Ep. 232: The Ottomans – From Mehmet the Conqueror to Selim the Grim (1444-1520)
History of the Germans
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 550 Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2026
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
These last dozen or so episodes we have examined the genesis of two of the three major strategic preoccupations of the Habsburg empire, the rivalry with the French kings and the relationship with the imperial princes. Today we will look at the build-up of the third major strategic challenge to the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, the Ottomans. One can argue, and many have, that the threat of an Ottoman invasion in the 1520s and 1530s prevented the emperor Charles V from clamping down on the protestants in the empire. By the time the border had been stabilised and the Habsburgs could focus again on the religious and political changes in the German lands, it was too late to reverse events. There is an element of irony here that I will refrain from elaborating on.
When Constantinople fell in 1453, the Christian nations of Western Europe assumed that they could regain the ancient capital of Byzantium and even Jerusalem if only they were united under the crusading banner. By the time Suleiman the Magnificent appeared before Belgrade in 1521, that had become inconceivable. The Christian nations, and in particular the Habsburgs were on their back foot.
So, what had happened in these 70 years that made the Ottoman armies appear unbeatable?
The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans. |
| 0:07.0 | Episode 232, the Ottomans, from Mehmet the Conquer to Selim the Grimm, 1444 to 1520. |
| 0:17.0 | Now, these last dozen or so episodes we've examined the genesis of two of the three major |
| 0:22.1 | strategic preoccupations of the Habsburg Empire, the rivalry with the French kings and |
| 0:27.8 | the relationship with the Imperial Princes. |
| 0:30.8 | Now today, we look at the build-up of the third major strategic challenge to the rulers |
| 0:35.7 | of the Holy Roman Empire, and that's the Ottomans. |
| 0:39.3 | Now, one can argue, and many have, that the threat of an Ottoman invasion in the 1520s |
| 0:44.3 | and 1530s is what prevented the Emperor Charles V from clamping down on the Protestants |
| 0:50.3 | in the Empire. |
| 0:51.3 | And by the time the border had stabilized and the Habsburgs could again focus |
| 0:56.0 | on the religious and political goings-ons in German lands, it was too late to reverse events. |
| 1:02.0 | There's an element of irony here that I will refrain from elaborating on. |
| 1:08.0 | When Constantinople fell in 1453, the Christian nations or Western Europe assumed that they |
| 1:15.1 | could regain the ancient capital of Byzantium and even Jerusalem, if only they were united under |
| 1:21.2 | a crusading banner. But by the time Suleiman the Magnificent appeared before Belgrade in 1521, that had become inconceivable. |
| 1:31.5 | The Christian nations and in particular the Habsburgs were on their back foot and they knew it. |
| 1:37.0 | So, what had happened in these 70 years that made the Ottoman armies appear unbeatable? |
| 1:43.3 | Now let's start with the city of Constantinople itself. |
| 1:48.0 | When Mehmet II took it, he allowed his army to sack what was left of the one's mighty capital of the Roman Empire. |
| 1:55.0 | How much there was still to take is a bit of a question. |
| 1:58.0 | Its population had shrunk from almost half a million in the days of |
... |
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