Historical Figures Codexery

Mehmed II

The Conqueror of Constantinople

Mehmed II was the Ottoman sultan who reigned from 1444 to 1446 and again from 1451 to 1481.[1] After the conquest, he claimed the title caesar of Rome, which was recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church but rejected by most European monarchs.[2][3]

Quick Facts

Reign
August 1444 – September 1446
Predecessor
Murad II
Born
30 March 1432
Birthplace
Edirne, Ottoman Sultanate
Died
3 May 1481
Place of death
Hünkârçayırı (Tekfurçayırı), near Gebze, Ottoman Empire
Burial place
Fatih Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey
Spouse
  • Sittişah Mükrime Hatun
  • Gülbahar Hatun
  • Gülşah Hatun
  • Çiçek Hatun
  • Others

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Mehmed II was born on 30 March 1432 in Edirne, the Ottoman capital.[4] At age eleven, he was sent to Amasya with advisors to gain governing experience.[2] His Islamic education, influenced by mentor Molla Gürâni and Akshamsaddin, shaped his mindset and duty to conquer Constantinople.[5] After Murad II abdicated in 1444, twelve-year-old Mehmed became sultan and defeated a crusade led by John Hunyadi.[2][6]

He became sultan again in 1451 after Murad II's death.[2] He strengthened the Ottoman navy and built the fortress Rumelihisarı to control the Bosphorus strait.[2][7] In 1453, he besieged Constantinople with an army of 80,000 to 200,000 troops and a navy of 320 vessels.[8] He later conquered the Despotate of Morea in 1458–1460 and the Empire of Trebizond in 1461.[9]

Constantinople was taken on 29 May after a siege lasting fifty-seven days, and Mehmed then relocated the Ottoman capital there from Adrianople.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Mehmed II" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Evliyā Çelebi in Albania and Adjacent Regions (Kosovo, Montenegro, Ohrid): The Relevant Sections of the Seyahatname", 2023, p. 46 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Mehmed II" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nicolle 2000, p. 85 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Mehmed II" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Milliyet İnternet – Pazar", Milliyet.com.tr, 19 December 2004; "Constantinople: City of the World's Desire, 1453–1924", Washington Post; Crowley, "Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453", Faber & Faber, 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Mehmed II" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Freely, "The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II – Conqueror of Constantinople, Master of an Empire and Lord of Two Seas", I.B. Tauris, 2009, p. 9; Babinger, "Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time", Princeton University Press, 1978, p. 11; Nicolle 2000, p. 85 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Mehmed II" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Bosphorus (i.e. Bosporus), View from Kuleli, Constantinople, Turkey", World Digital Library, 1890–1900 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Mehmed II" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nicolle 2000, p. 85; Nicolle 2000, p. 85; Nicolle 2000, p. 85 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Mehmed II" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Silburn, P. A. B. (1912).; "Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities", BBC Four (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Mehmed II" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Arnold 2001, p. 111 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Mehmed II" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Michael Wood, "In Search of the Trojan War", University of California Press, 1985, p. 38–; Kader Konuk, "East West Mimesis: Auerbach in Turkey", Stanford University Press, 2010, p. 78–; John Freely, "The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II – Conqueror of Constantinople and Master of an Empire", Overlook, 2009, p. 95–; Sweeney, "Troy: Myth, City, Icon", Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018, p. 124; Karpozilos, "A Companion to the Intellectual Life of the Palaeologan Period", BRILL, 2023; Karpozilos, "A Companion to the Intellectual Life of the Palaeologan Per en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Mehmed II" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Silburn, P. A. B. (1912). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Mehmed II (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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