From the 14th to the 19th centuries, the 'Janissaries' were the infantry units that formed the household troops and bodyguards of the Sultans of which Empire?
History of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire History of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire By the time the Ottoman Empire rose to power in the 14th and 15th centuries, there had been Jewish communities established throughout the region. The Ottoman Empire lasted from the early 14th century until the beginning of World War I and covered Southeastern Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East. The experience of Jews in the Ottoman Empire is particularly significant because the region "provided a principle place of refuge for Jews driven out of western Europe by massacres and persecution". At the time of the Ottoman conquests, Anatolia had already been home
Ottoman Army (15th-19th centuries) a standing army in Europe since the Roman Empire. The force originated in the 14th century; it was abolished by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826. The Janissaries were elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and bodyguards. Sultan Murad I created the force in 1383. They began as an elite corps of slaves recruited from young Christian boys, and became famed for internal cohesion cemented by strict discipline and order. By 1620 they were hereditary and corrupt and an impediment to reform. For all practical purposes, Janissaries belonged to the Sultan, carrying the title "kapıkulu" (Subject of