The Battle of Lepanto (1671)
Johannes Lingelbach, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Empire did not simply put their feet up on the footstool, decide what to call it, and congratulate themselves on a job well done. Ottoman conquest went on in both directions. By the early sixteenth century, the Turks defeated the Mamluk Sultanate to gain control of Egypt and the Middle East, while continuing to push into the heart of Europe.

As the first “gunpowder empire,” the Ottomans had revolutionized siege warfare with bombards, mortars, and canons, and soon placed firearms into the hands of their shock troops. One of the most notable Ottoman military units were the Janissaries. These elite soldiers were generally enslaved as children from Christian villages and raised to serve as the personal bodyguard of the Ottoman sultan.

In addition to their feared prowess in combat, Janissary troops developed a distinctive musical tradition. Janissary music incorporated brass instruments like the natural trumpet, woodwind instruments like the zurna (a loud shawm), and an extensive percussion section including timpani, bass drums, and cymbals. Despite the antagonistic relationship between the two cultures, the alla turca style, incorporating a larger percussion section, would become very popular in Europe. Furthermore, it is arguable that the Ottoman military band is the direct predecessor of the modern marching band.

In other respects, the music of the Ottoman Turks had many similarities to the Arabic culture that surrounded them. Music tended to feature a solo vocalist or instrument with a small ensemble for accompaniment. The texture of Ottoman music was generally monophonic, with extensive ornamentation and improvisation using a makam (cf. the Arabic maqam.)

In the 1526 Battle of Mohács, the Ottomans under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent killed Louis II, King of Hungary. Suleiman named a successor of his choice to replace Louis II, but so did the King of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. Hungary was divided into "Royal Hungary" (under Austrian domination) and "Ottoman Hungary" (under Turkish domination), This led to a centuries-long conflict between the Ottomans and the House of Habsburg, the Austrian royal family whose relations included the rulers of Spain, Portugal, Bohemia, and the Netherlands.

By 1529, the Ottomans had steamrolled through eastern Europe and began the First Siege of Vienna with an army of 120,000 men. Although the Austrians had only about 20,000 men to defend the city, they managed to hold off the Ottoman assault and thwart Suleiman's attempts to dig under the city walls (a process called "undermining.”) Facing the onset of a harsh European winter and heavy losses (the Austrians themselves were beginning to use firearms), the Ottomans withdrew after 18 days.

In 1571, the Ottoman navy attempted to invade Europe by sea, sending a fleet of three hundred ships into the Mediterranean. They were met by the "Holy League," a fleet of Catholic maritime states (primarily Spain and Venice) organized by Pope Pius V. The two forces fought at the Battle of Lepanto. The result was an overwhelming European victory; Spain and Venice sank around two hundred Ottoman ships while losing less than twenty of their own. News of the victory quickly spread across Europe. Although the Ottomans quickly rebuilt their fleet, Europe’s fortunes were beginning to turn.