Mehmed II

Mehmed II (1432-1481), known as Mehmed the Conqueror, was sultan of the Ottoman Empire twice, from 1444 to 1446 and again from 1451 until his death. In his first reign he defeated the crusade led by John Hunyadi. Back on the throne in 1451, he built up the Ottoman navy and prepared to attack Constantinople, which he conquered in 1453 at the age of 21, effectively ending the Byzantine Empire. He then claimed the title caesar of Rome, a claim the Patriarchate of Constantinople recognized but most European monarchs rejected. He went on to reunify Anatolia and campaign as far west as Bosnia, carried out political and social reforms at home, and was a patron of the arts and sciences; by the end of his reign Constantinople had become a thriving imperial capital. He is regarded as a hero in modern Turkey and parts of the wider Muslim world.