Ulubad or Uluabat, in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

period Lopadion ( grc, Λοπάδιον), Latinized as Lopadium, is a settlement near the town of

Karacabey Karacabey is a town and district of Bursa Province in the Marmara Region of Turkey. It is located just west of the Simav River near its confluence with the Adirnaz River. District of Karacabey borders districts of Mudanya and Nilüfer from eas ...

in the Bursa Province of northwestern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It was sited on the ancient Miletouteichos.

History

Uluabat is located on the banks of the Mustafakemalpaşa River (ancient and medieval Rhyndacus). It is first mentioned by

Theodore of Stoudios Theodore the Studite ( grc-x-medieval, Θεόδωρος ό Στουδίτης; 759–826), also known as Theodorus Studita and Saint Theodore of Stoudios/Studium, was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople. H ...

in one of his letters, as the site of a ''xenodocheion'' (

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...

). By the late 11th century, it featured a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

. The existence of a 4th-century bridge carrying the road between Cyzicus on the Sea of Marmara to the interior of Asia Minor made it a place of some strategic importance, especially in the wars of the

Komnenian emperors The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Komnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. The ''Komnenian'' (also spelled ''Comnenian'') period comprises the reigns of five emperors, Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, A ...

against the Seljuk Turks in the 11th–12th centuries, during which it is best known.

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

(r. 1081–1118) fought the Turks in the vicinity, and in 1130, his successor

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus ( gr, Ἱωάννης ὁ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs ho Komnēnos; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he ...

(r. 1118–43) built there a great fortress which became the base of his campaigns against the Turkish

Sultanate of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = By ...

. During the same period, Lopadion is attested as an

archbishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. In 1147, the French and German contingents participating in the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1145–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusa ...

united at Lopadion. Following the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

in 1204, the fortress was briefly occupied by the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzanti ...

, who returned after the Battle of the Rhyndacus in 1211 and until ca. 1220. It then returned to the

Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse ...

, and remained in Byzantine hands until it was captured by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

in 1335. The area was a site of confrontation during the Ottoman Interregnum as well: sometime in March–May 1403, Mehmed I defeated his brother

İsa Çelebi İsa Çelebi (1380 – 1406) was an Ottoman prince ( tr, şehzade) and a co-ruler of the empire during the Ottoman Interregnum. Background İsa was one of the sons of Beyazid I, the Ottoman sultan. His mother was Devletşah Hatun, the daughter ...

in the Battle of Ulubad, and consolidated his control over the Asian heartland of the Ottoman Empire around

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

. In January 1422, the armies of Mehmed's son Murad II and

Mustafa Çelebi Mustafa Çelebi (d. May 1422), also called Mustafa the Impostor ( tr, Düzmece Mustafa or ''Düzme Mustafa''), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman prince who struggled to gain the throne of the Ottoman Empire in the early 15th century. He was the Sul ...

confronted each other in the area, until Murad engineered the defection of

Junayd of Aydın Juneyd or Junayd Bey ( tr, İzmiroğlu Cüneyd; ) was the last ruler (bey) of the Aydınid principality in what is now central western Turkey. His exact relationship with the Aydınid dynasty is unclear. His father was a long-time and popular gov ...

and the other supporters of Mustafa, forcing the latter to retreat to Europe, where he was captured and executed.

References

Sources

* * * {{coord, 40.202915, N, 28.437370, E, display=title Byzantine fortifications in Turkey Populated places in Bursa Province

History

See also

References

Sources