Considerații privind situația popoarelor din Balcani în secolele XIV-XV. Expansiunea otomană și lumea Creștinătății Răsăritene

The history of the European continent in the 14th century was marked by the rapid rise of Ottoman power. Driven by extraordinary military prowess, the Ottoman state secured key positions in the Balkans, while also capitalizing on the disastrous state of the Byzantine Empire and the Balkan states at the time. Having recently shaken off the suzerainty of the Seljuk Sultanate (based in Iconium) and the Mongol Ilkhanate of Iran, Osman’s tribe began moving from Anatolia—where it had sought refuge during the 13th-century Mongol expansion—toward the northwestern edge of Asia Minor, right up against the Byzantine border. The proximity of this expansionist power proved fatal to Byzantium; the empire was then wracked by dynastic struggles that permeated every level of society, leaving it unable to mount a defense due to a lack of funds and, consequently, the absence of a formidable army.