Mediaeval History
Around 950, Constantine Porphyrogenitus talks of six desert cities in the area, one being named Saka-katai, which could be the earliest mentioning of the town after it was lost to the migrating people during the Dark Age.
In 971, Isaccea was once again included in the Byzantine Empire and the walls of kastron were reinforced. In 1036, the Pechenegs being driven southward by the Cumans, settled in Scythia Minor, including in this city, fact backed by archeological evidence, such as leaf-shaped pendants, characteristic to them. The Pechenegs traded with the Byzantines, which led to a growth in the economic life of the region, as shown by the number of coins found in Isaccea, reaching 700 coins for the period of 1025-1055. However, the Pechenegs were eventually assimilated and faded from history.
The Byzantines regained control of Isaccea toward the end of the 10th century: a seal of Leo Nicerites, the governor of Paristrion, was found at Isaccea. Around 1100, a double-curtain wall was built in Isaccea.
In mid-12th century, Isaccea was devastated by Cuman attacks and it was completely rebuilt. In the second half of the 12th century it became the most important Byzantine military base in the region, suggested by the number of imperial seals found there: a seal of Isaac II Angelos (1185–1195) and one of John Vatatzes, the head of the Imperial Guard under Manuel I Komnenos (1143–1180).
According to Arab chronicles, the Nogai Tatars settled in the town in late 13th century. Between 1280-1299, the town was Nogai Khan's base of operation in his campaigns against the Bulgarian city of Tarnovo. At the time, the city was a local Muslim centre and the residence of the famous Turkish dervish Sarı Saltuk, who has been associated with Nogai Khan's conversion to Islam.
Arab geographer Abulfeda mentioned the town, placing it in the territory of the "Al-Ualak" (Wallachs), having a population mostly Turkic and being ruled by the Byzantines. A Byzantine despotate existed in Northern Dobruja with Isaccea as its centre, which sometimes between 1332 and 1337 became a vassal of the Golden Horde of Nogais under the name "Saqčï".
The Tatars held an important mint in Isaccea, which minted coins marked with Greek and Arabic letters between the years 1286 and 1351. Various types of silver and copper coins were minted, including coins bearing the mark of the Golden Horde with the names of the khans as well as the names of Nogai Khan and his son Čeke (minted between 1296–1301).
In late 14th century it was ruled by Mircea cel Bătrân of Wallachia, being held until one year before his death. In 1417, the town was conquered, together with other fortresses on the Danube, by the Ottomans, who built a fort defended by a garrison as part of the Danubian frontier established by Mehmet I.
The town was regained by Vlad Ţepeş in 1462 during his campaigns against the Ottoman Empire, massacring the local Muslim Bulgarian and Turkish population (who were expected to side with the Turks), killing 1350 people in Isaccea and Novoselo, out of more than 23,000 people in all Bulgaria. In a letter to Matthias Corvinus, dated February 11, 1462, he stated:
| “ | I have killed men and women, old and young, who lived at Oblucitza and Novoselo, where the Danube flows into the sea, up to Rahova, which is located near Chilia, from the lower Danube up to such places as Samovit and Ghighen. We killed 23,884 Turks and Bulgars without counting those whom we burned in homes or whose heads were not cut by our soldiers....Thus your highness must know that I have broken the peace with him . | ” |
In 1484, it was taken again by the Ottomans, being included in the Silistra (Özi) Province, which comprised Dobruja, much of present-day Bulgaria, and later also Budjak and Yedisan.
Ţepeş's massacre and destruction completely changed the ethnic composition and the appearance of Isaccea, which remaining throughout the 16th century a small, largely Christian, village. Bayazid II's conquest of Kilia and Akkerman removed the danger from the north, as did Mehmet II's victories against Wallachia remove the threat from the west, and as such, the Sultan saw no reason to rebuild the fortress of Isaccea, nor the settlement of a garrison.
In 1574, Voivode Ioan Vodă cel Cumplit of Moldavia sent Pârcălab Ieremia Golia with an army to Obluciţa (Isaccea) to prevent the Ottoman army from fording the river. However, Golia betrayed Ioan for a sum of 30 gold bags, thus leading to the defeat of the Moldavian army and the execution of Ioan.
By the beginning of the 16th century, a new danger arose for the Ottoman border on the Lower Danube: the Cossacks from Ukraine, who, in 1603, reached Obluciţa and set the town on fire. Sultan Osman II began a series of campaigns against the Cossacks and, as part of his fortification of the border, in 1620, a new fort was built in Isaccea, but in a different place.
On 6 October 1598, Mihai Viteazul defeated the Ottoman army at Obluciţa, recapturing the town. The following year, in March 1599, the Ottomans' army took back the town and went into incursions into Wallachia, Mihai's response being to go beyond the Danube and attack the town of Obluciţa. After Mihai's death in 1601, the town was regained by the Ottomans.
In December 1673, at the Ottoman army camp in Isaccea, Dumitraşcu Cantacuzino was chosen Prince of Moldavia.
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