The Fall of Philadelphia marked the fall of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, the last independent Christian

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settlement in western

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, to the Muslim Ottomans of the

Ottoman Sultanate The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Ironically, the besieging army included a contingent from the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, which had become an Ottoman

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. After the capture of Nicomedia by the Ottomans in 1337, the city of Philadelphia was the last city in

that remained controlled by Christians and Romans for several decades. Prior to its fall, the city had evaded the fate of other Greek cities by its remote location up in the Lydian hills, its strong fortifications and its paying of tribute to the numerous fanatical Muslim

ghazis A ''ghazi'' ( ar, غازي, , plural ''ġuzāt'') is an individual who participated in ''ghazw'' (, '' ''), meaning military expeditions or raiding. The latter term was applied in early Islamic literature to expeditions led by the Islamic prophe ...

, whose bands robbed and pillaged any Christians in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

who did not pay protection money ('' jizya''). Although the city was not officially under Islamic law and was in theory under the Byzantine Empire, it was away from the sea and in the middle of a vast, hostile Ottoman-occupied territory, which made it virtually independent and, at the time of its capture, more under the influence of the state of the Knights of Rhodes. In the Byzantine civil war of 1376-1379, the Ottomans helped Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos regain his throne. However, Byzantium was now a

under the Ottomans and John V's son Manuel (later Emperor

Manuel II Palaiologos Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( gr, Μανουὴλ Παλαιολόγος, Manouēl Palaiológos; 27 June 1350 – 21 July 1425) was Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the n ...

) was sent as an honorary hostage to the court of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I at Prousa. During that period, Manuel was forced to witness and even to participate in the destruction of many Greek cities by the Ottomans. In 1378, Manuel II Palaiologos promised to hand over the city of Philadelphia to the Ottomans in return for the Ottoman sultan's aid in a disastrous Byzantine civil war. However, Manuel seems to have retracted his promise since it was not until 1390 that Bayezid summoned the two leaders of the civil war, John VII and Manuel II, and ordered them to accompany the besieging force. Apparently, the Philadelphians ignored that arrangement and refused surrender. {{Byzantine-stub

Battle

In 1390, Sultan Bayezid summoned the co-emperors of Byzantium, John VII and Manuel II and ordered them to accompany the besieging Turkish force to Philadelphia. The co-emperors submitted to the degradation, and Philadelphia surrendered when it saw the imperial banner hoisted among the horse-tails of the Turkish pashas above the camp of the besiegers. The humiliation of the empire could go no further than when the heir of Justinian and Basil Bulgaroktonos took the field at the behest of a Turkish Emir, in order to extinguish the last relics of freedom in his own country.

14th-century conflicts 14th century in the Byzantine Empire

History of Manisa Province 1380s in the Byzantine Empire 1390s in the Byzantine Empire 1380s in the Ottoman Empire 1390s in the Ottoman Empire 1370s in the Byzantine Empire 1378 in the Ottoman Empire 1390 in the Ottoman Empire Alaşehir