History Student Reacts to Ottoman Civil War | Rise of the Ottomans #11

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Hey everybody, welcome back to History Student Reacts. Today we'll be watching Civil War that almost destroyed the Ottomans by kings and generals. Now, this is the next episode in their series on the rise of the Ottoman Empire. Last time was actually a pretty bad episode for the Empire. So far, we've seen Ottoman win after win after win, but last time at the Battle of Anchora, we saw a pretty devastating loss to Teimour. In fact, Beaazid the Sultan was captured and then later died in captivity. Now, the Ottoman Empire has been left in chaos. And today, we will see how that chaos plays out. So, thank you everybody for watching this one. If you'd like to get access to exclusive videos and early access to videos like this one, you can become a YouTube channel member by hitting the join button down below. Uh, with that, let's jump right into this reaction.

[00:01:04]The year is 1403. It had been over a year since the great defeat at Anara.

[00:01:10]For the last 12 months, you have seen your world turned upside down by the Timurid onslaught. The countryside and the endless farmlands of your homeland have been put to the torch along with its great towns and villages. Many of your loved ones have either been killed or taken away to the east as slaves.

[00:01:28]After a long day of salvaging the last memories of your loved ones in the burnt remains of your former home, you hear the sound of thousands of men marching in unison coming from the town square.

[00:01:39]As you get closer to the noise, you are confronted by cheering crowds. And off in the distance, you see soldiers marching with flags and banners you haven't seen since last summer. And then from one of the soldiers you hear, make way for the sovereign lord of Anatolia Carammania and the land of the Romans, Sultan Memed Khn, son of the Thunderbolt himself and restorer of our world.

[00:02:04]Yeah. So, gives you a good image of what it was like to live in Anatolia at this point. Of course, the Ottomans begin in Anatolia. That's where they spread out from. And yet, they had lost, right?

[00:02:18]They'd lost to the Timurids. They'd lost their territory. The empire had fallen into chaos. And through that sort of anecdote there showed you that it would have been a pretty tough life for anyone living in this region. And now after a while, you finally have the Ottoman forces marching back through. you know, the descendant of Beaazit the Thunderbolt, who of course had been captured and died in captivity. But even so, probably would have been a sort of motivational moment if you're someone who's been going through this. This video was sponsored by our kind YouTube [music] members and patrons. Becoming a YouTube member or patron is the best way to support our work. So, we're now providing our supporters with exclusive videos to thank them. Join their ranks to watch the >> Hey, same thing here, by the way. become a YouTube channel member by hitting the join button down below. Or you could also check out my Patreon linked in the description. Both of those give you access to a bunch of exclusive reaction videos. Or YouTube members and patrons will watch series on the fall of Sparta, the Reconista, Second Punic War, Spanish War of Succession, and Russian Civil War. And will continue getting early access to all videos, access to an exclusive Discord server, will know our schedule, and vote on future videos.

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[00:03:48]With Sultan Based I's defeat at the battle of Anara and his captivity at the hands of Timar, the Ottoman realm was plunged into one of the most turbulent periods of its history. M >> in only 8 months the Amir of Samund had almost undone more than 13 years of military campaigning and political maneuvers of Sultan Beaazit the first with the house of Osman's legitimacy shattered and its armies scattered in the Balkans and Anatolia a power struggle had erupted between the sons of Beazid members of the Ottoman military class and the former vassels of Ada >> right and the Ottomans have conquered so much territory um through the actions in part of Beaazid, but a a series of pretty successful sultans. Now, of course, there's a lot of benefits to that. But there are also some risks, some cons to having all this new territory, which is if you have a disastrous battle like the battle of Ankura, especially if your leader, your Sultan is captured and is not going to come back, right? He'll die in captivity. Well, that leaves open this massive power vacuum. And throughout your massive empire, you've got a lot of different local power bases, a lot of local elites who would still like to grab more of that authority for themselves. And so this leads into well civil war as the title says, but really just general political chaos. I mean that this happens at some point, usually at multiple points in any type of empire. You see this many times throughout the history of the Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. Uh, now the Ottomans are going to have to work through this, which they do, but it's definitely a difficult time.

[00:05:33]>> A race to seize the levers of power had been initiated, and now it looked like the road to civil war was wide open.

[00:05:43]Escaping with the majority of the routing Ottoman army from Anara, Sullean Chelvi, the eldest son of Beazid, had raced westward toward Bersa to escape the wrath of the Timurid onslaught.

[00:05:55]Crossing into Europe by August 1402, the Ottoman prince was accompanied by his father's influential grand vizier Jandelizada Alip Pasha and the bulk of the Ottoman elite Capikulu. After entering the capital of Ada, Sullean was declared Sultan by the religious MMA of the city and his own troops. Having personally served in his father's military campaigns in Anatolia and the Balkans during the last 13 years, the eldest lion of the Thunderbolt was seen by many as the most legitimate and experienced member of the House of Osman to succeed his father.

[00:06:28]>> Right? You've got a lot of legitimacy there, right? I mean, you've got the legitimacy of following your father, the legitimacy of one's blood. That's important in these type of things, but also the legitimacy of actual experience, right? that can definitely make people believe in you. So, uh, a lot of legitimacy when legitimacy is in pretty short supply.

[00:06:55]>> Upon taking the throne, Sullean entered into a series of diplomatic talks with the local Christian powers of the region in order to consolidate his insecure position in the Balkans. The newly crowned Ottoman Sultan knew he had to secure his flank if he ever wanted to march into Anatolia one day and reunite his father's former realm. After 3 and 1/2 months of negotiations with the Byzantines, Genoa, and Venice, the Treaty of Gallipoli was signed in the first months of 1403, resulting in major Ottoman concessions to the Christian powers. Land concessions to the Byzantines included the major cities of Thessalonica and Nikimedia in addition to their surrounding territories, the Aian coast of Thessal. And lastly, a number of settlements alongside the Thrian Black Sea coast up to Mumbria. A series of free trade agreements for Byzantine, Venetian, and Genoies merchants were established. So, this is interesting, right? So, you might look at this and think, "Wow, the Ottomans are kind of giving up a lot considering how powerful and dominant they've been."

[00:08:00]And there's some truth to this, but you also must remember that one, uh, the Ottomans are in a really weak position right now, right? And they're trying to secure that position. But also, it's not like the Byzantines wanted to recognize any of the Ottoman conquests. And so just in that this is actually a big step forward and it's the you know the Eastern Romans no matter how much they don't want to really legitimizing and recognizing those Ottoman conquests. Now did the Ottomans need that Byzantine legitimacy? Maybe not generally, but if you're, for example, trying to establish your legitimate rule as Sultan, then this could be a good move.

[00:08:44]>> And all tributes from these states to Werna from the time of Ba.

[00:08:47]>> And of course, as we know, this is not going to save the Eastern Romans.

[00:08:52]They've got about 50 years left, right?

[00:08:54]So, it's not like this is going to, you know, allow them to exist hundreds of years into the future.

[00:09:00]>> Were cancelled. The Ottoman Sultan was also obliged to defend Constantinople in the event of a Timrid attack in addition to releasing all Byzantine and Genoies prisoners to their respective states.

[00:09:12]Although the treaty was un and that that's very interesting to me. You can see here who the power players are in the region. It's funny that even in you know what's being offered here uh the Venetians and the Genoies are getting quite a lot which shows you that they are two of the more important players in this region and that they've already themselves eclipsed the Byzantine Empire you know Genanoa Venice these are more sort of trade empires um but even considering that the Byzantines are weaker than they are and you can tell that just from the fact that you know Genanoa and Venice get so many mentions in this deal.

[00:09:53]>> Teen and Genoies prisoners to their respective states. Although the treaty was unpopular with many in Ada, Sullean had secured peace in the Balkans and now turned his attention to developments coming from Anatolia.

[00:10:06]>> Yeah, that's exactly right. It may not have seemed like a super great deal for the Ottomans and could even be one that you could imagine some Ottoman loyalists would be like, why are we signing this?

[00:10:16]But we don't owe them anything. But it's a good way to get a little bit more legitimacy and more importantly to just practically secure your position uh and try to secure your western flank while you try and go back east.

[00:10:34]>> In the months after the battle of Anara, Anatolia was devastated by the rampaging armies of Timour, which saw major towns like Smar and Bersa being brutally sacked.

[00:10:44]>> Wow. As anarchy reigned supreme in Anatolia, the former Turk ba of the region were restored by the Amir of Samakund to destabilize the Ottoman state further. As Anatolia was divided back to its pre1390 borders, the Ottomans were left only with Bethnia, Misia, the former lands of the Arretids, and a small strip of land around Ankara.

[00:11:06]It was from these lands that the remaining sons of Beazid establish their new rump Ottoman states. After fleeing the onslaught at Ankara, Isaac Chilebe and Memed Chilei both took their personal retinues and established their own courts in Bersa and Amasia respectively.

[00:11:22]>> Unorting leaders here at the moment Sullean looks like he's ahead, but you know, keep an eye on things. There's definitely, I imagine, going to be some competition on who comes out ahead in the end. Like their older brother Sullean, who had managed to escape the wrath of Teimmo's armies by fleeing to the Balkans, the two junior Ottoman princes had no real military or political power base in Anatolia to resist the Timuridates. As a result of their weak positions, the pair reluctantly submitted to the Suzaranti of the Amir of Sam.

[00:11:58]>> Damn, that that must have been a pretty humiliating thing to do for these Ottomans, the the sons of Beaazid, right? the sons of this great and powerful sultan who had ruled over this great empire to have to pledge their loyalty to another emperor. That that's got to be tough. And by the way, just shows you the the power of the timmerits. and Teimour in particular. Of course, >> despite being an official vassel of Teimour, the younger of the brothers, Memed ChBI, spent the rest of 1402 and the start of 1403 campaigning in the lands around Amasia against other fellow Timurid vassels. In a minor skirmish at Tossia, the 17-year-old Ottoman prince defeated the nephew of Esphendia Bay, Karaya, and in another battle defeated Karajia, a Timurid commander near the outskirts of Amasia. Hm. This Memed fellow seems pretty ambitious, huh?

[00:12:54]>> Memed continued his winning streak by capturing the key mountain pass settlement of Nixar, launching raids into the newly reestablished Baix of Jennik, and defeating waves of migrating Turk tribes from the east. These early victories attracted many to the court of Memed, such as military men and former Ottoman notables fleeing from Timurid rule. In only a couple of months, the third eldest son of Beazid gained a sizable following and was now seen by many as a champion for the Gazi warrior tradition of old. So, you know, like I was saying, I know Sullean appears to be the most powerful, but keep an eye out, right? Things may be shaken up. And Memed here uh despite his initial sort of lack of experience has been able to win a couple of impressive battles, establish himself and cement himself as in that Gazi tradition as this sort of religious warrior who's fighting to gain back Ottoman territory. That's a pretty motivating story to tell, right? That's going to get a lot of people on board, especially if you're, you know, uh, in Anatolia, which was this important Byzantine, well, was important Byzantine, but important Ottoman, is what I meant to say, territory, and you're, you know, looking to join back up with the empire. Well, now you have someone to join up with and fight for.

[00:14:17]While Memed was off winning victories in eastern Anatolia, the last two sons of BeaDid, Musa Chbi and Mustafa Chalebi were held in captivity alongside their father in Akahir as political prisoners.

[00:14:32]Never before in its history had the Ottoman state seen so many claimments to its throne. H since the days of Murad I the sultanss of Ada often practiced fratriide towards their male siblings in order to keep the line of succession as peaceful as possible.

[00:14:48]>> Yeah.

[00:14:48]>> This meant fierce competition between the five Ottoman claimments even when Bait I ruled a united Ottoman Sultanate.

[00:14:56]The first signs of civil war were already present by the early spring of 1403 when the former Sultan of the Ottomans died suddenly while in captivity which killed off any potential opportunity for the sons of Beazid to reconcile their differences. With Timar and his military host beginning to leave Anatolia for the east during the same period, all bets were off as civil war loomed over the greater region. Okay.

[00:15:21]So, you know, while their father is alive, and this is often the case with this type of succession, you've got a powerful emperor or king who's got a couple of different kids. Um, I mean, it depends on the system. If you're going through sort of primogenature, then it's going to be passed to the eldest son.

[00:15:40]And so, no reason to compete. I mean, unless you intend on killing the guy, which sometimes happened. But in that type of monarchical system, you know, it's there's a little less competition.

[00:15:50]But in other systems where it's not so clear who the crown or the throne is going to be passed down to, there will be fierce competition between these different ch children, sons in this case. Now that competition can sometimes result in violence or civil war, usually if the emperor or the father is still alive. It's in a little bit more of a subtle way. But now that Beaazit is gone, well, [snorts] that tension can rise to the surface. Now these three are truly competing with each other to be the next Ottoman Sultan, even though they don't have control over a lot of the empire's territory. But now they're going to be far more likely to fight against each other. However, before leaving Anatolia for good, the ruler of the Timurids gave permission for Musa Chilei to bury his father in the former Ottoman capital of Bersa, while Mustafa Chilebi accompanied him back to Samund.

[00:16:49]It was to be the actions of the former to lay rest to his father, which evidently sparked a chain of events that engulfed the Ottoman world in civil war for the next decade.

[00:17:01]In a surprise turn of events, upon arriving in Bersa, a grieving but scheming Musa seized the city and its garrison from his brother Issa, resulting in the latter fleeing to the town of Bellakazir. However, the Ottoman prince was not able to hold the former Ottoman capital for long as he had no real following in the local area, having been a prisoner of Timar for the last year. After mustering troops in Messia, Ether launched a counterattack and recaptured Bersa in a short engagement which resulted in Musa fleeing to the court of the Gianids and then to the Caramanids. I mean, I guess he's making powerful foreign allies. But I can't imagine he's really ingratiating himself to those who see themselves as loyal subjects of the Ottoman Empire. You were captured by the Timurids. Now you're in with the Caramanids. just like, "Hey man, why don't you try building a following among your own people? I mean, [snorts] maybe I'm wrong, but I I feel like that wouldn't make him super popular uh with a lot of the people he wants to rule over." It seemed as if once more an uneasy peace between the sons of Beasid was reestablished.

[00:18:08]Nonetheless, the status quo in Anatolia would once again be shaken. Although, you know, maybe that's not the case because as we've been talking about within Anatolia, there's a bunch of different peoples and territories. And as we saw, it was pretty easy to break all of this that was under Ottoman control, break it into a bunch of little waring factions and states. But there are definitely some regions that have more what I'd call Ottoman loyalists than others. As during the aftermath of his victory over Musa, Issa received a letter from his younger brother Memed Chilebi from Amasia, the Ottoman prince had offered Issa to rule Anatolia together, perhaps in an attempt to consolidate their strength against their more formidable brother in the Balkans.

[00:18:56]However, the offer of unification was rejected by Issa as he thought due to being Memed's older brother, he should be automatically subordinate to him.

[00:19:05]After a series of hotly exchanged letters, the two brothers made ready for war to decide the fate of Ottoman Anatolia. Yeah, it's pretty clear that Me doesn't care who's the older brother.

[00:19:17]I I think he's right though. If they could unify now, Musa there sort of complicates things. But I think if one of these guys or if they could get together and all control Anatolia, then they might stand a chance against Sullemont because right now he controls all of the Ottoman territory in the Balkans. And not only that, but he's made agreements with the Ottoman vassels, allies, and even enemies in the Balkans. So he's got a pretty powerful position, whereas each of these guys is ruling over their little chunk of territory. they were able to unify, uh, then maybe they could stand a chance.

[00:19:54]But I think first we're going to see them fight against each other. So, I doubt we'll see unification, but maybe one of these three can end up taking all the territory for themselves. Eventually during the late spring of 1403 the two armies of Issa and Memed clashed in a decisive engagement near Ulabat which saw the latter crush the forces of the former >> with Isa first fleeing to the protection of Constantinople and then to the court of Sulleon. Memed entered and declared himself Sultan.

[00:20:24]>> Classic good good way to you know the classic sort of loser move right there.

[00:20:29]You realize you're done. Your movement is over. You flee to Constantinople and then go to Sullean, right? Who you were just apparently uh trying to fight to overthrow. You thought you would be the true Sultan leader of the empire, but now that you've lost against your brother, Memed, now you fled to your other brother to say, "Okay, I know I was disobeying you, but I'm back. I'm back to swear feelalty." With the backing of the city's Om. In the weeks after the battle of Ulabat, the remaining lands of Ottoman Anatolia swore loyalty to the third eldest son of Beazit.

[00:21:04]>> Wow.

[00:21:06]>> With Memes Chile unifying Anatolia under his control and proclaiming himself Sultan, the ball.

[00:21:12]>> So it's an interesting situation, right?

[00:21:15]Memed has now unified these loyal Ottoman territories. Now there's a lot of you can see Anatolian territory that uh still is not controlled by the Ottomans is not controlled by Memed right that's sort of broken off and that Beazid had worked hard to conquer so you know he's still in a tricky position but uh he is now a lot more powerful than you know he was previously or Musa and Issa were >> was in Sullean Chb's court to respond to what he saw as his greatest rival to the throne M right.

[00:21:49]>> By 1404, the Sultan of Ada dispatched a rehabilitated Issa Chbi with a sizable army to retake Bersa as a way to destabilize the region further.

[00:21:59]>> Okay.

[00:21:59]>> The invasion started promisingly as Issa captured Bleazier and its surrounding lands.

[00:22:04]>> It's a good idea and honestly things look pretty good for Sulleon right now, right? He's been able to get the loyalty of Issa because Issa had no choice and now he's able to send him back to retake his own territory, right? with these two joining forces. That's pretty powerful.

[00:22:20]Though there is always the risk that Issa breaks off again, but we'll see how Memed responds. While Memed was off campaigning in eastern Anatolia, however, the fortunes of the Ottoman prince turned sour after his siege of Berser was lifted when a 3,000 strong relief force from the east sent by Memed scattered his army beneath the walls of the city.

[00:22:41]>> Damn. With the former capital >> defeated again >> in flames from the recent siege, Isaachi fled to the court of Isendia Bay of the Jandarid Baalik where he recruited another army to continue his war effort against Memed.

[00:22:55]>> I mean the guy, you know, he keeps going but things are not going great for Issa.

[00:23:01]>> However, this army too was scattered near the outskirts of Anara by the Sultan of Bersa. Give it up.

[00:23:07]>> Saw Issa flee to the western Anatolian baix of Sawan, Aiden, Mentesia, and Te for military help. The Turk bays of the region all saw Memed as a greater threat to their newly won independence and so supported the weaker side of Issa.

[00:23:23]>> Well, it makes sense given the fact that Memed has now won several battles against his brother. Uh I guess Issa is going for more support, but I'm not sure it's going to help. I guess we'll see.

[00:23:34]After months of assembling a large host, the Ottoman prince once again attacked Bersa, but was defeated again in three different engagements between 1404 and 1405.

[00:23:44]>> Jesus, dude.

[00:23:45]>> Failing to get military assistance from the Carameits and having no army left to [music] take Bersa back, Issa Chalebi went into hiding in Bethnia. However, the Ottoman prince was found by Memed's agents during the fall of 1406 and was killed while at a Turkish bath in Eskishah.

[00:24:02]Yeah, you could sort of see the way things were going for Issa. I'm sorry.

[00:24:07]If you can't win a single battle against Memed, then you don't stand much of a chance of winning this power struggle or even surviving this power struggle.

[00:24:18]And now we're down to two. This is sort of what I was saying earlier. You've got Sullean, who controls the Balkans, and Memed, who doesn't control all of Anatolia, but a good chunk of it. With the defeat of Issa in the east and the Balkan front remaining stable after the treaty of Gallipoli, Sullean Chbby and his grand vizier Jandelizada Alip Pashia made plans to launch a massive campaign against Memed. The Sultan of Ada had with him the bulk of the elite Ottoman Capiculu core on his side and so had the advantage over Memed's exhausted Turk Manangghazi army which had spent the last 3 years campaigning around Anatolia.

[00:24:58]>> That's right. And you know, you sort of think this would be a good moment to strike back for Sulleon, both against his brother and against his enemies generally, right? Given the fact they noted in the corner, Timour has died, the influence of the Timurids now pulled back. And so if someone was able to unify the Ottoman Empire uh from this point onwards, they'd have a much better chance of reconquering all these little waring states in Anatolia now that the sort of overall power of the Timurids has dissolved in the region. Launching his campaign in the spring of 1406, Sullean and his forces quickly captured all of Bethnia and Msia alongside the major cities of Bersa and Ankara.

[00:25:41]>> Dang. In addition to capturing large portions of Ottoman Anatolia, the eldest son of Baazid defeated and scattered Memed's army near the town of Yenahir, resulting in >> So, I mean, things are now looking really good for Sullean. He controls the Balkans, a good chunk of Anatolia. Now, Memed is sort of back to kind of where he was beforehand.

[00:26:02]>> The latter fleeing to Aia. It seemed like in only a couple of months, the Ottoman realm would be united under one ruler once more. However, by the winter of the same year, Sulleon's campaign into the region stalled in momentum when his much trusted Grand Vizier passed away in Anara due to natural causes.

[00:26:22]Alip Pashia had been instrumental in organizing the main Ottoman bureaucracy in Adena to support Sullean in the early days of the interregnum and had been vital in the military successes of the last half year. Oh, >> the sessation of conflict caused by the grand vizier's death gave me some time to conclude an alliance with the Caramanids. So perhaps Sullean has just lost his secret weapon, right? The guy who was actually running the affairs of the state is now gone. And of course, that's often what grand vizers did. Uh sometimes you'll see examples of sultans who either may not have been very good at their job or perhaps weren't so concerned with the daily stuff, right, but were good at other things, whatever it was. Uh these sultans who had their vazers basically running the state on a day-to-day basis. And so there are a lot of examples of these very talented and competent vazers >> which saw him reunite with his younger brother Musa Chalebi.

[00:27:20]>> Oh wow.

[00:27:20]>> Lived at the court of Memed II bay since his defeat to Issa in 1403.

[00:27:26]These new political developments brought new life into Memed's struggle for the Ottoman throne. And so the civil war dragged on.

[00:27:36]The war in Anatolia had effectively become a stalemate by the year 1409. So Memed decided to employ the very tactic that Sullean employed on him years prior. Sending Musa to create chaos in the Balkans. Memed, >> not bad. Well, at least now Memed has another brother on his side, right?

[00:27:53]Memed sort of been fighting on his own this whole time, but now he's got Musa in his pocket.

[00:27:58]>> Wished to destabilize Sulleon's realm like he had done so with Issa against him. Taking a ship from the Jandarid Baleik, Musa landed on the Thrian Black Sea coast where he immediately began to contact the Ottoman marcher lords and Christian leaders of the local region.

[00:28:14]Before we discuss the fruits of Musa's diplomatic scheming, let us go back in time to see the political developments of the Balkans during the last 7 years.

[00:28:23]Yeah, I'd be interested to see. I'll just say that these Balkan states now, they want to side with whoever is going to win this, of course, but they also want to side with whoever is going to give them the best deal. They're still looking out for themselves and their own autonomy.

[00:28:43]Like their Byzantine counterparts, the rulers of Serbia and Falakia had not been idle during the course of the Ottoman Civil War. Ever since the aftermath of the battle of Kosovo in 1389, the principality of Serbia under its ruler Stefan Lazarovich had been a loyal vassel to Aderna. The >> Yeah, one of the most loyal vassels of the Ottomans actually >> prince of Serbia had fought bravely alongside his heavy knights in the many military campaigns of Beaazid from Robinir to Nicopolis to Ankara. However, in the aftermath of Timour's crushing victory at Ankara, Stfan and his retinue of Serbian knights escaped westward and found themselves in Constantinople at the court of Manuel II, most likely as a way to establish an alliance between their two states. The Roman emperor bestowed the Serbian prince with the highly coveted court title of desperate, which was only reserved for the family members of the imperial dynasty.

[00:29:39]>> Wow.

[00:29:40]>> Returning from the >> Yeah. I mean, no offense to the Byzantines, but at this point, they don't have much to give out, okay? They have lost most of their riches, power, territory. They still control control Constantinople, though it is a shadow of its former self. Um, so they don't have much to give out. All right. So, they went for one of the the last impressive titles they had to give it to Stfan to hopefully get him as an ally and perhaps even turn him against the Ottomans. At Levancara, as the desperate of Serbia, Stfan had spooked the newly established feeble regime of Sulaman Chilebee as Ottoman power projection in the Balkans had greatly diminished after the defeat at Anara. Adena felt like their Serbian vassel and other Christian rulers in the region could any day declare war on the sublime port, or worse yet, form another great crusader army. Fortunately for Sulleon's government, the only power that could greatly hinder Ottoman presence in the Balkans, the Kingdom of Hungary was too preoccupied with wars in Bohemia and Italy to truly take advantage of the Ottoman civil war.

[00:30:47]Yeah. And imagine if Hungary had not been otherwise occupied, right? If Hungary had a free hand, uh I imagine it would have been pretty easy for them to perhaps ally with Falakia, Serbia, some of these Balkan Christian powers and then to take the fight to the Ottomans given how weakened the Ottomans were.

[00:31:09]We've seen, you know, Hungary is a pretty powerful state in the region. Um but things did not go that way, of course. However, with Serbia seemingly drifting out of Ottoman hegemony, Sullean blocked Stfan's land route back to his realm, which resulted in the Serbian desperate traveling by sea through the lands of his brother-in-law, Guraj II Balich of Zeta.

[00:31:34]Once home, Stfan was faced with a turbulent political scene as his nobility were split on the decision to free themselves from Ada Suzaranti or to support Sullean in the upcoming civil war. The nobleman Guraj Brankovich, the son of the infamous Vuk Brankovich, who had fought and abandoned his lead lord during the battle of Kosovo in an attempt to usurp Stfan, had invited Ottoman troops into Serbia.

[00:31:58]Tensions turned into open conflict as Jes and Stefan's armies clashed at the Battle of Tripolia during the fall of >> I love that. So, at the same time, you've got an Ottoman civil war, you have a Serbian civil war. So, they're they're sort of mirroring each other.

[00:32:14]1402 being supported by his brother Vuk Lazerovich and troops from Zeta, Stfan successfully routed the forces of Jured and in the months after his victory consolidated his position on the Serbian throne. The following year, the Serbian desperate had renounced his vassal ship to Sulleon in favor of swearing Suzaranti to King Sigusman of Hungary thus freeing himself from Muslim overlordship.

[00:32:40]>> Okay. Well, hate to break the news to Stfan here, but the Ottomans are not out of the picture yet. They will recover, but for now, right, the Ottomans are weakened. They're split up. There is a civil war happening for Stfan. He probably feels this is his opportunity to break off, swear to Hungary, but really get a lot of his own autonomy back.

[00:33:07]Likewise, Valakia also took advantage of the Ottoman civil war. After defeating Vlad I to reunite his realm in the months after Nicopolis, Valakian Vyode Merchia I had been pushed to the defense as Ottoman akinis plundered his lands in a series of devastating raids. However, after Ankara, Merch had gone on the offensive and refortified his holdings in northern De Bruya, launched raids of his own south of the Danube, and even supported a Bulgarian rebellion in the wider region. With another son of Beaazid arriving on the shores of the Balkans in 1409 came opportunities for the Valakian ruler to make gains against Adena. Mitia invited Musa to his realm and concluded a marriage alliance with his daughter Arena of Valakia to the Ottoman prince. So I mean that that's quite a bet, right? So Merchia here once again like I said these Balkan rulers, they want to side with the winner of this civil war, but Merchie is making the bet that you know he knows he can get more from Musa uh and thus from Memed. So he's hoping if they can manage to win this conflict, he's going to have a lot more leverage than if Sullean wins. In addition to the newly formed alliance, Musa began recruiting a large army made up of Valakians supplied by Merchia and Turkammans supplied by the local Ottoman marcher lords of the region. Vuk Lazarovich also joined Musa's cause alongside a small contingent of Serbian troops after falling out with his brother in Trapole.

[00:34:41]By year's end, the Ottoman prince had already won multiple victories in Bulgaria over.

[00:34:46]>> And you see here, and I make this point often, but it's never as clear as, oh, it's the Ottomans versus the Serbs, or it's the Ottoman, you know, as you can see, there are multiple different factions in each of these different states. So, you've got Ottomans fighting Ottomans, Ottomans with Serbs fighting against Ottomans. I mean, it's all very complicated. This is basically one big power struggle in the region. That is what the defeat of the Ottomans at Anatolia at Anara, excuse me, and the capture and death of Beaazid. It's led to this massive power vacuum. And that's led to all these different factions and leaders popping up. And now they're all sort of fighting within each other, not necessarily contained by the borders of each country to try and gain influence and power. But the local forces of Sullean and the Ottoman capital of Ada fell to him.

[00:35:42]With his holdings in the Balkans now under threat, a now panicked Sullean decided to abandon his Anatolian campaign against Memed and began withdrawing from the region. To ensure the safety of his crossing into Europe, the Sultan of Ada met with Byzantine Emperor Manuel II to obtain asurances and logistical support for his army in return for his presumed heir, Kasim Chalebi, to be sent to the Byzantine capital as a political hostage. To solidify the alliance between Adena and Constantinople, the Byzantine emperor married his niece to Sulleon in return for military aid for the And I talked about how, you know, the Byzantines don't have that much time left anyway.

[00:36:24]And uh not to look too far ahead into the future for those that don't know how things go, but what I'm going to say is I can imagine if the Byzantines manage to side with the wrong leader here, the guy who doesn't win, that's probably not going to help their chances. So just keep that in mind.

[00:36:43]>> Sultan's war effort against Musev. By the summer of 1410, the crossing was completed, and the two sons of Beaazid clashed at Cosmidian in what was to be a bloody affair for both sides.

[00:36:55]The fate of the battle was only decided when Sullean and his bodyguard suddenly stormed into Musa's camp, thus resulting in a full route of the latter's army. H a month later, the brothers again clashed near the gates of Adena, which again saw Musa being decisively defeated after his Serbian troops under Vuk Lazarovich prematurely fled the field of battle. Classic. So Musa, not great for him. Two losses for him. However, if you're memed, your goal was to cause chaos in the Balkans to sort of draw Sullean away. I mean, you've succeeded in doing that. While Sullean heroically re-entered Adena, Musa withdrew north with the remains of his army to Sophia, not before executing Book for treason during the retreat.

[00:37:40]>> Damn.

[00:37:43]>> In the months after his victory over Musa, Sulaman Chbi, instead of pursuing the scattered armies of his brother up north, spent most of his time secluded in the imperial palace of Ada. According to later biased Ottoman sources, the overconfident sultan had always been a heavy partier and now without his trusted grand vizier by his side, he indulged himself in the luxuries of his harim. Meanw later biased to Ottoman sources, so keep note of that. So was it really that he got sidetracked and just wanted to party? Who knows? Maybe he got distracted by something else. Maybe he felt it was time to plan and maybe he just wasn't cut out for this without his bazier. Didn't quite know what to do.

[00:38:26]Whatever it was, probably not the best decision in this moment.

[00:38:30]>> While back in Anatolia, Memed had recaptured all the lands he had lost to Sulleon back in 1406.

[00:38:36]>> So, we've almost got a flip of the situation we had earlier where now Sulleon's got his domain. Memed's got his domain. So, that that's pretty similar. Um, but now Memed has Musa out there in the Balkans causing trouble rather than Issa causing trouble for Memed along with defeating his Ishar of the Serakanids and installing his brother Osmar Bay as an Ottoman vassel.

[00:39:00]Unhappy with the Sultan's leadership, the reversal of fortunes in Anatolia, and the very unpopular terms of the Treaty of Gallipoli, the Ottoman bureaucracy at the capital, in addition to the Capiculu elite of the military, began rapidly defecting to Musa on mass.

[00:39:16]Damn, >> seeing that his core support was with.

[00:39:18]>> So that's crazy. So the tide has really turned against Sullean, right? Shows you how things were going and how people saw, you know, the events that were happening. People clearly saw the wind was turning against Sulleon that Memed he had the momentum that he was also a real fighter. There was the deal that Sulleon signed that people didn't like.

[00:39:41]uh the fact that all of these different states and factions within even his empire were turning against him and so people clearly felt like the ship was sinking and it was time to get out and move over to Musa and Memed's camp. Away Sullean fled Ada during the cover of night for the safety of Constantinople.

[00:40:00]However, during his journey to the Roman capital, he was caught and beheaded by a group of villagers who resented him as a tyrant ruler, thus bringing an end to the eldest son of the Thunderbolt.

[00:40:11]>> Would you look at that? And they say that uh you can't change the world if you're not a some important person.

[00:40:17]Those group of villagers, they uh certainly made a difference there. They they killed themselves a an emperor or a potential emperor, whatever you want to say, but that that's kind of crazy. By the start of 1411, Musa entered Ada.

[00:40:31]Thus, only two claimments for the Ottoman throne were left. Oh, is Musa I sort of thought Musa was there acting on behalf of Memed, but maybe now that Musa's claimed this territory, he's going to be like, h, you know what? I'd rather keep it for myself. Let's see. In the days after entering the Ottoman capital, Musa began to distance himself from his subordination to Memed. And of course, classic. Why am I I really shouldn't be surprised, should I? This is what always happens. Musa, he's getting too big for his own boots. He's winning. You know, he's won all this territory. Look at him. Now, of course, that wasn't all due to him, but uh he must be feeling pretty good about now.

[00:41:15]Ottoman capital. Musa began to distance himself from his subordination to Memed and declared himself as Sultan in front of the city's populace.

[00:41:24]>> Now in power and sharing his father's relentless temper, Musa went on a path of revenge and declared war against Serbia and the Byzantines for their past transgressions against Okay, I didn't expect that. I'm not sure. I I will say I know Sullean has just been killed, so it's sort of hard to say that he did anything right, but I did think it was a good move to try and make peace with those around you. Now, apparently that peace deal was so unpopular, it turned many of his own people against him. So maybe that wasn't the move. And I know people like that Memed is a real fighter, but I, you know, I would worry, you know, maybe I'm just too cautious, but if I was Musa, I would worry about stretching myself too thin and uh taking on all these foreign enemies while I've got MetMed, you know, right over there in Anatolia, ready to to hop in and claim more territory.

[00:42:18]While Ottoman Akenes began raiding southern Serbia, the new Ottoman Sultan continued his father's work of blockading Constantinople. while he himself suppressed a Bulgarian rebellion led by the son of the late Zar Ivan Stratsameir Constantine II.

[00:42:33]>> Wow.

[00:42:33]>> With his capital city under blockade once more, followed by the sudden fall of Thessalonica and the various coastal settlements of Thrace and Thesali, Manuel II began negotiations with Memed Chile to form a united front against Musa.

[00:42:48]>> Manuel was like, "Okay, so things are not really going well for me. So, uh, Memed, would you like to help me out?" I tried with Sullean. Didn't work. Things are going especially badly with Musa. So now it's your turn.

[00:43:01]>> Agreeing to reinstate the Treaty of Gallipoli once he was in power. Leid and his army crossed the Bosphorus with the aid of Byzantine ships.

[00:43:09]>> So I mean, and obviously I know who's going to end up emperor. So that treaty of Gallipoli, even though it was unpopular, the fact that he agreed to reinstate it, that treaty ended up being important, even if people didn't like it and clashed with his brother west of the Roman capital at the battle of Ines in the spring of 1412. But Memed's Turkman troops were again no match for the elite Ottoman Capiculu and thus had to retreat back to Anatolia.

[00:43:35]>> Damn.

[00:43:37]However, the determined Sultan of Bersa played his hand again and crossed into the Balkans with an even larger army during the summer of 1413.

[00:43:46]By this period, the harsh and impulsive rule of Musa had caused many bureaucrats in Adena such as the >> So, so flip-floppers, eh? So, these guys, they were with Sullean, then they went to Musa, now they're going to Memed. I mean, make up your mind, guy.

[00:44:02]No, I mean, I'm kidding, right? It's a tough situation. You don't know who's actually going to be good. It's hard to tell. Things are in flux. Uh once again, I mean, I said last time, you can see the way momentum is going that those people felt like it was time to lead.

[00:44:18]This might be might be a sign of the same thing.

[00:44:21]>> Rule of Musa had caused many bureaucrats in Ada such as the brother of the late Grand Vizia, Jandeli Ibrahim Pashia, to declare for me. Many statesmen thought Muss's relentless wars in the Balkans would bring further ruin to the state and thus wanted a quick resolution to the Ottoman civil war.

[00:44:39]>> Well, with the backing of Serbia and the elite Ottoman Capikulu, Memed defeated Musa at the decisive battle of Chamulu near the Bulgarian town of Seikov.

[00:44:48]>> Having Musa strangled after the battle, Memed entered Ada and declared himself the sole Sultan of the Ottoman Sultanate. Thus, >> there you go. We have our true next Sultan Memed.

[00:45:00]>> Bringing an end to 10 years of civil wars.

[00:45:04]Even though the Ottoman interregnum was over and Sultan Memed I had reunited his father's realm, dark clouds still loomed over Adena as a new set of crises reared upon a recovering Ottoman state.

[00:45:17]>> Yeah. I mean, look, not that things were always 100% perfect for the Ottomans, but you can see there that Memed's got a lot of challenges to face and that he's in a difficult position, even compared to Beaazid, at least before the invasion of Teimour. In the next episode, we'll cover the rest of these and we'll explore further into the reign of Memed the First. To ensure you don't miss that, make sure you are subscribed and press the bell button. Please consider liking, subscribing, commenting, and sharing. It helps immensely. Hey, and feel free to do those things on this video as well. So, there we go. The next episode in the rise of the Ottoman Empire.

[00:46:00]You know, like I said, the last episode was pretty disastrous for the Ottomans.

[00:46:05]This one, and it's hard to say it was good for them. A civil war is never really good for the country it's happening in. I'm not going to say never, but you're always going to have a lot of destruction. Um, however, we do have our next Ottoman Sultan, Sultan Memed. We'll see if he's able to sort of bring the Ottomans back, right? The momentum has turned against them. Things haven't been going well. We'll see if he's able to continue the mission of his father to cement and expand the rule of the empire. So, thank you everybody for watching. I do really appreciate it.

[00:46:40]Once again, if you like to see exclusive reactions and see reactions like this early, you can become a YouTube channel member by hitting the join button down below. Uh, with that out of the way, thank you all for watching. Hope you're having a great day today, and I'll see you all again next time. Goodbye.