On March
30, 1432, Mehmed II was born in Edirne. It is unknown whether or
not his father, Murad
II, was present at the time of his birth. Also unknown is his
mother's identity. It appears likely that she was a non-Muslim slave
girl. At age two, Mehmed traveled to the Anatolian city of Amasya,
where his older brother Ahmed was serving as governor. Three years
later, Ahmed died prematurely. With Ahmed's death, Mehmed became
governor of Amasya at age five. Meanwhile, his oldest brother Ali,
was also serving as a provincial governor in Manisa. In 1443, Ali
died. A year later, when Mehmed II was only twelve years old, he
was called upon to become Sultan. His father, Murad II, was fearful
that unless he abdicated in favor of his son, a civil war concerning succession
might break out upon his death. As soon as he became sultan, his
Hungarian subject revolted. His father, Murad II, defeated the rebellious
Hungarians at the Battle of Varna. Then after only two short years
on the throne, Mehmed II was deposed and his father returned to the throne.
Seven years later, in 1451, the still teen aged Mehmed II regained the
throne after his father died.
Mehmed
was a young man with great ambition. One year after becoming sultan,
he declared war on the Byzantine Empire. He wished to conquer Constantinople
and make it the empire's new capital. On April 2, 1453 (the day after
Easter Sunday) Byzantine sentries notices Turkish troop movements near
the city's walls. By April 5th, a massive Ottoman army had assembled
at the city's walls. Their siege of Istanbul began the next morning.
The Turks began bombarding the city's seemingly impregnable walls with
cannon fire. The Byzantines had spread a large chain across the Golden
Horn to prevent Turkish Ships from Encircling the city on two of its three
sides. Mehmed was not detoured. He simple greased a path and
transported his ships across an isthmus into the Golden Horn. On
May 27th, Mehmed rode amongst his troops announcing his plans for a great
assault the next day. The assault was a major success; during the
early morning hours of May 29th, the first Turkish troops breached the
city's walls. Mehmed rode into the city that afternoon. On
June 21, Mehmed withdrew, with most of his troops, to Edirne. Although
after a relatively short time period, the capital of the empire was changed
to Istanbul (formerly known as Constantinople).
Mehmed
was not satisfied with a new capital alone. He consolidated control
over his European provinces, some of which claimed their independence after
the Battle of Ankara. After a sixteen years of war, in 1479, he defeated
his empire's chief rival at the time, Venice. This victory allowed
him to seized Scutari (Uskudar), which faces Istanbul on the opposing Marmara
coast. Shortly thereafter, relations between Mehmed and the King
of Naples deteriorated. The increased tensions between the two rulers,
culminated in a land invasion of the Italian peninsula in 1480. Ottoman
troops took the Italian citadel of Otranto and made that their base of
operations in Italy. Mehmed had hoped to reinforce his troops in
Italy and have them eventually sack Rome. However, this was not to
be. On May 1, 1481, Mehmed complained to his chief physician, Hamiduddin
al-Lari, of severe abdominal pains. What happened next is disputed.
Some believe that al-Lari accidentally gave the ailing sultan the wrong
medication, others think he poisoned the Mehmed, and of course it might
have been that Mehmed's condition was so advanced that treatment simply
failed. Regardless, Mehmed died two days later. He had been
a brilliant military leader, an egalitarian ruler, a patron of the arts,
and much more.