The Ottomans Get Involved

The Ottoman Empire started as one of many Turkish tribes in Western Anatolia in the 1200s, but eventually conquered a vast region, including the Byzantine Empire and the Morea. Here we discuss their history and how they took control of the Morea.

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The district of Vostitsa circa 1463 in the first Ottoman defter of the area had 1,529 households in 67 towns and villages. Wheat and barley were both cultivated. Along with various fruit trees. olive trees and grapevines. Pigs were counted in this record, separate from other livestock. And those other livestock, were all listed as sheep. Cotton and flax for both produced. But neither was as extensive in the Vostitsa district as the number of mulberry trees cultivated for silk. There was salt production from salt pans and watermills for grinding grain. And fulling mills for making felt as well. This information is from the 2019 book by Georgios Liakopoulos called The Early Ottoman Peloponnese. Information comes from Table Four, Demographic Statistics of the Peloponnese on page 221. Table 15 on District of Vostitsa. Pages 255 through 257 and Chart 10 on page 258. I'm Jen Glaubius and this is The Helonaki Deep Dive a podcast about mapping and analysis for historical and archeological research. In this episode, I'll discuss the Ottoman empire. From its beginnings in Asia Minor to how it conquered the Byzantine empire, including Constantinople and the Morea. Let's dive in. We're going to talk today about the Ottomans, but let's start just with a little recap about what was happening in the Morea, in the Peloponnese around 1400, before we really get to the Ottomans. So the Byzantines had made a comeback and they controlled a lot of territory in the Morea, but not all of it. They were in a pretty good position. The Venetians had the ports of Modon and Koron, and they had also acquired Nauplio through time. So they held three port cities. That they had fortified. The former Frankish baronies, some of those were kind of holding on, but they were no longer Frankish at all. They were either owned by some Italians, Florentines, or most of them, including Vostitsa were controlled by the Navarrese Company. And where left off last time. The first Ottoman raid happened in 1387. And the Ottomans were actually called in by Theodore the Despot of Morea. Now let's talk about the Ottomans. And what became the genesis of the Ottoman empire was one of many nomadic Turkish tribes that had arrived in Western Anatolia between the 1220s and 1240s. They came from the area of Iran and Eastern Anatolia, but were pushed westward after the Mongols had beat the Seljuk Sultanate. So they're moving, trying to find an area where they can thrive by themselves. The leader of the principality was a man named Osman. And from that they became the Ottomans, but it started with a man named Osman. And his principality was the furthest north of all these other little ones. And it was on the border of what remained to the Byzantine empire, which had just reformed itself around the 1260s after being taken apart by the Franks and the Fourth Crusade. And the Ottomans would continue to push against Byzantine land, especially the city of Nicaea, which they first besieged in 1301, but did not take until 30 years later. But the Ottomans were only in Anatolia until they made an alliance with a man named John Cantacuzenus who married his daughter, Theodora to Osman's son Orhan. Later when Cantacuzenus was on the Byzantine throne. He became the Byzantine emperor. He asked for the Ottomans to help him out in Thrace, in the Balkans in Europe. That help us supposed to be temporary, but when the Ottomans were about to cross back to Anatolia in 1354, an earthquake destroyed Byzantine fortresses on the Gallipoli peninsula. And the Ottomans took advantage of the confusion and established villages on the Gallipoli peninsula. And had their foothold in Europe. From their foothold on the Gallipoli peninsula, the Ottomans then started conducting raids into Thrace and across the Balkans to expand their territory. I just want to talk a little bit about how they made progress, how they gained territory in Thrace and in other places. So the process was they would start conducting raids into an area. And because of these raids, most of the people living there would decide to move into the towns because it wasn't safe except behind city walls. Then the Ottomans would approach the town. And they would say, okay, if you submit to us, you'll be okay. You'll just have to pay tribute. If you don't, we're going to enslave the people and you might go elsewhere or you'll be killed. And so those are the choices. If they had to take the town by force, then people would be enslaved and the town would mostly be settled by Turkish peoples. Through raiding the Ottomans quickly gained control of a lot of territory in the Balkans. But much of the area that they gained, they did not actually control directly. But through vassals. And that was when the leader of a territory would agree to become a vassal of the Ottoman leader. So then they would have to pay an annual tribute to show that they were under Ottoman control. Whoever the vassal was, would have to come to the Ottoman Sultan to swear allegiance. And as well on top of these other things. That vassal would have to supply auxiliary troops for the Ottomans. And so the Ottomans acquired vassals through the areas that are now Bulgaria, into Albania. And especially including the Byzantine emperor. That includes the Despot of Morea. So there was this rapid expansion through the Balkans and that was able to happen because the area was so fragmented into so many small territories who often fought amongst themselves. And then looked for the Ottomans for help against their other enemies. Ottoman domination of the region was not a foregone conclusion at this point. A lot depended on the individual Sultan, his choices and his personal leadership of the military. Various vassal states such as the Byzantines would do their best to weaken the Ottomans by supporting infighting when they could. So they were trying to weaken the Ottomans. And this especially happened whenever there was a new Sultan and there would be fighting amongst all the contenders for the Ottoman throne. But these various vassal states were also unstable internally, and this is especially the case in the Morea. Where you have the Byzantine Despot of Morea, but they're up against the Venetian ports, which had been long established for centuries at this point. And they still have fighting against the Principality of Achaia and the Navarrese Company. And in addition to those, the elite landowners of the Morea would also rebel against them. And that's how that first Ottoman raid of 1387 happened. Because the Despot of Morea called in the Ottomans for help against a rebellion by those elite landowners. The next time the Ottomans would actually come into the Morea was in 1393. And this time, it wasn't the Byzantines asking for help, but it was the Navarrese Company. An Ottoman general named Evrenos Beg got into the Morea and they seized two Byzantine fortresses. And then they left. But there's a new Sultan in 1394. His name is Bayezid and he called all of his vassal princes in to reaffirm their bonds that they owed to him. Including the Byzantine emperor and Theodore the Despot of the Morea. Theodore, to be able to leave this meeting, he had to promise that he would give the Ottomans Monemvasia that very impenetrable fortress, also Argos and some other fortresses. So Theodore the Despot promised to give up those fortresses, but once he escaped did not follow through and instead kept them for himself. The new Sultan was not happy about that. And so in the next year, 1395, he sent raiders. And these raiders went from the isthmus near Corinth. They went all the way to the other end of the Peloponnese to the Southwestern part. Up to Modon and Coron, the Venetian colonies. 1395 wasn't the last time raid another raid happened in 1397 and another one in 1400. With these raids, you end up with a lot of food shortages. Including in the Venetian held lands because they require people to be there to grow grain. And especially in the 1397 raid, centered on the town of Argos in the Northeastern Morea at least 14,000 people were enslaved during that one raid. The Venetians controlled Argos at that point. And so they tried to bring in people to repopulate it. They did bring in some Albanians But there's a lot of problems and there's also the devastation caused by the raid itself, like burned fields and ruined crops. So during these years, just at the end of the 13 hundreds, you have a lot of alliances that are fluid through time. Shifting who was allied with who. So you've got the Despot Theodore who had first called in the Ottomans. He'd been a vassal, but then he gets punished for not actually paying them tribute and he's in a pretty weak position. The commander of the Navarrese Company, a man named San Superan. He's the one who was actually in charge of Vostitsa at this point. He fights against the Ottomans in 1399. So he's helping fight against them. But two years later in early 1401. He's helping them conduct raids against Venetian Modon and Coron. And then you also have the landowning elite of the area. They change who they're working with through time. So they'll cooperate with the Navarrese Company for awhile against the Despot. And then they look for help from the Ottoman Sultan. So. Late 13 hundreds going into the very beginning of 14 hundreds, things were looking pretty bleak for the Morea. But the Morea and the Byzantine empire as a whole, get a break. When the Ottomans under their Sultan, leading them into the battle, lost badly to Timur, some times known as Tamerlane. There was a large battle near Ankara in the year, 1402. The Ottomans lost badly and Bayezid, their sultan was actually taken captive. After he died, it kicked off an Ottoman civil war, basically, like who would succeed him? And this gave breathing space to basically everyone. So the Byzantines and all of the other vassals basically are gone because they were like, Nope. You do not have a hold on us at this point. So back in the Morea. They don't have raids for a few years. Manuel the Byzantine emperor comes to the Morea in spring of 1415. He lands at a port near the isthmus of Corinth. And there he restores this wall known as the Hexamilion. The Hexamilion was this wall across the isthmus, which was intended for defense. A much, much earlier wall had been placed there, but the earliest one definitely attested was during the early Byzantine period. But now, Manuel the Byzantine emperor is trying to restore the Hexamilion. And to do that he needs money. So he raises the taxes on the local population. And of course they're unhappy about that. It's like the Hexamilion doesn't usually work. And you want us to pay for this? And they rise up against the Byzantines and Manuel has this uprising put down. And then after that he goes to Mystra. The Byzantines actually ended up making strides in the 1410s. They capture basically all of the area of Messenia and they start going northwards into Ellis, which was the center of the Frankish principate. The Venetians have Modon and Coron in Messenia. So they take the area between it, a castle between the two. And they also end up purchasing the fortress at Navarino. Which today is known as Paleo Navarino, not the newer one in the town of Pylos. It had been about 20 years since the Ottomans had raided. The Hexamilion had been updated in 1415. But in 1423, the Ottomans invade the Morea. And the Hexamilion did not stop them at all. So you've got Ottomans coming in, they raid, it causes a lot of destruction, then they leave. After the 1423 raid there's peace in the Morea for a little while. At least from the Ottomans. But the Byzantines during this time end up taking care of what was left of the Navarrese Company and the Principate of Achaia. And by 1430, all of the Morea, except for the little Venetian ports, are back in Byzantine hands. In 1443, the Ottomans end up playing defense. There's a small crusade that comes out of the west and it takes out the Turkish governor in what is now Bulgaria. At about that same time, there's an uprising in Albania by Skanderbeg. And then in the Morea the eldest son of the Byzantine emperor, the Despot Constantine Palaeologos, first rebuilds the Hexamilion at the isthmus of Corinth, even though it has not stopped the Ottomans or anyone else. And then he continues on into central Greece and occupies Athens and Thebes, which were actually owned by a Florentine. So a couple of years later, Constantine ends up going raiding throughout what is central Greece and up into Albania. Constantine had left a governor in his place in the Moria. This governor was based in Vostitsa. but he leaves a small force back in Vostitsa. And crosses the Gulf of Corinth into western Phocis. And he drives the Ottomans out of the area around the site of Delphi. So in response to this. The Ottoman Sultan was not happy about this raiding. And in November 1446. He allies himself with the Duke of Athens and Thebes. And takes an army of 50,000 to the Morea. So Constantine who had gone raiding and his brother, the Despot Thomas, they try to hold them at the Hexamilion. But the defenders can't hold it. And the two Despots barely get themselves back into Mystra. At the same time those Greek elite landowners are also rising up. So they're rebelling at the same time. The Sultan Murad, who is leading his army himself, he ends up splitting that army into two. He sends half towards Mystra towards that Capitol where the despots are. And he took the other half to go along the Northern coast of the Morea. So he goes from Corinth and makes it to Patras going through Vostitsa and causing devastation along the entire path. The population of Patras had mostly fled across the water to Naupktos. But then the Sultan marches to Glarentza, which had been that Frankish stronghold and meets up with his general who had not been able to take Mystra. So the despots were safe. After meeting up, the Ottomans then marched back out of the Morea. It was a devastating raid. With over 22,000 people dead. And at least 60,000 people taken prisoner. So after that Constantine becomes the Byzantine emperor. He goes off to Constantinople. And his younger brother Demetrius Palaeologos joins their other brother, Thomas in the Morea. These two brothers do not agree in how they're actually going to deal with foreign politics. So Demetrius the one who had just arrived was very pro Ottoman. He would have been fighting with them since his father was their vassal. Thomas who'd been in the Morea longer was more anti-Ottoman. But even though they disagreed, they also had to deal with the elite landowners of the Morea who would cause problems. So there's another raid by the Ottomans in the fall of 1452, which keeps Demetrius and Thomas, very busy. And it keeps them from sending aid to their brother. Constantine the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople. That April in 1453. Ottoman forces under their Sultan surrounded Constantinople. They'd been attacking and sieging Constantinople and building fortresses, getting ready to take the city. But in 1453, they really mean business. They bring cannons. There are very few defenders for the miles and miles of walls of Constantinople. The population was greatly decreased from its height. And the Ottomans had a blockade to prevent anyone from supplying them. The final assault came on the 29th of May in 1453. And that's when the city fell completely to the Ottomans followed by three days of looting. And then all of that was stopped and the Sultan made Constantinople into his capitol. Just as a little side note, the city remained Constantinople for some time. And the name Istanbul came later. So, once Constantinople comes into Ottoman hands, I'm now going to call it Istanbul from here on out. Members of the Byzantine elite were able to escape the fall of Constantinople. Some of these elite refugees, they end up in the Morea, they end up on the island of Corfu or on other islands. A lot of them end up in Italy and especially in Venice. So one of the biggest consequences from 1453 is that the last real outpost of the Byzantine empire is the Morea. With the two despots, but they're on their own completely. The despots Thomas and Demetrios have control over the entire area except for the Venetian ports. But that control is very, very unsteady. The elite landowners aren't happy. They keep revolting. There's another revolt by Albanians in 1453. And so to put down this revolt, the despots get help from the Ottomans. But there have been constant raids off and on for years at this point. Meanwhile, the Ottomans continue making advances. So they capture Athens in 1455. But the Ottomans don't come into the Morea until 1458 and they have a pretext. And that pretext is that the despots did not pay the tribute to the Sultan for three years. And so the Ottomans were able to then invade in 1458. Corinth itself surrenders after three months siege. then the Ottomans are able to sweep through and take most of the Peloponnese by 1460, except for the Venetian colonies. Because the Despot Thomas ends up fleeing Monemvasia puts itself under Venice's control. In 1463 the Pope and Hungary and Venice decide to get together a crusade to try to help out the Byzantines who have basically just lost the Morea. But there's not enough support. That crusade doesn't do much. But in July, 1463, the people who are left in the Morea, try to give what's left to the Venetians to see if they can hold back the Ottomans. And so this very brief period in 1463 is called the first Venetokratia, the first period of Venetian rule, even though it's super brief. During this brief period, Vostitsa was among the castles occupied by the Venetians. But it didn't last very long. So with this, the Morea becomes Ottoman with those few Venetian holdouts. Now what happened when the Ottomans took over territory? In most cases, they didn't really change much at first. Now all the land would now belong to the Sultan. And there would be a new survey called a defter. So that they would know how much tax money could be collected. But administrative boundaries would be kept at first. The peasants would remain on the land that they were on. They would have that use of the farm land. And would be taxed on any produce that they raised. The tax revenue from the land could be given to institutions like dervish lodges. And later on to individuals. But most of the land would be granted to cavalryman and this is called the timar system. Where these cavalryman would be responsible for collecting the taxes and that tax revenue would fund them to actually be able to go off and fight in Ottoman wars. And the cavalrymen would be settled there and they would help keep order for the Ottomans in that area. I do want to note that these timars could be granted to local nobility, to the local elites. They did not have to be Ottomans to actually be awarded timars. And I'm not sure if it happened in the Morea, but in other parts in Albania and in Thessaly, there would be Christian timarots awarded. They just had two qualifications. If you're a Christian. You had to have some military training and origin, you had to be of the military to hold a timar. And you also have to have proved yourself loyal to the Sultan. And through this and other ways the Ottoman state helped preserve the elite status of individuals that worked with them. And so the peasants were still where they were and the elites mostly were able to stay as elites as well. Some of them would have fled. But many would have stayed because they had roots there. And so this is how we get the first Ottoman defter between 1460 and 1463 in all of the territories that the Ottomans controlled. So none of the Venetian areas. But we get a snapshot of what was happening in Vostitsa. And at this point it's really what was Vostitsa like, at the very end of the Byzantine period in 1460, when this defter was compiled. There were 73 localities that included 38 Greek villages. 28 Albanian villages. And then one mixed village. There were also four uninhabited, but cultivated areas included as localities. And as I read in the beginning, there were salt pans in the area. Wheat was cultivated. You had viticulture for wine-making. And then you especially have the silk industry. You have a lot of Mulberry trees in this area. I'll talk a lot more about how this defter was collected and what it means when I get into analysis in the second half of this season. Now Let's talk about what happened afterwards. So. After this, the Morea's pretty stable. What fighting there is between the Venetians and the Ottomans, the Ottomans in the meanwhile, expand their territory to Egypt and along the coast of north Africa. They also have fighting to the East against the Persians, so in the area of Iran. And they're fighting in the west, in the Balkans near the Danube first with the Hungarian empire and later against the Habsburgs. We're going to focus mostly what was going on with the Venetians. Cause this is where most of the direct conflict comes from. In 1470, Venice loses the island of Evia to the Ottomans. This was a major blow to them. They'd had a colony there for a long time. And used it for resupplying. The Venetians and the Ottomans fight for a while. And then they sign a treaty and there's peace for decades. But in 1499, the Venetians lose a naval battle to the Ottomans off the island of Sapienza off the Southwestern tip of the Peloponnese. And the next year in 1500. They lose Modon and Coron. They also lose Naupaktos which was across the Gulf of Corinth from the Morea. They lose all of that to the Ottomans in 1500. So in response Venice and the Papacy and Hungary joined together in a league against the Ottomans. This league isn't very strong. Venice tries to attack the Ottomans in Anatolia, but nothing really happens. It doesn't really do anything. But the Venetians still have the islands of Cyprus, Crete, and Corfu. After a failed Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1529. a so-called holy league joins together in 1538. And this holy league is the Hapsburg, Charles, the fifth. The Pope. And then Venice And this league comes into a naval battle against the Ottomans led by Barbarosa who simply, beats the holy league. After this defeat Monemvasia. and Nauplio are both taken by the Ottomans from Venetian families that had been holding them. And that ends any control that the Venetians have over any place in the Morea. This leads us to the year 1571. Which is when the Ottomans decided to take control of the island of Cyprus which Venice had been in charge of since 1489. Venice had basically been trying to stay at peace with the Ottomans, but the Ottomans started attacking Cyprus. Venice hurriedly joins into a league with the Pope and with Spain. Venice was supposed to help Spain fight in north Africa and Spain would help the Venetians against the Ottomans on Cyprus. This league puts together a fleet. That's led by Don John of Austria. And they leave for Cyprus in September of 1571. But Cypress has already completely fallen to the Ottomans. Instead this fleet finds the Ottoman fleet at the Gulf of Patras. So it's at the mouth of the Gulf of Corinth. And there's a battle off of Naupaktos, which is also known as Lepanto. The fleet led by Don Juan is outnumbered by the Ottoman fleet, but they have more modern ships. And they're able to destroy most of the Ottoman fleet in this huge horrific battle that's known as the battle of Lepanto. The battle of Lepanto is sometimes called a turning point in the, the fighting between the Ottomans and Christian nations of the west. But in many ways nothing really changed after it. There was no momentum for this league of the Spanish, the Venetians and the Pope. There would be minor skirmishes, but the Ottoman fleet was able to rebuild Nothing really is gained. The Venetians have lost Cyprus and they'll never get it back. And the Venetians end up having to pay a lot of money to the Ottomans as reparations. So, although the battle sometimes seen as a great Christian victory over the Ottomans. It didn't really do anything. And that's where we're going to leave off for this episode We'll pick up in the next episode with what happens after 1571. And mostly it's more fighting between the Venetians and the Ottomans and leads into the second period of Venetian rule in the Morea. For the endnotes. I just want to say a few words about the way that the Ottomans are often portrayed in different books and resources you might see out there. And there's a lot of anti Ottoman bias. I'm not saying that the Ottomans did not do horrible things, but they are portrayed as the worst of the worst. Even when Christians, such as the crusaders did things that were just as bad. And the difference is definitely religion. I try not to let that bias affect me, but to do that, I also try to read things from the Ottoman perspective, as well, as much as possible. And one book that I am using extensively for this section. Is by Caroline Finkel called Osman's Dream. The history of the Ottoman empire. And it's a very, very super detailed read. And very good for just getting a feel for what the Ottoman empire was like without pulling punches. So I highly recommend it. Thanks for listening. Email questions or comments to deepdive@helonaki.com or ask them on the Helonaki Deep Dive Facebook page. Show notes with links to resources mentioned in this episode will be available at helonaki.com. That's H E L O N A K I.com. You can also find ways to support the show now, including merch such as t-shirts mugs and stickers with the Helonaki Deep Dive logo at helonaki.com/support. My thanks to Patreon supporters at the geospatial analyst level, Leah Varrell and Janice and Jerry Farrell. Your support keeps the Helonaki Deep Dive going. The Helonaki Deep Dive is written and produced by me, Jen Glaubius of the Helonaki. The theme music is Deep Ocean Instrumental by Dan-o of danosongs.com additional sounds from zapsplat.com. Thanks for listening.