 By the 1400s, the once mighty Byzantine Empire had been in decline for nearly two centuries.  They faced a growing threat from the Ottoman’s, a nomadic group that had migrated from central Asia to Asia minor.  In 1453, the Ottoman’s surrounded Constantinople. The capitol of the Byzantines.  During a two month siege, Ottoman cannons pounded the city walls allowing attackers to break through and capture the city.  They changed the name of the city from Constantinople to Istanbul.

 With well-armed forces and effective military strategies, the Ottoman empire grew quickly.  After 1453, the Ottomans expanded into the middle east, Egypt, the Balkans, and parts of Russia.  By the 1500s, the Ottoman’s created the largest empire in the Middle East and Europe.

 The Ottoman success was due largely in part to military technology, such as cannons.  In addition to cannons, the Ottoman empire equipped their soldiers with muskets.  This improved battlefield success and eliminated the need for cavalry.

 As the Ottoman empire expanded, European trade routes were disrupted.  Ottoman control of the eastern Mediterranean interfered with Europe’s trade with East Asia.  The Portuguese sent sailors out across the oceans to search for new trade routes.

 Called Suleiman the Magnificent by westerners, he ruled the Ottoman empire from 1520 to  He was a Sultan, a name Turks give to their rulers.  The years of his rule are considered the Golden Age of Ottoman history.  Suleiman strengthened the government and improved the system of justice throughout the empire.  Law was based on the Islamic system of law, Sharia.  Suleiman held absolute power, but consulted his advisors and council before making important decisions.

 The Ottomans ruled a large area that included many diverse people and religions.  The empire consisted of four social classes:  Men of the pen – highly educated: scientists, lawyers, doctors, and judges.  Men of the sword – military personnel  Men of negotiation – merchants, artisans, and tax collectors  Men of husbandry – farmers and herders

 The top two classes were made up entirely of Muslims.  Millets – non-Muslim religious communities that were allowed to practice their religion freely as long as they paid a tax and obeyed Ottoman law.  Janissaries – Boys from christian families were sometimes required to turn their sons over to the government for military service. The best soldiers became Janissaries, members of an elite Ottoman fighting force.

 Problems developed within the Ottoman empire including poor leadership and corruption.  The rising power of European powers also contributed to its decline.  The Ottomans were cut off from global trade routes, limiting cultural diffusion and new ideas.  By the 1700s, European technology surpassed that of the Ottomans.  European nations began to industrialize while the Ottomans remained largely an agricultural society.

The Character [of Dracula] originates from fifteenth-century prince of Wallachia in Romania, Vlad V, whose nickname was “the Impaler” owing to his beastly little habit of slowly impaling the Turkish invaders of his country and drinking their blood with his dinner. The name “Dracula” derives from his father, who was known as Vlad Dracul (he Devil), and Castle Dracula in the Carpathian Mountains, north of Bucharest.

 Rudolph the Black founded Wallachia in 1290  Hungary dominated Wallachia until 1330, when it became independent.  The first ruler was Prince Basarab the Great the Old an ancestor of Vlad.  Prince Mircea the Old, Vlad’s grandfather, reigned from During his reign, Wallachia was forced to pay tribute to the Ottomans.  Vlad’s father, Count Dracul, was educated in Hungary and Germany.

 King Sigismund of Hungary founded a secret order of knights called the Order of the Dragon, and Dracul was invited to join.  In order to save his own neck, Dracul sent his sons Vlad and Radu to be hostages under the Sultan Mehmed II.  There he learned the art of impalement.  Vlad was so obsessed with loyalty that his paranoia led him to murder more than 100,000 people.

 Vlad typically impaled people by having the stake inserted at the buttocks and worked through to the mouth.  Sometimes he just stabbed the victims through their chest or stomach.  Babies were impaled on the stakes that killed their mothers.  The longer the stake, the more important the victim.  It would generally take days for the victims to die and the pungent smell of death was always in the air.