Ottoman Conquest of Adrianople

Timeline

1. 1360–1361Thrace · ThraceAfter Gallipoli fell to the Ottomans in 1354, Turkic cavalry and independent akinji bands kept infiltrating the Thracian plain. Didymoteicho was taken in 1360 or 1361, opening a gap in Byzantium's defensive system along the southern Balkan rim, with Adrianople the next target.
2. 1362Sazlıdere · ThraceAccording to later Ottoman sources, Lala Şahin Pasha defeated the local Byzantine tekfur at Sazlıdere southeast of Adrianople, forcing him to flee secretly by boat and leaving the city's inhabitants without military leadership.
3. 1362Adrianople · ThraceAfter the garrison commander's departure, Adrianople's inhabitants negotiated with the Ottomans and opened the gates in exchange for the right to remain. Upper-class residents and the metropolitan were largely carried off, and Byzantium lost one of its most important overland hubs in Thrace.
4. 1362–1370Edirne · TurkeyThe city was renamed Edirne, with Lala Şahin Pasha managing local civil and military affairs; Murad I still resided at Bursa, but Edirne quickly became the main staging post for the Balkan front, controlling the route between Constantinople and the Danube and providing a base for further northward expansion.