Ruler: Sultan Mehmed II.

In 1299, Osman I (1259-1326) founded one of nine small ghazi emirates in northwest Anatolia. A ghazi is an Islamic crusader; a holy warrior imbued with the fervour of his religion. However, only the Ottomans maintained the ghazi spirit past the death of their founder, causing the tyros from the other 'ghazi' states to flock to the Ottoman Emirs to satisfy their military zeal. The influx of zealous troops helped the Ottoman Emirate to quickly push back the frontier between Islam and Christianity by waging a very successful war against the weak Byzantine Empire. Osman took Bursa in 1326, dying shortly after in his new capital.

His son, Orkan I (1326-1360), continued a vigorous campaign, driving the Byzantines out from Anatolia by 1338 before turning his attention to the weaker emirates. 1354 saw him take Ankara and make it his capital, adopting the title of Sultan to mark his precedence over the other emirs. With Western Anatolia now entirely Ottoman, Orkan returned his attention to the Byzantine Empire. He directed his armies across the Bosphorus to invade Gallipoli. Constantinople was powerless to do more than just watch.

Murad I (1360-1389) began the systematic reduction of the Byzantine Empire in Europe and the consolidation of Ottoman power in Anatolia. His method involved two stages. First, he overawed a province by military might into becoming tributary. This weakened the province and took it out of Byzantine influence. Later, Murad would formally absorb the province into direct rule. By these means, Murad took Thrace in 1361, Macedonia 1371, Nish and Sofia in 1386 and Salonika in 1387. By 1373, the tributary states included Bulgaria and Constantinople itself. Meanwhile, Murad directly ruled all Anatolia as far as Trebizond.

Murad I died in the first battle of Kossovo in 1389, but his son, Bayezid I (1389-1402) took command of the Ottoman forces and the day ended in victory over the combined army of Bosnians, Serbs and Bulgars. In 1396, a crusading army of French, English, Hungarian, Venetian and Burgundian troops under the heir to the Duke of Burgundy, the future John the Fearless, lay siege to Nicopolis and Bayezid advanced to relieve his city. Sigismund of Hungary advised caution but the French charged rashly into annihilation before Bayezid turned on the Hungarians. The Sultan ordered the deaths of the common troops but spared the nobles for ransom. In the aftermath, Bulgaria came under direct Ottoman rule. Western Europe quaked in fear as Bayezid started making plans for the taking of Constantinople. In desperation, the Emperor Manuel II toured Western Christendom from 1399 to 1403, visiting Italy, Paris and London.

But the Ottomans are not invincible. The dreadful tyrant Tamberlaine invaded eastern Anatolia in 1402. Bayezid moved against the invader but Tamberlaine outmanoeuvred him in a superb piece of generalship, slipping his army behind Ottomans and moving on Bayezid's capital. After a desperate countermarch, his army exhausted, low on food and water, Bayezid lost to Tamberlaine outside Ankara.

Bayezid died in captivity but his son, Mehmed I (1402-1413) ruled a much weaker Ottoman state lacking control of the Anatolian hinterland. Shaken by the shattering defeat under the very walls of their capital, the Ottomans lost their grip on their recent conquests: many states refused tribute and Thrace and Salonika regained independence. However, it was only a matter of time before the Turks returned to Constantinople. Paradoxically, the removal of the imminent threat may have certified the city's doom, blunting the edge of any erstwhile crusader's zeal.

Meanwhile, Venice and Hungary took advantage of the Ottoman eclipse. Venice extending its control of the Aegean by virtue of its maritime superiority and Hungary gaining tribute from Bosnia, Serbia and Wallachia under strong central rule. But the tide turned and under Murad II (1421-1451), the Ottomans again moved westward, recapturing Salonika and Thrace in 1430. Desperate for allies, Emperor John II made overtures to the Pope to heal the schism that had separated the two churches since 1054, signing a formal reconciliation at the Council of Florence in 1439, only to be condemned by the fundamentalists of the Byzantine Church.

King Sigismund of Hungary died in 1437. Despite having to fight for control, his successor, Vladislav, appointed a gifted man to take charge of the war against the Turks, John Hunyadi. His campaigns of 1442/44 saved Constantinople from Murad II, beating the Turks at Nish in 1443. Murad won at Varna in 1444, killing King Vladislav of Poland and Hungary but Hunyadi, as regent for the infant Vladislav V, made him lose his taste for war and Murad 'retired' in 1444 in favour of his son, Mehmed II, only to resume power in 1446, refreshed. His son won the second battle of Kossovo in 1448.

In 1451, Mehmed II formally succeeded Murad II. A ruthless man, he murdered two brothers to secure his throne and his favourite means of execution is sawing in half, but he sees himself as a new Alexander, campaigning westward and always destined to take Constantinople, Alexander's capital.

On April 7^th, 1453, Mehmed lay siege to Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The Turks dragged seventy ships overland from the Bosphorus to the Golden Horn to circumvent the harbour defences. Against the city, they deployed the biggest cannon ever seen. Constantinople fell on May 29^th to scenes of appalling massacre. Emperor Constantine XI died heroically on the walls of his city.

Europe was stunned, the unthinkable had happened; after over 1500 years, the Roman Empire was no more. Many followers of the Byzantine church read the fall as God's judgement for the Council of Florence, quoting scripture: "If any man defile the Temple of God, him I shall destroy." [1 Corinthians, III 17].

Not content with the most fabulous city in the world, Mehmed continued his conquest. Hunyadi saved Belgrade in 1456 and the Knights of the Hospital of St. John hold the island of Rhodes but Mehmed took Serbia in 1459 and is currently advancing against the remains of the Byzantine Empire in the Peloponnese peninsula.

The secret of the Ottoman success lies not only in their formidable armies and skilled generalship, but also in their government. New territories are minutely surveyed for taxes and administration. Old landed classes are retained and used in Ottoman service. Despite their Ghazi origins, they are surprisingly tolerant of their subjects' religious preferences.

But good governance has a price. Mass deportation is common: Albanians, Greeks and Serbs go to Constantinople and Anatolia: Islamic nomads to Thrace, Bulgaria and the border marches. And then there is the Devshirme, a terrible tribute of children to be trained as soldiers, administrators and servants and brought up in the Islamic faith. The despairing cry of a 13^th Century Templar has come true: "He is mad who seeks to fight the Turks for Jesus Christ denies them nothing."