Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey

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Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey
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Siege of Kruje (1478)

Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey (

Latin Duchy of Athens. He also fought in Albania, north-east Italy, Wallachia and Anatolia
.

Family

He was born in the

Yürük origin, descended from Yiğit Bey of Saruhan.[2][3] Ömer was the son of the prominent akıncı leader and governor of Thessaly, Turahan Bey, and thus a grandson of Yiğit Bey, the conqueror of Skopje. He had a brother, Ahmed Bey, and two sons, Hasan and Idris, the latter of whom was a notable poet and translator of Persian poetry.[1][4]

Wars against the Byzantines

The exact date of Ömer's birth is unknown; as a young man, he was presented to the

Byzantine emperor and left the Morea, his brothers Demetrios Palaiologos and Thomas Palaiologos began to quarrel about their share of the rule of the Despotate. Eventually the dispute was settled through the mediation of Constantine and Ömer, who used the opportunity to completely demolish the Hexamilion.[8]

In October 1452, Ömer and his brother accompanied Turahan in another expedition against the Morea, which was designed to prevent the Despotate from assisting in the forthcoming Ottoman attack on the Byzantine capital,

Mistra.[4][9][10] The Fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453 had great repercussions in the Morea. The two despots continued their rivalry and were unpopular among their own subjects. A rebellion broke out against them in autumn, supported both by the local Albanian immigrants and the native Greeks, and spread quickly. As the Sultan's vassals, the despots called upon Turahan for aid, and he dispatched Ömer in December. Ömer achieved a few successes, but departed after securing the release of his brother from captivity. The revolt did not subside, and in 1454 Turahan himself, again accompanied by his sons, was forced to intervene and quell the revolt.[1][11]

In 1456, Ömer succeeded his father as governor of Thessaly, and in the same year his troops occupied the city of Athens. The duke, Francesco II Acciaioli, and the inhabitants fled to the Acropolis, where they held out for two years until they surrendered in June 1458.[12] In the same year, the Sultan Mehmed II campaigned in person against the Morea, where the two despots had returned to their quarrels and were negotiating with Western powers for aid against the Ottomans. Mehmed overcame the Byzantine resistance at Hexamilion and stormed the strategically important Acrocorinth. Thereupon the despots hastened to reconfirm their allegiance, but the northeastern quarter of the Morea was annexed as a full Ottoman province and Ömer became its first governor.[1][13][14] Ömer accompanied Mehmed on the Sultan's visit to Athens in August 1458, and took up residence in the ducal palace in the Propylaea.[15]

In 1459 the despot Thomas rebelled against the Sultan with assistance from Italy, and Ömer was for a time removed from his offices for failing to prevent it, although some contemporary sources suggest that he was himself encouraging the rebellion. The Sultan sent Hamza Pasha to depose and arrest him and replaced him as governor the Morea with Zagan Pasha.[16][17] Ömer nevertheless participated in the subsequent campaign against the Morea,[1] which saw the final extirpation of the Despotate.[18]

In 1461/1462 Ömer served with distinction in the wars against

Prince of Wallachia: he wiped out a force of 6,000 Wallachians and deposited 2,000 of their heads at the feet of Mehmed II. As a reward, he was reinstated in his old gubernatorial post in Thessaly.[19]

Wars against the Venetians

Map of the Ottoman Empire and its neighbouring states in 1464
Main article: Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479)

At this time, tensions became heightened with the

long war between the Venetian Republic and the Ottoman Empire.[20][21] In the summer of 1463, Ömer led the eastern wing of the Ottoman army that conquered Bosnia.[22]

In the weeks after their declaration of war on 28 July 1463, the Venetians made good progress in the Morea, occupying most of the peninsula, and laid siege to the Acrocorinth in early autumn. Ömer Bey returned from Bosnia and marched to relieve the siege, but did not attempt to breach the Hexamilion wall due to the presence of numerous Venetian cannons and the small size of his own army.

Grand Vizier Mahmud Pasha Angelović, and preferred to await the arrival of the Sultan himself. Nevertheless, Mahmud Pasha decided to move, and the Venetians, whose army had been depleted by dysentery, abandoned the Hexamilion without a fight. The Ottomans razed the wall yet again and advanced into the Morea. Argos surrendered and was razed, and several forts and localities that had recognized Venetian authority reverted to their Ottoman allegiance. Zagan Pasha was re-appointed governor of the Morea, while Ömer Bey was given Mahmud Pasha's army and tasked with taking the Republic's holdings in the southern Peloponnese, centred on the two forts of Coron and Modon (Methoni). Ömer raided the districts around the two fortresses and captured numerous prisoners, but the onset of winter precluded any serious operations from being undertaken against them.[25][26][27]

In August 1464, the new Venetian commander-in-chief in the Morea,

Aigion).[32]

In 1473, he participated in the campaign against

captured the fortress of Scutari (Shkodër) in Albania,[4] which along with the conquest of Krujë by Mehmed II ended the League of Lezhë
and Albanian independence.

The date of his death is unknown, but he was still alive in 1484, when his will was written.[1][4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i PLP, 21056. Ὀμάρης
  2. Yürük
    commander.
  3. ^ Apostolos Euangelou Vakalopoulos (1970). Origins of the Greek nation: the Byzantine period, 1204-1461. Rutgers University Press. p. 163. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d Babinger 1987, pp. 876–878
  5. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 48.
  6. ^ Babinger 1992, pp. 49–50.
  7. ^ Setton 1978, pp. 96–97.
  8. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 56.
  9. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 80.
  10. ^ Setton 1978, p. 146.
  11. ^ Setton 1978, pp. 148–149.
  12. ^ Babinger 1992, pp. 159–160.
  13. ^ Babinger 1992, pp. 157–159.
  14. ^ Setton 1978, pp. 196–198.
  15. ^ Babinger 1992, pp. 159–161.
  16. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 165.
  17. ^ Setton 1978, pp. 219–220.
  18. ^ Setton 1978, pp. 221ff..
  19. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 207.
  20. ^ Setton 1978, pp. 241–243.
  21. ^ Stavrides 2001, p. 150.
  22. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 223.
  23. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 227.
  24. ^ Setton 1978, p. 248.
  25. ^ Babinger 1992, pp. 227–228.
  26. ^ Setton 1978, pp. 248–249.
  27. ^ Stavrides 2001, pp. 151–153.
  28. ^ Setton 1978, p. 252.
  29. ^ Setton 1978, pp. 253–255.
  30. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 258.
  31. ^ Setton 1978, p. 284.
  32. ^ Setton 1978, p. 303.
  33. ^ Stavrides 2001, pp. 176–179.
  34. ^ Babinger 1992, p. 358.

Sources

Preceded by Ottoman governor of Thessaly
1456–1459 		Succeeded by
New title Ottoman governor of the Morea
1458–1459 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Ottoman governor of Thessaly
1462–unknown 		Unknown
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