Chronology of the Crusades
Ottoman Empire on the Defensive, 1600 - 1800
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Although the Crusades themselves were long finished, Christian Europe continued to be under pressure from the expanding Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans made impressive victories, including the capture of Constantinople, last outpost of the Roman Empire and spiritual center of Orthodox Christianity. Over time, however, Western Christians were able to mount effective counter-attacks and keep Ottoman forces out of central Europe.
There are several different types of color-coded dates in this timeline of the Crusades, explained in a color key at the bottom of the timeline.
| Timeline of the Crusades: Ottoman Empire on the Defensive, 1600 - 1800 | |
| January 15, 1595 | 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. |
| December 22, 1603 | Death of Mehmed III, sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He is succeeded by his 14-year-old son, Ahmed I. |
| November 03, 1604 | 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. |
| June 16, 1612 | Birth of Murad IV, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire and brother of Osman II. |
| November 05, 1615 | Birth of Ibrahim I, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire. |
| November 22, 1617 | 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. |
| May 22, 1622 | 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 succeed 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. |
| 1638 | 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. |
| January 02, 1642 | Birth of Mehmed IV, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire. |
| April 15, 1642 | Birth of Suleiman II, future sultan of the Ottoman Empire and brother of Mehmed IV. |
| February 25, 1643 | 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. |
| August 1648 | 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, 1664 | 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. |
| December 30, 1673 | 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. |
| March 31, 1683 | An army of at least 250,000 troops, the last great Ottoman assault on Christian Europe, departs Edirne for Vienna, Austria. |
| July 14, 1683 | 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, 1683 | 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, 1683 | 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. |
| 1691 | 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. |
| August 02, 1696 | 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. |
| January 26, 1699 | Peace Treaty of Carlowitz: Signed between the Hapsburgs of Austria and the Ottoman Turks, the Turks surrender Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, and Slovenia to the Hapsburgs, 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.
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| December 13, 1754 | 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 Napoleon. At the time known as the Knights of Malta, they disband entirely the following year. |
| July 01, 1798 |
General Napoleon 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 the 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.
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| June 14, 1826 | 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. |
Color Key: This chart explains which sorts of topics are given which colors in the chronologies.
| Color | Topic |
| Blue | Christian victories, advances, and actions. |
| Yellow | Other events: births, deaths, marriages, peace treaties, etc. |
| Green | Muslim victories, advances, and actions. |
| Orange | Other conflicts: Christians fighting Christians, Christians fighting heretics, Muslims fighting Mongols, Christians fighting Jews, etc. |
| Grey | Miscellaneous events to provide historical context and comparison |
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