THE CONTROL OF GALLIPOLI AND THE EARLY OTTOMAN FLEET
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2025, DOI: https://doi.org/10.62761/645.EB.LXI1.11
Vladislav IVANOV 
Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria
Abstract: The article reconsiders the popular theories in modern historiography that the Ottoman Turks did not have their own fleet from the early 14th century until the Battle of Maritsa (Chernomen) in 1371, and that the Christian occupation of the port fortress of Gallipoli prevented the Ottomans from crossing the Strait of the Dardanelles in 1366 – 1376. The text provides a lot of evidence taken from contemporary historical sources, such as the Histories of John Kantakouzenos, Nikephoros Gregoras, George Pachymeres, and others, demonstrating that the Ottoman beylik had had ships capable of crossing the Straits of Bosphorus and Dardanelles from 1337, at least. Moreover, after conquering the neighboring
Turkish state of Karasi in the 1340s, the Ottomans likely inherited its fleet, which had been a formidable naval power in the Marmara and Aegean Seas. Military units of the Karasids and the Ottomans crossed the Straits with their ships and invaded Thrace too many times, while Gallipoli was firmly in Byzantine hands (1307 – 1354). After examining the available source information, the author concludes that the Ottomans managed to keep their fleet and the ability to cross the Dardanelles in 1366 – 1376, regardless of who occupied the fortress of Gallipoli.
Keywords: Early Ottoman History, port of Gallipoli, Strait of Dardanelles, 14th century Byzantium, Thrace, ships
MEDIEVAL STUDIES IN THE ÉTUDES BALKANIQUES JOURNAL (2014-2023)
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2024, N 2
Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria
Abstract: Articles and studies on medieval subjects featured prominently in the pages of Études balkaniques between 2014 and 2023. Conventionally they are divided into two larger groups, according to their focus on issues related to Byzantine and Bulgarian history. This overview begins with an outline of the studies relevant to the development of medieval Bulgaria. This category comprises the works of medievalists such as Vassilka Tǎpkova-Zaїmova, Penka Danova, Sashka Georgieva, etc. Elena Kostova’s article on the possessions of the Athonite monasteries in the present-day Bulgarian town of Melnik also belongs to this set of themes as it throws a natural bridge to the extensive thematic range of Byzantine studies. Among the examined studies in this field are papers dedicated to the graffiti in the Constantinople Cathedral of Hagia Sophia, Byzantium’s ties to Southern Italy and Egypt, silk production, the empire’s political relations with its neighbours such as the community of the Cumans and other themes from the history of what came to be known as the “Byzantine cultural circle”, whose geographical reach extended up to the Caucasus and Russia. The overview ends with a discussion of two articles by Theodor Dimitrov, which examine the plague epidemics in Byzantium.
Keywords: Byzantine Empire, Bulgarian Tsardom, Melnik, Crimea, Cumans, Hagia Sophia