Mehmed II (Fatih)

Timeline

1. c. 1432–1446Edirne (Adrianople) · ThraceMehmed II was born around 1432, son of Sultan Murad II. After his father's brief abdication in 1444, the twelve-year-old Mehmed first acceded as sultan, but due to his youth and turbulent circumstances Murad II was restored in 1446, making his first reign very short.
2. 1451–1453Edirne · ThraceMurad II died in 1451 and Mehmed II acceded again. He immediately prepared the conquest of Constantinople: building Rumeli Hisarı fortress on the European shore of the Bosphorus to cut Byzantine supplies, recruiting craftsmen to cast giant cannons, assembling an army of over 80,000, and appointing Mahmud Pasha and other senior officials to assist in governance.
3. 1453Constantinople · former Byzantine EmpireOn May 29, 1453, after a siege of about 53 days, Mehmed II's forces breached the walls and entered Constantinople; the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI died in battle. The conquest ended over a thousand years of Byzantine history, earned Mehmed II the title Fatih (Conqueror), and made Constantinople (Istanbul) the new capital of the Ottoman Empire.
4. 1454–1481Istanbul (Constantinople) · Ottoman EmpireAfter conquering Constantinople, Mehmed II continued expanding, successively conquering Serbia, the Greek Morea, Bosnia, Trebizond, and Crimea. He promulgated the Kanunname (Sultan's Law), reformed the administrative and military systems, and pursued centralization. In the 1460s he designated Bayezid as crown prince and appointed his younger son Cem as provincial governor; meanwhile he relied on Grand Vizier Mahmud Pasha and naval commander Gedik Ahmed Pasha to carry out major military operations. In May 1481 Mehmed II died while on campaign.