Uluabat, in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

period Lopadion (), Latinized as Lopadium, is a neighbourhood of the municipality and district of

Karacabey Karacabey is a municipality and district of Bursa Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,158 km2, and its population is 84,907 (2022). It is located just west of the Simav River near its confluence with the Adirnaz River. The district of Karacabe ...

Bursa Province Bursa Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in Turkey along the Sea of Marmara coast in northwestern Anatolia. It borders Balıkesir Province, Balıkesir to the west, K ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its population is 478 (2022). It is the site on the ancient town Miletouteichos.

History

Uluabat is located on the banks of the

Mustafakemalpaşa River The Mustafakemalpaşa River, Orhaneli River or Adirnaz River (, or ) is a river in northwestern Anatolia in the Bursa Province of Turkey's Marmara Region. It is named for the city of Mustafakemalpaşa which lies near its delta onto Lake Uluaba ...

(ancient and medieval Rhyndacus). It is first mentioned by Theodore of Stoudios in one of his letters, as the site of a ''xenodocheion'' (

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...

). By the late 11th century, it featured a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

. The existence of a 4th-century bridge carrying the road between

Cyzicus Cyzicus ( ; ; ) was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peninsula (the classical Arctonnesus), a tombolo which is said to have or ...

on the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...

to the interior of Asia Minor made it a place of some strategic importance, especially in the wars of the

Komnenian emperors The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Komnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. The ''Komnenian'' (also spelled ''Comnenian'') period comprises the reigns of five emperors, Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, A ...

against the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

in the 11th–12th centuries, during which it is best known.

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

(r. 1081–1118) fought the Turks in the vicinity, and in 1130, his successor

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus (; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he was the eldest son of Emperor Alexio ...

(r. 1118–43) built there a great fortress which became the base of his campaigns against the Turkish

Sultanate of Rum The Sultanate of Rum was a culturally Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim state, established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. ...

. During the same period, Lopadion is attested as an

archbishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

. In 1147, the French and German contingents participating in the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crus ...

united at Lopadion. Following the

fall Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemispher ...

of the Byzantine Empire to the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

in 1204, the fortress was briefly occupied by the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzantin ...

, who returned after the Battle of the Rhyndacus in 1211 and until ca. 1220. It then returned to the

Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea (), also known as the Nicene Empire, was the largest of the three Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by Walter Abel Heurtley, W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C ...

, and remained in Byzantine hands until it was captured by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

in 1335. The area was a site of confrontation during the

Ottoman Interregnum The Ottoman Interregnum, or Ottoman Civil War, (, ) was a civil war in the Ottoman realm between the sons of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I following their father's defeat and capture by Timur in the Battle of Ankara on 28 July 1402. Although Ti ...

as well: sometime in March–May 1403,

Mehmed I Mehmed I (; – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi (, "the noble-born") or ''Kirişçi'' (, "lord's son"), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421. Son of Sultan Bayezid I and his concubine Devlet Hatun, he fought with hi ...

defeated his brother

İsa Çelebi Îsâ Çelebi (; – September 1403) was an Ottoman prince and a co-ruler of the empire during the Ottoman Interregnum. Background İsa was one of the sons of Bayezid I, the Ottoman sultan. His mother was Devletşah Hatun, the daughter of ...

in the

Battle of Ulubad The Battle of Ulubad was fought sometime between 9 March and early May 1403 at Ulubad between the rival sons of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, Mehmed Çelebi and İsa Çelebi, during the first stages of the civil war known as the Ottoman Interre ...

, and consolidated his control over the Asian heartland of the Ottoman Empire around

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

. In January 1422, the armies of Mehmed's son

Murad II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

and

Mustafa Çelebi Mustafa Çelebi ( — May 1422), also called Mustafa the Impostor ( or ''Düzme Mustafa''), was an Ottoman prince who struggled to gain the throne of the Ottoman Empire in the early 15th century. He ruled parts of Rumelia twice between January ...

confronted each other in the area, until Murad engineered the defection of

Junayd of Aydın Junayd or Junaid or Junayed () and sometimes Jounaid is a male given name which means soldier or warrior. Persons with the given name Junaid *Junaid (born 1975), Pakistani politician *Junaid Babunagari (1953-2021), Bangladeshi Islamic scholar *Ju ...

and the other supporters of Mustafa, forcing the latter to retreat to Europe, where he was captured and executed.

References

Sources

* * * {{Karacabey District Byzantine fortifications in Turkey Neighbourhoods in Karacabey District

History

See also

References

Sources