| Mehmed II | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caesar of Rome The sultan of two lands and the khan of two seas[1] | |||||
 | |||||
| Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Padishah) | |||||
| 1st reign | August 1444 – September 1446 | ||||
| Predecessor | Murad II | ||||
| Successor | Murad II | ||||
| 2nd reign | 3 February 1451 – 3 May 1481 | ||||
| Predecessor | Murad II | ||||
| Successor | Bayezid II | ||||
| Born | 30 March 1432 Edirne, Ottoman Sultanate | ||||
| Died | 3 May 1481 (aged 49) Hünkârçayırı (Tekfurçayırı), near Gebze, Ottoman Empire | ||||
| Burial | Fatih Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey | ||||
| Consorts | |||||
| Issue Among others | |||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Ottoman | ||||
| Father | Murad II | ||||
| Mother | Hüma Hatun (biological) Mara Branković (adoptive) | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam[3][4] | ||||
| Tughra |  | ||||
Mehmed II (Ottoman Turkish: محمد ثانى, romanized: Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; Turkish: II. Mehmed, pronounced [icinˈdʒi ˈmehmet]; 30 March 1432 – 3 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (Ottoman Turkish: ابو الفتح, romanized: Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit. 'the Father of Conquest'; Turkish: Fâtih Sultan Mehmed), was twice the 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 John Hunyadi after the Hungarian incursions into his country broke the conditions of the truce per the Treaties of Edirne and Szeged. When Mehmed II ascended the throne again in 1451, he strengthened the Ottoman Navy and made preparations to attack Constantinople. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople and brought an end to the Byzantine Empire. After the conquest, Mehmed claimed the title caesar of Rome (Ottoman Turkish: قیصر روم, romanized: qayṣar-i Rūm), based on the fact that Constantinople had been the seat and capital of the surviving Eastern Roman Empire since its consecration in 330 AD by Emperor Constantine I.[5] The claim was soon recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, albeit not by most European monarchs.
Mehmed continued his conquests in Anatolia with its reunification and in Southeast Europe as far west as 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.
- ^ 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
- ^ Gustav Bayerle (1997). Pashas, Begs, and Effendis: A Historical Dictionary of Titles and Terms in the Ottoman Empire. Isis Press. p. 150.
- ^ The Essential World History, Volume II: Since 1500. Archived 18 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine By William J. Duiker, Jackson J. Spielvogel
- ^ The Rise of Turkey: The Twenty-First Century's First Muslim Power Archived 18 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine. By Soner Cagaptay
- ^ Nicolle 2000, p. 85.