Siege of Nicomedia

After its foundation by Osman I in about 1299, the Ottoman Empire expanded across Bithynia in north-west Anatolia by capturing territory from the Byzantine Empire. Osman was succeeded by his son Orhan in about 1324 and, following long sieges, he took the important cities of Bursa (1326) and Nicaea (1331). Next, Orhan besieged Nicomedia from 1333 to 1337. The Byzantine garrison surrendered due to lack of food and resources. Orhan's victory sealed Ottoman control of Bithynia.

Siege of Nicomedia
Part of the Byzantine-Ottoman wars
Date 1337 Location Nicomedia, Opsikion, Byzantine Empire (modern-day İzmit, Kocaeli, Turkey) 40°46′0.01″N 29°55′0.01″E Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire	Ottoman Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Orhan
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

Siege

Following the loss of Nicaea in 1331, Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos proposed the payment of tribute to Orhan. Andronikos needed a free hand in the Balkans where Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria were in revolt against Byzantine rule. Orhan rejected his overtures and laid siege to Nicomedia (modern İzmit). In 1337, Andronikos effectively abandoned Nicomedia as he led his army to Albania. The besieged garrison was desperately short of food and supplies by then and so Nicomedia surrendered to Orhan. The inhabitants were allowed to leave the city for Constantinople.

Aftermath

The fall of Nicomedia enabled Orhan to overrun Bithynia and extend Ottoman rule to the eastern shore of the Bosporus. Apart from the city of Philadelphia, which fell to the Ottomans in 1390, the fall of Nicomedia marked the end of Byzantine rule in Asia Minor.

Additional source

• R.G. Grant, Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat, Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd, 2005. ISBN 0-7566-1360-4