Ottoman+Empire

Ottoman Empire: The Ottoman Empire was the Turkish empire, established in northern Anatolia by Osman I at the end of the 13th century and expanded by his successors to include all of Asia Minor and much of southeastern Europe, including portions of the Middle East and Israel. It was an Islamic empire, but there were a number of minority peoples practicing other religions, including Christians and Jews. The empire reached its height under Suleiman in the mid 16th century. It declined quickly by the 19th century and collapsed after World War I. Jews lived in the Ottoman Empire throughout its history and did relatively well under their rule. At different points in the early medieval and early modern period, there was Ottoman persecution toward the Jews, but largely the Ottomans welcomed the Jews with open arms because of their success as merchants and financiers, as in the case of the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, when 150,000 fled Spain and Portugal, and many settled in the Ottoman Empire. The Jews had relative autonomy to self-govern and practice their religion in piece. Both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews settled in the Ottoman Empire during times of persecution in their native lands.