The Beginnings of the Ottoman Empire

by Clive Foss

Overview

The Ottoman Empire ruled the near East, dominated the Mediterranean, and terrorized Europe for centuries. However, its origins are obscure. The Beginnings of the Ottoman Empire illuminates the founding of the Empire, drawing on Turkish, Greek, Arabic, and Latin sources as well as coins, buildings, and topographic evidence. Clive Foss takes the reader through the rugged homeland of Osman, the founder of the Ottomans, placing his achievement in the context of his more powerful neighbours, most notably the once mighty Byzantine Empire, then in the terminal stages of its decline. Foss then charts the progress of Osman's son Orhan, until the fateful moment in 1354 when his forces crossed into Europe and began their spectacular conquests.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780192634771
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	02/17/2022
Series:	Oxford Studies in Byzantium
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Clive Foss is Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University. He has taught at University of Massachusetts (Boston), University of Lyon, Harvard, Berkeley, and the University of South Africa. He has been Visiting Fellow at All Souls and Trinity College, Oxford. He worked at the Sardis excavation and has conducted extensive field studies in Turkey.

Table of Contents

Introduction1. The Homeland of the Ottomans2. The View from Byzantium3. Reconciling the Accounts4. Non-Narrative Sources5. The Overlords6. Osman and his NeighborsAppendix: The Date of the Death of Osman7. Asia Minor in the 1330s8. The Aftermath9. Final ThoughtsBibliography

Editorial Reviews

"The strength of this book is not in its conclusions but in its approach, particularly its focus on geographical landscape as a physical and conceptual site of historical investigation and study. This approach could prove inspirational for how we deal with other historical periods...it is innovative and evocative in its approach and a good addition to the interdisciplinary scholarship on the Ottoman-Byzantine world." — Maria Americo, The Classical Outlook

"This book is the culmination of a long labour of love that began in 1983 for C.F. The aim of the book is to respond to C. Imber's assertion that the early history of the Ottoman dynasty was a 'black hole'. C.F., professor emeritus at Georgetown University and eminent specialist in medieval Anatolia, has endeavoured in these fascinating pages to take up the challenge of confronting the founding myths of the Ottoman Empire, in order to find behind the legendary accounts the traces of the historical reality of the reigns of Osman and Orhan." — Clément Onimus, Le Moyen Âge

From the Publisher