Changes

==Growth==

==Growth==

[[File:Byz-1450.jpg|thumb|250px]]

[[File:Byz-1450.jpg|thumb|250px]]

The [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] gained power by overthrowing the [[Byzantine Empire]], a process that took a century and finished in 1453. That year they captured the Byzantine capital of [[Constantinople]] and renamed it [[Istanbul]].

For several hundred years Turkish tribes from central Asia had been moving into Anatolia (modern day Turkey). The first major [[Ottoman Turks|Ottoman]] leader was Osman (1259-1326); Europeans pronounced his name as "Ottoman", and the name stuck.  Osman extended his realm by conquering Byzantine holdings province by province.

 

Osman's successors moved into Europe and squeezed the [[Byzantine Empire]] into a smaller and smaller fragment, a process that took a century. Murad I (reigned 1361-1389), a remarkable sultan who insured the permanence of Ottoman forces in Europe by the incorporation of the conquered city of Adrianople into his realm in 1361. Murad won a great victory over the Christian Serbs and Bosnians at [[Kosovo]] in 1389, but he was killed. Bayazid I became sultan and, as was usually done, killed his brothers to solidify his power. He extended Ottoman rule throughout most of Anatolia. However he was defeated in 1402 by Mongol invaders and his empire shrank and after his death in 1403 his three sons fought each other for control. There were repeated wars in the Balkans. In 1451 Mohammed II (reigned 1451 to 1481) came to power, and built for the first time a strong Ottoman state, with an effective bureaucracy and army. He ended local dynasties and repulsed the Christians from Hungary and Venice.

 

Adrianople, now called Edirne, served as the European capital of the Ottoman state. In 1453 Mohammed II finally captured the depopulated, poverty-stricken Byzantine capital of [[Constantinople]], renamed it [[Istanbul]], and made it into a glorious imperial capital, complete with scholars and historians to sing his praises.

===Tolerance===

===Tolerance===

When the empire was growing it adopted a policy toward Christians and Jews, and towrad various ethnic groups.  They would all be tolerated and have a degree of self government, provided they acknowledged the empire and non-Moslems paid a tax. This was the "millet" system and created a segregated  second-class status for minorities.  Because of the increased activities of Protestant missionaries, a Protestant millet was set up in 1850, which allowed for the creation of schools and colleges aimed at non-Moslems.

When the empire was growing it adopted a policy toward Christians and Jews, and toward various ethnic groups.  They would all be tolerated and have a degree of self government, provided they acknowledged the empire and non-Muslims paid a tax. This was the "millet" system and created a segregated  second-class status for minorities.  Because of the increased activities of Protestant missionaries, a Protestant millet was set up in 1850, which allowed for the creation of schools and colleges aimed at non-Muslims.

===Janissaries===

===Janissaries===

A special military cadre of '''Janissaries''' was created as an imperial force. They were a highly trained, disciplined, military force founded in the 1360s as a select bodyguard drawn from the fittest Christian prisoners, youthful soldiers, and slaves from throughout the Ottoman Empire. By 1600 all new recruits were Moslem volunteers.  

A special military cadre of '''Janissaries''' was created as an imperial force totally loyal to the Empire. They were a highly trained, disciplined, military force founded in the 1360s as a select bodyguard drawn from the fittest Christian prisoners, youthful soldiers, and slaves from throughout the Ottoman Empire. By 1600 all new recruits were Muslim volunteers.  

===Threat to Europe===

===Threat to Europe===