Murad I


Murad I

(mo͞oräd`), 1326?–1389, Ottoman sultan (1362?–1389), son and successor of Orkhan to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Murad widened the Ottoman hold on European territory, conquering Macedonia and making Adrianople his residence. He granted Muslims sections of conquered lands as fiefs (see feudalismfeudalism
, form of political and social organization typical of Western Europe from the dissolution of Charlemagne's empire to the rise of the absolute monarchies. The term feudalism is derived from the Latin feodum,
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). In 1373 he forced Byzantine Emperor John VJohn V
(John Palaeologus) , 1332–91, Byzantine emperor (1341–91), son and successor of Andronicus III. Forced to fight John VI (John Cantacuzene), who usurped the throne during his minority, he came into power in 1354.
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 to pay tribute. Murad began the policy of compelling Christian youths to join the army corps known as the JanissariesJanissaries
[Turk.,=recruits], elite corps in the service of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). It was composed of war captives and Christian youths pressed into service; all the recruits were converted to Islam and trained under the strictest discipline.
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. As a result of his victory at Kosovo FieldKosovo Field
, Serbian Kosovo Polje [field of the black birds], WSW of Priština, Kosovo, site of a battle in which the Turks under Sultan Murad I defeated Serbia and its Bosnian, Montenegrin, Bulgarian, and other allies in 1389.
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, Serbia came under Ottoman rule. However, Murad was assassinated in his tent by a Serbian warrior; his son Beyazid IBeyazid I
, 1347–1403, Ottoman sultan (1389–1402), son and successor of Murad I. He besieged Byzantine Emperor Manuel II at Constantinople, then overcame the Turkish rulers in E Anatolia and defeated the army of Sigismund of Hungary (see Sigismund, Holy Roman
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 succeeded him. The name also appears as Amurath.