Ottomans Move Capital to Edirne

1403

During the interregnum, rival Ottoman claimants consolidated the sultanate's administration at Edirne, the old Roman Adrianople. It would remain the effective capital until Mehmed II moved it to Constantinople fifty years later. The move quietly Europeanized Ottoman statecraft and accelerated its Balkan orientation. Grand mosques and palaces built over following decades would rival Constantinople's, making Edirne a fitting imperial seat.