Ourkhan, who followed Osman, proved that he had inherited his father’s capacity for war and statesmanship. His brother was made vizier, with special charge of the organization of the army, which, in its various arms, preserved for centuries the marks of a military intelligence far superior to that shown in the organization of the armies of medieval Europe. The regular troops were divided into janitschars (foot soldiers), and spahis (horsemen), while the irregular forces had the same two divisions under the names of akindji and azabs.

The advance of conquest still went on upon a large scale. Soon Nicomedia, the ancient capital of Diocletian, surrendered to the Turks. In a battle at Maldepe the Greek Emperor Andronicus III suffered a defeat that led to the loss of all the Asiatic possessions of the Greeks. Nicæa, the second city of the empire, was obliged to yield to the conqueror, who gave the inhabitants the same terms as those accorded to the people of Broussa. The moral effect of this blow was immense, because Nicæa had been the starting point for the revival of Greek civilization and political rule after the taking of Constantinople by the Latins. It was also sacred as the seat of two great ecumenical councils. Now, the church where the Nicene Creed was proclaimed, became a mosque, and the city, with its name transformed into the Turkish disguise of Isnik, lost its historical identity. (1330.)

After the seizure of some small seaports on the Black Sea and the Propontis, the whole of Bithynia fell into Turkish hands. There were only the narrow straits between the Osmanlis and Europe; on the Asiatic side the only places which still belonged to the Greek Empire were Scutari and Philadelphia. As Ourkhan’s dominions expanded, he followed his father’s precedent in dividing the land into sandjaks (banners). Nicæa was intrusted, on account of its importance, to the eldest son, Souliman, who then, on his own account, resolved to attempt the passage into Europe. In his adventure he was accompanied only by a handful of companions; two rafts were constructed of the trunks of trees joined by thongs of leather, and with these a landing was made at Tzympe, which was seized without trouble, as the fortifications of the place had fallen into ruins (1356).

Not long after this event an earthquake shook the walls of Gallipoli and other neighboring towns, a misfortune which made them all an easy prey for Souliman’s officers. When the Greek Emperor protested, Ourkhan answered that his latest conquests were due, not to his arms, but to the will of God that had been revealed in the earthquake. Gallipoli was the key to Europe, and it was not given up. Using it as a base, the Osmanlis commenced to make marauding expeditions into the adjacent country.

II
MURAD I

There followed in succession to Ourkhan, not Souliman, who died in one of the raids into Thrace, but Murad I, whose mother was a Greek. In some respects he was a greater leader than his father, Ourkhan; he is spoken of in the chronicles as eloquent, devoted to justice, and a strict disciplinarian. At the same time he was beloved by his troops because of his generosity. Although he had no education, not even the ability to read and write, he was known as a great builder of mosques, schools, and hospitals. When he had a document to sign he dipped four fingers in the ink, and, keeping them as far apart as possible, impressed them on the paper; the impression so made was worked up artistically into the imperial Osmanli seal. His success in warfare was due not only to his own valor, but also to the number of able commanders who conducted his campaigns under his directions.

The European successes of his elder brother could not be followed up immediately, because the notable victories of the Osmanlis had excited the jealousy of the remaining Seldjouk emirs in Asia. Ourkhan had himself warred with the Prince of Karasi and so been able to add Mysia with Pergamum to his territories. Now Murad’s reign was opened by a contest with the emir of Karamania, another Ala-ed-Din, who stirred up many of the Osmanli dependencies to revolt. The city of Angora was the center of this insurrection. Murad overcame the rebels, placed a garrison in Angora, and adopted a policy of gradual absorption in order to keep the Seldjouk emirates from forming a coalition against him. One was ceded outright and a large part of another became the marriage portion of the wife of Bajesid, son of Murad. The situation in Asia, owing to the restlessness of the remaining emirs, who represented another branch of the Turkish stock, continued to be a source of difficulty for many years, and the final and complete conquest of the whole of Anatolia only took place when the European Empire of the Osmanlis was an accomplished fact.

The armies of Murad had now occupied Thrace; hence they were brought into immediate contact with the two strong Slavic nations on the Balkan peninsula, the Bulgarians and the Servians. These South Slavic peoples, after centuries of struggle for supremacy with the Eastern Empire, had been overpowered by the superior wealth, strategy, and civilization of the rulers of Constantinople in the beginning of the eleventh century. But the Latin conquest of Constantinople made it easy for them to regain the ground they had lost. In the course of the struggle between the Byzantines and the Crusaders, the movements towards independence among the Servians and Bulgarians were facilitated. After the year 1261 accessions of territory were made by both branches of the Slavic race. Besides contesting possession of Balkan territory with the Magyars they warred among themselves for the acquisition of lands in the Maritza basin and along the rivers Strouma and Vardar.

In this rivalry the Servians secured the greatest prizes in the way of territorial expansion. By the end of the thirteenth century they had reached the sea coast, and had occupied the region around the two lakes Ochrida and Prespa. About the same time the movement to expand their frontiers at the expense of the Greek Empire again became marked. Northern Albania was conquered and additional lands were seized in Macedonia. These successes led to a coalition between the Bulgars and the Greeks; but this scheme to block the Servians failed. There was a great battle at Velbouje, at which the Bulgarian army was completely crushed. The plan of the Servians was to secure the alliance of their rivals by a marriage between their leader, Stephen Douchan, and the sister of Tsar Michael, the head of the Bulgars.

Douchan is often called the Charlemagne of Servia, but the title is only true if measured by an unrealized dream. His reign marks the limit of Servian ambition; he looked forward to an imperial position under which the Slavs would become the heirs of the dignities and domains of the Byzantine Empire, a position they deserved because of the inability of the Greeks to defend their lands from the advancing power of the Turk. For a time the dream seemed on the point of realization, as Douchan’s various campaigns against the Greeks were successful. The alliance with the Bulgars was maintained unbroken, and only a very small part of the European possessions of the Emperors at Constantinople remained intact. Thrace and a strip of Asia Minor was all that was left; there was every reason to urge Douchan to proclaim his overlordship in the regular way. Accordingly, on April 16, 1346, Douchan was solemnly anointed Emperor (Tsar) of Servia and Roumania by the Servian Patriarch Joannikos, at Uskup.