Anatolia

(proper noun)

A peninsula of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. Bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Armenian Highland to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west.

Related Terms

Examples of Anatolia in the following topics:

  • The Hittites

    • The Hittites were an ancient people who established an empire at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia around the eighteenth century BCE.
    • The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who established an empire at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia around the eighteenth century BCE .
    • Under Suppiluliuma I and Mursili II, the Empire was extended to most of Anatolia and parts of Syria and Canaan.

  • The Last Byzantine Dynasty

    • In addition, the disintegration of the Byzantine Empire allowed the Bulgarians, the Serbs and the various Turcoman emirates of Anatolia to make gains.
    • In the west, the Latins were unable to expand into Anatolia; consolidating Thrace against Bulgaria was a challenge that kept the Latins occupied for the duration of the Latin Empire.
    • As a result, Anatolia, which had formed the very heart of the shrinking empire, was systematically lost to numerous Turkic ghazis, whose raids evolved into conquering expeditions inspired by Islamic zeal.
    • Nonetheless, Byzantine diplomacy coupled with the adroit exploitation of internal divisions and external threats among their enemies, and above all the invasion of Anatolia by Timur, allowed Byzantium to survive until 1453.

  • The Fall of Constantinople

    • Anatolia gradually transformed from a Byzantine Christian land into an Islamic land dominated by the Turks.
    • For a long time the Turks in Anatolia were divided up into a patchwork of small Islamic states.
    • The fall of Bursa meant the loss of Byzantine control over Northwestern Anatolia.
    • The Empire controlled nearly all former Byzantine lands surrounding the city, but the Byzantines were temporarily relieved when Timur invaded Anatolia in the Battle of Ankara in 1402.

  • The Double Disasters

    • With this defeat, Anatolia fell into the hands of the Turks.
    • Anatolia had been the heartland of the Byzantine Empire, the home of most of its soldiers and farmers.
    • This led to the mass movement of Turks into central Anatolia—by 1080, an area of 78,000 square kilometres (30,000 sq mi) had been gained by the Seljuk Turks.

  • The Emperor Irene

    • After the success of Constantine V's general, Michael Lachanodrakon, who foiled an Abbasid attack on the eastern frontiers, a huge Abbasid army under Harun al-Rashid invaded Anatolia in summer 782.
    • These small farmers of Anatolia owed a military obligation to the Byzantine throne.
    • Thus, the army was weakened and was unable to protect Anatolia from the Arab raids.
    • Many of the remaining farmers of Anatolia were driven from the farm to settle in the city of Byzantium, thus, further reducing the army's ability to raise soldiers.

  • The First Crusade

    • It was launched on November 27, 1095, by Pope Urban II with the primary goal of responding to an appeal from Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, who requested that western volunteers come to his aid and help to repel the invading Seljuq Turks from Anatolia (modern-day Turkey).
    • Arslan was away campaigning against the Danishmends in central Anatolia at the time, and had left behind his treasury and his family, underestimating the strength of these new Crusaders.
    • At the end of June, the Crusaders marched on through Anatolia.
    • After a battle with Kilij Arslan, the Crusaders marched through Anatolia unopposed, but the journey was unpleasant, as Arslan had burned and destroyed everything he left behind in his army's flight.

  • The Crusades

    • Christianity had spread throughout Europe, Africa, and the Middle East in Late Antiquity, but by the early 8th century Christian rule had become limited to Europe and Anatolia after the Muslim conquests.
    • The Seljuq Empire had taken over almost all of Anatolia after the Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071; however, their conquests were piecemeal and led by semi-independent warlords, rather than by the sultan.
    • By the mid-1090s, the Byzantine Empire was largely confined to Balkan Europe and the northwestern fringe of Anatolia, and faced Norman enemies in the west as well as Turks in the east.
    • In response to the defeat at Manzikert and subsequent Byzantine losses in Anatolia in 1074, Pope Gregory VII had called for the milites Christi ("soldiers of Christ") to go to Byzantium's aid.

  • The Neopalatial Period

    • During this period, Minoan trade increased; during this period the Minoans were considered to rule the Mediterranean trading routes between Greece, Egypt, Anatolia, the Near East, and perhaps even Spain.

  • The Second Crusade

    • After crossing Byzantine territory into Anatolia, both armies were separately defeated by the Seljuq Turks.
    • The main Western Christian source, Odo of Deuil, and Syriac Christian sources claim that the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos secretly hindered the Crusaders' progress, particularly in Anatolia, where he is alleged to have deliberately ordered Turks to attack them.
    • Conrad underestimated the length of the march against Anatolia, and anyhow assumed that the authority of Emperor Manuel was greater in Anatolia than was in fact the case.

  • Timeline

    • 7500 - 5700 BCE: The settlements of Catalhoyuk develop as the likely spiritual center of Anatolia.
    • These peoples developed a religion focused on sacrificial ideology, which would influence the religions of the descendant Indo-European cultures throughout Europe, Anatolia, and the Indian subcontinent.