AD 1500-1650 Ottoman

During the 16th and early 17th centuries AD the Ottomans dominated south-east Europe and the Aegean. The sultans’ close identification with their Islamic faith led, after 1517, to their being also entitled the Caliph of Islam.

During the 16th century the Ottomans extended their influence both on land and at sea. It competed with the emerging European colonial powers for control of trading routes to the far east and for dominance in the lucrative spice trade.

The empire reached its peak under Suleyman I, the Magnificent (reigned 1520-1566). He ruled an area extending as far as Persia in the east and Austria in the west. His system of laws regulating land tenure earned him the title of Lawgiver and he was also a great patron of the arts. He died fighting, during the siege of Szigeth in the war with Austria.

In the 16th and 17th centuries the Ottomans ruled most of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia, Dalmatia, Croatia and a large part of Hungary, while Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia were tributary states. An on-going struggle with Venice in Greece and the Aegean islands ended with the Turkish capture of Crete. They continued to be a threat to the remaining independent states of central Europe until the late 17th century.