Siege of Nicomedia

Siege of Nicomedia
	Part of the Byzantine-Ottoman wars
Date	1337
Location	Nicomedia, Opsikion, Byzantine Empire; (modern-day İzmit, Kocaeli, Turkey)
Result	Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire	Ottoman Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Orhan
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

After its foundation by Osman I in about 1299, the Ottoman Empire expanded across Bithynia in north-west Anatolia by capturing territory from the Byzantine Empire. Osman was succeeded by his son Orhan in about 1324 and, following long sieges, he took the important cities of Bursa (1326) and Nicaea (1331). Next, Orhan besieged Nicomedia from 1333 to 1337. The Byzantine garrison surrendered due to lack of food and resources. Orhan's victory sealed Ottoman control of Bithynia.

Siege

Following the loss of Nicaea in 1331, Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos proposed the payment of tribute to Orhan. Andronikos needed a free hand in the Balkans where Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria were in revolt against Byzantine rule. Orhan rejected his overtures and laid siege to Nicomedia (modern İzmit). In 1337, Andronikos effectively abandoned Nicomedia as he led his army to Albania. The besieged garrison was desperately short of food and supplies by then and so Nicomedia surrendered to Orhan.^[1] The inhabitants were allowed to leave the city for Constantinople.^[2]

Aftermath

The fall of Nicomedia enabled Orhan to overrun Bithynia and extend Ottoman rule to the eastern shore of the Bosporus. Apart from the city of Philadelphia, which fell to the Ottomans in 1390, the fall of Nicomedia marked the end of Byzantine rule in Asia Minor.

References

^ İnalcık, Halil (2010). Kuruluş Dönemi Osmanlı Sultanları (1302-1481). İstanbul: Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Araştırmaları Merkezi. p. 50-51.
^ İnalcık, Halil (2009). Devlet-i ‘Aliyye Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Üzerine Araştırmalar-I. İstanbul: Kültür Yayınları. p. 41.

Additional source

R.G. Grant, Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat, Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd, 2005. ISBN 0-7566-1360-4

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[1] İnalcık, Halil (2010). Kuruluş Dönemi Osmanlı Sultanları (1302-1481). İstanbul: Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Araştırmaları Merkezi. p. 50-51.

[2] İnalcık, Halil (2009). Devlet-i ‘Aliyye Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Üzerine Araştırmalar-I. İstanbul: Kültür Yayınları. p. 41.

[1]

v t e Major sieges involving the Ottoman Empire by century
13th-14th	1285 Kulaca Hisar 1326 Bursa 1328–1331 Nicaea 1333–1337 Nicomedia 1360s Adrianople 1385 Sofia 1393 Tarnovo 1394–1402 Constantinople
15th	1411 Constantinople 1422 Constantinople 1422–1430 Thessalonica 1428 Golubac 1440 Belgrade 1440–41 Novo Brdo 1448 Svetigrad 1450 Krujë 1453 Constantinople 1455 Berat 1456 Belgrade 1461 Trebizond 1462 Mytilene 1463 Jajce 1464 Jajce 1466–67 Krujë 1467 Krujë 1470 Negroponte 1474 Scutari 1477–78 Krujë 1478–79 Scutari 1480 Rhodes 1481 Otranto 1484 Chilia
16th	1500 Cephalonia 1517 Cairo 1521 Belgrade 1522 Knin 1522 Rhodes 1529 Peñón of Algiers 1529 Vienna 1531 Diu 1532 Güns (Kőszeg) 1532 Maribor 1533–34 Coron 1534 Tunis 1534 Baghdad 1537 Klis 1537 Corfu 1538 Diu 1539 Castelnuovo 1541 Buda 1543 Nice 1543 Esztergom 1548 Aden 1548 Van 1551 Tripoli 1552 Muscat 1552 Hormuz 1552 Temesvár 1552 Eger 1556 Oran 1559 Bahrain 1563 Oran 1565 Malta 1566 Szigetvar 1570–71 Famagusta 1574 Tunis 1578 Gvozdansko 1592 Bihać 1593 Sisak 1596 Eger
17th	1601 Nagykanizsa 1621 Khotyn 1638 Baghdad 1663 Uyvar 1664 Novi Zrin 1648–1669 Candia 1672 Kamenets 1683 Vienna 1684 Buda 1684 Santa Maura 1685 Érsekújvár 1686 Buda 1686 Pécs 1688 Negroponte 1688 Belgrade 1690 Belgrade 1695 Azov 1696 Azov
18th	1711 Brăila 1715 Nauplia 1716 Corfu 1716 Temeşvar 1717 Belgrade 1733 Baghdad 1734–35 Ganja 1737 Ochakov 1739 Belgrade 1788 Ochakov 1788 Khotin 1789 Belgrade 1789–90 Izmail 1799 El Arish 1799 Jaffa 1799 Acre
19th	1801 Cairo 1806 Belgrade 1821 Patras 1821–22 Acropolis 1821 Tripolitsa 1822 Missolonghi 1823 Missolonghi 1825–26 Missolonghi 1826–27 Acropolis 1828 Kars 1828 Varna 1854 Calafat 1854 Silistra 1854–55 Sevastopol 1855 Kars 1877 Plevna
20th	1912–13 Scutari 1912–13 Adrianople 1915 Van 1915–16 Kut 1916–1919 Medina
Ottoman defeats shown in italics.