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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

From Hutton Webster's, Early European History (1917); edited for this on-line publication, by ELLOPOS

XVIII. THE MONGOLS AND THE OTTOMAN TURKS TO 1453 A.D.

Em. Macron, Rediscovering the Path to Europe

» Contents of this Chapter

The Mongols   * Conquests of the Mongols, 1206-1405 A.D.   * The Mongols in China and India   * The Mongols in Eastern Europe   * The Ottoman Turks and their Conquests, 1227-1453 A.D.   * The Ottoman Turks in Southeastern Europe

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THE JANIZARIES

The Turks owed much of their success to the famous body of troops known as Janizaries. [16] These were recruited for the most part from Christian children surrendered by their parents as tribute. The Janizaries received an education in the Moslem faith and careful instruction in the use of arms. Their discipline and fanatic zeal made them irresistible on the field of battle.

[16] A name derived from the Turkish yeni cheri, "new troops."

 

CONSTANTINOPLE BESIEGED

Constantinople had never recovered from the blow inflicted upon it by the freebooters of the Fourth Crusade. It was isolated from western Europe by the advance of the Turks. Frantic appeals for help brought only a few ships and men from Genoa and Venice. When in 1453 A.D. the sultan Mohammed II, commanding a large army amply supplied with artillery, appeared before the walls, all men knew that Constantinople was doomed.

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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY: Table of Contents

url: www.ellopos.net/politics/european-history/default.asp

IN PRINT

Cf. The Ancient Greece * The Ancient Rome
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) * Western Medieval Europe * Renaissance in Italy