Constantinople, the Mamluks and the Ottoman Golden Age
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Question
When did Mehmet II capture Constantinople?
Answer
29 May 1453, ending the Byzantine Empire.
Question
What engineering feat let the Ottoman navy bypass Constantinople's harbour chain?
Answer
Ships were dragged overland on greased logs at night into the Golden Horn.
Question
What title did Mehmet II adopt after taking Constantinople, and why?
Answer
Kayser-i Rum (Caesar of Rome) — to claim Roman/Byzantine imperial legitimacy.
Question
Who defeated the Mamluk Sultanate, and in which two battles?
Answer
Selim I, at Marj Dabiq (1516) and Ridaniya (1517).
Question
What title did Selim I gain after conquering Egypt and the Hejaz?
Answer
Caliph — leader of the wider Sunni Muslim world.
Question
Define devshirme.
Answer
The recruitment of Christian boys from the Balkans, converted to Islam and trained for the sultan's army or bureaucracy.
Question
What was the millet system?
Answer
A system organising non-Muslim religious communities (Orthodox, Jewish, Armenian) into self-governing groups under Ottoman rule.
Question
Compare sharia and kanun law in the Ottoman Empire.
Answer
Sharia was Islamic religious law; kanun was the sultan's own secular law code. The two operated together to govern a diverse empire.
Question
What two battles mark the height of Suleiman the Magnificent's European conquests?
Answer
Mohacs (1526) against Hungary, and the siege of Vienna (1529).
Question
Who was Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha?
Answer
Suleiman's admiral who made the Ottoman navy dominant across the Mediterranean.
Question
Why is Suleiman called 'Kanuni' (the Lawgiver)?
Answer
Because he issued kanunnames standardising taxation, land tenure and criminal law across the empire's provinces.
Question
Contrast the legacies of Mehmet II and Suleiman the Magnificent.
Answer
Mehmet II: conquest and transformation (Constantinople, new imperial identity). Suleiman: consolidation and peak power (law codes, culture, naval dominance).
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Topic 21.4 hub
The Ottomans (1281–1566)
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