The Ottoman Dynasty (and a warning about names)

Suleyman I the Magnificent / bbc.co.uk

History students must not confuse the word ‘Ottoman’ with ‘Ottonian’, though it is easy to do so. The latter is another name for an ancient German royal dynasty – the Liudolfinger – founded in the 9^th century This family ruled Germany from roughly 920 A.D. To 1024. The kings were Henry I, Otto I, Otto II, Otto III, (this is where the generic name ‘Ottonian’ comes from), and Henry II known as ‘The Holy’. They organised the eastern Frankish kingdom into ‘the German kingdom’ – though this of course did not signify the whole of Germany as we know it. The Ottonians followed the policy of support for churchmen, as an antidote to the pretensions of the nobles. Above all they established the principle that the country could and should not be divided merely by aristocratic inheritance. The Ottonians, though they did not last long, were a Good Thing, as their support to the Church encouraged great achievement in art/architecture and literature; so much so that this improvement was known as ‘The Ottonian Renaissance’.

The Ottoman Dynasty:-

1281 – 1324 Osman I (q.v.)

1324 – 1360 Orhan

1360 – 1389 Murad I

1389 – 1402 Bayezid I

1403 – 1413 (an interval)

1413 – 1421 Mehmed I

1421 – 1444 (first reign of) Murad II

1444 – 1446 (first reign of) Mehmed II the Conquerer

1446 – 1451 (second reign of) Murad II

1451 – 1481 (second reign of) Mehmed II

1481 – 1512 Bayezid II

1512 – 1520 Selim I the Grim

1520 – 1566 Suleyman I the Magnificent

1566 – 1574 Selim II

1574 – 1595 Murad III

1595 – 1603 Mehmed III

1603 – 1617 Ahmed I

1617 / 1618 (first reign of) Mustafa I

1618 – 1622 Osman II

1622 / 1603 (second reign of) Mustafa I

1623 – 1640 Murad IV

1640 – 1648 Ibrahim

1648 – 1687 Mehmed IV

1687 – 1691 Suleyman II

1691 – 1695 Ahmed II

1695 – 1703 Mustafa II

1793 – 1730 Ahmed III

1730 – 1754 Mahmud I

1754 – 1757 Osman III

1757 – 1774 Mustafa III

1774 – 1789 Abd-ul Hamid I

1789 – 1807 Selim III

1807 / 1708 Mustafa IV

1808 – 1839 Mahmud II

1839 – 1861 Abd-ul Majid I

1861 – 1876 Abd-ul Aziz

1876 Murad V (I wonder what happened to him?)

1876 – 1909 Abd-ul Hamid II

1909 – 1918 Mehmed V

1918 – 1922 Mehmed VI

1922 – 1924 Abd-ul Majid II (only Caliph)