the black death in early ottoman territories - Bilkent University

Concerning the question whether the appearance of the Black Death
enabled the Ottomans to conquer the vast territories that grew into the Ottoman
empire, the evidence is not conclusive. As in Europe, many Byzantine cities
became, at least temporarily, severely underpopulated because of plague and the
Ottoman rulers were only too keenly aware of any tactical advantage that could be
exploited. Moreover, conditions of siege and raiding would create a favorable
setting for plague to appear among the indigenous population. Yet Constantinople
would be conquered only a century after the Black Death first struck the city. And
if a more-or-less nomadic lifestyle formed some protection against the disease, that
same advantage should have been to some extend available to the other Turkish
beyliks, which the Ottomans eventually conquered. The situation of the Balkans
during the early period of conquest is too scantily documented to allow any
assessment of the possible impact of the disease on the local inhabitants.
However, it seems that the mountainous regions sometimes offered a refuge for the
disease to at least part of the population. In view of these considerations, it seems
that it was succesful military campaigning and the drive for expansion that formed
the cornerstone of Ottoman success, rather than the natural disaster that had
arrived in the form of plague.
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