Janissaries
At a glance:
- Series: Magill’s Guide to Military History
- Categories: Government and Politics, Royalty, Rulers, Nobility, Military History, Civilizations, Cultures
- Subcategories: Generals, Military Officers, Soldiers, Empires, Dynasties, Ottoman Empire
- Curriculum: 19th Century European History, 18th Century European History, Renaissance History, Medieval History/Middle Ages, Eastern European History, 17th Century European History, Middle Eastern History
- Date: Fourteenth century-1826
An elite corps in the army of the Ottoman Empire from the fourteenth century to 1826. Originally composed of Christian youths from the Balkans who had been forcefully indoctrinated in Islam and Turkish military practice, the Janissaries became a powerful martial and political force in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. For the first four centuries of their existence, Janissaries were bound by strict regulations, including celibacy, but by the eighteenth century, such rules had been greatly relaxed. In the same century, the original recruitment method of drafting European children...
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