in 1538, and the subsequent annexation of the interior.
When Ottoman's rivals in Hungary, the 
Habsburgs, began to achieve the upper hand, Suleiman directly intervened by conquering and annexing Buda into the empire in 1541. After the annexation, the pace of Ottoman expansion slowed as the empire attempted to consolidate his vast gains and became engrossed in imperial 
warfare on three fronts: in 
Hungary, in Iran, and in the Mediterranean. Additional conquests were marginal and served to shore up the Ottoman position.
Ottoman Empire conquered the major city of 
Tripoli in 1551, increasing his control over North Africa, while he also shored up his position in the Red Sea with the annexation of 
Massawa in 1557 and the extension of Ottoman rule over much of coastal Eritrea and Djibouti.
In the eastern Mediterranean, Ottoman solidified his naval power. The conquest of the Venetian-held island of 
Cyprus in 1571 was a significant victory, although it led to the Battle of Lepanto where the Ottoman fleet suffered a rare defeat. Nevertheless, Ottoman's control over the Mediterranean trade routes remained largely unchallenged. Ottoman taxed Cyprus heavily, leading to unrest. The city of Tunis was captured by Ottoman in 1574.
The period of Ottoman expansion was not only marked by 
military conquests but also by significant cultural and administrative developments. During this period, the Ottoman Empire thrived across various fields including 
science, medicine, 
art, and architecture, gaining renown for his innovations that continue to be utilized today. Notable examples include surgical instruments employed in medical procedures. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, known as "Kanuni" or the Lawgiver, implemented comprehensive legal reforms that streamlined the empire's administration and justice system. The flourishing of arts, architecture, and learning during his reign is often referred to as the Ottoman Golden Age. By the end of Suleiman's reign, the empire's territory had expanded to approximately 5,000,000 km² (1,900,000 sq mi).
But not all things last forever. In the Great Turkish War (1683-1699), or as the Turks like to call it, the Disaster Years, the Ottomans lost a ton of land to the 
Holy League. This was the first time where Ottoman lost substantial territory. Thus began the slow, long, but surely, decline of the Ottomans.
Relationships
Friends
Istanbul - Beautiful new capital, much better now that he's 
Muslimic.
Crimean Khanate - My vassal that gives me influence in the 
Black Sea. Also fight against 
Russia.
Kingdom of France - Helps me fight those dirty 
Habsburgs.
Enemies
Byzantine Empire - WEAK 
CHRISTIAN THAT I DEFEATED, I AM THE NEW 
ROME NOW!!
Empire of Trebizond - Weak rump state.
Wallachia - 
Vlad the maniac must pay!
Republic of Venice - Defeated him at sea a couple of times, in fact, almost every time.
Holy Roman Empire & 
Spanish Empire - Habsburgs! Must remove! 
Charles V can go burn in hell!
Holy League - STUPID EUROTARD CHRISTIANS TAKE MY CLAY AND 
CRUSADE AGAINST ME! I WILL KILL YOU ALL KAFIRS!! From the 
Danube to the Nile, from 
Mecca to 
Vienna — ALL MINE, INSHALLAH!!!
How to Draw
- Draw a ball.
- Fill it with red.
- Draw a green circle in the middle.
- Draw three yellow crescent moons in the green circle.
- Add the eyes and you’re done.
| Color Name | HEX | |
|---|---|---|
| Red | #A5000D | |
| Green | #077F00 | |
| Yellow | #FDD800 | |
