Mehmed II

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mehmed II
Ottoman Sultanate
Died3 May 1481(1481-05-03) (aged 49)
Hünkârçayırı (Tekfurçayırı), near Gebze, Ottoman Empire
Burial, Istanbul, Turkey
Consorts
Issue
Among others
Names
Meḥemmed bin Murad Han[2]
DynastyOttoman
FatherMurad II
MotherHüma Hatun (biological)
Mara Branković (adoptive)
ReligionSunni Islam[3][4]
TughraMehmed II's signature

Mehmed II (

sultan of the Ottoman Empire
from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481.

In Mehmed II's first reign, he defeated the crusade led by

Patriarchate of Constantinople
, albeit not by most European monarchs.

Mehmed continued his conquests in

Bosnia. At home, he made many political and social reforms. He encouraged the arts and sciences, and by the end of his reign, his rebuilding program had changed Constantinople into a thriving imperial capital. He is considered a hero in modern-day Turkey and parts of the wider Muslim world. Among other things, Istanbul's Fatih district, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and Fatih Mosque
are named after him.

Early life and first reign

Accession of Mehmed II in Edirne, 1451

Mehmed II was born on 30 March 1432, in Edirne, then the capital city of the Ottoman state. His father was Sultan Murad II (1404–1451) and his mother Hüma Hatun, a slave of uncertain origin.[6][7][8]

When Mehmed II was eleven years old he was sent to Amasya with his two lalas (advisors) to govern and thus gain experience, per the custom of Ottoman rulers before his time.[8] Sultan Murad II also sent a number of teachers for him to study under. This Islamic education had a great impact in molding Mehmed's mindset and reinforcing his Muslim beliefs. He was influenced in his practice of Islamic epistemology by practitioners of science, particularly by his mentor, Molla Gürani, and he followed their approach. The influence of Akshamsaddin in Mehmed's life became predominant from a young age, especially in the imperative of fulfilling his Islamic duty to overthrow the Byzantine Empire by conquering Constantinople.[citation needed]

After Murad II made peace with Hungary on 12 June 1444,[9] he abdicated the throne in favour of his 12-year-old son Mehmed II in July[10]/August[9] 1444.

During Mehmed II's first reign, he defeated the crusade led by

Çandarlı Halil Pasha's effort to bring Murad II back to the throne.[10][11]

In 1446, while Murad II returned to the throne, Mehmed retained the title of sultan but only acted as a governor of Manisa. Following the death of Murad II in 1451, Mehmed II became sultan for the second time. Ibrahim II of Karaman invaded the disputed area and instigated various revolts against Ottoman rule. Mehmed II conducted his first campaign against İbrahim of Karaman; Byzantines threatened to release Ottoman claimant Orhan.[9]

Conquests

Conquest of Constantinople

The Ottoman Empire at the beginning of Mehmed II's second reign
Roumeli Hissar Castle, built by Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452, before the Fall of Constantinople[12]

When Mehmed II ascended the throne again in 1451, he devoted himself to strengthening the Ottoman navy and made preparations for an attack on Constantinople. In the narrow

Bosphorus Straits, the fortress Anadoluhisarı had been built by his great-grandfather Bayezid I on the Asian side; Mehmed erected an even stronger fortress called Rumelihisarı on the European side, and thus gained complete control of the strait. Having completed his fortresses, Mehmed proceeded to levy a toll on ships passing within reach of their cannon. A Venetian vessel ignoring signals to stop was sunk with a single shot and all the surviving sailors beheaded,[13] except for the captain, who was impaled and mounted as a human scarecrow as a warning to further sailors on the strait.[14]

In 1453, Mehmed commenced the siege of Constantinople with an army between 80,000 and 200,000 troops, an artillery train of over seventy large field pieces,

Bosphorus stretched from shore to shore in the form of a crescent, to intercept or repel any assistance for Constantinople from the sea.[13] In early April, the Siege of Constantinople began. At first, the city's walls held off the Turks, even though Mehmed's army used the new bombard designed by Orban, a giant cannon similar to the Dardanelles Gun. The harbor of the Golden Horn was blocked by a boom chain and defended by twenty-eight warships
.

On 22 April, Mehmed transported his lighter warships overland, around the Genoese colony of Galata, and into the Golden Horn's northern shore; eighty galleys were transported from the Bosphorus after paving a route, little over one mile, with wood. Thus, the Byzantines stretched their troops over a longer portion of the walls. About a month later, Constantinople fell, on 29 May, following a fifty-seven-day siege.[13] After this conquest, Mehmed moved the Ottoman capital from Adrianople to Constantinople.

When Sultan Mehmed II stepped into the ruins of the Boukoleon, known to the Ottomans and Persians as the Palace of the Caesars, probably built over a thousand years before by Theodosius II, he uttered the famous lines of Saadi:[17][18][19][20]

The spider is curtain-bearer in the palace of Chosroes,
The owl sounds the relief in the castle of Afrasiyab.

Some Muslim scholars claimed that a hadith in Musnad Ahmad referred specifically to Mehmed's conquest of Constantinople, seeing it as the fulfillment of a prophecy and a sign of the approaching apocalypse.[21]

The entry of Sultan Mehmed II into Constantinople, painting by Fausto Zonaro (1854–1929)

After the conquest of Constantinople, Mehmed claimed the title of

ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople with all the ceremonial elements, ethnarch (or milletbashi) status, and rights of property that made him the second largest landlord in the empire after the sultan himself in 1454, and in turn, Gennadius II recognized Mehmed the Conqueror as the successor to the throne.[25][26]

Emperor

Grand Vizier under Mehmed's son, Bayezid II.[27]

After the fall of Constantinople, Mehmed would also go on to conquer the

Despotate of Morea in the Peloponnese in two campaigns in 1458 and 1460 and the Empire of Trebizond in northeastern Anatolia in 1461. The last two vestiges of Byzantine rule were thus absorbed by the Ottoman Empire. The conquest of Constantinople bestowed immense glory and prestige on the country. There is some historical evidence that, 10 years after the conquest of Constantinople, Mehmed II visited the site of Troy and boasted that he had avenged the Trojans by conquering the Greeks (Byzantines).[28][29][30]

Conquest of Serbia (1454–1459)

Ottoman miniature of the Siege of Belgrade, 1456

Mehmed II's first campaigns after Constantinople were in the direction of Serbia, which had been an Ottoman vassal state since the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. The Ottoman ruler had a connection with the Serbian Despotate – one of Murad II's wives was Mara Branković – and he used that fact to claim some Serbian islands. That Đurađ Branković had recently made an alliance with the Hungarians, and had paid the tribute irregularly, may have been important considerations. When Serbia refused these demands, the Ottoman army set out from Edirne towards Serbia in 1454. Smederevo was besieged, as was Novo Brdo, the most important Serbian metal mining and smelting center. Ottomans and Hungarians fought during the years till 1456.

The Ottoman army advanced as far as

Stephen Tomašević, the future king of Bosnia, which infuriated Sultan Mehmed. He sent his army, which captured Smederevo in June 1459, ending the existence of the Serbian Despotate.[31]

Conquest of the Morea (1458–1460)

15th century portrait of Mehmed II (1432–1481), showing Italian influence

The Despotate of the Morea bordered the southern Ottoman Balkans. The Ottomans had already invaded the region under Murad II, destroying the Byzantine defenses – the Hexamilion wall – at the Isthmus of Corinth in 1446. Before the final siege of Constantinople, Mehmed ordered Ottoman troops to attack the Morea. The despots, Demetrios Palaiologos and Thomas Palaiologos, brothers of the last emperor, failed to send any aid. The chronic instability and the tribute payment to the Turks, after the peace treaty of 1446 with Mehmed II, resulted in an Albanian-Greek revolt against them, during which the brothers invited Ottoman troops to help put down the revolt.[32] At this time, a number of influential Moreote Greeks and Albanians made private peace with Mehmed.[33] After more years of incompetent rule by the despots, their failure to pay their annual tribute to the Sultan, and finally their own revolt against Ottoman rule, Mehmed entered the Morea in May 1460. The capital Mistra fell exactly seven years after Constantinople, on 29 May 1460. Demetrios ended up a prisoner of the Ottomans and his younger brother Thomas fled. By the end of the summer, the Ottomans had achieved the submission of virtually all cities possessed by the Greeks.

A few holdouts remained for a time. The island of

Salmeniko, in the Morea's northwest. Graitzas Palaiologos was the military commander there, stationed at Salmeniko Castle (also known as Castle Orgia). While the town eventually surrendered, Graitzas and his garrison and some town residents held out in the castle until July 1461, when they escaped and reached Venetian territory.[35]

Conquest of Trebizond (1460–1461)

Emperors of

Karamania, and from the king and princes of Georgia. The Ottomans were motivated to capture Trebizond or to get an annual tribute. In the time of Murad II, they first attempted to take the capital by sea in 1442, but bad weather made the landings difficult and the attempt was repulsed. While Mehmed II was away laying siege to Belgrade in 1456, the Ottoman governor of Amasya
attacked Trebizond, and although he was defeated, he took many prisoners and extracted a heavy tribute.

After John's death in 1459, his brother David came to power and intrigued with various European powers for help against the Ottomans, speaking of wild schemes that included the conquest of Jerusalem. Mehmed II eventually heard of these intrigues and was further provoked to action by David's demand that Mehmed remit the tribute imposed on his brother.

Mehmed the Conqueror's response came in the summer of 1461. He led a sizable army from

Bursa by land and the Ottoman navy by sea, first to Sinope, joining forces with Ismail's brother Ahmed (the Red). He captured Sinope and ended the official reign of the Jandarid dynasty, although he appointed Ahmed as the governor of Kastamonu and Sinope, only to revoke the appointment the same year. Various other members of the Jandarid dynasty were offered important functions throughout the history of the Ottoman Empire. During the march to Trebizond, Uzun Hasan sent his mother Sara Khatun as an ambassador; while they were climbing the steep heights of Zigana
on foot, she asked Sultan Mehmed why he was undergoing such hardship for the sake of Trebizond. Mehmed replied:

Mother, in my hand is the sword of Islam, without this hardship I should not deserve the name of

ghazi, and today and tomorrow I should have to cover my face in shame before Allah.[36]

Having isolated Trebizond, Mehmed quickly swept down upon it before the inhabitants knew he was coming, and he placed it under siege. The city held out for a month before the emperor David surrendered on 15 August 1461.

Submission of Wallachia (1459–1462)

Portrait of Vlad (Dracula) the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia, 1460
The Night Attack of Târgovişte
, which resulted in a failed assassination attempt of Mehmed

The Ottomans since the early 15th century tried to bring Wallachia (

Radu, so that Vlad could claim the throne of Wallachia. His rule was short-lived, however, as Hunyadi invaded Wallachia and restored his ally Vladislav II, of the Dănești
clan, to the throne.

Vlad III Dracula fled to Moldavia, where he lived under the protection of his uncle, Bogdan II. In October 1451, Bogdan was assassinated and Vlad fled to Hungary. Impressed by Vlad's vast knowledge of the mindset and inner workings of the Ottoman Empire, as well as his hatred towards the Turks and new Sultan Mehmed II, Hunyadi reconciled with his former enemy and tried to make Vlad III his own advisor, but Vlad refused.

In 1456, three years after the Ottomans had conquered Constantinople, they threatened Hungary by besieging Belgrade. Hunyadi began a concerted counterattack in Serbia: While he himself moved into Serbia and relieved the siege (before dying of the plague), Vlad III Dracula led his own contingent into Wallachia, reconquered his native land, and killed Vladislav II.

In 1459, Mehmed II sent envoys to Vlad to urge him to pay a delayed tribute[37] of 10,000 ducats and 500 recruits into the Ottoman forces. Vlad III Dracula refused and had the Ottoman envoys killed by nailing their turbans to their heads, on the pretext that they had refused to raise their "hats" to him, as they only removed their headgear before Allah.

Meanwhile, the Sultan sent the Bey of Nicopolis, Hamza Pasha, to make peace and, if necessary, eliminate Vlad III.[38] Vlad III set an ambush; the Ottomans were surrounded and almost all of them caught and impaled, with Hamza Pasha impaled on the highest stake, as befit his rank.[38]

In the winter of 1462, Vlad III crossed the Danube and scorched the entire Bulgarian land in the area between Serbia and the Black Sea. Allegedly disguising himself as a Turkish Sipahi and utilizing his command of the Turkish language and customs, Vlad III infiltrated Ottoman camps, ambushed, massacred or captured several Ottoman forces. In a letter to Corvinus dated 2 February, he wrote:

I have killed peasants 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 without counting those whom we burned in homes or the Turks whose heads were cut by our soldiers.... Thus, your highness, you must know that I have broken the peace with him [Mehmed II].[39][unreliable source]

Mehmed II abandoned his siege of Corinth to launch a punitive attack against Vlad III in Wallachia

Stephen III of Moldavia, who had promised to help him, seized the chance and instead attacked him trying to take back the Fortress of Chilia. Vlad III had to retreat to the mountains. After this, the Ottomans captured the Wallachian capital Târgoviște and Mehmed II withdrew, having left Radu as ruler of Wallachia. Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey, who served with distinction and wiped out a force of 6,000 Wallachians and deposited 2,000 of their heads at the feet of Mehmed II, was also reinstated, as a reward, in his old gubernatorial post in Thessaly.[42] Vlad eventually escaped to Hungary, where he was imprisoned on a false accusation of treason against his overlord, Matthias Corvinus
.

Conquest of Bosnia (1463)

Mehmed II's ahidnâme to the Catholic monks of the recently conquered Bosnia issued in 1463, granting them full religious freedom and protection

The despot of Serbia,

Stephen Tomašević, son of the king of Bosnia, tried to bring Serbia under his control, but Ottoman expeditions forced him to give up his plan and Stephen fled to Bosnia, seeking refuge at the court of his father.[43]
After some battles, Bosnia became tributary kingdom to the Ottomans.

On 10 July 1461,

Bosnian Kingdom to the Ottomans, he sent for help from the Venetians. However, none ever reached Bosnia. In 1463, Sultan Mehmed II led an army into the country. The royal city of Bobovac soon fell, leaving Stephen Tomašević to retreat to Jajce and later to Ključ. Mehmed invaded Bosnia and conquered it very quickly, executing Stephen Tomašević and his uncle Radivoj
. Bosnia officially fell in 1463 and became the westernmost province of the Ottoman Empire.

Ottoman-Venetian War (1463–1479)

Scene depicts the fifth and greatest assault upon the Shkodra Castle by Ottoman forces in the Siege of Shkodra, 1478–79

According to the Byzantine historian Michael Critobulus, hostilities broke out after an Albanian slave of the Ottoman commander of Athens fled to the Venetian fortress of Coron (Koroni) with 100,000 silver aspers from his master's treasure. The fugitive then converted to Christianity, so Ottoman demands for his rendition were refused by the Venetian authorities.[44] Using this as a pretext in November 1462, the Ottoman commander in central Greece, Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey, attacked and nearly succeeded in taking the strategically important Venetian fortress of Lepanto (Nafpaktos). On 3 April 1463, however, the governor of the Morea, Isa Beg, took the Venetian-held town of Argos by treason.[44]

The new alliance launched a two-pronged offensive against the Ottomans: a Venetian army, under the Captain General of the Sea

Uzun Hassan and the Crimean Khanate.[46]

In early August, the Venetians retook

Nafplion).[47] In Bosnia, Matthias Corvinus seized over sixty fortified places and succeeded in taking its capital, Jajce, after a 3-month siege, on 16 December.[48]

Ottoman reaction was swift and decisive: Mehmed II dispatched his

Grand Vizier, Mahmud Pasha Angelović, with an army against the Venetians. To confront the Venetian fleet, which had taken station outside the entrance of the Dardanelles Straits, the Sultan further ordered the creation of the new shipyard of Kadirga Limani in the Golden Horn (named after the "kadirga" type of galley), and of two forts to guard the Straits, Kilidulbahr and Sultaniye.[49]
The Morean campaign was swiftly victorious for the Ottomans; they razed the Hexamilion, and advanced into the Morea. Argos fell, and several forts and localities that had recognized Venetian authority reverted to their Ottoman allegiance.

Sultan Mehmed II, who was following Mahmud Pasha with another army to reinforce him, had reached Zeitounion (Lamia) before being apprised of his Vizier's success. Immediately, he turned his men north, towards Bosnia.[49] However, the Sultan's attempt to retake Jajce in July and August 1464 failed, with the Ottomans retreating hastily in the face of Corvinus' approaching army. A new Ottoman army under Mahmud Pasha then forced Corvinus to withdraw, but Jajce was not retaken for many years after.[48] However, the death of Pope Pius II on 15 August in Ancona spelled the end of the Crusade.[46][50]

In the meantime, the Venetian Republic had appointed

Mistra
in August through October. Small-scale warfare continued on both sides, with raids and counter-raids, but a shortage of manpower and money meant that the Venetians remained largely confined to their fortified bases, while Ömer Bey's army roamed the countryside.

In the Aegean, the Venetians tried to take Lesbos in the spring of 1464, and besieged the capital Mytilene for six weeks, until the arrival of an Ottoman fleet under Mahmud Pasha on 18 May forced them to withdraw.[51] Another attempt to capture the island shortly after also failed. The Venetian navy spent the remainder of the year in ultimately fruitless demonstrations of force before the Dardanelles.[51] In early 1465, Mehmed II sent peace feelers to the Venetian Senate; distrusting the Sultan's motives, these were rejected.[52]

In April 1466, the Venetian war effort was reinvigorated under Vettore Cappello: the fleet took the northern Aegean islands of Imbros, Thasos, and Samothrace, and then sailed into the Saronic Gulf.[53] On 12 July, Cappello landed at Piraeus and marched against Athens, the Ottomans' major regional base. He failed to take the Acropolis and was forced to retreat to Patras, the capital of Peloponnese and the seat of the Ottoman bey, which was being besieged by a joint force of Venetians and Greeks.[54] Before Cappello could arrive, and as the city seemed on the verge of falling, Ömer Bey suddenly appeared with 12,000 cavalry and drove the outnumbered besiegers off. Six hundred Venetians and a hundred Greeks were taken prisoner out of a force of 2,000, while Barbarigo himself was killed.[55] Cappello, who arrived some days later, attacked the Ottomans but was heavily defeated. Demoralized, he returned to Negroponte with the remains of his army. There Cappello fell ill and died on 13 March 1467.[56] In 1470 Mehmed personally led an Ottoman army to besiege Negroponte. The Venetian relief navy was defeated, and Negroponte was captured.

In spring 1466, Sultan Mehmed marched with a large army against the Albanians. Under their leader,

Shkodra – the most significant. Mehmed II sent his armies to take Shkodra in 1474[58] but failed. Then he went personally to lead the siege of Shkodra of 1478–79. The Venetians and Shkodrans resisted the assaults and continued to hold the fortress until Venice ceded Shkodra to the Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of Constantinople
as a condition of ending the war.

The agreement was established as a result of the Ottomans having reached the outskirts of

Negroponte (Euboea) and Lemnos. Moreover, the Venetians were forced to pay 100,000 ducat indemnity[59] and agreed to a tribute of around 10,000 ducats per year in order to acquire trading privileges in the Black Sea. As a result of this treaty, Venice acquired a weakened position in the Levant.[60]

Anatolian conquests (1464–1473)

Mehmed's Fetihname (Declaration of conquest) after the Battle of Otlukbeli

During the post-Seljuks era in the second half of the Middle Ages, numerous Turkmen principalities collectively known as Anatolian beyliks emerged in Anatolia. Karamanids initially centred around the modern provinces of Karaman and Konya, the most important power in Anatolia. But towards the end of the 14th century, Ottomans began to dominate on most of Anatolia, reducing the Karaman influence and prestige.

Gedik Ahmet Pasha captured the coastal region of the beylik.[62]

Pir Ahmet as well as his brother

better source needed
]

Uniting the Anatolian beyliks was first accomplished by Sultan Bayezid I, more than fifty years before Mehmed II but after the destructive Battle of Ankara in 1402, the newly formed unification was gone. Mehmed II recovered Ottoman power over the other Turkish states, and these conquests allowed him to push further into Europe.

Another important political entity that shaped the Eastern policy of Mehmed II were the Aq Qoyunlu. Under the leadership of Uzun Hasan, this kingdom gained power in the East, but because of its strong relations with Christian powers like the Empire of Trebizond and the Republic of Venice and the alliance between the Turcomans and the Karamanid tribe, Mehmed saw them as a threat to his own power.

War with Moldavia (1475–1476)

Mehmed the Second, portrait by Paolo Veronese

In 1456,

Tartars from the Crimean Khanate (the Ottomans' recent ally) were sent to attack Moldavia. Romanian sources may state that they were repelled.[66] Other sources state that joint Ottoman and Crimean Tartar forces "occupied Bessarabia and took Akkerman, gaining control of the southern mouth of the Danube. Stephan tried to avoid open battle with the Ottomans by following a scorched-earth policy".[67]

Finally, Stephen faced the Ottomans in battle. The Moldavians luring the main Ottoman forces into a forest that was set on fire, causing some casualties. According to another battle description, the defending Moldavian forces repelled several Ottoman attacks with steady fire from hand-guns.[68] The attacking Turkish Janissaries were forced to crouch on their stomachs instead of charging headlong into the defenders positions. Seeing the imminent defeat of his forces, Mehmed charged with his personal guard against the Moldavians, managing to rally the Janissaries, and turning the tide of the battle. Turkish Janissaries penetrated inside the forest and engaged the defenders in man-to-man fighting.

The Moldavian army was utterly defeated (casualties were very high on both sides), and the

toponym (Valea Albă is Romanian and Akdere Turkish
for "The White Valley").

Stephen the Great retreated into the north-western part of Moldavia or even into the

and began forming another army. The Ottomans were unable to conquer any of the major Moldavian strongholds (
Hotin)[66] and were constantly harassed by small-scale Moldavian attacks. Soon they were also confronted with starvation, a situation made worse by an outbreak of the plague, and the Ottoman army returned to Ottoman lands. The threat of Stephen to Wallachia continued for decades. That very same year Stephen helped his cousin Vlad the Impaler return to the throne of Wallachia for the third and final time. Even after Vlad's untimely death several months later Stephen continued to support, with force of arms, a variety of contenders to the Wallachian throne succeeding after Mehmet's death to instate Vlad Călugărul
, half brother to Vlad the Impaler, for a period of 13 years from 1482 to 1495.

Conquest of Albania (1466–1478)

Portrait of Skanderbeg, prince of League of Lezhë

Skanderbeg, a member of the Albanian nobility and a former member of the Ottoman ruling elite, led a rebellion against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Europe. Skanderbeg, son of Gjon Kastrioti (who had joined the unsuccessful Albanian revolt of 1432–1436), united the Albanian principalities in a military and diplomatic alliance, the League of Lezhë, in 1444. Mehmed II was never successful in his efforts to subjugate Albania while Skanderbeg was alive, even though he twice (1466 and 1467) led the Ottoman armies himself against Krujë. After Skanderbeg died in 1468, the Albanians could not find a leader to replace him, and Mehmed II eventually conquered Krujë and Albania in 1478.

In spring 1466, Sultan Mehmed marched with a large army against Skanderbeg and the Albanians. Skanderbeg had repeatedly sought assistance from Italy,

failed again to take Croia, and they failed to subjugate the country. However, the winter brought an outbreak of plague, which would recur annually and sap the strength of the local resistance.[53] Skanderbeg himself died of malaria in the Venetian stronghold of Lissus (Lezhë), ending the ability of Venice to use the Albanian lords for its own advantage.[57]
The Albanians were left to their own devices and were gradually subdued over the next decade.

After Skanderbeg died, Mehmed II personally led the

better source needed] The Venetians and Shkodrans resisted the assaults and continued to hold the fortress until Venice ceded Shkodra to the Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of Constantinople
as a condition of ending the war.

Crimean policy (1475)

A number of Turkic peoples, collectively known as the Crimean Tatars, had been inhabiting the peninsula since the early Middle Ages. After the destruction of the Golden Horde by Timur earlier in the 15th century, the Crimean Tatars founded an independent Crimean Khanate under Hacı I Giray, a descendant of Genghis Khan.

The Crimean Tatars controlled the steppes that stretched from the

Kaffa and the other trading towns under their control.[73] After the capture of the Genoese towns, the Ottoman Sultan held Meñli I Giray captive,[74] later releasing him in return for accepting Ottoman suzerainty over the Crimean Khans and allowing them to rule as tributary princes of the Ottoman Empire.[73]
However, the Crimean khans still had a large amount of autonomy from the Ottoman Empire, while the Ottomans directly controlled the southern coast.

Expedition to Italy (1480)

Portrait of Mehmed II with a young man on the left. It is assumed that Bellini himself did not create the two portraits in Istanbul, but only after his return to Venice. The young man is sometimes interpreted as Mehmed's son Cem, but there is no proof of this.

An Ottoman army under

crusade. Several Italian city-states, Hungary, and France responded positively to the appeal. The Republic of Venice
did not, however, as it had signed an expensive peace treaty with the Ottomans in 1479.

In 1481 king

Alphonso II of Naples. A contingent of troops was provided by king Matthias Corvinus
of Hungary. The city was besieged starting 1 May 1481. After the death of Mehmed on 3 May, ensuing quarrels about his succession possibly prevented the Ottomans from sending reinforcements to Otranto. So, the Turkish occupation of Otranto ended by negotiation with the Christian forces, permitting the Turks to withdraw to Albania, and Otranto was retaken by Papal forces in 1481.

Return to Constantinople (1453–1478)

imperial mosque
built in the city after the Ottoman conquest

After conquering Constantinople, when Mehmed II finally entered the city through what is now known as the

Topkapi Gate, he immediately rode his horse to the Hagia Sophia, where he ordered the building to be protected. He ordered that an imam meet him there in order to chant the Muslim Creed: "I testify that there is no god but Allah. I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."[76] The Orthodox cathedral was transformed into a Muslim mosque through a charitable trust, solidifying Islamic
rule in Constantinople.

Mehmed's main concern with Constantinople was with rebuilding the city's defenses and repopulation. Building projects were commenced immediately after the conquest, which included the repair of the walls, construction of the citadel, a remarkable hospital with students and medical staff, a large cultural complex, two sets of

janissaries, a tophane gun foundry outside Galata, and a new palace.[77][78] To encourage the return of the Greeks and the Genoese who had fled from Galata, the trading quarter of the city, he returned their houses and provided them with guarantees of safety. Mehmed issued orders across his empire that Muslims, Christians, and Jews should resettle in the city, demanding that five thousand households needed to be transferred to Constantinople by September.[77] From all over the Islamic empire, prisoners of war and deported people were sent to the city; these people were called "Sürgün" in Turkish (Greek: σουργούνιδες sourgounides; "immigrants").[79]

Mehmed restored the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate (6 January 1454), monk Gennadios being appointed as the first Orthodox Patriarch,[80] and established a Jewish Grand Rabbinate (Ḥakham Bashi) and the prestigious Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople in the capital, as part of the millet system. In addition, he founded, and encouraged his viziers to found, a number of Muslim institutions and commercial installations in the main districts of Constantinople, such as the Rum Mehmed Pasha Mosque built by the Grand Vizier Rum Mehmed Pasha. From these nuclei, the metropolis developed rapidly. According to a survey carried out in 1478, there were then in Constantinople and neighboring Galata 16,324 households, 3,927 shops, and an estimated population of 80,000.[81] The population was about 60% Muslim, 20% Christian, and 10% Jewish.[82]

By the end of his reign, Mehmed's ambitious rebuilding program had changed the city into a thriving imperial capital.[15] According to the contemporary Ottoman historian Neşri, "Sultan Mehmed created all of Istanbul".[15] Fifty years later, Constantinople had again become the largest city in Europe.

Two centuries later, the well-known Ottoman itinerant

Pierre Gilles wrote in the middle of the 16th century that the Greek population of Constantinople was unable to name any of the ancient Byzantine churches that had been transformed into mosques or abandoned. This shows that the population substitution had been total.[83]

Administration and culture

Gennadius II
depicted on an 18th-century mosaic

Mehmed II introduced the word Politics into Arabic "Siyasah" from a book he published and claimed to be the collection of Politics doctrines of the Byzantine Caesars before him. He gathered Italian artists,

Fatih Mosque), waterways, and Istanbul's Topkapı Palace and the Tiled Kiosk
. Around the
grand mosque that he constructed, he erected eight madrasas
, which, for nearly a century, kept their rank as the highest teaching institutions of the Islamic sciences in the empire.

Mehmed II allowed his subjects a considerable degree of religious freedom, provided they were obedient to his rule. After his conquest of Bosnia in 1463, he issued the

Bosnian Franciscans, granting them the freedom to move freely within the Empire, offer worship in their churches and monasteries, and practice their religion free from official and unofficial persecution, insult, or disturbance.[86][87] However, his standing army was recruited from the Devshirme, a group that took Christian subjects at a young age (8–20 yrs): they were converted to Islam, then schooled for administration or the military Janissaries. This was a meritocracy which "produced from among their alumni four out of five Grand Viziers from this time on".[88]

Within Constantinople, Mehmed established a millet, or an autonomous religious community, and appointed the former Patriarch Gennadius Scholarius as religious leader for the Orthodox Christians[89] of the city. His authority extended to all Ottoman Orthodox Christians, and this excluded the Genoese and Venetian settlements in the suburbs, and excluded Muslim and Jewish settlers entirely. This method allowed for an indirect rule of the Christian Byzantines and allowed the occupants to feel relatively autonomous even as Mehmed II began the Turkish remodeling of the city, turning it into the Turkish capital, which it remained until the 1920s.

Centralization of government

Medal of Mehmet II, with mention "Emperor of Byzantium" ("Byzantii Imperatoris 1481"), made by Costanzo da Ferrara (1450-1524).

Mehmed the Conqueror consolidated power by building his imperial court, the divan, with officials who would be solely loyal to him and allow him greater autonomy and authority. Under previous sultans the divan had been filled with members of aristocratic families that sometimes had other interests and loyalties than that of the sultan. Mehmed the Conqueror transitioned the empire away from the

kanunname, issued during 1477–1481, which for the first time listed the chief officials in the Ottoman government, their roles and responsibilities, salaries, protocol and punishments, as well as how they related to each other and the sultan.[91]

Once Mehmed had created an Ottoman bureaucracy and transformed the empire from a frontier society to a centralized government, he took care to appoint officials who would help him implement his agenda. His first grand vizier was

Zaganos Pasha, who was of devşirme background as opposed to an aristocrat,[92] and Zaganos Pasha's successor, Mahmud Pasha Angelović, was also of devşirme background.[93] Mehmed was the first sultan who was able to codify and implement kanunname solely based on his own independent authority.[92] Additionally, Mehmed was able to later implement kanunname that went against previous tradition or precedent.[90] This was monumental in an empire that was so steeped in tradition and could be slow to change or adapt. Having viziers and other officials who were loyal to Mehmed was an essential part of this government because he transferred more power to the viziers than previous sultans had. He delegated significant powers and functions of government to his viziers as part of his new policy of imperial seclusions.[94] A wall was built around the palace as an element of the more closed era, and unlike previous sultans Mehmed was no longer accessible to the public or even lower officials. His viziers directed the military and met foreign ambassadors, two essential parts of governing especially with his numerous military campaigns.[95] One such notable ambassador was Kinsman Karabœcu Pasha (Turkish: "Karaböcü Kuzen Paşa"), who came from a rooted family of spies, which enabled him to play a notable role in Mehmed's campaign of conquering Constantinople.[96][failed verification
]

Patronage of Renaissance artists

Portrait of Mehmed, by Nakkaş Sinan Bey (Topkapı Palace albums)

Aside from his efforts to expand Ottoman dominion throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, Mehmed II also cultivated a large collection of Western art and literature, many of which were produced by Renaissance artists. From a young age, Mehmed had shown interest in Renaissance art and Classical literature and histories, with his school books having caricaturistic illustrations of ancient coins and portraiture sketched in distinctly European styles. Furthermore, he reportedly had two tutors, one trained in Greek and another in Latin, who read him Classical histories, including those of

Laertius, Livy, and Herodotus, in the days leading up to the fall of Constantinople.[97]

From early on in his reign, Mehmed invested in the patronage of Italian Renaissance artists. His first documented request in 1461 was a commission from artist Matteo de' Pasti, who resided in the court of the lord of Rimini, Sigismondo Malatesta. This first attempt was unsuccessful, though, as Pasti was arrested in Crete by Venetian authorities accusing him of being an Ottoman spy. Later attempts would prove more fruitful, with some notable artists including Costanzo da Ferrara and Gentile Bellini both being invited to the Ottoman court.[97]

Aside from his patronage of Renaissance artists, Mehmed was also an avid scholar of contemporary and Classical literature and history. This interest culminated in Mehmed's work on building a massive multilingual library that contained over 8000 manuscripts in Persian, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, Latin, and Greek, among other languages.[98] Of note in this large collection was Mehmed's Greek scriptorium, which included copies of Arrians' Anabasis of Alexander the Great and Homer's Iliad.[97] His interest in Classical works extended in many directions, including the patronage of the Greek writer Kritiboulos of Imbros, who produced the Greek manuscript History of Mehmed the Conqueror, alongside his efforts to salvage and rebind Greek manuscripts acquired after his conquest of Constantinople.[99]

Historians believe that Mehmed's widespread cultural and artistic tastes, especially those aimed towards the West, served various important diplomatic and administrative functions. His patronage of Renaissance artists have been interpreted as a method of diplomacy with other influential Mediterranean states, significantly many Italian states including the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Florence.[98] Furthermore, historians speculate that his Greek scriptorium was used to educate Greek chancellery officials in an attempt to reintegrate former Byzantine diplomatic channels with several Italian states that conducted their correspondences in Greek.[99] Importantly, historians also assert that Mehmed's vast collection of art and literature worked towards promoting his imperial authority and legitimacy, especially in his newly conquered lands. This was accomplished through various means, including the invocation of Mehmed's image as an Oriental neo-Alexandrian figure, which is seen through shared helmet ornaments in depictions of Mehmed and Alexander on medallion portraits produced during Mehmed's reign, as well as being a leitmotiv in Kritiboulous' work.[100][101] Additionally, his commissioning of Renaissance artwork was, itself, possibly an attempt to break down Western-Oriental cultural binaries in order for Mehmed to present himself as a Western-oriented ruler, among the ranks of contemporary European Christian monarchs.[99]

Mehmed's affinity towards the Renaissance arts, and his strong initiative in its creation and collection, did not have a large base of support within his own court. One of the many opponents to Mehmed's collection was his own son and future Sultan, Bayezid II, who was backed by powerful religious and Turkish factions in his opposition. Upon his accession, Bayezid II sold Mehmed's collection of portraits and disposed of his statuary.[97]

Family

Mehmed II had at least eight known consorts, at least one of whom was his legal wife.

Consorts

Mehmed II was the last sultan to legally marry until 1533/1534, when

Hürrem Sultan

Mehmed II's eight known consorts are:[102]

Sons

Mehmed II had at least four sons:[107][108]

  • Bayezid II (3 December 1447 - 10 June 1512) - son of Gülbahar Hatun. He succeeded his father as the Ottoman Sultan.
  • Şehzade Mustafa (1450, Manisa - 25 December 1474, Konya) - son of Gülşah Hatun. Governor of Konya until his death. He had a son, Şehzade Ali, and a daughter, Nergiszade Ferahşad Hatun (who married his cousin Şehzade Abdullah, son of Bayezid II). He was the favorite son of his father.
  • Şehzade Cem (22 December 1459, Constantinople - 25 February 1495; Capua, Kingdom of Naples, Italy) - son of Çiçek Hatun. Governor of Konya after the death of his brother Mustafa, he fought for the throne against his half-brother Bayezid. He died in exile.
  • Şehzade Nureddin. Probably died as an infant.

Daughters

Mehmed II had at least four daughters:[109][108]

  • Gevherhan Hatun (1446 - Constantinople, 1514) - daughter of Gülbahar Hatun. She was the mother of Sultan Ahmad Beg.
  • Ayşe Hatun.
  • Kamerhan Hatun. She married Hasan Bey, son of
    Candaroğlu İsmail Bey
    . They had a daughter, Hanzade Hatun.
  • Fülane Hatun.

Personal life

The territorial extent of the Ottoman Empire upon the death of Mehmed II

Mehmed had a strong interest in ancient Greek and medieval Byzantine civilization. His heroes were

At times, he assembled the

Philhellene thanks to his interest in Grecian antiquities and relics. It was on his orders that the Parthenon and other Athenian monuments were spared destruction. Besides, Mehmed II himself was a poet writing under the name "Avni" (the helper, the helpful one) and he left a classical diwan
poetry collection.

Some sources claim that Mehmed had a passion for his hostage and

the Porte went to great lengths to procure young noblemen for him.[114]

Death and legacy

The tomb of Mehmed II (d. 1481) in Fatih, Istanbul
Mehmed II on the backside of 1,000 Turkish lira dated 1986.

In 1481 Mehmed marched with the Ottoman army, but upon reaching

Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and to capture Egypt and claim the caliphate.[115] But after some days he died, on 3 May 1481, at the age of forty-nine, and was buried in his türbe near the Fatih Mosque complex.[116] According to the historian Colin Heywood, "there is substantial circumstantial evidence that Mehmed was poisoned, possibly at the behest of his eldest son and successor, Bayezid."[117]

The news of Mehmed's death caused great rejoicing in Europe; church bells were rung, and celebrations held. The news was proclaimed in Venice thus: "La Grande Aquila è morta!" ('The Great Eagle is dead!')[118][119]

Mehmed II is recognized as the first sultan to codify criminal and constitutional law, long before Suleiman the Magnificent; he thus established the classical image of the autocratic Ottoman sultan. Mehmed's thirty-year rule and numerous wars expanded the Ottoman Empire to include Constantinople, the Turkish kingdoms and territories of Asia Minor, Bosnia, Serbia, and Albania. Mehmed left behind an imposing reputation in both the Islamic and Christian worlds. According to historian Franz Babinger, Mehmed was regarded as a bloodthirsty tyrant by the Christian world and by a part of his subjects.[120]

Istanbul's

better source needed][122]

Portrayal in popular culture

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Cihan Yüksel Muslu (2014). The Ottomans and the Mamluks: Imperial Diplomacy and Warfare in the Islamic World. p. 118. Mehmed presented himself to the world as The Sultan of two lands and the Khan of two seas
  2. ^ Gustav Bayerle (1997). Pashas, Begs, and Effendis: A Historical Dictionary of Titles and Terms in the Ottoman Empire. Isis Press. p. 150.
  3. ^ The Essential World History, Volume II: Since 1500. Archived 18 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine By William J. Duiker, Jackson J. Spielvogel
  4. ^ The Rise of Turkey: The Twenty-First Century's First Muslim Power Archived 18 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine. By Soner Cagaptay
  5. ^ Nicolle 2000, p. 85.
  6. from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  7. from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Nicolle 2000, p. 19.
  9. ^ a b c d e Nicolle 2000, p. 91.
  10. ^ a b Nicolle 2000, p. 9.
  11. ^ ), p. 2, (In Turkish)
  12. ^ "Bosphorus (i.e. Bosporus), View from Kuleli, Constantinople, Turkey". World Digital Library. 1890–1900. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  13. ^ a b c Silburn, P. A. B. (1912).
  14. ^ "Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities". BBC Four. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  15. ^ a b c d Stavrides 2001, p. 23.
  16. ^ Arnold 2001, p. 111.
  17. ^ The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare, Jim Bradbury, p. 68
  18. ^ Stavrides 2001, p. 22.
  19. ^ East and West in the Crusader States: Krijna Nelly Ciggaar, Adelbert Davids, Herman G. B. Teule, p. 51
  20. ^ The Lord of the Panther-Skin, Shota Rustaveli, p. xiii
  21. ^
    • Şahin, K., 2010. "Constantinople and the End Time: The Ottoman Conquest as a Portent of the Last Hour." Journal of Early Modern History, 14(4), pp. 317–354.
    • Ahmad, Al-Musnad 14:331 #18859: "The Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said, 'Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will her leader be, and what a wonderful army will that army be!'"
  22. ^ "Milliyet İnternet – Pazar". Milliyet.com.tr. 19 December 2004. Archived from the original on 31 October 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  23. ^ "washingtonpost.com: Constantinople: City of the World's Desire, 1453–1924". www.washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  24. .
  25. ^ "Gennadios II Scholarios | patriarch of Constantinople". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  26. ^ "List of Ecumenical Patriarchs – The Ecumenical Patriarchate". www.patriarchate.org. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  27. ^ Lowry, Heath W. (2003). The Nature of the Early Ottoman State. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. pp. 115–116.
  28. from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  29. from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  30. from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  31. from the original on 29 April 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  32. ^ Babinger 1992, pp. 125–126.
  33. ^ "Contemporary Copy of the Letter of Mehmet II to the Greek Archons 26 December 1454 (ASV Documenti Turchi B.1/11)" (PDF). Angiolello.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  34. ^ Babinger 1992, pp. 173–175.
  35. ^ Babinger 1992, pp. 176–177.
  36. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 193.
  37. ^ Babinger 1992.
  38. ^ a b "Vlad the Impaler second rule [3]". Exploringromania.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  39. ^ Adrian Axinte. "Dracula: Between Myth and Reality". Archived from the original on 20 November 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2013. Student paper for Romanian Student Association, Stanford University.
  40. ^ Babinger 1992, pp. 204–205.
  41. ^ Dracula: Prince of many faces – His life and his times p. 147
  42. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 207.
  43. ^ Fine 1994, pp. 575–581.
  44. ^ a b Setton 1978, p. 241
  45. ^ a b c Finkel 2007, p. 63
  46. ^ a b c Shaw 1976, p. 65
  47. ^ a b Setton 1978, p. 248
  48. ^ a b Setton 1978, p. 250
  49. ^ a b Setton, Hazard & Norman (1969), p. 326
  50. ^ Setton 1978, p. 270
  51. ^ a b Setton 1978, p. 251
  52. ^ Setton 1978, p. 273
  53. ^ a b c Setton 1978, p. 283
  54. ^ Spyridon Trikoupis, Istoria tis Ellinikis Epanastaseos (London, 1853–1857) Vol 2, pp. 84–85
  55. ^ Setton 1978, p. 284
  56. ^ Setton (1978), pp. 284–285
  57. ^ a b c Finkel 2007, p. 64
  58. ^ "1474 | George Merula: The Siege of Shkodra". Albanianhistory.net. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  59. ^ Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: Alexander Mikaberidze, p. 917, 2011
  60. ^ The Encyclopedia of World History (2001) – Venice Archived 5 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine "The great war against the Turks (See 1463–79). Negroponte was lost (1470). The Turks throughout maintained the upper hand and at times raided to the very outskirts of Venice. In the Treaty of Constantinople (1479), the Venetians gave up Scutari and other Albanian stations, as well as Negroponte and Lemnos. Thenceforth the Venetians paid an annual tribute for permission to trade in the Black Sea."
  61. ^ "Karamanogullari Beyligi". Enfal.de. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  62. ^ The A to Z of Moldova, Andrei Brezianu, Vlad Spânu, p. 273, 2010
  63. ^ The A to Z of Moldova, Andrei Brezianu, Vlad Spânu, p. 242, 2010
  64. ^
    ISBN 973-653-215-1, p. 157[dead link
    ]
  65. .
  66. ^ (in Romanian) Akademia, Rolul distinctiv al artileriei în marile oști moldovenești Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (The special role of artillery in the larger Moldavian armies), April 2000
  67. ^ (in Romanian) Jurnalul Național, Calendar 26 iulie 2005.Moment istoric[permanent dead link] (Anniversaries on 26 July 2005. A historical moment)[dead link]
  68. ^ a b Setton, Hazard & Norman (1969), p. 327
  69. ^ Setton 1978, p. 278
  70. ^ Pulaha, Selami. Lufta shqiptaro-turke në shekullin XV. Burime osmane. Tirana: Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës, Instituti i Historisë dhe Gjuhësisë, 1968, p. 72
  71. ^ .
  72. ^ "Soldier Khan". Avalanchepress.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  73. ^ "Mehmed II | Bellini, Gentile | V&A Search the Collections". collections.vam.ac.uk. 1480. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  74. ^ Lewis, Bernard. Istanbul and the Civilization if the Ottoman Empire. 1, University of Oklahoma Press, 1963. p. 6
  75. ^ a b Inalcik, Halil. "The Policy of Mehmed II toward the Greek Population of Istanbul and the Byzantine Buildings of the City". Dumbarton Oaks Papers 23, (1969): 229–249. p. 236
  76. ^ Nicolle 2000, p. 84.
  77. ^ a b c Müller-Wiener 1977, p. 28
  78. ^ Nicolle 2000, p. 17.
  79. ^ The Ottomans and the Balkans: Fikret Adanır, Suraiya Faroqhi, p. 358, 2002
  80. ^ A History of Islamic Societies, Ira M. Lapidus, p. 272, 2002
  81. ^ Mamboury 1953, p. 99.
  82. ^ "Gentile Bellini | The Sultan Mehmet II | NG3099 | National Gallery, London". www.nationalgallery.org.uk. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  83. from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  84. ^ "Croatia and Ottoman Empire, Ahdnama, Sultan Mehmet II". Croatianhistory.net. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  85. ^ "A Culture of Peaceful Coexistence: The Ottoman Turkish Example; by Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin IHSANOGLU". Light Millennium. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  86. ^ The Ottoman Centuries Lord Kinross
  87. ^ Renaissance and Reformation: James Patrick, p. 170, 2007
  88. ^ a b c d Necipoğlu, Gülru (1991). Architecture, Ceremonial, and Power: The Topkapi Palace in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Architectural History Foundation. p. 21.
  89. ^ Necipoğlu, Gülru (1991). Architecture, Ceremonial, and Power: The Topkapi Palace in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Architectural History Foundation. p. 16.
  90. ^ .
  91. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 114.
  92. ^ Necipoğlu, Gülru (1991). Architecture, Ceremonial, and Power: The Topkapi Palace in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Architectural History Foundation. p. 15.
  93. ^ Necipoğlu, Gülru (1991). Architecture, Ceremonial, and Power: The Topkapi Palace in the fifteenth and sixteenth Centuries. Architectural History Foundation. p. 18.
  94. ^ a b "Europe and the Turks: The Civilization of the Ottoman Empire | History Today". www.historytoday.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  95. ^
    ISSN 0142-6540
    .
  96. ^ .
  97. ^ .
  98. .
  99. from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  100. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 51.
  101. ^ Wedding portrait, Nauplion.net Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  102. ^ a b Babinger 1992, p. 230
  103. ^ Uluçay 2011, p. 39, 42
  104. ^ a b Alderson, The structure of the Ottoman Dynasty
  105. .
  106. .
  107. .
  108. ^ sitesi, milliyet.com.tr Türkiye'nin lider haber. "Fatih, Hakan ve Roma Kayzeri | İlber Ortaylı | Milliyet.com.tr". Milliyet Haber – Türkiye'nin Haber Sitesi. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  109. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 207
  110. .
  111. ^ "Memlûkler". Güncel Kaynağın Merkezi (in Turkish). 6 January 2015. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  112. ^ "Fatih Mosque". Islamic Landmarks. 26 June 2014. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  113. ^ Heywood, Colin (2009). "Mehmed II". In Ágoston, Gábor; Bruce Masters (eds.). Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire. p. 368.
  114. ^ The Grand Turk: John Freely, p. 180, 2009
  115. ^ Minorities and the destruction of the Ottoman Empire, Salâhi Ramadan Sonyel, p. 14, 1993
  116. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 432.
  117. ^ Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey Archived 15 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Banknote Museum: 7. Emission Group – One Thousand Turkish Lira – I. Series Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine & II. Series Archived 16 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. – Retrieved on 20 April 2009.
  118. ^ Tommasini, Anthony (30 July 2012). "A Rossini Masterwork Ahead of Its Time". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  119. ^ "Kızılelma: Bir Fetih Öyküsü". 11 May 2023.
  120. ^ https://www.cnnturk.com/magazin/mehmed-fetihler-sultani-mehmed-kimdir-serkan-cayoglu-kac-yasinda-hangi-dizilerde-oynadi-2089325
  121. ^ https://www.milliyet.com.tr/cadde/en-cok-fatih-e-duygulaniyor-1772988

Sources

External links

Mehmed II
House of Osman
Born: 30 March 1432 Died: 3 May 1481
Regnal titles
Preceded by Ottoman Sultan
August 1444 ‒ September 1446
Succeeded by
Ottoman Sultan
3 February 1451 – 3 May 1481
Succeeded by