1300: The last Muslims in Sicily are forcibly converted to Christianity. Although Sicily had been reconquered by the Normans in 1098, Muslims had been allowed to continue to practice their faith and even formed important elements of various Sicilian military forces.
1302: Mamluk Turks destroy the garrison of the Order of the Temple on the island of Ruad (off the Syrian coast). Latin rule in Jubail probably ends.
Augustus 31: Treaty of Caltabellotta.
1303: Mongols are defeated near Damascus, thus ending the Mongol threat on Europe and the Middle East.
1306-07: Crusade against followers of Fra Dolcino in Piedmont.
1306: Hospitallers begin invasion of Rhodes.
1307: Crusade proclaimed in support of Charles of Valois' claims to Constantinople.
September 14: King Philip IV (the Fair) of France issues the arrest order for the Templars to his officers.
October 13: Mass arrest of the Knights Templars in France.
1308: Ottoman Turks take Ephesus.
1309-10: Castilian and Aragonese Crusade in Spain. Crusade against Venice.
1309: Popular Crusade. Teutonic Order moves headquarters to Marienburg in Prussia.
1310: Hospitallers consolidate hold on Rhodes. First reported use of official torture in England occurs: against the Templars.
May 12: Fifty-four Templars are put to the stakes in the vicinity of Paris, accused of lapsing into heresy.
1311-12: The Council of Vienne.
1311: Hospitaller headquarters now established on Rhodes.
March 15: Battle of Halmyros (River Kephissos). Catalan Company assumes control of Athens and Thebes.
1312, Mar 22: Pope Clement V suppresses the Order of the Templars at the Council of Vienne with the Papal Bull Vox in Excelso.
May 2: Pope Clement V grants most Templar properties to the Hospitallers with the bull Ad providam.
1314, Mar 18: Thirty-Nine French Knights Templar, including Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Temple, and Geoffrey de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy, are burned at the stake as relapsed heretics. Known history of the Order ends on this date.
April 20: Pope Clement V dies. Some historians later claim he was (also) cursed at the stake by Jacques de Molay. This legend is reinforced when the Babylonian Captivity (The Papacy in Avignon), begun by Clement in 1309, degenerates into the Papal Schism between Urban VI and Clement VII in 1378.
November 29: Philip IV dies in a hunting accident. He is succeeded by three sons - Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV - who all die early. The Capetian line becomes extinct in 1328. Philip's grandson, Edward III of England, later claims the French throne and begins the Hundred Years War. Legend attributes these woes (also) to Jacques de Molay's dying curse. Crusade in Hungary (renewed: 1325, 1332, 1335, 1352, 1354).
1315: Bad weather and crop failures result in famines across northwestern Europe. Unsanitary conditions and malnutrition increase the death rate. Even after the revival of agricultural conditions, weather disasters reappear. A mixture of war, famine and plague in the Late Middle Ages reduce the population by half.
1317: Foundation of the Order of Montesa. Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire, lays siege to the Christian city of Bursa. It would not finally surrender until 1326, the year of Othman's death.
1319: Foundation of the Order of Christ. Birth of Murad I, grandson of Osman I. Murad would be the terror of Christian Europe, sending large military forces against the Balkans and tripling the size of the Ottoman Empire.
1320: Second Crusade of the Shepherds.
1321: Crusade against Ferrara, Milan and the Ghibellines in the march of Ancona and duchy of Spoleto (extended to cover Mantua in 1324). The Inquisition burns its last Cathar.
1321-28: Civil war between Andronicus II and Andronicus III.
1323: Norwegian Crusade against the Russians in Finland.
1325: Crusade in Poland (renewed 1340, 1343, 1351, 1354, 1355, 1363, 1369).
1326: Death of Osman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire. His son, Orkhan I, makes Bursa his capital and it is from here that the growth of the Ottoman Empire is generally marked. In addition to leading the first Muslim Turks into Europe, Orkhan creates the Janissaries (Yani Sharis, Turkish for "New Soldiers), teenaged boys captured from Christian villages and forcibly converted to Islam. A thousand would be "recruited" every year and sent to Constantinople for training. They are considered at the time to be the finest and fiercest fighting force available.
1327: Crusade planned against Cathars in Hungary. With the disintegration of the Seljuk Empire, the Arab and Persian regions are fragmented into several military kingdoms until 1500. The Ottoman Turkish Empire establishes its capital at Bursa.
1328: Crusade proclaimed against King Louis IV of Germany. Crusade in Spain.
1329: Turks take Nicaea.
1330: Crusade planned against Catalan Athens.
1330-1523: Although not officially supported by the church hierarchy, the Hospitallers continue intermittent Crusading from their base in Rhodes.
1331: New Crusade to the East proclaimed. The Ottoman Turks capture Nicaea and rename it Iznik.
1332-34: First Crusade League.
1334: Ships of Crusade League (Crusader navy) defeat Turkish pirates in Gulf of Adramyttion (Edremit).
1334-1402: Crusaders hold the port of Smyrna.
1336: The Hundred Years' War between France and England begins.
1337: Crusade against heretics in Bohemia. Birth of Timur-i Lang (Tamerlane, Timur the Lame), brutal ruler of Samarkand who cuts a wide swath of destruction across Persia and the Middle East. Timur founds the Timurid Dynasty and becomes infamous for building pyramids out of the skulls of his slain enemies.
October 30: Battle of Rio Saldo (River Salado): Alfonso XI of Castile and Alfonso IV of Portugal defeat a much larger force of Muslims from Morocco. Turks take Nicomedia.
1341: Death of Oz Beg, Mongol leader who converted his people to Islam.
1341-47: Civil war between John V and John Cantacuzenus.
1342-44: Siege of Algeciras.
1344: Crusade to Canary Islands planned.
October 28: Crusade League occupies Smyrna.
1345-47: Crusade of Humbert, dauphin of Viennois.
1345: Crusade of Genoese to defend Kaffa against the Mongols. Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, is completed. The Ottoman Turks are asked for help by John Cantacuzene against a rival for the Byzantine throne. John would become John VI and gives his sixteen-year-old daughter Theodora to Orkhan I as a wife. This is the first time Muslim Turks crossed the Dardanelles into Europe.
1347: The Black Death (bubonic plague) reaches Cyprus from eastern Asia (in the early 1330s an outbreak of deadly bubonic plague occurred in China). Estimated numbers of dead in Cyprus range from one quarter to half of the population.
1348: Crusade of King Magnus of Sweden to Finland (renewed 1350, 1351).
1349-50: Siege of Gibraltar.
c. 1350: The Renaissance begins in Italy.
1353-57: Crusade to regain control of the Papal State in Italy.
1354: Proposal of a Crusade to Africa. Turks take Gallipoli, creating the first permanent Turkish settlement in Europe.
1359: Crusade League defeats Turks at Lampsakos.
1360: Crusade against Milan (renewed 1363, 1368).
1365-67: Crusade of King Peter I of Cyprus against Egypt.
1365, Oct 10: Crusaders under Peter I of Cyprus sack Alexandria (hold the city for six days). Sir Robert Hales, bailiff of Egle, leads a Hospitaller force in a great battle in which he becomes known as "The hero of Alexandria" (20.000 Muslims are said to be left dead on the battlefield). Hales, then Prior of the Hospitallers, got killed in the London Tower during the 'Peasant's Revolt' (1381).
Turks establish their capital at Adrianople.
1366, Aug-Dec: Crusade of Amadeus of Savoy to Dardanelles and Bulgaria. Adrianople (Edirne) becomes the Turkish capital.
1371: Battle of Maritsa: A force consisting of Serbs and Hungarians is sent to counter the encroaching Ottoman Turks in the Balkans. They march on Adrianople but they only get as far as Cenomen, on the Maritsa River. During the night they are surprised by an Ottoman attack led by Murad I personally. Thousands are slain and more drown when they try to flee. This was the first major action take by the Janissaries against Christians.
1373: The Ottoman Turks force the Byzantine Empire, now under John V Palaeologus, into vassalage.
1374: Hospitallers take over defence of Smyrna.
1375: The Mamluks capture Sis, ending Armenian independence.
1376-79: Civil war in Byzantium.
1377: Achaea leased to the Hospitallers for five years, leading to the rule of the Navarrese Company.
1378: Capture of the Hospitaller master Juan Fernandez de Heredia by the Albanians.
1379: Navarrese Company takes Thebes.
1380: The last holdings of the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor are captured by the Turks. Battle of Kulikovo Field: Dmitri Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscow, defeats the Muslim Tartars and is able to stop paying tribute.
1382: The Turks capture Sofia. The Tartars ride north, capture Moscow, and reimpose the tribute on the Russians.
1383: Crusade of the bishop of Norwich against the Clementists in Flanders.
June 13: Death of John VI Cantacuzene, Byzantine emperor who allowed Turkish military forces to first cross into Europe because he needed their aid against a rival for the Byzantine throne.
1386: Crusade of John of Gaunt in Castile.
1387: Thessaloniki surrenders to Turks. Birth of John Hunyadi, Hungarian national hero whose efforts against the Ottoman Turks would do much to prevent Turkish rule from being extended into Europe.
1389: Death of Orhan I, son of Osman I. Orhan's son, Murad I, takes over the Ottoman Empire. Murad becomes the terror of Christian Europe, sending large military forces against the Balkans and tripling the size of the Ottoman Empire.
June 15: Battle of Kosovo Polje: Murad I demands that Lazar Hrebeljanovic, prince of Serbia, step down and surrender or be killed when his lands are invaded. Hrebeljanovic chooses to fight and raises an army that consists of soldiers from all over the Balkans but is still only half the size of the Turkish force. The actual battle takes place on the "Field of Blackbirds" or Kosovo Polje, and Murad I is killed when Milosh Obilich, posing as a traitor, stabs Murad with a poisoned knife. The Christians are utterly defeated and even Hrebeljanovic is captured and killed. Thousands of Christian prisoners are executed and Serbia became a vassal state of the Ottomans, but this also represents their farthest reach into Europe. With Murad's death his son, Bajazet, has his own brother Yakub killed and becomes the Ottoman sultan. Killing brothers upon becoming sultan would become an Ottoman tradition for the next couple of centuries.
1390: Crusade to Mahdia.
1391, February 16: Death of John V Palaeologus, Byzantine emperor. He is succeeded by his son, Manuel II Palaeologus, who is at this time is a hostage at the court of the Ottoman emperor Beyazid I at Bursa. Manuel is able to escape and return to Constantinople.
1393: End of Bulgarian state. Turks occupy Thessalia.
1394: Crusade of Nicopolis proclaimed.
1395: King Sigismund of Hungary sends emissaries to various European powers to request help to defend his borders against the Ottoman Turks. Bajazet, Ottoman sultan, had boasted that he would drive through Hungary, into Italy, and turn St. Peter's Cathedral into a stable for his horses.
1396, April 30: Thousands of French knights and soldiers set out from the Burgundian capital Dijon to aid the Hungarians against the Ottoman Turks.
September 12: A combined force of French and Hungarian soldiers arrive at Nicopolis, Ottoman Turk city in Europe, and begin to lay siege.
September 25: Battle of Nicopolis: A Crusader army of around 60,000 men and made up of from the Hungarian army of Sigismund of Luxembourg along with French, German, Polish, Italian, and English forces enter Ottoman Turkish territory and lay siege to Nicopolis in Bulgaria. The Ottoman sultan, Bajazet, gathers together a massive army of his own (made up mostly of soldiers who had been besieging Constantinople) and relieves the besieged city, defeating the Crusaders. The Turkish victory is due largely to French inexperience and pride - although a French cavalry charge is successful at first, they are forced into a trap which leads to their own slaughter. Bulgaria becomes a vassal state and, like Serbia, would remain one until 1878.
1397-1402: Siege of Constantinople by Sultan Bajezid.
1398: Crusade to defend Constantinople proclaimed (renewed 1399, 1400). Dehli (Derlhi ?) is conquered by Timur the Lame (Tamerlame), king of Samarkand. Timur's Turkish army devastates the sultanate of Dehli, exterminates the local Hindu population, and then leaves.
1399-1403: Crusade of John Boucicaut.
1400: The Northern provinces of Italy devise their own systems of government. The government of Venice becomes a merchant oligarchy; Milan is ruled by dynastic despotism; and Florence becomes a republic, ruled by the rich. The three cities expand and conquer most of Northern Italy.
1401: Baghdad and Damascus are conquered by Timur.
1402, July 20: Battle of Ankara: The Ottoman sultan Bajazet, great-grandson of Osman I, is defeated and taken prisoner by Mongol warlord Timur at Ankara.
1403: With the death of Bajazet, his son Suleiman I becomes the Ottoman Sultan.
1405: Death of Timur-i Lang (Tamerlane, Timur the Lame), brutal ruler of Samarkand who had cut a wide swath of destruction across Persia and the Middle East. Timur founded the Timurid Dynasty and had become renowned for building pyramids out of the skulls of his slain enemies.
1410, July 25: Battle of Tannenberg: Forces from Poland and Lithuania defeated the Teutonic Knights.
1413: Mahomet, son of Bajazet, becomes Ottoman sultan Mahomet I after defeating his three brothers in a civil war that had lasted over 10 years.
1415: The Portuguese capture the city of Ceuta on the north coast of Morocco, the first time that the Crusade against the Muslims was taken to the northwestern region of Africa.
July 06: Jan Hus was burned for heresy in Constance, Switzerland.
1420: Supporters of John Hus defeat German "crusaders." The lower-class Hussites are led by General John Zizka.
1420, March 01: Pope Martin V called for crusade against followers of John Hus.
1421: Ottoman sultan Mahomet I dies and is succeeded by his son, Murad II.
1422: Murad besieges Constantinople.
1425, July 21: Death of Manuel II Palaeologus, Byzantine emperor. Shortly before dying Manuel is forced by the Ottoman Turks to begin paying them a yearly tribute.
1426: Egyptians gain control over Cyprus.
1429, April 29: Joan of Arc led French forces to victory over the English army by raising the siege at Orleans.
1430: Turks recapture Thessaloniki.
1432, March 30: Birth of Mehmed II, the Ottoman sultan who would succeed in capturing Constantinople.
1437: Hungarians under the leadership of John Hunyadi drive the Turks from Semendria.
1438: Johann Gutenberg invents the printing press and pioneers the technology of movable type, creating the first Bible printed with movable type in Mainz, Germany.
1439: Council of Florence proclaims Church union.
1442: John Hunyadi leads a Hungarian army to relieve the Turkish siege of Hermansdat.
July: Hungarian national hero John Hunyadi defeats a large Turkish army, thus ensuring the liberation of Wallachia and Moldavia.
1443: Ladislaus III of Poland signs a ten-year peace treaty with the Ottoman empire. The truce would not last, however, because many Christian leaders see an opportunity to finally defeat a broken Turkish army. Had Ladislaus not made peace with the Turks at this time, Murad II might have been utterly defeated and Constantinople would not have fallen 10 years later.
1444: Turks defeat Hungarians and Crusaders at Varna. The sultan of Egypt launches an invasion of Rhodes, but he is unable to take the island from the Knights Hospitallers (now known as the Knights of Rhodes).
November 10: Battle of Varna: An army of at least 100,000 Turks under sultan Murad II defeats Polish and Hungarian Crusaders numbering around 30,000 under Ladislaus III of Poland and John Hunyadi.
1446, June 05: John Hunyadi is elected governor of Hungary in the name of Ladislaus V.
1448: Constantine XI Palaeologus, the last Byzantine Emperor, takes the throne.
October 07: Battle of Kosovo: John Hunyadi leads Hungarian forces but is defeated by the more numerous Turks.
1451, February 03: Ottoman sultan Murad II dies and is succeeded by Mehmed II.
1452, April: Ottoman sultan Mehmed II has a fortress built in Ottoman territory just north of Constantinople. Finished in six months, it threatens to cut off the city's communications with Black Sea ports and becomes the launching point of the siege of Constantinople a year later.
1453: Bordeaux falls to French forces and the Hundred Years' War ends without a treaty.
April 02: Ottoman sultan Mehmed II arrives at Constantinople. Mahomet will be successful in his siege of the city largely because of the acquisition of over sixty artillery pieces, making the siege one of the first successful uses of gunpowder in this fashion. Use of this artillery is improved with the help of gunnery experts sent by Hungarian national hero John Hunyadi who is eager to end the heresy of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, even if it means helping the hated Turks.
April 04: Siege of Constantinople begins. By this time the authority of the Byzantine Empire had shrunk to little more than the city of Constantinople itself.
April 11: Ottoman guns cause the collapse of a tower at the gate of St. Romanus during the siege of Constantinople. This breach in the walls (after only 50 days) would become a central focus of the fighting. The walls protecting Constantinople had stood for more than a thousand years; when they fall, the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) also ended. After the Ottomans defeat the Byzantine Empire they continued expanding into the Balkans. The Ottoman Turkish Empire will move its capital from Bursa to Istanbul (Constantinople). After 1500, the Moguls (1526-1857 CE) and the Safavids (1520-1736 CE) follow the military example set by the Ottomans and created two new empires.
May 29: Ottoman Turks under the command of Mehmed II break into Constantinople and capture the city. With this, the last remnant of the Roman Empire is destroyed. Constantine XI Palaeologus, the last Byzantine emperor, dies. By this point there isn't much to the empire - just the city of Constantinople and some land around it in the Greek province of Thrace. Both the culture and the language had long since become Greek rather than Roman. The Ottomans, however, consider themselves to be the legitimate successors of the Byzantine emperors and commonly use the title Sultan-i Rum, Sultan of Rome.
1455, May 15: Pope Callistus III proclaims a crusade against the Turks in order to recapture the city of Constantinople. Despite pleas for help, few European leaders had sent any assistance to Constantinople when the siege began and even the papacy sent a mere 200 knights. Thus, this new call for a Crusade was too little, too late.
1456: Athens is captured by the Turks.
July 21: Ottoman Turks attack Belgrade but are beaten back by Hungarians and Serbs under the command of John Hunyadi. Christians capture several hundred canon and massive amounts of military equipment, sending the Turks into full retreat.
August 11: Death of John Hunyadi, Hungarian national hero whose efforts against the Ottoman Turks had done much to prevent Turkish rule from being extended into Europe.
1458: Turkish soldiers sack the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.
August 18: Pius II is elected pope. Pius is an enthusiastic supporter of Crusades against the Turks.
1460: Turks take Mistra.
1461: Turks take Trebizonda.
1463: Bosnia is conquered by the Turks.
1464, June 18: Pope Pius II launches a short crusade against the Turks in Italy, but he falls ill and dies before much can happen. This would mark the death of the "crusading mentality" which had been so important in Europe over the previous three centuries.
August 15: Pope Pius II dies. Pius had been an enthusiastic supporter of Crusades against the Turks.
1465: Birth of Selim I, Ottoman sultan. Selim would become the first Ottoman caliph and would double the size of the Ottoman empire, mostly in Asia and Africa.
1467: Herzegovina is conquered by the Turks.
1472: Sophia Palaeologus, niece of Constantine XI Palaeologus, the last Byzantine Emperor, marries Ivan II of Moscow.
1477: The first book is printed in England.
1480, April: A Turkish attack against the Hospitallers in Rhodes is unsuccessful - not because the Hospitallers are superior fighters but because the Janissaries go on strike. Mehmed II orders that they not loot any cities they capture so that he could have all the booty for himself. The Janissaries balk at this and simply refuse to fight.
August: Mehmed II Conqueror sends a fleet commanded by Gedik Ahmed Pasha westward. It captures the Italian port city of Otranto. Further incursions into Italy ends with the death of Mehmed and fighting among his sons over the leadership of the Ottoman Empire. Had the Turks pressed forward, it is likely that they would have conquered most of Italy with little trouble, a feat accomplished by the French a few years later in 1494 and 1495. Had this occurred at this time, just as the Renaissance was getting off the ground, the history of the world would have been dramatically different.
1481, May 03: Death of Mehmed II, the Ottoman sultan who had succeed in capturing Constantinople.
September 10: The Italian port city of Otranto is recaptured from the Turks.
1487: Spanish forces capture Malaga from the Moors.
1489, May 31: Catherine Cornaro cedes the Kingdom of Cyprus to the Venetian Doge Agostino Barbarigo
1492: Christopher Columbus discovers the Americas in the name of Spain, launching an era of extensive European exploration and conquest. Bajazet II, Sultan of Turkey, invades Hungary and defeats the Hungarian army at the Save River.
January 02: Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, later benefactors of Christopher Columbus, end Muslim rule in Spain by conquering Granada, last Muslim stronghold. Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, later benefactors of Christopher Columbus, end Muslim rule in Spain. With the help of Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor, they also force the conversion or expulsion of all Jews in Spain.
1493: Dalmatia and Croatia are invaded by the Turks.
1494, November 06: Birth of Suleyman "the Magnificent," sultan of the Ottoman Empire. During Suleyman's (Sulieman's) reign the Ottoman Empire would reach the height of its power and influence.
1499: Venice goes to war with the Turks and the Venetian fleet is defeated at Sapienza. Francisco Jime'nez forces the mass conversion of Moors in Spain despite the earlier agreement of Ferdinand and Isabella that Muslims would be allowed to keep their religion and their mosques.
1500: Moors in Granada revolt over the forced conversions but are suppressed by Ferdinand of Aragon.
1512, May 26: Ottoman sultan Beyazid II dies and is succeeded by his son, Selim I. Selim would become the first Ottoman caliph and would double the size of the Ottoman empire, mostly in Asia and Africa.
1516: The Ottoman Turks overthrow the Mamluk Dynasty of Egypt and capture most of the country. The Mamluks do, however, remain in power under the command of the Ottomans. It is not until 1811 that Muhammad Ali, an Albanian soldier, undermines the power of the Mamluks completely.
1517, May: The Holy League is created. A union of several European powers, it is a Christian fighting force designed to combat the growing threat of Turkish expansion.
1518: Khayar al-Din, better known as Barbarossa, assumes command of the Muslim corsair fleet of the Barbary pirates. Barbarossa would become the most feared and most successful of all the Barbary pirate leaders.
1520, September 22: Death of Selim I, Ottoman sultan. Selim became the first Ottoman caliph and doubled the size of the Ottoman empire, mostly in Asia and Africa.
1521, February: Suleiman the Magnificent leads a massive army out of Instanbul for the purpose of conquering Hungary from king Louis II.
July: Ottoman Turks under Suleiman the Magnificent capture the Hungarian town of Sabac, killing the entire garrison.
August 01: Suleiman the Magnificent sends his Janissaries to assault Belgrade. Defenders manage to hold out in the citadel until the end of the month, but they were finally forced to surrender and all the Hungarians were killed - despite a promise that none would be harmed.
1523, September 04: Suleiman the Magnificent leads the Ottoman Turks in an assault on the Hospitallers.htm">Hospitallers in Rhodes who are able to hold out until the end of the year, despite numbering just 500 knights, about 100 fighting chaplains, a thousand mercenaries, and a thousand islanders. The Turkish force, in comparison, numbers some 20,000 troops and 40,000 sailors.
December 21: The Hospitallers on Rhodes formally surrender to Suleiman the Magnificent and they are able to secure the right to evacuate to Malta, despite having killed tens of thousands of Turkish troops.
1524, May 28: Birth of Selim II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire and favorite son of his father, Suleiman I. Selim had little interest in warfare and would end up spending much of his time with his harem.
1525, January 01: The Hospitallers set sail from Rhodes to Malta. The capital of Malta, Valletta, is named after one of the knights at this time, Jean Parisot de al Valette from Provencal. Valette would later become head of the Order.
1526, August 29: Battle of Mohacs: Suleiman the Magnificent defeats Louis II of Hungary after just two hours of fighting, leading to the Ottoman annexation of much of Hungary.
1529: Turkish calvary arrive at the Bavarian town of Regensburg. This is the farthest West that Turkish forces ever reach.
May 10: Suleiman the Magnificent sets off with 250,000 soldiers and hundreds of canon to lay siege to Vienna, capital of Charles V's Holy Roman Empire.
September 23: The vanguard of the Turkish army arrives outside the gates of Vienna, defended by just 16,000 men.
October 16: Suleiman the Magnificent gives up on the siege of Vienna.
1530: The Hospitallers move their base of operations to the island of Malta.
1535: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, lands in Tunisia and sacks Tunis.
1537: Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent has construction of the walls surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem begun. Imperial troops under Charles V sack Rome.
1541: Construction of the walls surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem is completed.
1546, July 04: Birth of Murad III, sultan of the Ottoman Empire and eldest son of Selim II. Like his father Murad would not care much for political matters, preferring instead to spend time with his harem. He fathers 103 children.
1552: Russians capture the Tartar city of Kazan.
1556: Russians capture the Tartar city of Astrakhan, far south along the Volga river, giving them access to the Caspian Sea.
1565, May 19: Suleiman the Magnificent attacks the Hospitallers on Malta but is unsuccessful. Numbering just 700, the knights were aided by several European nations who saw Malta as the gateway to Europe. Tens of thousands of Turks landed at the bay of Marsasirocco.
May 24: Ottoman Turks assault the fort of St. Elmo on Malta.
June 23: The Maltese fort of St. Elmo falls to Turkish forces, but not until the defenders are able to inflict casualties that number in the thousands.
September 06: Reinforcement from Sicily finally arrive at Malta, demoralizing the Turkish troops and inciting them to abandon the siege of the remaining Christian forts.
1566: Sultan Selim II gives the Janissaries permission to marry.
May 26: Birth of Mehmed III, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
September 05: Death of Sulieman (Suleyman) "the Magnificent," sultan of the Ottoman Empire. During Sulieman's reign the Ottoman Empire reached the height of its power and influence.
September 06: Battle of Szigetvar: Despite having killed Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent the night before in a surprise raid, the Hungarians lose to Turkish forces.
1568, December 25: A Morisco (Muslim convert to Christianity in Spain) uprising began when two hundred men wearing Turkish turbans entered the Moorish quarter of Madrid, killed a few guards, and looted some shops.
1569, October: Philip II of Austria orders his half-brother, Don Juan of Austria, to quell a Morisco (Muslim converts to Christianity) uprising in Alpujarras with a "war of fire and blood."
1570, January: Don Juan of Austria attacks the town of Galera. He had been instructed to kill every person inside, but he refused and let several hundred women and children go.
May: Hernando al-Habaqui, commander of the garrison of Tijola, surrenders to Don Juan of Austria.
July: On orders from Selim II, Ottoman sultan, Turkish forces commanded by Kara Mustafa land on Cyprus with the intent of reconquering it. Most of the island falls relatively quickly and thousands are massacred. Only Famagusta, ruled by governor Macantonia Bragadion from Venice, holds out for about a year.
September: Luis de Requesens, vice-admiral for king Philip II of Austria, leads a campaign into Alpujarras that ends the Morisco uprising by devastating the entire countryside.
November: A royal council in Spain decides to deal with the Moriscos by deporting them out of Grenada and scattering them all around Spain.
1571, August 01: The Venetians under governor Macantonia Bragadion agree to surrender Famagusta on Cyprus to the Turkish invaders.
August 04: Famagusta's governor Macantonia Bragadion is taken captive by the Turks, contrary to the peace treaty already signed.
August 17: Macantonia Bragadion, his ears and nose already cut off, is flayed alive by the Turks as a signal to the people of Cyprus that a new order was upon them.
October 07: Battle of Lepanto (Aynabakhti): Muslim Turks commanded by Ali Pasha are defeated in the Gulf of Corinth by an alliance of European forces (The Holy League) under the command of Don Juan of Austria. This is the biggest naval battle in the world since the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE. The Turks lose at least 200 ships, devastating their naval forces. The morale of European Christians is significantly raised while that of Turks and Muslims is lowered. At least 30,000 soldiers and sailors die in about three hours, more casualties than in any other naval battle in history. The battle does not, however, result in any major territorial or political shifts. The famous Spanish author Cervantes participates in the battle and is wounded in his right hand.
1574, December 24: Death of Selim II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire and favorite son of his father, Suleiman I. Selim did nothing to expand the empire, preferring instead to spend his time with his harem.
1578: Battle of al-Aqsr al-Kabir: Moroccans defeat the Portuguese, ending the latter's military excursions into Africa.
October 01: Don Juan of Austria dies in Belgium.
1585: The Ottoman Empire signs a peace treaty with Spain. This would hinder the Ottomans from answering the calls for help from Queen Elizabeth I of England. Elizabeth had hoped to get the Ottomans to send several dozen galleys to aid in the defense of England against the Spanish Armada.
1590, April 18: Birth of Ahmed I, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
1595, January 15: Death of Murad III, sultan of the Ottoman Empire and eldest son of Selim II. Murad didn't care much for political matters, preferring instead to spend time with his harem. He had fathered 103 children. One, Mehmed III, succeeds Murad and has his sixteen brothers strangled to death in order to avoid any fights over who would rule.
1600: The Austrians lay siege to the town of Canissa. Among the Austrians is an English volunteer by the name of John Smith. He would later go on to help in the colonization of Virginia and marry the Indian princess Pocahontas.
1603, December 22: Death of Mehmed III, sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He is succeeded by his 14-year-old son, Ahmed I.
1604, November 03: Birth of Osman II, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
1609: Ahmed I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, orders the construction of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (in English commonly called the Blue Mosque) in Istanbul.
1612, June 16: Birth of Murad IV, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire and brother of Osman II.
1615, November 05: Birth of Ibrahim I, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
1617, November 22: Death of Ahmed I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, apparently due to typhus. He is briefly succeed by his brother, Mustafa I, until he is deposed in favor of his young nephew and son of Ahmed I, Osman II.
1619: Ottoman sultan Osman II leads the Janissaries to defeat at the Battle of Chotin in Poland. Osman would blame the defeat on the Janissaries. Osman recognizes that the Janissaries, as a semi-autonomous force, pose a serious threat to him so he tries to have their power cut.
1622, May 22: Death of Osman II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire - he is strangled by his own Janissaries because he had tried to limit their power. He is briefly succeeded by Mustafa I, his uncle, whom he had been deposed several years earlier.
1623: Persian armies invade Iraq, capturing the capital of Baghdad.
1625: According to some estimates, there are around 20,000 Christian slaves in Algiers alone.
1627: Barbary Corsairs appear in Iceland and carry off hundreds of captives for the slave markets in North Africa. For Europeans, the Turkish and Muslim threat to their existence was very real and very frightening.
1638: Ottoman Turks recapture Baghdad, Iraq, and execute nearly the entire 30,000 man garrison.
Murad IV abolishes the tribute of Christian children from the Balkans, requiring the Janissaries to find new recruits elsewhere.
1640: Death of Murad IV, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, due to cirrhosis of the liver. He is succeeded by his brother, Ibrahim I, despite Murad's last-minute order to have Ibrahim executed.
1642, January 02: Birth of Mehmed IV, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
April 15: Birth of Suleiman II, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire and brother of Mehmed IV.
1643, February 25: Birth of Ahmed II, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire and son of sultan Ibrahim I.
1645: Ottoman Turks attack the island of Crete, at the time ruled by Venice, and lay siege to the city of Candia. In response Venice sends a fleet to blockade Istanbul.
1646: Venetian forces capture Tenedos (today: Bozcaada), gateway to the Dardanelles.
1648, August: Death of Ibrahim I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who is strangled by his own Janissaries. He is succeeded by his son, Mehmed IV, who is just 6 years old.
1656: Battle of the Dardanelles.
1664: Battle of St. Gothard: Count Raimundo Montecuccoli smashes a much larger Ottoman army east of Budapest.
February 06: Birth of Mustafa II, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire and son of Mehmed IV.
1669: After more than 20 years, Ottoman Turks finally capture the city of Candia, ensuring that Crete becomes a part of the Ottoman Empire.
1672: The Ottoman Turks launch a war against Poland, defeating the armies under John Sobieski. The Ottoman Empire would annex Podolia and the Ukraine while Poland would be forced to pay an annual tribute.
1673, December 30: Birth of Ahmed III, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire and son of Mehmed IV.
1681: Combined Polish and Russian forces recapture territory lost to the Ottoman Turks.
1683, March 31: An army of at least 250,000 troops, the last great Ottoman assault on Christian Europe, departs Edirne for Vienna, Austria.
July 14: Second siege of Vienna by the Ottoman Turks begins, this time ostensibly in support of a Hungarian uprising against Austrian rule. It would end so quickly and disastrously that large amounts of money and equipment is left behind in the rush to retreat.
September 05: Around sixty thousand Polish and German soldiers, mostly volunteers, gather together on the Kahlenberg mountain (northwest of Vienna) under the command of Polish leader John Sobieski (now King John III of Poland). Their intent is to help lift the siege against Vienna.
September 12: Polish and German forces attack the encamped Turks who had been besieging Vienna for the past two months. It is a complete rout and the Turks flee back to Istanbul in a panic.
1685: Battle of Gran: Charles of Lorraine defeats the Ottoman Turks.
1687: Ottoman sultan Mehmed IV is deposed and replaced with his younger brother, Suleiman II.
1688: Budapest is recaptured from the Turks by Prince Max Emmanuel of Bavaria.
1690: Turkish forces occupy Kosovo, forcing thousands of Serbs to flee to Hungary.
1691: Death of Suleiman II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He is succeed by his brother, Ahmed II.
Battle of Slankamen: Austrians under Prince Louis of Baden crush the Ottoman Turks and are thus able to liberate large portions of Hungary.
1693: Death of Mehmed IV, deposed sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
1695: Death of Ahmed II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He is succeeded by Mustafa II.
1696, August 02: Birth of Mahmud I, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire and son of Mustafa II.
1697: Battle of Zenta: In an effort to reconquer Hungary, Sultan Mustafa II personally leads the Ottoman Turks to a crushing defeat at the hands of Eugene of Savoy. This loss causes the Turks to sue for peace with European powers.
1699, January 26: Peace Treaty of Carlowitz: Signed between the Habsburgs of Austria and the Ottoman Turks, the Turks surrender Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, and Slovenia to the Habsburgs, Morea in Greece to the Venetian Republic, and Moldavia to Poland. For most historians this marks the real beginning of the end for the Ottoman Empire. With this treaty, European fears of the Turks come to a close.
1700: Treaty of Constantinople: Ottoman Turks surrender Azov to the Russians.
1703: Due to the great losses under his rule, sultan Mustafa II is forced to abdicate and his brother, Ahmed III, replaces him.
1711: Ottoman Turks defeat Russian forces near the Pruth and in the ensuing peace treaty the regain control of Azov.
1715: Ottoman Turks attack Morea in Greece, recapturing it from Venice, a violation of the Peace Treaty of Carlowitz, leading to a new war with Austria.
1717: Austria captures Belgrade from the Ottoman Empire.
1718: Peace of Passarowitz: peace between the Ottomans and Austria is reached; this time the Turks are able to keep Morea but lose all of Hungary.
1730: Defeats in a war against Persia lead to a revolt of the Janissaries who depose Sultan Ahmed III and install Mahmud I in his place.
1754, December 13: Death of Mahmud I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
1792: The Ottoman Turks are finally forced to acknowledge the Russian annexation of the Tartar Khanates.
1798: The Hospitallers on Malta are defeated by General Napoléon Bonaparte. At the time known as the Knights of Malta, they disband entirely the following year.
July 01: General Napoléon Bonaparte sails to Egypt, then still an Ottoman province, which he conquers from the Mamluk military leaders quickly and easily. Even among the Ottoman leaders, however, there is little interest in why the French are there or why they eventually leave. The coming of the Europeans was regarded as something like a natural disaster - an event to be endured but not one that needs to be understood.
1826, June 14: The Auspicious Incident: Janissaries revolt in Istanbul, but the populace and other government forces are against them. The Janissaries suffer massive casualties; those who survive face execution or banishment.
1945: The final cruzado or 'crusade tax' is officially abolished in the Roman Catholic diocese of Pueblo, Colorado, USA.
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