The effects of the gunpowder technology in the demise of the frontier lords in the Ottoman Balkans

Published 2022-06-16
Section Papers

Authors

  • Hüsamettin Simsir University of Notre Dame

Keywords:

Gunpowder, Frontier lords, Ottoman military, Battle of Varna, Balkan

Abstract

In this article, the introduction, dissemination, and proliferation of the gunpowder units in the Ottoman military structure in the fifteenth century are discussed. It aims to bring an alternative approach to the effects of gunpowder technology on the relationship between the frontier lords and the Ottoman center in the Balkans. In this aspect, the performance of the Ottoman military organization in two different military encounters, the Battle of Varna and the Battle of Kosovo, is stressed. Then, the Ottoman acquisition of the advanced firearm units such as the war wagons is evaluated through the military interactions between the Hungarians and the Ottomans. Lastly, the effects of the transformation of the Ottoman military organization on the intra-domestic power structure in the Ottoman Balkans are discussed through the literature on the issue. In parallel with it, it is questioned whether it is possible to see the execution of a prominent frontier lord of the Evrenos family, Ali Bey in 1451 by Mehmed II as the sign of the shift of the power balance in the Ottoman Balkans

Author Biography

Hüsamettin Simsir, University of Notre Dame

PhD Candidate, University of Notre Dame, Department of History. Dissertation topic: Mechanisms of Ottoman Conquest and Expansion in the Balkan Peninsula/Greece in Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. Areas of Research: Political histories of Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, 1000-1500, History of the Medieval Balkans, Frontier and cross-cultural relationship in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean. Conference Participations: 2021, September 24: "The Role of the Ottoman Frontier Entities in the First Stage of the Byzantine Civil War of 1373-1379", The Ancient and Byzantine World in the Light of Interdisciplinary Research, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi-Georgia. 2021, November 14: “The Mechanisms of the Establishment of the Evrenos Frontier Family in Macedonia”, 9th International Symposium on Byzantine and Medieval Studies “Days of Justinian I", Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Northern Macedonia

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How to Cite

Simsir, H. (2022). The effects of the gunpowder technology in the demise of the frontier lords in the Ottoman Balkans. Revista Chilena De Estudios Medievales, (21), 8–17. Retrieved from http://revistas.ugm.cl/index.php/rcem/article/view/429

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