Muhammad II

Muhammad II or Mehmet II (Muhammad the Conqueror), 1429-81, Ottoman sultan (1451-81), son and successor of Murad II. He is considered the true founder of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He completed the conquest of the Byzantine Empire by successfully storming (1453) Constantinople after a 50-day siege, for which he constructed the largest cannons the world had yet known. Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI fell in its defense. Muhammad moved his capital from Adrianople to Constantinople and restored the greatness of that city by settling there the populations of other conquered towns. To Greek and Armenian citizens of Constantinople he granted the privileges that they were to enjoy throughout Ottoman rule, including the freedom to practice Orthodox Eastern Christianity. The Church of Hagia Sophia became a mosque. Muhammad then conquered the Balkan Peninsula, taking Greece, Bosnia, and several Venetian possessions in the Aegean islands. The khan of Crimea became his ally and vassal. However, his further advance was checked at Belgrade by John Hunyadi , in Albania by Scanderbeg until 1478, and in Rhodes by the Knights Hospitalers under Aubusson . In Asia, Muhammad annexed the empire of Trebizond, ended most independent Turkish dynasties, and subdued the emirate of Karamania, putting to death its ruling family, who were Seljuk Turks. In 1480 he captured Otranto, in Italy, but the expedition had no results. Muhammad was a patron of learning and an accomplished linguist as well as a great commander. His son, Beyazid II, succeeded him. For a contemporary account of Muhammad II, see Kritoboulos, A History of Mehmed the Conqueror (tr. 1954).

Muhammad II (1429–81) Ottoman Sultan (1451–81), considered to be the true founder of the Ottoman Empire. Muhammad captured Constantinople (1453) and made it the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Mehmed II (or Muhammad II, the Conqueror) (1430–81) OTTOMAN sultan (1451–81). He was frustrated while ruling briefly (1444–46) during the retirement of his father, MURAD II, but on coming to power backed expansionist factions, and by 1453 had achieved the long-standing Ottoman objective of taking Constantinople and thus uniting the European and Asian parts of the empire. Ceaseless campaigns brought further gains in the Balkans, consolidated control of Asia Minor, and took Otranto in Apulia, but failed to wrest Rhodes from the Knights of St John. He modernized his forces by equipping them with firearms and artillery, and created the institutional framework of the developed Ottoman state.