Daybreak in Turkey: Second EditionBarton, James L. (James Levi)
History
Daybreak in Turkey: Second Edition
Barton, James L. (James Levi)
Turkey
Amurath I succeeded Orchan in 1359. He began at once to make advance
against the Greek throne, which was much weakened by its schismatic
separation from the Roman church. In 1361 he took Adrianople in Europe
and made it his official residence, and the first European capital
of the Ottoman power. His successor, Bajazet I, changed the title of
“Emir” for that of “Sultan,” which name has been perpetuated. He set
the example, followed so repeatedly since, of putting his only brother
to death in order that he might not aspire to the throne. He extended
his domains east to the Euphrates and north to the Danube. He boasted
that he would yet feed his horses on the altar of St. Peter’s in Rome.
He was captured by Tamerlane in 1402, dying the following year in
captivity. Tamerlane held undisputed sway over Asia for a few years. A
son of Bajazet, Mahomet I, restored the empire of his fathers in its
integrity. It was during his reign, 1413-21, that the first Turkish
ambassador appeared abroad. He was sent to Venice. The sultan himself
paid a visit to the emperor Manuel at Constantinople.
Without dwelling upon the successive sultans and the advances made
by each, it is sufficient to record that most important of all the
victories, the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Greek
empire, by Mohammed II, the seventh in succession from Othman, on May
29, 1453, in the second year of his reign. This terminated the Greek
empire, 1123 years after Constantine the Great had removed his imperial
throne to Byzantium, changing its name to Constantinople. Consternation
prevailed among the European nations, especially in those immediately
contiguous to the Mohammedan empire.
From that time to the present day, Constantinople has been the
residence of the sultans ruling over the Ottoman empire, and the seat
of the Turkish power. Much of the machinery of government now in use
was organized and put into operation by Mohammed II. The administrative
departments were constituted in what was then called “The Porte,” while
the head of the department was given the well-known name of “Sublime
Porte.” This name came from the metaphorical resemblance between a
state and a house or tent. The most important part of the tent was the
entrance in which the chiefs sat for the administration of justice, as
well as for the performance of other duties.
Mohammed died in 1481. Succeeding sultans for a century seriously
threatened the institutions of Western nations. In the religious
conflicts of the sixteenth century the pope of Rome was undecided which
to fear the more, the Protestants or the Turks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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