Cross & Crescent in the Balkans: The Ottoman Conquest of Southeastern Europe
This is NOT just another retelling of the Fall of Constantinople, though it does include a very fine account of that momentous event. It is the history of a quite extraordinary century, one which began when a tiny of force of Ottoman Turkish warriors was invited by the Christian Byzantine Emperor to cross the Dardanelles from Asia into Europe to assist him in one of the civil wars which were tearing the fast-declining Byzantine Empire apart.

One hundred and eight years later the Byzantine capital of Constantinople fell to what was by then a hugely powerful and expanding empire of the Islamic Ottoman Turks, whose rulers came to see themselves as the natural and legitimate heirs of their Byzantine and indeed Roman predecessors. The book sets the scene, explains the background and tells the story, both military, political, cultural and personal, of the winners and the losers, plus those 'outsiders' who were increasingly being drawn into the dramatic story of the rise of the Ottoman Empire.
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Cross & Crescent in the Balkans: The Ottoman Conquest of Southeastern Europe
This is NOT just another retelling of the Fall of Constantinople, though it does include a very fine account of that momentous event. It is the history of a quite extraordinary century, one which began when a tiny of force of Ottoman Turkish warriors was invited by the Christian Byzantine Emperor to cross the Dardanelles from Asia into Europe to assist him in one of the civil wars which were tearing the fast-declining Byzantine Empire apart.

One hundred and eight years later the Byzantine capital of Constantinople fell to what was by then a hugely powerful and expanding empire of the Islamic Ottoman Turks, whose rulers came to see themselves as the natural and legitimate heirs of their Byzantine and indeed Roman predecessors. The book sets the scene, explains the background and tells the story, both military, political, cultural and personal, of the winners and the losers, plus those 'outsiders' who were increasingly being drawn into the dramatic story of the rise of the Ottoman Empire.
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Cross & Crescent in the Balkans: The Ottoman Conquest of Southeastern Europe

Cross & Crescent in the Balkans: The Ottoman Conquest of Southeastern Europe

by David Nicolle
Cross & Crescent in the Balkans: The Ottoman Conquest of Southeastern Europe

Cross & Crescent in the Balkans: The Ottoman Conquest of Southeastern Europe

by David Nicolle

Paperback(Reprint)

$22.95 
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Overview

This is NOT just another retelling of the Fall of Constantinople, though it does include a very fine account of that momentous event. It is the history of a quite extraordinary century, one which began when a tiny of force of Ottoman Turkish warriors was invited by the Christian Byzantine Emperor to cross the Dardanelles from Asia into Europe to assist him in one of the civil wars which were tearing the fast-declining Byzantine Empire apart.

One hundred and eight years later the Byzantine capital of Constantinople fell to what was by then a hugely powerful and expanding empire of the Islamic Ottoman Turks, whose rulers came to see themselves as the natural and legitimate heirs of their Byzantine and indeed Roman predecessors. The book sets the scene, explains the background and tells the story, both military, political, cultural and personal, of the winners and the losers, plus those 'outsiders' who were increasingly being drawn into the dramatic story of the rise of the Ottoman Empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781526766731
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Publication date: 10/30/2019
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 272
Sales rank: 535,834
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

David Nicolle is a leading expert on the history of medieval warfare, in particular the Crusades and Middle Eastern warfare, and he is a prolific writer of books on these subjects as well as articles and magazine articles.

Among his many previous works are The Hundred Years War; The Mongol Warlords;Saladin and the Saracens; The Crusades; The Medieval Warfare Sourcebook; Hattin 1187 and Fighting for the Faith.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Maps ix

Introduction xiii

Chronology xv

Chapter 1 A Chaotic Background 1

Chapter 2 Byzantine & Balkan Complexity 13

Chapter 3 Aegean Crusaders & Naval Crusades 27

Chapter 4 Religion and the Sword 35

Chapter 5 Turks, Nomads & Peasants 48

Chapter 6 Byzantine Life & Balkin Rivalries 56

Chapter 7 The Ottomans' First European Conquests - A New Way of Life 64

Chapter 8 The Rise of Serbia & the Decline of Byzantium 71

Chapter 9 From Empire to Empire - Byzantine & Ottoman Government 78

Chapter 10 Prelude to Disaster 89

Chapter 11 Humbling the Crusaders 107

Chapter 12 The Ottomans Face Catastrophe 125

Chapter 13 The Ottomans Survive 136

Chapter 14 An Islamic Empire in Europe 143

Chapter 15 The Failed Christian Counterattack 151

Chapter 16 Vassalage & Renaissance 158

Chapter 17 The Ottomanization of Anatolia 165

Chapter 18 Mehmet Closes in on Constantinople 172

Chapter 19 Preparing for the Siege 188

Chapter 20 The Conquest of Constantinople 199

Chapter 21 Greece Falls to the Turks 217

Chapter 22 Venetians & Ottomans 223

Chapter 23 The Ottomans Fortify their Empire 237

Glossary 245

Further Reading 251

Index 254

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