Fall of Gallipoli | |||||||
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Part of the Byzantine-Ottoman wars and Ottoman wars in Europe | |||||||
The Byzantine and Ottoman Empires within a year of the occupation of Gallipoli | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Byzantine Empire | Ottoman Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
John VI Kantakouzenos | Süleyman Pasha (son of Orhan) | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown |
10,000–20,000 exmercenaries[1] |
The fall of Gallipoli (Turkish: Gelibolu'nun Fethi, lit. 'Conquest of Gelibolu') was the siege and capture of the Gallipoli fortress and peninsula, by the Ottoman Turks, in March 1354. After suffering a half-century of defeats at the hands of the Ottomans, the Byzantine Empire had lost nearly all of its possessions in Anatolia, except Philadelphia. Access to the Aegean and Marmara seas meant that the Ottomans could now implement the conquest of the southern Balkans, and could advance further north into the Serbian Empire and Hungary.