| Siege of Nicomedia | |||||||
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| Part of theByzantine–Ottoman wars | |||||||
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Unknown | |||||||
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| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
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| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
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TheSiege of Nicomedia, orSiege of Izmit (Ottoman Turkish:فتحِ ازمیت,romanized: Feth-i İzmit), took place from 1333 until 1337, whenOrhan sieged the city of Nicomedia (nowadaysİzmit). The Byzantine garrison surrendered due to lack of food and resources. Orhan's victory sealed Ottoman control ofBithynia.
Following theloss of Nicaea in 1331, Byzantine emperorAndronikos III Palaiologos proposed the payment of tribute toOrhan. Andronikos needed a free hand in theBalkans where Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria were in revolt against Byzantine rule. Orhan rejected his overtures and laid siege toNicomedia (modernİzmit). In 1337, Andronikos effectively abandoned Nicomedia as he led his army to Albania. The besieged garrison was desperately short of food and supplies by then and so Nicomedia surrendered to Orhan.[1] The inhabitants were allowed to leave the city forConstantinople.[2]
The fall of Nicomedia enabled Orhan to overrun Bithynia and extend Ottoman rule to the eastern shore of theBosporus. Apart from the city of Philadelphia, whichfell to the Ottomans in 1390, the fall of Nicomedia marked the end of Byzantine rule inAsia Minor.
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