The fall of the Gallipoli fortress in 1354 has long been regarded as a pivotal moment in the Ottoman expansion into South-Eastern Europe. This study is divided into two parts: the first addresses the historical context surrounding this event, while the second focuses on the military-strategic dimensions of the Ottoman occupation. In particular, the author emphasizes the significance of the earlier settlement of Turkish mercenaries by Byzantine Emperor John Kantakouzenos on the Thracian peninsula of Chersonesos (Gallipoli) in 1352, which he argues played a more decisive role than previously acknowledged. The study concludes that, in the absence of adequate Byzantine army and naval power, Gallipoli had long served as a passive element of Byzantine defence. Its isolation by Ottoman forces—both by land and sea—after 1352 would have inevitably led to its fall, even without the impact of the major earthquake on March 1, 1354.
2
Dostęp do pełnego tekstu na zewnętrznej witrynie WWW
The article examines Czech views of the Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and compares them to their opinions on the Ottoman Turks. It asks to what extent Czech perceptions of these two groups correspond to the distinction between “good” and “bad” Muslims suggested by Andre Gingrich in his concept of “frontier Orientalism”. Special attention is devoted to images of Muslim women who, according to Gingrich, hardly figured in the frontier version of Orientalism. Czech experiences with the Ottoman Empire differed from those of other Central and South East Europeans, and Czechs’ views of the Ottoman Turks were influenced by Western Orientalist discourse. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, in contrast, the Czechs’ position was closer to the Austrians’ civilizing mission and their frontier Orientalism, but it was complicated by the fact that the local population was Slavic, like the Czechs themselves. Thus, Czech perceptions of the Slavic Muslims were ambivalent and oscillated between identifying the Muslims with the Ottoman Turks, and viewing them as Slavic brothers. The ambivalence concerned also Muslim women, who were portrayed as different from (Ottoman) Turkish women, but at the same time often seen through Orientalist lenses.
On the 10th October 1352, a battle took place near the Thracian city of Didymoteichon, which marked the first important victory of the Ottoman Turks in Europe. The results of this military encounter contributed to definitive Ottoman settlement in Thrace and further territorial expansion in the south-eastern Balkans. In the first part of this paper, the author notes the historical background of this battle, which took place in the context of two military conflicts – the War of the Straits (1350 – 1355) between Genoa and Venice and the Byzantine Civil War (1352 – 1357). In the second part, he focuses his attention on the course of the battle of Didymoteichon and its military aspects.
JavaScript jest wyłączony w Twojej przeglądarce internetowej. Włącz go, a następnie odśwież stronę, aby móc w pełni z niej korzystać.