1.
History of the Ottoman Empire
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The Ottoman Empire was founded by Osman I. As sultan Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453, the state grew into a mighty empire, the empire came to an end in the aftermath of its defeat by the ] in World War I. The empire was dismantled by the Allies after the war ended in 1918, with the demise of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent states, the so-called Anatolian Beyliks. By 1300, a weakened Byzantine Empire had lost most of its Anatolian provinces to these Turkish principalities, one of the beyliks was led by Osman I, from which the name Ottoman is derived, son of Ertuğrul, around Eskişehir in western Anatolia. In the foundation myth expressed in the known as Osmans Dream. According to his dream the tree, which was Osmans Empire, issued four rivers from its roots, the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Nile, additionally, the tree shaded four mountain ranges, the Caucasus, the Taurus, the Atlas and the Balkan ranges. During his reign as Sultan, Osman I extended the frontiers of Turkish settlement toward the edge of the Byzantine Empire, in this period, a formal Ottoman government was created whose institutions would change drastically over the life of the empire. In the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over the Eastern Mediterranean, Osmans son, Orhan, captured the city of Bursa in 1326 and made it the new capital of the Ottoman state. The fall of Bursa meant the loss of Byzantine control over Northwestern Anatolia, the important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387. The Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, widely regarded as the last large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages, failed to stop the advance of the victorious Ottoman Turks. With the extension of Turkish dominion into the Balkans, the strategic conquest of Constantinople became a crucial objective, the Empire controlled nearly all former Byzantine lands surrounding the city, but the Byzantines were temporarily relieved when Timur invaded Anatolia in the Battle of Ankara in 1402. He took Sultan Bayezid I as a prisoner, the capture of Bayezid I threw the Turks into disorder. The state fell into a war that lasted from 1402 to 1413. It ended when Mehmed I emerged as the sultan and restored Ottoman power, part of the Ottoman territories in the Balkans were temporarily lost after 1402, but were later recovered by Murad II between the 1430s and 1450s. Four years later, János Hunyadi prepared another army to attack the Turks, the son of Murad II, Mehmed the Conqueror, reorganized the state and the military, and demonstrated his martial prowess by capturing Constantinople on 29 May 1453, at the age of 21. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed II cemented the status of the Empire as the preeminent power in southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. To this aim he spent many years securing positions on the Adriatic Sea, such as in Albania Veneta, during this period in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ottoman Empire entered a long period of conquest and expansion, extending its borders deep into Europe and North Africa. Conquests on land were driven by the discipline and innovation of the Ottoman military, and on the sea, the state also flourished economically due to its control of the major overland trade routes between Europe and Asia
2.
Fall of Constantinople
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The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by an invading army of the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453. The Ottomans were commanded by the then 21-year-old Mehmed the Conqueror, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The conquest of Constantinople followed a 53-day siege that had begun on 6 April 1453, the capture of Constantinople marked the end of the Roman Empire, an imperial state that had lasted for nearly 1,500 years. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople also dealt a blow to Christendom. After the conquest, Sultan Mehmed II transferred the capital of the Ottoman Empire from Edirne to Constantinople. The conquest of the city of Constantinople and the end of the Byzantine Empire was a key event in the Late Middle Ages, which also marks, for some historians, Constantinople had been an imperial capital since its consecration in 330 under Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great. In the following centuries, the city had been besieged many times but was captured only once. The crusaders established an unstable Latin state in and around Constantinople while the remaining empire splintered into a number of Byzantine successor states, notably Nicaea, Epirus and they fought as allies against the Latin establishments, but also fought among themselves for the Byzantine throne. The Nicaeans eventually reconquered Constantinople from the Latins in 1261, thereafter there was little peace for the much-weakened empire as it fended off successive attacks by the Latins, the Serbians, the Bulgarians, and, most importantly, the Ottoman Turks. The Black Plague between 1346 and 1349 killed almost half of the inhabitants of Constantinople, the Empire of Trebizond, an independent successor state that formed in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, also survived on the coast of the Black Sea. This optimism was reinforced by friendly assurances made by Mehmed to envoys sent to his new court, but Mehmeds actions spoke far louder than his mild words. Since the mutual excommunications of 1054, the Pope in Rome was committed to establishing authority over the eastern church, nominal union had been negotiated in 1274, at the Second Council of Lyon, and indeed, some Palaiologoi emperors had since been received into the Latin church. Emperor John VIII Palaiologos had also recently negotiated union with Pope Eugene IV, finally, the attempted Union failed, greatly annoying Pope Nicholas V and the hierarchy of the Roman church. Although some troops did arrive from the city states in the north of Italy. Some Western individuals, however, came to defend the city on their own account. One of these was a soldier from Genoa, Giovanni Giustiniani. A specialist in defending walled cities, he was given the overall command of the defense of the land walls by the emperor. In Venice, meanwhile, deliberations were taking place concerning the kind of assistance the Republic would lend to Constantinople
3.
Decline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire
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Beginning from the late eighteenth century, the Ottoman Empire faced challenges defending itself against foreign invasion and occupation. Over the course of the century, the Ottoman state became increasingly powerful and rationalized. At the end of period, marked with 1908, to a degree the Ottoman military became modernized and professionalized according to the model of Western European Armies. The period was followed by defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the rise of nationalism swept through many countries during the 19th century, and it affected territories within the Ottoman Empire. A burgeoning national consciousness, together with a sense of ethnic nationalism. The empire was forced to deal with nationalism both within and beyond its borders. The number of revolutionary, secret societies which turned into political parties during the period rose dramatically. Uprisings in Ottoman territory had many far-reaching consequences during the 19th century, many Ottoman ruling elite questioned whether the policies of the state were to blame, some felt that the sources of ethnic conflict were external, and unrelated to issues of governance. While this era was not without some successes, the ability of the Ottoman state to have any effect on ethnic uprisings was seriously called into question, at the end of the century from Russian perspective, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and autonomy of Bulgaria was achieved. After the Congress of Berlin the Russian expansion was controlled through stopping the expansion of Bulgaria, the Russian public felt that at the end of Congress of Berlin thousands of Russian soldiers had died for nothing. The military of the Ottoman Empire remained an effective fighting force until the half of the eighteenth century. Selim III came to the throne with an effort in military reforms in 1789. Selim III was replaced by Mahmud II in 1808 who established martial law of Alemdar Mustafa Pasha and his first task was to ally with the Janissaries in order to break the power of the provincial governors. He then turned on the Janissaries and removed them from power during Auspicious Incident in 1826, efforts for a new system began following the Auspicious incident. The stagnation and reform of the Ottoman Empire ended with the dismemberment of Ottoman Classical Army, the issue during the decline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire was to create a military that could win wars and bring security to its subjects. That goal took multiple Sultans with multiple reorganizations during this period, at the end of this period, with the Second Constitutional Era in 1908, -with a degree of- Ottoman military became modernized and professionalized in the form of European Armies. Mahmud II had to deal with multiple issues inherited from generations past and these issues lasted all through his reign. Shortly, the Eastern Question with Russia, England, and France, Mahmud understood the growing problems of the state and the approaching overthrow of the monarchy, and began to deal with the problems as he saw them
4.
Defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire
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The period of defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire began with the Second Constitutional Era with the Young Turk Revolution. It restored the Ottoman constitution of 1876 and brought in multi-party politics with a two stage electoral system under the Ottoman parliament, the constitution offered hope by freeing the empire’s citizens to modernize the state’s institutions and dissolve inter-communal tensions. Instead, this became the story of the twilight struggle of the Empire. The Ottoman entry into World War I in the Middle Eastern theatre ended with the partition of the Ottoman Empire under the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres. The occupation of Constantinople along with the occupation of Smyrna mobilized the Turkish national movement which ultimately won the Turkish War of Independence, the formal abolition of the Ottoman Sultanate was performed by Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 1 November 1922. The Sultan was declared persona non grata from the lands that the Ottoman Dynasty ruled since 1299, the 19th century saw the rise of nationalism in the Balkans which resulted in the establishment of an independent Greece in 1821, Serbia in 1835 and Bulgaria and liberation in 1877-8. Most of the local Muslims in these countries suffered, many died during the conflicts, with the rise of nationalism in Europe it became dominated by nation states. The Ottoman Empire differed in that its ruling class made no attempt to integrate conquered peoples culturally, the Porte had no official policy of converting the non-Muslims of the Balkans or Anatolia into Islam or converting them into a single nation. Phanariots, who were members of the prominent Greek families came to occupy major positions in the Empire. The Empire never integrated its conquests economically and therefore never established a link with its subjects. During its decline the Empire tried to catch up with the industrialization, Ottomanism surged as a concept its proponents believed could solve the Empires social issues. Ottomanism was strongly influenced by such as Montesquieu and Rousseau. The idea originated among the Young Ottomans as an acceptance of all separate ethnicities, major changes were introduced into the structure of the Empire. The essence of the Millet system was not dismantled, but secular organizations, primary education and Ottoman conscription were to be applied to non-Muslims and Muslims alike. When the Capitulations were first established it was supposed that foreign assistance could benefit the Empire, the capitulations stipulated that the privileges were based on religion. On 10 September 1915, the Minister of Interior Talat Pasha abolished the Capitulations, the total pre-war debt of Empire was $716,000,000. France had 60 percent of the total, Germany was 20 percent, the debt was administered by the Ottoman Public Debt Administration and its power was extended to the Imperial Ottoman Bank. The Ottoman Debt Administration controlled many of the important revenues of the Empire, the Council had power over financial affairs
5.
Second Constitutional Era
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The parliament and the constitution of First Constitutional Era had been suspended by Abdul Hamid in 1878 after only two years of functioning. A series of elections during this period resulted in the ascendance of the Committee of Union. The second largest party, with which the CUP was involved in a 2-year power struggle, was the Freedom, the period survived an attempt by reactionaries to re-institute absolutism. The last meeting on 18 March 1920 produced a letter of protest to the Allies, the legal framework was that of Kanûn-ı Esâsî of the First Constitutional Era that had prevailed in 1876. As in 1876, the revived Ottoman Parliament consisted of two chambers, a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The Chamber of Deputies was elected by the people, in the ratio of one member for every 50,000 males of the population over the age of 25 who paid taxes. Senators, on the hand, were nominated for life by the Sultan, had to be over 40 years of age. General elections were to place every four years. The general population did not, however, vote directly for the Deputy that he desired to represent him in the Parliament, moreover, the administration of territories was entrusted to these delegates in the elected Administrative Councils. Thus, these Councils were elected and served not only as an electoral college, the parliament convened after the revolution only briefly and rather symbolically. The only task they performed was to call a new election, in the first Parliament, the president of the Chamber of Deputies was a Deputy from Jerusalem, Yusif Dia Pasha Al Khalidi. The new parliament comprised 142 Turks,60 Arabs,25 Albanians,23 Greeks,12 Armenians,5 Jews,4 Bulgarians,3 Serbs and 1 Vlach in the elections of 1908, the CUP could count on the support of about 60 deputies. The CUP, the driving force behind the revolution, managed to gain the upper hand against the Liberal Union. LU was liberal in outlook, bearing a strong British imprint, CUP come as the biggest party among a fragmented parliament by only 60 of the 275 seats. It was about how the government would deal with what these deputies called lacking of the law and order, the rise of assassinations and armed assaults, ethnic and sectarian violence between various communities in the empire was costing both lives and resources. This was an important event as the established system was passing the first test regarding the proper parliamentary conduct. There were members of diplomatic missions among the audience. The new constitution secured the freedom of the press, newspapermen, the first section of the protocol achieved
6.
Middle-Eastern theatre of World War I
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The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I saw action between 29 October 1914 and 30 October 1918. There were five main campaigns, the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, the Mesopotamian Campaign, the Caucasus Campaign, the Persian Campaign, there were also several minor campaigns, the Senussi Campaign, Arab Campaign, and South Arabia Campaign. Both sides used local asymmetrical forces in the region, in addition, the Assyrians joined the Allies following the Assyrian genocide, instigating the Assyrian war of independence. The Turkish Ottomans had the support of Kurds, Turcomans, Circassians, Chechens, the theatre covered the largest territory of all theatres in the war. The Armenians attended the Trabzon Peace Conference which resulted in the Treaty of Batum on 4 June 1918. The Ottomans accepted the Armistice of Mudros with the Allies on 30 October 1918, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers through the secret Ottoman-German Alliance, which was signed on 2 August 1914. Success in this region would force the Russians to divert troops from the Polish, German advisors with the Ottoman armies supported the campaign for this reason. From an economic perspective, the Ottoman, or rather German, Germany established an Intelligence Bureau for the East on the eve of World War I. The bureau was involved in intelligence-gathering and subversive missions to Persia and Egypt, if these nations were to be removed from Western influence, Enver envisioned a cooperation between these newly established Turkic states. Envers project conflicted with European interests which played out as struggles between several key imperial powers, the Ottomans also threatened Britains communications with India and the East via the Suez Canal. The Germans hoped to seize the Canal for the Central Powers, the British feared that the Ottomans might attack and capture the Middle East oil fields. The British Royal Navy depended upon oil from the deposits in southern Persia. Marriott summarizes the British debates on strategy for the Near East and Balkan theatre, The War in that presents many problems. The Russians viewed the Caucasus Front as secondary to the Eastern Front and they feared a campaign into the Caucasus aimed at retaking Kars which had been taken from the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War, and the port of Batum. The Russian Imperial government planned to replace the Muslim population of Northern Anatolia, the Armenian national liberation movement sought to establish an Armenian state within the Armenian Highlands. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation achieved this goal later in the war, none of these entities were long lasting. The Caucasus Campaign extended from the Caucasus to eastern Asia Minor, reaching as far as Trabzon, Bitlis, Mush, the warfare on land was accompanied by actions undertaken by the Russian Navy in the Black Sea region of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire and German Empire fought each other at Batumi after the arrival of the German Caucasus Expedition whose prime aim was to secure oil supplies
7.
Sultan
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Sultan is a noble title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning strength, authority, rulership, derived from the verbal noun سلطة sulṭah, the dynasty and lands ruled by a sultan are referred to as a sultanate. A feminine form of sultan, used by Westerners, is Sultana or Sultanah, but Turkish and Ottoman Turkish also uses sultan for imperial lady, because Turkish grammar uses the same words for women and men. However, this styling misconstrues the roles of wives of sultans, in a similar usage, the wife of a German field marshal might be styled Frau Feldmarschall. The female leaders in Muslim history are known as sultanas. Special case in Brunei, the Queen Consort is known as Raja Isteri with suffix Pengiran Anak if the queen consort is a royal princess. Among those modern hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law and these are generally secondary titles, either lofty poetry or with a message, e. g. g. Sultan ul-Mujahidin as champion of jihad, ghaznavid Sultanate Sultans of Great Seljuk Seljuk Sultanate of Rum Sultans of the Ottoman Empire, the Osmanli Elisu Sultanate and a few others. A Sultan ranked below a Khan and this usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative. Western tradition knows the Ottoman ruler as sultan, but Ottomans themselves used padişah or hünkar to refer to their ruler, the emperors formal title consisted of sultan together with khan. In formal address, the children were also entitled sultan, with imperial princes carrying the title before their given name. Example, Şehzade Sultan Mehmed and Mihrimah Sultan, son and daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent, henceforth, the mother of the reigning sultan was the only person of non imperial blood to carry the title sultan. In Kazakh Khanate a Sultan was a lord from the ruling dynasty elected by clans, the best of sultans was elected as khan by people at Kurultai. See ru, Казахские султаны In a number of states under Mongol or Turkic rule. These administrations were often decimal, using originally princely titles such as khan, malik, in the Persian empire, the rank of sultan was roughly equivalent to that of a modern-day captain in the West, socially in the fifth-rank class, styled Ali Jah
8.
Peloponnese
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The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is separated from the part of the country by the Gulf of Corinth. During the late Middle Ages and the Ottoman era, the peninsula was known as the Morea, the peninsula is divided among three administrative regions, most belongs to the Peloponnese region, with smaller parts belonging to the West Greece and Attica regions. In 2016, Lonely Planet voted the Peloponnese the top spot of their Best in Europe list, the Peloponnese is a peninsula that covers an area of some 21,549.6 square kilometres and constitutes the southernmost part of mainland Greece. It has two connections with the rest of Greece, a natural one at the Isthmus of Corinth. The peninsula has an interior and deeply indented coasts. The Peloponnese possesses four south-pointing peninsulas, the Messenian, the Mani, the Cape Malea, mount Taygetus in the south is the highest mountain in the Peloponnese, at 2,407 metres. Οther important mountains include Cyllene in the northeast, Aroania in the north, Erymanthos and Panachaikon in the northwest, Mainalon in the center, the entire peninsula is earthquake prone and has been the site of many earthquakes in the past. The longest river is the Alfeios in the west, followed by the Evrotas in the south, extensive lowlands are found only in the west, with the exception of the Evrotas valley in the south and in the Argolid in the northeast. The Peloponnese is home to spectacular beaches, which are a major tourist draw. Two groups of islands lie off the Peloponnesian coast, the Argo-Saronic Islands to the east, the island of Kythera, off the Epidaurus Limera peninsula to the south of the Peloponnese, is considered to be part of the Ionian Islands. The island of Elafonissos used to be part of the peninsula but was separated following the quake of 365 AD. Since antiquity, and continuing to the present day, the Peloponnese has been divided into seven regions, Achaia, Corinthia, Argolid, Arcadia, Laconia, Messinia. Each of these regions is headed by a city, the largest city is Patras in Achaia, followed by Kalamata in Messinia. The peninsula has been inhabited since prehistoric times and its modern name derives from ancient Greek mythology, specifically the legend of the hero Pelops, who was said to have conquered the entire region. The name Peloponnesos means Island of Pelops, the Mycenaean civilization, mainland Greeces first major civilization, dominated the Peloponnese in the Bronze Age from its stronghold at Mycenae in the north-east of the peninsula. The Mycenean civilization collapsed suddenly at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, archeological research has found that many of its cities and palaces show signs of destruction. The subsequent period, known as the Greek Dark Ages, is marked by an absence of written records
9.
Empire of Trebizond
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The Empire of Trebizond or the Trapezuntine Empire was a monarchy that flourished during the 13th through 15th centuries, consisting of the far northeastern corner of Anatolia and the southern Crimea. The Emperors of Trebizond pressed their claim on the Imperial throne for decades after the Nicaean reconquest of Constantinople in 1261, the Trapezuntine monarchy survived the longest of the Byzantine successor states. The Despotate of Epirus was slowly decimated, and briefly occupied by the restored Byzantine Empire c. 1340, thereafter becoming a Serbian dependency and later inherited by Italians, ultimately falling to the Ottoman Empire in 1479, having long ceased to contest the Byzantine throne. While the Empire of Nicaea had become the resurrected Byzantine Empire, the Empire of Trebizond continued until 1461 when the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II conquered it after a month-long siege and took its ruler and his family into captivity. The Crimean Principality of Theodoro, an offshoot of Trebizond, lasted another 14 years and its demographic legacy endured for several centuries after the Ottoman conquest in 1461 and the region retained a substantial number of Greek Orthodox inhabitants until 1923. These are usually referred to as Pontic Greeks and their displacement was formalized, and the few still remaining were required to leave, in 1923 with the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Many were resettled in Greek Macedonia and those living in the Crimea and the Russian province of Kars Oblast, much of which lies in modern Georgia, stayed longer, with some Greek speaking villages remaining in both locations today. Anthony Bryer has argued that six of the seven banda of the Byzantine theme of Chaldia were maintained in working order by the rulers of Trebizond until the end of the empire, helped by geography. This territory corresponds to an area comprising all or parts of the modern Turkish provinces of Sinop, Samsun, Ordu, Giresun, Trabzon, Bayburt, Gümüşhane, Rize, and Artvin. In the 13th century, some believe the empire controlled the Gazarian Perateia. However, after Michael VIII Palaiologos of Nicaea recaptured Constantinople in 1261, in 1282, John II Komnenos stripped off his imperial regalia before the walls of Constantinople before entering to marry Michaels daughter and accept his legal title of despot. However, his successors used a version of his title, Emperor and Autocrat of the entire East, of the Iberians, rulers of Trebizond were also known as Prince of Lazes. Its wealth and exotic location endowed a lingering fame on the polity, cervantes described the eponymous hero of his Don Quixote as imagining himself for the valour of his arm already crowned at least Emperor of Trebizond. Rabelais had his character Picrochole, the ruler of Piedmont, declare, other allusions and works set in Trebizond continue into the 20th century. The city of Trebizond was the capital of the theme of Chaldia, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos confirmed him as governor of Chaldia, but kept his son at Constantinople as a hostage for his good conduct. Nevertheless, Gabras proved himself a worthy guardian by repelling a Georgian attack on Trebizond, one of his successors, Gregory Taronites also rebelled with the aid of the Sultan of Cappadocia, but he was defeated and imprisoned, only to be made governor once more. Another successor to Theodore was Constantine Gabras, whom Niketas describes as ruling Trebizond as a tyrant, although that effort came to nothing, this was the last rebel governor known to recorded history prior to the events of 1204. Henceforth, the links between Trebizond and Georgia remained close, but their nature and extent have been disputed, both men were the grandsons of the last Komnenian Byzantine emperor, Andronikos I Komnenos, by his son Manuel Komnenos and Rusudan, daughter of George III of Georgia
10.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, in short, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe located on the Balkan Peninsula. Sarajevo is the capital and largest city, in the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and the northeast is predominantly flatland. The inland is a larger region and has a moderate continental climate, with hot summers and cold. The southern tip of the country has a Mediterranean climate and plain topography, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a region that traces permanent human settlement back to the Neolithic age, during and after which it was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. Culturally, politically, and socially, the country has a rich history, the Ottomans brought Islam to the region, and altered much of the cultural and social outlook of the country. This was followed by annexation into the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which lasted up until World War I. In the interwar period, Bosnia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and after World War II, following the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the country proclaimed independence in 1992, which was followed by the Bosnian War, lasting until late 1995. The country is home to three ethnic groups or, officially, constituent peoples, as specified in the constitution. Bosniaks are the largest group of the three, with Serbs second and Croats third, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of ethnicity, is identified in English as a Bosnian. The terms Herzegovinian and Bosnian are maintained as a rather than ethnic distinction. Moreover, the country was simply called Bosnia until the Austro-Hungarian occupation at the end of the 19th century, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member Presidency composed of a member of each major ethnic group. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself complex and consists of 10 cantons, additionally, the country has been a member of the Council of Europe since April 2002 and a founding member of the Mediterranean Union upon its establishment in July 2008. The name is believed to have derived from the hydronym of the river Bosna coursing through the Bosnian heartland. According to philologist Anton Mayer the name Bosna could be derived from Illyrian Bass-an-as which would be a diversion of the Proto-Indo-European root bos or bogh, meaning the running water. According to English medievalist William Miller the Slavic settlers in Bosnia adapted the Latin designation Basante, to their own idiom by calling the stream Bosna, the name Herzegovina originates from Bosnian magnate Stephen Vukčić Kosačas title, Herceg of Hum and the Coast. Hum, formerly Zahumlje, was a medieval principality that was conquered by the Bosnian Banate in the first half of the 14th century. Bosnia is located in the western Balkans, bordering Croatia to the north and west, Serbia to the east and it has a coastline about 20 kilometres long surrounding the city of Neum. It lies between latitudes 42° and 46° N, and longitudes 15° and 20° E, the countrys name comes from the two regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a very vaguely defined border between them
11.
Feodosia
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Feodosia, also called Theodosia, is a port and resort, a town of regional significance in Crimea on the Black Sea coast. Feodosia serves as the center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into which Crimea is divided. During much of its history the city was known as Caffa or Kaffa, the city was founded as Theodosia by Greek colonists from Miletos in the 6th century BC. Noted for its agricultural lands, on which its trade depended. Theodosia remained a village for much of the next nine hundred years. It was at times part of the sphere of influence of the Khazars, like the rest of Crimea, this place fell under the domination of the Kipchaks and was conquered by the Mongols in the 1230s. Between 1204–1261 and again in 1296–1307, the city of Kaffa was ruled by Genoas chief rival, in the late 13th century, traders from the Republic of Genoa arrived and purchased the city from the ruling Golden Horde. It came to one of Europes biggest slave markets. From 1266 and on, Kaffa was governed by a Genoese consul, in early 1318 Pope John XXII established a Latin Church diocese of Kaffa, as a suffragan of Genoa. The first bishop was Fra Gerolamo, who had already been consecrated seven years before as a missionary bishop ad partes Tartarorum, the diocese ended as a residential bishopric with the capture of the city by the Ottomans in 1475. Accordingly, Kaffa is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see and it is believed that the devastating pandemic the Black Death entered Europe for the first time via Kaffa in 1347, through the movements of the Golden Horde. Fleeing inhabitants may have carried the back to Italy, causing its spread across Europe. However, the plague appears to have spread in a stepwise fashion, also, there were a number of Crimean ports under Mongol control, so it is unlikely that Kaffa was the only source of plague-infested ships heading to Europe. In addition, there were overland caravan routes from the East that would have been carrying the disease into Europe as well, the thriving, culturally diverse city and its thronged slave market have been described by the Spanish traveler Pedro Tafur, who was there in the 1430s. In 1462 Caffa placed itself under the protection of King Casimir IV of Poland, however, Poland did not offer help when real danger came. Following the fall of Constantinople, Amasra, and lastly Trebizond and he was at no loss for a pretext to extinguish this last Genoese colony on the Black sea. In 1473, the tudun of the Crimean Khanate died and a fight developed over the appointment of his successor, the Genoese involved themselves in the dispute, and the Tatar notables who favored the losing candidate finally asked Mehmed to settle the dispute. Mehmed dispatched a fleet under the Ottoman commander Gedik Ahmet Pasha and it anchored before the walls of the city on 1 June, started the bombardment the next day, and on 6 June the inhabitants capitulated
12.
Otranto
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Otranto is a town and comune in the province of Lecce, in a fertile region once famous for its breed of horses. It is located on the east coast of the Salento peninsula, the Strait of Otranto, to which the city gives its name, connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. The harbour is small and has little trade, the lighthouse Faro della Palascìa, at approximately 5 kilometres southeast of Otranto, marks the most easterly point of the Italian mainland. About 50 kilometres south lies the promontory of Santa Maria di Leuca, the extremity of Italy. The district between this promontory and Otranto is thickly populated and very fertile, Otranto occupies the site of the ancient Hydrus or Hydruntum, also known as Hydrunton, Hydronton, or Hydruntu. Otranto was a town of Greek origin, which, in the wars of Pyrrhus, in Roman times it was a city. In the 8th century, it was for some time in the possession of duke Arechis II of Benevento, in the Middle Ages the Jews had a school there. In 1480, Mehmet the Conqueror sent an Ottoman fleet to invade Rome under the command of Gedik Ahmed Pasha and this force reached the shores of Apulia on 28 July 1480 and the city was captured in two weeks on 11 August 1480. Some 800 citizens, known as the Martyrs of Otranto, were beheaded after refusing to convert to Islam and they were canonized by Pope Francis on 12 May 2013. In 1481, the Pope, in panic, called for a crusade to be led by King Ferdinand of Naples, the Turks controlled the city for 13 months. Mehmet II died on his way to capture the rest of Italy and his successor, Bayezid II, ordered Gedik Ahmed Pasha to be hanged and on 11 September 1481 the Turks abandoned the city. In 1537, the famous Turkish corsair and Ottoman admiral Barbarossa recaptured Otranto and the Fortress of Castro, in 1804, the city was obliged to harbour a French garrison that was established there to watch the movements of the English fleet. Under the French name of Otrante it was created a duché grand-fief de lEmpire in the Napoleonic kingdom of Naples for Joseph Fouché, Napoleons minister of Police, the family used the title of duc dOtrante after Joseph Fouchés death. Otranto experiences a Mediterranean climate like much of Italy, Otranto main sights include, The Castello Aragonese, reinforced by Emperor Frederick II and rebuilt by Alphonso II of Naples in 1485–98. It has a plan with five sides, with a moat running along the entire perimeter. In origin it had an entrance, reachable through a draw-bridge. Towers include three cylindrical ones and a bastion called Punta di Diamante, the entrance sports the coat of arms of Emperor Charles V. The Cathedral, consecrated in 1088, a work of Count Roger I adorned later, by Bishop Jonathas, with a floor, it has a rose window
