[225] There is no room for doubt about this date. Cf. Cant., IV. 38, pp. 277-80; Greg., XXXIII. 67, p. 220, and XXVIII. 40-2, pp. 202-4; Villani, p. 105; _Byz. Annalen_, ed. Müller, in _Sitzungs-Berichte der Wiener Akademie_, ix. 392; Muralt, _Chronographie Byz._, ii. 643. [226] This place figured in the recent Balkan War. It was here that the Osmanlis stationed their army for the defence of the Dardanelles. [227] Greg., XXIX. 26, p. 241. [228] Greg., XXVIII. 30, pp. 195-201. [229] Cant., IV. 37, pp. 270-2; 38, p. 276; Greg., XXIX. 17-18, pp. 234-6; 49, p. 257. [230] At least, Cantacuzenos, IV. 38, p. 276, claims that he ransomed Tzympe. [231] Cant., IV. 38, p. 283. [232] Rumanian Chronicle, cited by Gregorović, _Relations of Serbia with her Neighbouring States, principally in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries_, Kazan, 1859, in an appendix. [233] Cant., IV. 39-43, pp. 284-307; Greg., XXIX. 27-30, pp. 242-3. [234] Cant., IV. 49, pp. 358-60. [235] Tchorlu was the head-quarters of the Ottoman General Staff during the first month of the Balkan War. After the battle of Lulé Burgas, it became the head-quarters of the Bulgarians. From here the attack upon the defences of Constantinople was directed. [236] Muralt, ii. 640, No. 10, _n._ [237] Greg., XXIX. 34, pp. 224-6. [238] During the five years following the proclamation of the Constitution in 1908, I lived, and travelled extensively, in the Ottoman Empire. Rarely did I meet a foreigner engaged in business there who had the slightest sympathy with the Osmanlis in their aspirations or in their successive crushing misfortunes. This is not a criticism, but merely the record of a fact. [239] Schafarik, CVII. [240] The expression ‘la terre que les Turcs tiennent’ is always used to designate Asia Minor in the opinion which the council of the French King Philippe de Valois gave concerning the route to be followed in the abortive crusade of 1332. See Archives Nationales, Paris, P. 2289, pp. 711-12. [241] See p. 97, and notes 3 and 4 on that page. [242] Quoted from the Cancelleria Secreta by Romanin, iv. 232. [243] This letter is reproduced by Jireček, _Geschichte der Bulgaren_, p. 309. [244] Greg., XXXVII. 52, p. 558; 59-63, pp. 561-3; 67-9, pp. 565-6; XXXVI. 6-8, pp. 504-9; Cant., IV. 44, p. 320. [245] The generally accepted date of Orkhan’s death is 1359 or 1360, following Ottoman sources. But Jireček, a careful and able scholar, p. 321, n. 10, is inclined to accept March 1362. There is great confusion about this period. I think that the Ottoman date is undoubtedly correct here. [246] ‘Der eigentliche Begründer der osmanischen Macht war Orchan’, Fessler, _Geschichte von Ungarn_, ii. 151. [247] Col. Djevad bey, p. 254. [248] Seadeddin, i. 80. [249] Seadeddin, i. 82; Hadji Khalfa, _Rumeli_, p. 19. [250] But Matteo Villani, in Muratori, xiv. 672, who is followed by Leunclavius, says that Demotika was abandoned to Orkhan in November 1361.