worldhistory
Ottoman Empire, Islam, Christendom (1450 – 1750)
Ottoman Empire
Turkic warrior origin; frontier emirate, vast land empire across Middle East, North Africa, SE Europe
Raiding framed as jihad; sultan = warrior prince + Muslim caliph + conquering emperor
Heir to Byzantine Empire, capital at Constantinople / Istanbul after 1453
Controls Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, protector of Islam’s holy cities
Sunni state; century-long wars with Shia Safavid Persia, yet elite highly value Persian poetry, art, court culture
Women, shift from relatively free steppe women to veiled, secluded urban women, but 1550 – 1650 “sultanate of women” gives royal women major political influence
Islamic law grants women property and court rights in marriage, divorce, inheritance
Muslims, Christians
Anatolia: heavy Turkish settlement + weakening Byzantium, by 1500 about 90% Muslim, Turkic-speaking
Balkans: few Turkish settlers; Muslims rule Christian majority (19% Muslim, 81% Christian by early 1500s)
Lighter taxes and rule, many Christians initially welcome conquest; Orthodox and Armenian churches keep internal autonomy
Christian and Jewish elites (Balkan landlords, Greek merchants, officials, clergy; Jewish refugees from Spain) join Ottoman economic and political elite
Devshirme: state levy of Christian boys, convert to Islam, serve as officials or Janissaries; family loss but path to upward mobility
Conquest of Constantinople, Balkans, Mediterranean naval power, sieges of Vienna (1529, 1683), “terror of the Turk,” fear of Muslim takeover of Europe
Renaissance admiration for Islamic splendor; Jean Bodin praises Ottoman religious tolerance; France allies with Ottomans against Habsburgs; European merchants ignore papal bans to sell arms