I'm always up before the birds and the kids.

Good thing Costa Express is always up too.

Early starts are easier with great coffee.

And if I grab one for Bob, I might even get some decent company.

Large cappuccino for the bloc who's half asleep.

Oh, you legend.

Now that's a proper coffee.

Should kick in Justin Samfut to remember which end of the screwdriver to use.

Hmm.

Costa Express.

Quality coffee every time.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the history of Byzantium, episode 326, The Rise of the Ottomans, part two.

In part one, we looked at the last century of narrative from an Ottoman point of view,

following them from their tribal origins towards their imperial future. In examining why they were so successful, we had to conclude that geographical and geopolitical luck certainly played a part.

By avoiding war with one another, and with no choice but to head west,

the Baleks conspired to push the Romans out of Anatolia. The Ottomans then turned the

disadvantage of facing Nicaea into the positive benefit of being placed on the opposite shore

from Constantinople.

The Ottomans avoided conflict with the Latins of the Aegean and were instead welcomed into Europe by John Cantacuzinos.

This allowed them to remain a frontier society whose military could recruit nomads and

mercenaries from across Anatolia while also building a settled state in Bithynia.

This advantage allowed the Ottomans to drain manpower away from the other Baleks and establish a new, profitable European province.

...