Editing Mehmed II (section)

==Conquests==
=== Conquest of Constantinople ===
{{Main|Fall of Constantinople}}
[[File:OttomanEmpire1451.png|thumb|The Ottoman Empire at the beginning of Mehmed II's second reign]]
[[File:Rumeli Castle.jpg|thumb|[[Roumeli Hissar Castle]], built by Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452, before the [[Fall of Constantinople]]<ref name="WDL">{{cite web|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/8836/|title=Bosphorus (i.e. Bosporus), View from Kuleli, Constantinople, Turkey|website=[[World Digital Library]]|date=1890–1900|access-date=12 December 2013|archive-date=20 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020201630/http://www.wdl.org/en/item/8836/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

When Mehmed II ascended the throne again in 1451, he devoted himself to strengthening the Ottoman navy and made preparations for an attack on Constantinople. In the narrow [[Bosphorus|Bosphorus Straits]], the fortress [[Anadoluhisarı]] had been built by his great-grandfather [[Bayezid I]] on the Asian side; Mehmed erected an even stronger fortress called [[Rumelihisarı]] on the European side, and thus gained complete control of the strait. Having completed his fortresses, Mehmed proceeded to levy a toll on ships passing within reach of their cannon. A [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] vessel ignoring signals to stop was sunk with a single shot and all the surviving sailors beheaded,<ref name="Silburn1912">Silburn, P. A. B. (1912).</ref> except for the captain, who was impaled and mounted like a human scarecrow as a warning to other sailors on the strait.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03l2shc|title=Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities|website=BBC Four|access-date=9 April 2017|archive-date=8 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308102211/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03l2shc|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Abu Ayyub al-Ansari]], the companion and standard bearer of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, had died during the first [[Siege of Constantinople (674–678)]]. As Mehmed II's army approached Constantinople, Mehmed's sheikh [[Akshamsaddin]]{{sfn|Stavrides|2001|p=23}} discovered the tomb of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. After the conquest, Mehmed built [[Eyüp Sultan Mosque]] at the site to emphasize the importance of the conquest to the Islamic world and highlight his role as [[Ghazi warriors|ghazi]].{{sfn|Stavrides|2001|p=23}}

In 1453, Mehmed commenced the siege of Constantinople with an army between 80,000 and 200,000 troops, an artillery train of over seventy large field pieces,{{sfn|Arnold|2001|p=111}} and a navy of 320 vessels, the bulk of them transports and storeships. The city was surrounded by sea and land; the fleet at the entrance of the [[Bosphorus]] stretched from shore to shore in the form of a crescent, to intercept or repel any assistance for Constantinople from the sea.<ref name="Silburn1912"/> In early April, the [[Fall of Constantinople|Siege of Constantinople]] began. At first, the city's walls held off the Turks, even though Mehmed's army used the new bombard designed by [[Orban]], a giant cannon similar to the [[Dardanelles Gun]]. The harbor of the [[Golden Horn]] was blocked by a [[boom (navigational barrier)|boom chain]] and defended by twenty-eight [[warship]]s.

On 22 April, Mehmed transported his lighter warships overland, around the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] [[Genoese colonies|colony]] of [[Galata]], and into the Golden Horn's northern shore; eighty galleys were transported from the Bosphorus after paving a route, little over one mile, with wood. Thus, the Byzantines stretched their troops over a longer portion of the walls. About a month later, Constantinople fell, on 29 May, following a fifty-seven-day siege.<ref name="Silburn1912"/> After this conquest, Mehmed moved the Ottoman capital from [[Edirne|Adrianople]] to Constantinople.

When Sultan Mehmed II stepped into the ruins of the [[Boukoleon Palace|Boukoleon]], known to the Ottomans and Persians as the Palace of the Caesars, probably built over a thousand years before by [[Theodosius II]], he uttered the famous lines of [[Saadi Shirazi|Saadi]]:<ref>''The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare'', Jim Bradbury, p. 68</ref>{{sfn|Stavrides|2001|p=22}}<ref>''East and West in the Crusader States'': Krijna Nelly Ciggaar, Adelbert Davids, Herman G. B. Teule, p. 51</ref><ref>''The Lord of the Panther-Skin'', Shota Rustaveli, p. xiii</ref>

{{blockquote|<poem>The spider is curtain-bearer in the palace of Chosroes,
The owl sounds the relief in the castle of Afrasiyab.</poem>}}

Some Muslim scholars claimed that a [[hadith]] in [[Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal|Musnad Ahmad]] referred specifically to Mehmed's conquest of Constantinople, seeing it as the fulfillment of a prophecy and a sign of the approaching apocalypse.<ref>{{ cite journal| last= Şahin| first= K.|date= 2010| title=Constantinople and the End Time: The Ottoman Conquest as a Portent of the Last Hour| journal=Journal of Early Modern History| volume=14|issue=4|pages= 317–354| doi= 10.1163/157006510X512223|mode=cs2}}</ref>

[[File:Zonaro GatesofConst.jpg|thumb|The entry of Sultan Mehmed II into [[Constantinople]], painting by [[Fausto Zonaro]] (1854–1929)]]

After the conquest of Constantinople, Mehmed claimed the title of [[Caesar (title)|caesar]] of the [[Roman Empire]] (''Qayser-i Rûm''), based on the assertion that Constantinople had been the seat and capital of the [[Roman Empire]] since 330 AD and whoever possessed the Imperial capital was the ruler of the empire.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2004/12/19/pazar/yazortay.html |title=Milliyet İnternet – Pazar |publisher=Milliyet.com.tr |date=19 December 2004 |access-date=9 April 2017 |archive-date=31 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031030657/http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2004/12/19/pazar/yazortay.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The contemporary scholar [[George of Trebizond]] supported his claim.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/constantinople.htm|title= Constantinople: City of the World's Desire, 1453–1924|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=9 April 2017|archive-date=24 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724153239/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/constantinople.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ftOp1cR7VK8C&q=%22The+seat+of+the+Roman+Empire+is+Constantinople.%22&pg=PT13|title=Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453|last=Crowley|first=Roger|year=2009|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0571250790|language=en}}</ref> The claim was not recognized by the [[Catholic Church]] and most of, if not all, Western Europe, but was recognized by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]. Mehmed had installed [[Gennadius Scholarius]], a staunch antagonist of the West, as the [[ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople]] with all the ceremonial elements, ethnarch (or ''milletbashi'') status, and rights of property that made him the second largest landlord in the empire after the sultan himself in 1454, and in turn, Gennadius II recognized Mehmed the Conqueror as the successor to the throne.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://global.britannica.com/biography/Gennadios-II-Scholarios|title=Gennadios II Scholarios {{!}} patriarch of Constantinople|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=9 April 2017|language=en|archive-date=31 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031214404/https://global.britannica.com/biography/Gennadios-II-Scholarios|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.patriarchate.org/list-of-ecumenical-patriarchs?p_p_id=101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_pos=1&p_p_col_count=2&_101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc_delta=20&_101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc_keywords=&_101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc_advancedSearch=false&_101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc_andOperator=true&p_r_p_564233524_resetCur=false&_101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc_cur=6|title=List of Ecumenical Patriarchs – The Ecumenical Patriarchate|website=www.patriarchate.org|language=en-US|access-date=9 April 2017|archive-date=2 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702213524/https://www.patriarchate.org/list-of-ecumenical-patriarchs?p_p_id=101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_pos=1&p_p_col_count=2&_101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc_delta=20&_101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc_keywords=&_101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc_advancedSearch=false&_101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc_andOperator=true&p_r_p_564233524_resetCur=false&_101_INSTANCE_u1pdiOuFkFSc_cur=6|url-status=live}}</ref>

Emperor [[Constantine XI Palaiologos]] died without producing an heir, and had Constantinople not fallen to the Ottomans, he likely would have been succeeded by the sons of his deceased elder brother. Those children were taken into the palace service of Mehmed after the fall of Constantinople. The oldest boy, renamed [[Hass Murad Pasha|Hass Murad]], became a personal favorite of Mehmed and served as [[beylerbey]] of the [[Balkans]]. The younger son, renamed [[Mesih Pasha]], became admiral of the Ottoman fleet and [[sanjak-bey]] of the [[Sanjak of Gelibolu|Gallipoli]]. He eventually served twice as [[Grand Vizier]] under Mehmed's son, [[Bayezid II]].<ref>Lowry, Heath W. (2003). ''The Nature of the Early Ottoman State''. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. pp. 115–116.</ref>

After the fall of Constantinople, Mehmed would also go on to conquer the [[Despotate of Morea]] in the [[Peloponnese]] in [[Ottoman conquest of the Morea|two campaigns in 1458 and 1460]] and the [[Empire of Trebizond]] in northeastern Anatolia in 1461. The last two vestiges of Byzantine rule were thus absorbed by the Ottoman Empire. The conquest of Constantinople bestowed immense glory and prestige on the country. There is some historical evidence that, 10 years after the conquest of Constantinople, Mehmed II visited the site of [[Troy]] and boasted that he had avenged the Trojans by conquering the Greeks (Byzantines).<ref name="Wood1985">{{cite book|author=Michael Wood|title=In Search of the Trojan War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5HDjtGwYjsC&pg=PA38|access-date=1 May 2013|year=1985|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-21599-3|pages=38–|archive-date=12 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012221935/http://books.google.com/books?id=N5HDjtGwYjsC&pg=PA38|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Konuk2010">{{cite book|author=Kader Konuk|title=East West Mimesis: Auerbach in Turkey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bDGhU1g9hM0C&pg=PA78|access-date=3 May 2013|year=2010|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-7575-5|pages=78–|archive-date=12 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012222155/http://books.google.com/books?id=bDGhU1g9hM0C&pg=PA78|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Freely2009">{{cite book|author=John Freely|title=The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II – Conqueror of Constantinople and Master of an Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ybm4b0xItDEC&pg=PT95|access-date=3 May 2013|year=2009|publisher=Overlook|isbn=978-1-59020-449-8|pages=95–|archive-date=12 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012222409/http://books.google.com/books?id=Ybm4b0xItDEC&pg=PT95|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Conquest of Serbia (1454–1459) ===
{{further|List of campaigns of Mehmed the Conqueror|Ottoman Serbia}}
[[File:Siegebelgrade.jpg|thumb|[[Ottoman miniature]] of the [[Siege of Belgrade (1456)|Siege of Belgrade]], 1456]]
Mehmed II's first campaigns after Constantinople were in the direction of Serbia, which had been an Ottoman [[vassal state]] intermittently since the [[Battle of Kosovo]] in 1389. The Ottoman ruler had a connection with the [[Serbian Despotate]] – one of [[Murad II]]'s wives was [[Mara Branković]] – and he used that fact to claim Serbian lands. [[Đurađ Branković]]'s recently made alliance with the Hungarians, and his irregular payments of tribute, further served as justifications for the invasion. The Ottomans sent an ultimatum demanding the keys to some Serbian castles which formerly belonged to the Ottomans.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Uzunçarşılı |first=İsmail Hakkı |title=Osmanlı Tarihi Cilt II |publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu |year=2019 |isbn=9789751600127 |pages=13–18 |language=tr |trans-title=History of the Ottomans Volume II}}</ref> When Serbia refused these demands, the Ottoman army led by Mehmed set out from [[Edirne]] towards Serbia in 1454, sometime after the 18th of April.<ref name=":4">Elizabeth A. Zachariadou, Romania and the Turks Pt. XIII p. 837-840, "First Serbian Campaigns of Mehemmed II (1454-1455)"</ref> Mehmed's forces quickly succeeded in capturing Sivricehisar (sometimes identified with the [[Ostrvica Fortress]]) and Omolhisar,<ref name=":5">Ibn Kemal, Tevarih-i Al-i Osman, VII. Defter, ed. Ş. Turan, 1957, pp. 109-118</ref> and [[Battle of Ostrvica|repulsed]] a Serbian cavalry force of 9,000 cavalry sent against them by the despot.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Jorga |first=Nicolae |title=Büyük Türk - Fatih Sultan Mehmed |publisher=Yeditepe Yayınevi |year=2018 |isbn=9786052070383 |pages=73–84 |language=tr}}</ref> Following these actions, the Serbian capital of [[Smederevo]] was put under siege by the Ottoman forces. Before the city could be taken, intelligence was received about an approaching Hungarian relief force led by Hunyadi, which caused Mehmed to lift the siege and start marching back to his domains.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Muresanu |first=Camil |title=John Hunyadi: Defender of Christendom |publisher=Center for Romanian Studies |year=2018 |isbn=9781592111152 |pages=205 |language=en}}</ref> By August the campaign was effectively over,<ref name=":4" /> Mehmed left a part of his force under the command of Firuz Bey in Serbia in anticipation of a possible offensive on Ottoman territories by Hunyadi.<ref name=":3" /> This force was defeated by a combined Hungarian-Serbian army led by Hunyadi and [[Nikola Skobaljić]] on the 2nd of October near [[Battle of Kruševac|Kruševac]], after which Hunyadi went on to raid Ottoman controlled Nish and Pirot before returning back to Belgrade.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Babinger |first=Franz |title=Fatih Sultan Mehmed ve Zamanı |publisher=Oğlak Yayıncılık |year=2003 |isbn=975-329-417-4 |pages=109 |language=tr |trans-title=Mehmed the Conqueror and His Times}}</ref> Roughly a month later, on the 16th of November, the Ottomans avenged their earlier defeat at Kruševac by defeating Skobaljić's army near Tripolje, where the Serbian voivode was captured and executed via impalement.<ref name=":7" /> Following this a temporary treaty was signed with the Serbian despot, where Đurađ would formally recognize the recently captured Serbian forts as Ottoman land, send thirty thousand [[florin]]s to the [[Sublime Porte|Porte]] as yearly tribute and provide troops for Ottoman campaigns.<ref name=":3" /> The 1454 campaign had resulted in the capture of fifty thousand prisoners from Serbia, four thousand of whom were settled in various villages near [[Constantinople]].<ref name=":3" /> The following year, Mehmed received reports from one of his frontier commanders about Serbian weakness against a possible invasion, the reports in combination with the dissatisfactory results of the 1454 campaign convinced Mehmed to initiate another campaign against Serbia.<ref name=":3" /> The Ottoman army marched on the important mining town of [[Novo Brdo]], which Mehmed put under [[Siege of Novo Brdo (1455)|siege]]. The Serbians couldn't resist the Ottoman army out in the open, thus resorted to fortifying their various settlements and having their peasants flee to either various fortresses or forests.<ref name=":6" /> After forty days of siege and intense cannon fire, Novo Brdo surrendered.<ref name=":6" /> Following the conquest of the city, Mehmed captured various other Serbian settlements in the surrounding area,<ref name=":5" /> after which he started his march back towards Edirne, visiting his ancestor [[Murad I]]'s grave in Kosovo on the way.<ref name=":4" /> 

In 1456, Mehmed decided to continue his momentum towards the northwest and capture the city of [[Belgrade]], which had been ceded to the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] by the Serbian despot [[Đurađ Branković]] in 1427. Significant preparations were made by the Sultan for the conquest of the city, including the casting of 22 large cannons alongside many smaller ones and the establishment of a navy which would sail up the [[Danube]] to aid the army during the siege.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Türkmen |first=İlhan |date=5 January 2015 |title=The Campaigns Against Serbia During the Reign of Mehmed the Conqueror per Ottoman Chronicles |trans-title= |journal=Asia Minor Studies - International Journal of Social Sciences |volume=3 |issue=5 |pages=115–132 |via=Dergipark}}</ref> The exact number of troops Mehmed commanded varies between sources,<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Babinger |first=Franz |title=Fatih Sultan Mehmed ve Zamanı |publisher=Oğlak Yayıncılık |year=2003 |isbn=975-329-417-4 |pages=132–137 |language=tr |trans-title=Mehmed the Conqueror and His Times}}</ref> but the rumours of its size were significant enough to cause panic in Italy.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Setton |first=Kenneth M. |title=A History of the Crusades Volume VI |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1989 |isbn=0-299-10740-X |pages=323–325 |language=en}}</ref> Ottoman troops began arriving at Belgrade on the 13th of June.<ref name=":8" /> After the necessary preparations were finished, Ottoman cannons started bombarding the city walls and Ottoman troops started filling the ditches in front of the walls with earth to advance forward.<ref name=":8" /> As despair started to set in amongst the defenders, news started arriving of a relief force assembling across the Danube under the command of John Hunyadi.<ref name=":8" /> Upon learning of this development, Mehmed held a war council with his commanders to determine the army's next actions.<ref name=":8" /> [[Karaca Pasha]] recommended that a part of the army should cross the Danube to counter the approaching relief army.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Tansel |first=Selahattin |title=Osmanlı Kaynaklarına Göre Fatih Sultan Mehmed'in Siyasi ve Askeri Faaliyeti |publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu |year=1953 |isbn=9789751610812 |pages=122–123 |language=tr |trans-title=Mehmed the Conqueror's Political and Military Activity per Ottoman Sources}}</ref> This plan was rejected by the council, particularly due to the opposition by the Rumelian Begs.<ref name=":8" /> Instead, the decision was made to prioritize capturing the fortress, a move seen as a tactical blunder by modern historians.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":8" /> This allowed Hunyadi to set up camp with his army across the Danube uncontested.<ref name=":11" /> Shortly after, the Ottoman navy was defeated in a five hour long battle by the newly arrived Christian Danubian navy.<ref name=":11" /> Following this, Hunyadi's troops started entering the city to reinforce the besieged, which increased the morale of the defending forces.<ref name=":9" /> Infuriated by the unfolding events, Mehmed ordered a final attack to capture the city on the 21st of July, after continuous cannon fire building up to the day of the attack.<ref name=":9" /> Ottoman troops were initially successful in breaching the defences and entering the city, however were eventually repulsed by the defenders.<ref name=":10" /> The Christians pressed their advantage by launching a counter attack, which started pushing back the Ottoman forces,<ref name=":8" /> managing to advance as far as the Ottoman camp.<ref name=":3" /> At this crucial point of the battle, one of the viziers advised Mehmed to abandon the camp for his safety, which he refused to do so on the grounds that it would be a "sign of cowardice".<ref name=":3" /> After this, Mehmed personally joined the fighting, accompanied by two of his [[Bey|begs]].<ref name=":8" /> The Sultan managed to personally kill three<ref name=":3" /> enemy soldiers before being injured, forcing him to abandon the battlefield.<ref name=":9" /> The news of their Sultan fighting alongside them and the arrival of reinforcements caused a morale boost amongst the Ottoman troops, which allowed them to go on the offensive again and push the Christian forces out of the Ottoman camp.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mureşanu |first=Camil |title=John Hunyadi: Defender of Christendom |publisher=Histria Books |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-59211-115-2 |pages=221–224 |language=en |quote=The janissaries, however, were still fighting vigorously. Mehmed II, although wounded by an arrow in his calf, stayed among them... Mehmed repelled the troops that had penetrated into his camp}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8" /> The actions of the Sultan had prevented a complete rout of the Ottoman army,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mixson |first=James D. |title=The Crusade of 1456: Texts and Documentation in Translation |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-4875-3262-8 |pages=26 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8" /> however, the army had been far too weakened to attempt to take the city again, causing the Ottoman war council to decide on ending the siege.<ref name=":8" /> The Sultan and his army began a retreat to Edirne during the night, without the Christian forces being able to pursue them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jorga |first=Nicolae |title=Büyük Türk - Fatih Sultan Mehmed |publisher=Yeditepe Yayınevi |year=2018 |isbn=9786052070383 |pages=93–97 |language=tr}}</ref> Hunyadi died shortly after the siege, meanwhile [[Đurađ Branković]] regained possession of some parts of Serbia.

Shortly before the end of the year 1456, roughly 5 months after the [[Siege of Belgrade (1456)|Siege of Belgrade]], the 79-year-old Branković died. Serbian independence survived after him for only around three years, when the Ottoman Empire formally annexed Serbian lands following dissension among his widow and three remaining sons. Lazar, the youngest, poisoned his mother and exiled his brothers, but he died soon afterwards. In the continuing turmoil the oldest brother [[Stefan Branković]] gained the throne. Observing the chaotic situation in Serbia, the Ottoman government decided to definitively conclude the Serbian issue.{{sfn|Uzunçarşılı|2019|p=20}} The Grand Vizier [[Mahmud Pasha Angelović|Mahmud Pasha]] was dispatched with an army to the region in 1458, where he initially conquered [[Resava (river)#Region|Resava]] and a number of other settlements before moving towards Smederevo.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=130}} After a battle outside the city walls, the defenders were forced to retreat inside the fortress.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=130}} In the ensuing siege, the outer walls were breached by Ottoman forces, however the Serbians continued to resist inside the inner walls of the fortress.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=130}} Not wanting to waste time capturing the inner citadel, Mahmud lifted the siege diverted his army elsewhere, conquering [[Rudnik (mountain)|Rudnik]] and its environs before attacking and capturing the fortress of Golubac.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=130}} Subsequently, Mehmed who had returned from his campaign in Morea met up with Mahmud Pasha in [[Skopje]].<ref name=":10" />{{sfn|Uzunçarşılı|2019|p=20}} During this meeting, reports were received that a Hungarian army was assembling near the Danube to launch an offensive against the Ottoman positions in the region.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=131}} The Hungarians crossed the Danube near Belgrade, after which they marched south towards [[Užice]].{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=131}} While the Hungarian troops were engaged in plunder near Užice, they got [[Battle of Užice|ambushed]] by the Ottoman forces in the region, forcing them to retreat.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aşıkpaşazade |first=Ahmed |title=Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi |publisher=K Kitaplığı |year=2003 |isbn=975-296-043-X |editor-last=Yavuz |editor-first=Kemal |pages=228–229 |language=tr |trans-title=Aşıkpaşazade's History of the Ottomans}}</ref><ref name=":10" />{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=131}} Despite this victory, for Serbia to be fully annexed into the empire, Smederevo still had to be taken.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=131}} The opportunity for its capture presented itself the following year. [[Stefan Branković]] was ousted from power in March 1459. After that the Serbian throne was offered to [[Stephen Tomašević]], the future king of Bosnia, which infuriated Sultan Mehmed. After Mahmud Pasha suppressed an uprising near [[Prizren|Pizren]],{{sfn|Uzunçarşılı|2019|p=20}} Mehmed personally led an army against the Serbian capital,<ref name=":10" /> capturing [[Smederevo]] on the 20th of June 1459.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SEMENDİRE |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/semendire |access-date=2024-09-14 |website=TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi |language=tr}}</ref> After the surrender of the capital, other Serbian castles which continued to resist were captured in the following months,{{sfn|Uzunçarşılı|2019|p=20}} ending the existence of the [[Serbian Despotate]].<ref name="Miller1">{{cite book |title=The Balkans: Roumania, Bulgaria, Servia, and Montenegro |last=Miller |first=William |year=1896 |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons |location=London |isbn=978-0836999655 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J98DAAAAYAAJ |access-date=8 February 2011 |archive-date=29 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429210022/https://books.google.com/books?id=J98DAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Conquest of the Morea (1458–1460) ===
[[File:Sarayi Album 145ba.jpg|thumb|15th century portrait of Mehmed II (1432–1481), showing Italian influence]]
{{main|Ottoman conquest of the Morea}}
The [[Despotate of the Morea]] bordered the southern Ottoman Balkans. The Ottomans had already invaded the region under [[Murad II]], destroying the Byzantine defenses&nbsp;– the [[Hexamilion wall]]&nbsp;– at the [[Isthmus of Corinth]] in 1446. Before the final siege of [[Constantinople]], Mehmed ordered Ottoman troops to attack the Morea. The despots, [[Demetrios Palaiologos]] and [[Thomas Palaiologos]], brothers of the last emperor, failed to send any aid. The chronic instability and the tribute payment to the Turks, after the peace treaty of 1446 with Mehmed II, resulted in an [[Morea revolt of 1453–1454|Albanian-Greek revolt]] against them, during which the brothers invited Ottoman troops to help put down the revolt.{{sfn|Babinger|1992|pp=125–126}} At this time, a number of influential Moreote Greeks and Albanians made private peace with Mehmed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://angiolello.net/ARCHONS.pdf |title=Contemporary Copy of the Letter of Mehmet II to the Greek Archons 26 December 1454 (ASV Documenti Turchi B.1/11) |publisher=Angiolello.net |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727041148/http://angiolello.net/ARCHONS.pdf |archive-date=27 July 2013 }}</ref> After more years of incompetent rule by the despots, their failure to pay their annual tribute to the Sultan, and finally their own revolt against Ottoman rule, Mehmed entered the Morea in May 1460. The capital [[Mystras|Mistra]] fell exactly seven years after Constantinople, on 29 May 1460. Demetrios ended up a prisoner of the Ottomans and his younger brother Thomas fled. By the end of the summer, the Ottomans had achieved the submission of virtually all cities possessed by the Greeks.

A few holdouts remained for a time. The island of [[Monemvasia]] refused to surrender, and it was ruled for a brief time by a Catalan corsair. When the population drove him out they obtained the consent of Thomas to submit to the Pope's protection before the end of 1460.{{sfn|Babinger|1992|pp=173–175}} The [[Mani Peninsula]], on the Morea's south end, resisted under a loose coalition of local clans, and the area then came under the rule of [[Republic of Venice|Venice]]. The last holdout was [[Salmeniko]], in the Morea's northwest. [[Graitzas Palaiologos]] was the military commander there, stationed at [[Salmeniko Castle]] (also known as Castle Orgia). While the town eventually surrendered, Graitzas and his garrison and some town residents held out in the castle until July 1461, when they escaped and reached Venetian territory.{{sfn|Babinger|1992|pp=176–177}}

=== Conquest of Trebizond (1460–1461) ===

Emperors of [[Empire of Trebizond|Trebizond]] formed alliances through royal marriages with various Muslim rulers. Emperor [[John IV of Trebizond]] married his daughter to the son of his brother-in-law, [[Uzun Hasan]], sultan of the [[Aq Qoyunlu]] (also known as White Sheep Turkomans), in return for his promise to defend Trebizond. He also secured promises of support from the Turkish [[bey]]s of [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]] and [[Karamanid|Karamania]], and from the king and princes of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. The Ottomans were motivated to capture Trebizond or to get an annual tribute. In the time of Murad II, they first attempted to take the capital by sea in 1442, but bad weather made the landings difficult and the attempt was repulsed. While Mehmed II was away laying siege to [[Belgrade]] in 1456, the Ottoman governor of [[Amasya]] attacked Trebizond, and although he was defeated, he took many prisoners and extracted a heavy tribute.

After John's death in 1459, his brother [[David of Trebizond|David]] came to power and intrigued with various European powers for help against the Ottomans, speaking of wild schemes that included the conquest of [[Jerusalem]]. Mehmed II eventually heard of these intrigues and was further provoked to action by David's demand that Mehmed remit the tribute imposed on his brother.

Mehmed the Conqueror's response came in the summer of 1461. He led a sizable army from [[Bursa, Turkey|Bursa]] by land and the Ottoman navy by sea, first to [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]], joining forces with Ismail's brother Ahmed (the Red). He captured Sinope and ended the official reign of the Jandarid dynasty, although he appointed Ahmed as the governor of Kastamonu and Sinope, only to revoke the appointment the same year. Various other members of the Jandarid dynasty were offered important functions throughout the history of the Ottoman Empire. During the march to Trebizond, Uzun Hasan sent his mother Sara Khatun as an ambassador; while they were climbing the steep heights of [[Zigana Pass|Zigana]] on foot, she asked Sultan Mehmed why he was undergoing such hardship for the sake of Trebizond. Mehmed replied:

{{blockquote|Mother, in my hand is the sword of Islam, without this hardship I should not deserve the name of ''[[Ghazi warriors|ghazi]]'', and today and tomorrow I should have to cover my face in shame before [[Allah]].{{sfn|Babinger|1992|p=193}}}}

Having isolated Trebizond, Mehmed quickly swept down upon it before the inhabitants knew he was coming, and he placed it [[Siege of Trebizond (1461)|under siege]]. The city held out for a month before the emperor David surrendered on 15 August 1461.

=== Submission of Wallachia (1459–1462) ===
[[File:Vlad Ţepeş, the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia (1456-1462) (died 1477).jpg|thumb|Portrait of [[Vlad the Impaler|Vlad (Dracula) the Impaler]], Prince of [[Wallachia]], 1460]]
[[File:AtaculdeNoapte.jpg|thumb|right|[[The Night Attack of Târgovişte]], which resulted in a failed assassination attempt of Mehmed]]

The Ottomans since the early 15th century tried to bring Wallachia ({{langx|ota|والاچیا}}) under their control by putting their own candidate on the throne, but each attempt ended in failure. The Ottomans regarded Wallachia as a buffer zone between them and the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] and for a yearly tribute did not meddle in their internal affairs. The two primary Balkan powers, Hungary and the Ottomans, maintained an enduring struggle to make Wallachia their own vassal. To prevent Wallachia from falling into the Hungarian fold, the Ottomans freed young [[Vlad the Impaler|Vlad III]] (Dracula), who had spent four years as a prisoner of Murad, together with his brother [[Radu cel Frumos|Radu]], so that Vlad could claim the throne of Wallachia. His rule was short-lived, however, as Hunyadi invaded Wallachia and restored his ally [[Vladislav II of Wallachia|Vladislav II]], of the [[House of Dănești|Dănești]] clan, to the throne.

Vlad III Dracula fled to Moldavia, where he lived under the protection of his uncle, [[Bogdan II of Moldavia|Bogdan II]]. In October 1451, Bogdan was assassinated and Vlad fled to Hungary. Impressed by Vlad's vast knowledge of the mindset and inner workings of the Ottoman Empire, as well as his hatred towards the Turks and new Sultan Mehmed II, Hunyadi reconciled with his former enemy and tried to make Vlad III his own advisor, but Vlad refused.

In 1456, three years after the Ottomans had conquered Constantinople, they threatened Hungary by besieging [[Belgrade]]. Hunyadi began a concerted counterattack in [[Serbia]]: While he himself moved into Serbia and relieved the siege (before dying of the plague), Vlad III Dracula led his own contingent into Wallachia, reconquered his native land, and killed Vladislav II.

In 1459, Mehmed II sent envoys to Vlad to urge him to pay a delayed [[tribute]]{{sfn|Babinger|1992}} of 10,000 ducats and 500 recruits into the Ottoman forces. Vlad III Dracula refused and had the Ottoman envoys killed by nailing their [[turban]]s to their heads, on the pretext that they had refused to raise their "hats" to him, as they only removed their headgear before Allah.

Meanwhile, the Sultan sent the Bey of Nicopolis, [[Hamza Bey|Hamza Pasha]], to make peace and, if necessary, eliminate Vlad III.<ref name=explore>{{cite web|url=http://www.exploringromania.com/vlad-the-impaler-3.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608112020/http://www.exploringromania.com/vlad-the-impaler-3.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=8 June 2009 |title=Vlad the Impaler second rule [3&#93; |publisher=Exploringromania.com |access-date=17 August 2012}}</ref> Vlad III set an ambush; the Ottomans were surrounded and almost all of them caught and impaled, with Hamza Pasha impaled on the highest stake, as befit his rank.<ref name=explore/>

In the winter of 1462, Vlad III crossed the Danube and scorched the entire Bulgarian land in the area between [[Serbia]] and the [[Black Sea]]. Allegedly disguising himself as a [[Turkish people|Turkish]] [[Sipahi]] and utilizing his command of the Turkish language and customs, Vlad III infiltrated Ottoman camps, ambushed, massacred or captured several Ottoman forces. In a letter to Corvinus dated 2 February, he wrote:

{{blockquote|I have killed peasants men and women, old and young, who lived at Oblucitza and Novoselo, where the Danube flows into the sea, up to [[Rahova]], which is located near Chilia, from the lower Danube up to such places as Samovit and Ghighen. We killed 23,884 Turks without counting those whom we burned in homes or the Turks whose heads were cut by our soldiers.... Thus, your highness, you must know that I have broken the peace with him [Mehmed II].<ref name=Vlad>{{cite web |url= http://www.stanford.edu/group/rsa/_content/_public/_htm/dracula.shtml |title= Dracula: Between Myth and Reality |author= Adrian Axinte |access-date= 17 April 2013 |archive-date= 20 November 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121120171630/http://www.stanford.edu/group/rsa/_content/_public/_htm/dracula.shtml |url-status= live }} Student paper for Romanian Student Association, Stanford University.</ref>{{unreliable source?|certain=y|date=August 2015|reason=Self-published student paper.}}}}

Mehmed II abandoned his siege of Corinth to launch a punitive attack against Vlad III in Wallachia{{sfn|Babinger|1992|pp=204–205}} but suffered many casualties in a surprise [[The Night Attack|night attack]] led by Vlad III Dracula, who was apparently bent on personally killing the Sultan.<ref>''Dracula: Prince of many faces – His life and his times'' p. 147</ref> However, Vlad's policy of staunch resistance against the Ottomans was not a popular one, and he was betrayed by the boyars's (local aristocracy) appeasing faction, most of them also pro-Dăneşti (a rival princely branch). His best friend and ally [[Stephen III of Moldavia]], who had promised to help him, seized the chance and instead attacked him trying to take back the [[Fortress of Chilia]]. Vlad III had to retreat to the mountains. After this, the Ottomans captured the Wallachian capital [[Târgoviște]] and Mehmed II withdrew, having left Radu as ruler of Wallachia. [[Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey]], who served with distinction and wiped out a force of 6,000 Wallachians and deposited 2,000 of their heads at the feet of Mehmed II, was also reinstated, as a reward, in his old gubernatorial post in Thessaly.{{sfn|Babinger|1992|p=207}} Vlad eventually escaped to Hungary, where he was imprisoned on a false accusation of treason against his overlord, [[Matthias Corvinus]].

=== Conquest of Bosnia (1463) ===
[[File:Mehmed II ferman.jpg|thumb|Mehmed II's [[ahidnâme]] to the Catholic monks of the recently conquered Bosnia issued in 1463, granting them full religious freedom and protection]]

The despot of Serbia, [[Lazar Branković]], died in 1458, and a civil war broke out among his heirs that resulted in the Ottoman conquest of Serbia in 1459/1460. [[Stephen Tomašević]], son of the king of Bosnia, tried to bring Serbia under his control, but Ottoman expeditions forced him to give up his plan and Stephen fled to Bosnia, seeking refuge at the court of his father.{{sfn|Fine|1994|pp=575–581}} After some battles, Bosnia became tributary kingdom to the Ottomans.

On 10 July 1461, [[Stephen Thomas of Bosnia|Stephen Thomas]] died, and Stephen Tomašević succeeded him as King of Bosnia. In 1461, Stephen Tomašević made an alliance with the Hungarians and asked [[Pope Pius II]] for help in the face of an impending Ottoman invasion. In 1463, after a dispute over the tribute paid annually by the [[Bosnian Kingdom]] to the Ottomans, he sent for help from the [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]]. However, none ever reached Bosnia. In 1463, Sultan Mehmed II led an army into the country. The royal city of [[Bobovac]] soon fell, leaving Stephen Tomašević to retreat to [[Jajce]] and later to [[Ključ, Una-Sana Canton|Ključ]]. Mehmed invaded Bosnia and conquered it very quickly, executing Stephen Tomašević and his uncle [[Radivoj of Bosnia|Radivoj]]. Bosnia officially fell in 1463 and became the westernmost province of the Ottoman Empire.

===Ottoman-Venetian War (1463–1479)===
{{Main|Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479)}}
[[File:"I Turchi respinti da Scutari" Gatteri's Etching of the Siege of Shkodra.jpg|thumb|right|Scene depicts the fifth and greatest assault upon the Shkodra Castle by Ottoman forces in the [[Siege of Shkodra]], 1478–79]]
According to the Byzantine historian [[Michael Critobulus]], hostilities broke out after an Albanian slave of the Ottoman commander of Athens fled to the Venetian fortress of Coron ([[Koroni]]) with 100,000 silver [[Aspron|aspers]] from his master's treasure. The fugitive then converted to Christianity, so Ottoman demands for his rendition were refused by the Venetian authorities.<ref name="Setton241">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=241}}</ref> Using this as a pretext in November 1462, the Ottoman commander in central Greece, [[Turahanoğlu Ömer Bey]], attacked and nearly succeeded in taking the strategically important Venetian fortress of Lepanto ([[Nafpaktos]]). On 3 April 1463, however, the governor of the Morea, Isa Beg, took the Venetian-held town of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] by treason.<ref name="Setton241"/>

The new alliance launched a two-pronged offensive against the Ottomans: a Venetian army, under the Captain General of the Sea [[Alvise Loredan]], landed in the Morea, while [[Matthias Corvinus]] invaded Bosnia.<ref name="Finkel63">{{harvnb|Finkel|2007|p=63}}</ref> At the same time, [[Pius II]] began assembling an army at [[Ancona]], hoping to lead it in person.<ref name="Shaw65">{{harvnb|Shaw|1976|p=65}}</ref> Negotiations were also begun with other rivals of the Ottomans, such as [[Karamanids]], [[Uzun Hassan]] and the [[Crimean Khanate]].<ref name="Shaw65"/>

In early August, the Venetians retook [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] and refortified the [[Isthmus of Corinth]], restoring the [[Hexamilion wall]] and equipping it with many cannons.<ref name="Setton248">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=248}}</ref> They then proceeded to besiege the fortress of the [[Acrocorinth]], which controlled the northwestern Peloponnese. The Venetians engaged in repeated clashes with the defenders and with Ömer Bey's forces, until they suffered a major defeat on 20 October and were then forced to lift the siege and retreat to the Hexamilion and to Nauplia ([[Nafplion]]).<ref name="Setton248"/> In Bosnia, Matthias Corvinus seized over sixty fortified places and succeeded in taking its capital, [[Jajce]], [[Siege of Jajce|after a 3-month siege]], on 16 December.<ref name="Setton250">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=250}}</ref>

Ottoman reaction was swift and decisive: Mehmed II dispatched his [[Grand Vizier]], [[Mahmud Pasha Angelović]], with an army against the Venetians. To confront the Venetian fleet, which had taken station outside the entrance of the [[Dardanelles]] Straits, the Sultan further ordered the creation of the new shipyard of Kadirga Limani in the [[Golden Horn]] (named after the "kadirga" type of [[galley]]), and of two forts to guard the Straits, [[Kilitbahir Castle|Kilidulbahr]] and [[Çanakkale|Sultaniye]].<ref name="Crusades326">Setton, Hazard & Norman (1969), p. 326</ref> The Morean campaign was swiftly victorious for the Ottomans; they razed the Hexamilion, and advanced into the Morea. Argos fell, and several forts and localities that had recognized Venetian authority reverted to their Ottoman allegiance.

Sultan Mehmed II, who was following Mahmud Pasha with another army to reinforce him, had reached Zeitounion ([[Lamia (city)|Lamia]]) before being apprised of his Vizier's success. Immediately, he turned his men north, towards Bosnia.<ref name="Crusades326"/> However, the Sultan's attempt to retake Jajce in July and August 1464 failed, with the Ottomans retreating hastily in the face of Corvinus' approaching army. A new Ottoman army under Mahmud Pasha then forced Corvinus to withdraw, but Jajce was not retaken for many years after.<ref name="Setton250"/> However, the death of Pope Pius II on 15 August in Ancona spelled the end of the Crusade.<ref name="Shaw65"/><ref>{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=270}}</ref>

In the meantime, the Venetian Republic had appointed [[Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta|Sigismondo Malatesta]] for the upcoming campaign of 1464. He launched attacks against Ottoman forts and engaged in a failed siege of [[Mistra]] in August through October. Small-scale warfare continued on both sides, with raids and counter-raids, but a shortage of manpower and money meant that the Venetians remained largely confined to their fortified bases, while Ömer Bey's army roamed the countryside.

In the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]], the Venetians tried to take Lesbos in the spring of 1464, and besieged the capital [[Mytilene]] for six weeks, until the arrival of an Ottoman fleet under Mahmud Pasha on 18 May forced them to withdraw.<ref name="Setton251">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=251}}</ref> Another attempt to capture the island shortly after also failed. The Venetian navy spent the remainder of the year in ultimately fruitless demonstrations of force before the Dardanelles.<ref name="Setton251"/> In early 1465, Mehmed II sent peace feelers to the Venetian Senate; distrusting the Sultan's motives, these were rejected.<ref>{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=273}}</ref>

In April 1466, the Venetian war effort was reinvigorated under [[Vettore Cappello]]: the fleet took the northern Aegean islands of [[Imbros]], [[Thasos]], and [[Samothrace]], and then sailed into the [[Saronic Gulf]].<ref name="Setton283"/> On 12 July, Cappello landed at [[Piraeus]] and marched against [[Athens]], the Ottomans' major regional base. He failed to take the [[Acropolis of Athens|Acropolis]] and was forced to retreat to [[Patras]], the capital of Peloponnese and the seat of the Ottoman [[bey]], which was being besieged by a joint force of Venetians and [[Greeks]].<ref>[[Spyridon Trikoupis]], ''Istoria tis Ellinikis Epanastaseos'' (London, 1853–1857) Vol 2, pp. 84–85</ref> Before Cappello could arrive, and as the city seemed on the verge of falling, Ömer Bey suddenly appeared with 12,000 cavalry and drove the outnumbered besiegers off. Six hundred Venetians and a hundred Greeks were taken prisoner out of a force of 2,000, while Barbarigo himself was killed.<ref name="Setton284">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=284}}</ref> Cappello, who arrived some days later, attacked the Ottomans but was heavily defeated. Demoralized, he returned to Negroponte with the remains of his army. There Cappello fell ill and died on 13 March 1467.<ref>Setton (1978), pp. 284–285</ref> In 1470 Mehmed personally led an Ottoman army to [[Siege of Negroponte (1470)|besiege Negroponte]]. The Venetian relief navy was defeated, and Negroponte was captured.

In spring 1466, Sultan Mehmed marched with a large army against the Albanians. Under their leader, [[Skanderbeg]], they had long resisted the Ottomans, and had repeatedly sought assistance from Italy.<ref name="Finkel63"/> Mehmed II responded by marching again against Albania but [[Third Siege of Krujë|was unsuccessful]]. The winter brought an outbreak of plague, which would recur annually and sap the strength of the local resistance.<ref name="Setton283">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=283}}</ref> Skanderbeg himself died of malaria in the Venetian stronghold of Lissus ([[Lezhë]]), ending the ability of Venice to use the Albanian lords for its own advantage.<ref name="Finkel64"/> After Skanderbeg died, some Venetian-controlled northern Albanian garrisons continued to hold territories coveted by the Ottomans, such as [[Žabljak Crnojevića]], [[Drisht]], Lezhë, and [[Shkodra]]&nbsp;– the most significant. Mehmed II sent his armies to take Shkodra in 1474<ref name="albanianhistory1">{{cite web|url=http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts15/AH1474.html |title=1474 &#124; George Merula: The Siege of Shkodra |publisher=Albanianhistory.net |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005000842/http://www.albanianhistory.net/texts15/AH1474.html |archive-date=5 October 2013 }}</ref> but failed. Then he went personally to lead the [[siege of Shkodra]] of 1478–79. The Venetians and Shkodrans resisted the assaults and continued to hold the fortress until Venice ceded Shkodra to the Ottoman Empire in the [[Treaty of Constantinople (1479)|Treaty of Constantinople]] as a condition of ending the war.

The agreement was established as a result of the Ottomans having reached the outskirts of [[Venice]]. Based on the terms of the treaty, the Venetians were allowed to keep [[Ulcinj]], Antivan, and [[Durrës]]. However, they ceded [[Shkodra]], which had been [[Siege of Shkodra|under Ottoman siege]] for many months, as well as other territories on the [[Dalmatia]]n coastline, and they relinquished control of the Greek islands of [[Lordship of Negroponte|Negroponte]] ([[Euboea]]) and [[Lemnos]]. Moreover, the Venetians were forced to pay 100,000 ducat [[indemnity]]<ref>''Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World'': [[Alexander Mikaberidze]], p. 917, 2011</ref> and agreed to a tribute of around 10,000 [[ducat]]s per year in order to acquire trading privileges in the [[Black Sea]]. As a result of this treaty, Venice acquired a weakened position in the [[Levant]].<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/67/538.html ''The Encyclopedia of World History'' (2001) – Venice] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070705062303/http://www.bartleby.com/67/538.html |date=5 July 2007 }} "The great war against the Turks (See 1463–79). Negroponte was lost (1470). The Turks throughout maintained the upper hand and at times raided to the very outskirts of Venice. In the Treaty of Constantinople (1479), the Venetians gave up Scutari and other Albanian stations, as well as Negroponte and Lemnos. Thenceforth the Venetians paid an annual tribute for permission to trade in the Black Sea."</ref>

=== Anatolian conquests (1464–1473) ===
[[File:Fetihname Fatih.jpg|Mehmed's ''Fetihname'' (Declaration of conquest) after the [[Battle of Otlukbeli]]|thumb|right|150px]]
During the post-[[Sultanate of Rum|Seljuks]] era in the second half of the [[Middle Ages]], numerous [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkmen]] principalities collectively known as [[Anatolian beyliks]] emerged in Anatolia. [[Karamanids]] initially centred around the modern provinces of [[Karaman Province|Karaman]] and [[Konya Province|Konya]], the most important power in Anatolia. But towards the end of the 14th century, Ottomans began to dominate on most of Anatolia, reducing the Karaman influence and prestige.

[[İbrahim II of Karaman]] was the ruler of Karaman, and during his last years, his sons began struggling for the throne. His heir apparent was [[İshak of Karaman]], the governor of [[Silifke]]. But [[Pir Ahmet of Karaman|Pir Ahmet]], a younger son, declared himself as the bey of Karaman in [[Konya]]. İbrahim escaped to a small city in western territories where he died in 1464. The competing claims to the throne resulted in an interregnum in the ''beylik''. Nevertheless, with the help of Uzun Hasan, İshak was able to ascend to the throne. His reign was short, however, as Pir Ahmet appealed to Sultan Mehmed II for help, offering Mehmed some territory that İshak refused to cede. With Ottoman help, Pir Ahmet defeated İshak in the battle of [[Dağpazarı, Mut|Dağpazarı]]. İshak had to be content with Silifke up to an unknown date.<ref>Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: ''Türkiye tarihi'' Cilt I, Akdtykttk Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 pp. 256–257 {{isbn|975-16-0258-0}}</ref> Pir Ahmet kept his promise and ceded a part of the ''beylik'' to the Ottomans, but he was uneasy about the loss. So, during the Ottoman campaign in the West, he recaptured his former territory. Mehmed returned, however, and captured both Karaman (Larende) and Konya in 1466. Pir Ahmet barely escaped to the East. A few years later, Ottoman [[vizier]] (later [[grand vizier]]) [[Gedik Ahmet Pasha]] captured the coastal region of the ''beylik''.<ref>Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: ''Türkiye tarihi'' Cilt I, Akdtyttk Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 pp. 256–258. {{isbn|975-16-0258-0}}</ref>

Pir Ahmet as well as his brother [[Kasım of Karaman|Kasım]] escaped to Uzun Hasan's territory. This gave Uzun Hasan a chance to interfere. In 1472, the Akkoyunlu army invaded and raided most of Anatolia (this was the reason behind the [[Battle of Otlukbeli]] in 1473). But then Mehmed led a successful campaign against Uzun Hasan in 1473 that resulted in the decisive victory of the Ottoman Empire in the [[Battle of Otlukbeli]]. Before that, Pir Ahmet with Akkoyunlu help had captured Karaman. However, Pir Ahmet could not enjoy another term. Because immediately after the capture of Karaman, the Akkoyunlu army was defeated by the Ottomans near [[Beyşehir]] and Pir Ahmet had to escape once more. Although he tried to continue his struggle, he learned that his family members had been transferred to [[Istanbul]] by Gedik Ahmet Pasha, so he finally gave up. Demoralized, he escaped to Akkoyunlu territory where he was given a ''[[tımar]]'' (fief) in [[Bayburt]]. He died in 1474.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.enfal.de/starih40.htm |title=Karamanogullari Beyligi |publisher=Enfal.de |access-date=17 September 2013 |archive-date=28 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928035633/http://www.enfal.de/starih40.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Citation is a non-English, unreliable website; there must be more scholarly sources available to support this.|date=April 2017}}

Uniting the Anatolian ''beylik''s was first accomplished by Sultan [[Bayezid I]], more than fifty years before Mehmed II but after the destructive [[Battle of Ankara]] in 1402, the newly formed unification was gone. Mehmed II recovered Ottoman power over the other Turkish states, and these conquests allowed him to push further into Europe.

Another important political entity that shaped the Eastern policy of Mehmed II were the Aq Qoyunlu. Under the leadership of Uzun Hasan, this kingdom gained power in the East, but because of its strong relations with Christian powers like the Empire of Trebizond and the [[Republic of Venice]] and the alliance between the Turcomans and the Karamanid tribe, Mehmed saw them as a threat to his own power.

=== War with Moldavia (1475–1476) ===
[[File:Paolo Veronese (Nachfolger) - Sultan Mohammed II. (1451 - 1481) - 2247 - Bavarian State Painting Collections.jpg|thumb|Mehmed the Second, portrait by [[Paolo Veronese]]]]

In 1456, [[Peter III Aaron]] agreed to pay the Ottomans an annual tribute of 2,000 gold ducats to ensure his southern borders, thus becoming the first Moldavian ruler to accept the Turkish demands.<ref>The A to Z of Moldova, Andrei Brezianu, Vlad Spânu, p. 273, 2010</ref> His successor [[Stephen the Great]] rejected Ottoman suzerainty and a series of fierce wars ensued.<ref>The A to Z of Moldova, Andrei Brezianu, Vlad Spânu, p. 242, 2010</ref> Stephen tried to bring Wallachia under his sphere of influence and so supported his own choice for the Wallachian throne. This resulted in an enduring struggle between different Wallachian rulers backed by Hungarians, Ottomans, and Stephen. An Ottoman army under Hadim Pasha (governor of Rumelia) was sent in 1475 to punish Stephen for his meddling in Wallachia; however, the Ottomans suffered a great defeat at the [[Battle of Vaslui]]. Stephen inflicted a decisive defeat on the Ottomans, described as "the greatest ever secured by the Cross against Islam,"{{By whom|date=July 2020}} with casualties, according to Venetian and Polish records, reaching beyond 40,000 on the Ottoman side. Mara Brankovic (Mara Hatun), the former younger wife of Murad II, told a Venetian envoy that the invasion had been worst ever defeat for the Ottomans. Stephen was later awarded the title "Athleta Christi" (Champion of Christ) by Pope Sixtus IV, who referred to him as "verus christianae fidei athleta" ("the true defender of the Christian faith"). Mehmed II assembled a large army and entered Moldavia in June 1476. Meanwhile, groups of [[Tartars]] from the [[Crimean Khanate]] (the Ottomans' recent ally) were sent to attack Moldavia. Romanian sources may state that they were repelled.<ref name="ir">Mihai Bărbulescu, [[Dennis Deletant]], [[Keith Hitchins]], [[Șerban Papacostea]], Pompiliu Teodor, ''Istoria României (History of Romania)'', Ed. Corint, Bucharest, 2002, {{ISBN|973-653-215-1}}, p. 157 {{Dead link|date=April 2017}}</ref> Other sources state that joint Ottoman and Crimean Tartar forces "occupied Bessarabia and took Akkerman, gaining control of the southern mouth of the Danube. Stephan tried to avoid open battle with the Ottomans by following a scorched-earth policy".<ref name="shaw">{{cite book |last=Shaw |first=Stanford J |year=1976 |title=History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey |volume=1: Empire of Gazis |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-29163-1 |page=68 }}</ref>

Finally, Stephen faced the Ottomans in battle. The Moldavians luring the main Ottoman forces into a forest that was set on fire, causing some casualties. According to another battle description, the defending Moldavian forces repelled several Ottoman attacks with steady fire from hand-guns.<ref>{{in lang|ro}} Akademia, ''[http://www.akademia.ro/articole.php?view=26 Rolul distinctiv al artileriei în marile oști moldovenești] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927092344/http://www.akademia.ro/articole.php?view=26 |date=27 September 2007 }} (The special role of artillery in the larger Moldavian armies)'', April 2000</ref> The attacking Turkish [[Janissary|Janissaries]] were forced to crouch on their stomachs instead of charging headlong into the defenders positions. Seeing the imminent defeat of his forces, Mehmed charged with his personal guard against the Moldavians, managing to rally the Janissaries, and turning the tide of the battle. Turkish Janissaries penetrated inside the forest and engaged the defenders in man-to-man fighting.

The Moldavian army was utterly defeated (casualties were very high on both sides), and the [[chronicle]]s say that the entire battlefield was covered with the bones of the dead, a probable source for the [[toponym]] (''Valea Albă'' is [[Romanian language|Romanian]] and ''Akdere'' [[Turkish language|Turkish]] for "The White Valley").

Stephen the Great retreated into the north-western part of Moldavia or even into the [[History of Poland (1385–1569)|Polish Kingdom]]<ref name="jn">{{in lang|ro}} [[Jurnalul Național]], ''[http://old.jurnalul.ro/articol.php?id=2790 Calendar 26 iulie 2005.Moment istoric]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (Anniversaries on 26 July 2005. A historical moment)'' {{Dead link|date=April 2017}}</ref> and began forming another army.
The Ottomans were unable to conquer any of the major Moldavian strongholds ([[Suceava]], [[Neamț Citadel|Neamț]], and [[Hotin]])<ref name="ir"/> and were constantly harassed by small-scale Moldavian attacks. Soon they were also confronted with starvation, a situation made worse by an outbreak of the [[Bubonic plague|plague]], and the Ottoman army returned to Ottoman lands. The threat of Stephen to Wallachia continued for decades. That very same year Stephen helped his cousin [[Vlad the Impaler]] return to the throne of Wallachia for the third and final time. Even after Vlad's untimely death several months later Stephen continued to support, with force of arms, a variety of contenders to the Wallachian throne succeeding after Mehmet's death to instate [[Vlad Călugărul]], half brother to Vlad the Impaler, for a period of 13 years from 1482 to 1495.

===Conquest of Albania (1466–1478)===
[[File:Gjergj Kastrioti.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of [[Skanderbeg]], prince of [[League of Lezhë]]]]

[[Skanderbeg]], a member of the [[Albanian nobility]] and a former member of the Ottoman ruling elite, led [[Skanderbeg's rebellion|a rebellion]] against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Europe. Skanderbeg, son of [[Gjon Kastrioti]] (who had joined the unsuccessful [[Albanian revolt of 1432–1436]]), united the [[Albanian principalities]] in a military and diplomatic alliance, the [[League of Lezhë]], in 1444.  Mehmed II was never successful in his efforts to subjugate [[Albania]] while Skanderbeg was alive, even though he twice (1466 and 1467) led the Ottoman armies himself against [[Krujë]]. After Skanderbeg died in 1468, the Albanians could not find a leader to replace him, and Mehmed II eventually conquered Krujë and Albania in 1478.

In spring 1466, Sultan Mehmed marched with a large army against Skanderbeg and the [[Albanians]]. Skanderbeg had repeatedly sought assistance from Italy,<ref name="Finkel63"/> and believed that the ongoing [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–1479)]] offered a golden opportunity to reassert Albanian independence; for the Venetians, the Albanians provided a useful cover to the Venetian coastal holdings of [[Durrës]] ({{langx|it|Durazzo}}) and [[Shkodër]] ({{langx|it|Scutari}}). The major result of this campaign was the construction of the fortress of [[Elbasan]], allegedly within just 25 days. This strategically sited fortress, at the lowlands near the end of the old ''[[Via Egnatia]]'', cut Albania effectively in half, isolating Skanderbeg's base in the northern highlands from the Venetian holdings in the south.<ref name="Finkel64">{{harvnb|Finkel|2007|p=64}}</ref> However, following the Sultan's withdrawal Skanderbeg himself spent the winter in Italy, seeking aid. On his return in early 1467, his forces sallied from the highlands, defeated [[Ballaban Badera|Ballaban Pasha]], and lifted the [[Second Siege of Krujë|siege]] of the fortress of Croia ([[Krujë]]); they also attacked Elbasan but failed to capture it.<ref name="Crusades327">Setton, Hazard & Norman (1969), p. 327</ref><ref name="Setton278">{{harvnb|Setton|1978|p=278}}</ref> Mehmed II responded by marching again against Albania. He energetically pursued the attacks against the Albanian strongholds, while sending detachments to raid the Venetian possessions to keep them isolated.<ref name="Crusades327"/> The Ottomans [[Third Siege of Krujë|failed again]] to take Croia, and they failed to subjugate the country. However, the winter brought an outbreak of plague, which would recur annually and sap the strength of the local resistance.<ref name="Setton283" /> Skanderbeg himself died of malaria in the Venetian stronghold of Lissus ([[Lezhë]]), ending the ability of Venice to use the Albanian lords for its own advantage.<ref name="Finkel64"/> The Albanians were left to their own devices and were gradually subdued over the next decade.

After Skanderbeg died, Mehmed II personally led the [[Siege of Shkodra (1478)|siege of Shkodra in 1478–79]], of which early Ottoman chronicler [[Aşıkpaşazade]] (1400–81) wrote, "All the conquests of Sultan Mehmed were fulfilled with the seizure of Shkodra."<ref>Pulaha, Selami. ''Lufta shqiptaro-turke në shekullin XV. Burime osmane''. Tirana: Universiteti Shtetëror i Tiranës, Instituti i Historisë dhe Gjuhësisë, 1968, p. 72</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2017|reason=Unable to verify source; English source needed to verify; there must be more objective sources available for this}}{{Better source needed|date=April 2017|reason=Unable to verify source; English source needed to verify; there must be more objective sources available for this}} The Venetians and Shkodrans resisted the assaults and continued to hold the fortress until Venice ceded Shkodra to the Ottoman Empire in the [[Treaty of Constantinople (1479)|Treaty of Constantinople]] as a condition of ending the war.

===Crimean policy (1475)===
{{Main|Crimean Khanate}}
A number of [[Turkic peoples]], collectively known as the [[Crimean Tatars]], had been inhabiting the peninsula since the early [[Middle Ages]]. After the destruction of the [[Golden Horde]] by [[Timur]] earlier in the 15th century, the Crimean Tatars founded an independent [[Crimean Khanate]] under [[Hacı I Giray]], a descendant of [[Genghis Khan]].

The Crimean Tatars controlled the steppes that stretched from the [[Kuban]] to the [[Dniester River]], but they were unable to take control over the commercial [[Genoa|Genoese]] towns called [[Gazaria (Genoese colonies)]], which had been under Genoese control since 1357. After the conquest of Constantinople, Genoese communications were disrupted, and when the Crimean Tatars asked for help from the Ottomans, they responded with an invasion of the Genoese towns, led by [[Gedik Ahmed Pasha]] in 1475, bringing [[Feodosiya|Kaffa]] and the other trading towns under their control.<ref name="Subtelny">{{Cite book|title=Ukraine: A History|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|year=2000|isbn=0-8020-8390-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/ukrainehistory00subt_0/page/78 78]|author=Subtelny, Orest|author-link=Orest Subtelny|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ukrainehistory00subt_0/page/78}}</ref> After the capture of the Genoese towns, the Ottoman Sultan held [[Meñli I Giray]] captive,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.avalanchepress.com/Soldier_Khan.php |title=Soldier Khan |publisher=Avalanchepress.com |access-date=17 September 2013 |archive-date=1 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801113659/http://www.avalanchepress.com/Soldier_Khan.php |url-status=live }}</ref> later releasing him in return for accepting Ottoman suzerainty over the Crimean Khans and allowing them to rule as [[Vassal and tributary states of the Ottoman Empire|tributary princes of the Ottoman Empire]].<ref name="Subtelny"/> However, the Crimean khans still had a large amount of autonomy from the Ottoman Empire, while the Ottomans directly controlled the southern coast.

=== Expedition to Italy (1480) ===
{{main|Ottoman invasion of Otranto}}[[File:Mehmed II (1432-1481).jpg|thumb|A [[bronze medal]] of Mehmed II the Conqueror by [[Bertoldo di Giovanni]], 1480<ref>{{cite web|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O142648/mehmed-ii-medal-bellini-gentile/|title=Mehmed II {{!}} Bellini, Gentile {{!}} V&A Search the Collections|website=collections.vam.ac.uk|year=1480 |language=en|access-date=9 April 2017|archive-date=9 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409203927/http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O142648/mehmed-ii-medal-bellini-gentile/|url-status=live}}</ref>|alt=A bronze medal of Mehmed II the Conqueror]]
[[File:Mehmed II Doppelbildnis.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of Mehmed II with a young man on the left. It is assumed that Bellini himself did not create the two portraits in Istanbul, but only after his return to Venice. The young man is sometimes interpreted as Mehmed's son Cem, but there is no proof of this.]]

An Ottoman army under [[Gedik Ahmed Pasha]] invaded Italy in 1480, capturing [[Otranto]]. Because of lack of food, Gedik Ahmed Pasha returned with most of his troops to [[Albania]], leaving a garrison of 800 infantry and 500 cavalry behind to defend Otranto in Italy. It was assumed he would return after the winter. Since it was only 28 years after the fall of Constantinople, there was some fear that [[Rome]] would suffer the same fate. Plans were made for the Pope and citizens of Rome to evacuate the city. [[Pope Sixtus IV]] repeated his 1481 call for a [[crusade]]. Several Italian city-states, Hungary, and France responded positively to the appeal. The [[Republic of Venice]] did not, however, as it had signed an expensive peace treaty with the Ottomans in 1479.

In 1481 king [[Ferdinand I of Naples]] raised an army to be led by his son [[Alphonso II of Naples]]. A contingent of troops was provided by king [[Matthias Corvinus]] of Hungary. The city was besieged starting 1 May 1481. After the death of Mehmed on 3 May, ensuing quarrels about his succession possibly prevented the Ottomans from sending reinforcements to Otranto. So, the Turkish occupation of Otranto ended by negotiation with the Christian forces, permitting the Turks to withdraw to Albania, and Otranto was retaken by Papal forces in 1481.

===Return to Constantinople (1453–1478)===
{{further|History of Istanbul}}
[[File:Fatih Camii 1888-1910 yılları.jpg|thumb|right|Historical photo of [[Fatih Mosque, Istanbul|Fatih Mosque]], built by order of Sultan Mehmed II in Constantinople, the first [[imperial mosque]] built in the city after the Ottoman conquest]]

After conquering Constantinople, when Mehmed II finally entered the city through what is now known as the [[Topkapi Palace|Topkapi Gate]], he immediately rode his horse to the [[Hagia Sophia]], where he ordered the building to be protected. He ordered that an [[imam]] meet him there in order to chant the [[Shahada|Muslim Creed]]: "I testify that there is no god but [[God in Islam|Allah]]. I testify that [[Muhammad]] is the messenger of [[Allah]]."<ref>Lewis, Bernard. ''Istanbul and the Civilization if the Ottoman Empire''. 1, University of Oklahoma Press, 1963. p. 6</ref> The [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox]] cathedral was transformed into a Muslim mosque through a [[Waqf|charitable trust]], solidifying [[Islam]]ic rule in Constantinople.

Mehmed's main concern with Constantinople was with rebuilding the city's defenses and repopulation. Building projects were commenced immediately after the conquest, which included the repair of the walls, construction of the citadel, a remarkable hospital with students and medical staff, a large cultural complex, two sets of [[barracks]] for the [[janissaries]], a ''tophane'' gun foundry outside [[Galata]], and a new palace.<ref name="Inalcik, Halil 1969, p. 236">Inalcik, Halil. "The Policy of Mehmed II toward the Greek Population of Istanbul and the Byzantine Buildings of the City". ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'' 23, (1969): 229–249. p. 236</ref>{{Sfn|Nicolle|2000|p=84}} To encourage the return of the Greeks and the Genoese who had fled from Galata, the trading quarter of the city, he returned their houses and provided them with guarantees of safety. Mehmed issued orders across his empire that Muslims, Christians, and Jews should resettle in the city, demanding that five thousand households needed to be transferred to Constantinople by September.<ref name="Inalcik, Halil 1969, p. 236"/> From all over the Islamic empire, prisoners of war and deported people were sent to the city; these people were called "Sürgün" in Turkish ({{langx|el|σουργούνιδες}} ''sourgounides''; "immigrants").<ref name="mw28">{{harvnb|Müller-Wiener|1977|p=28}}</ref>

Mehmed restored the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate]] (6 January 1454), [[Gennadius Scholarius|monk Gennadios]] being appointed as the first Orthodox Patriarch,{{Sfn|Nicolle|2000|p=17}} and established a Jewish Grand Rabbinate ([[Hakham Bashi|Ḥakham Bashi]]) and the prestigious [[Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople]] in the capital, as part of the [[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|millet]] system. In addition, he founded, and encouraged his viziers to found, a number of Muslim institutions and commercial installations in the main districts of Constantinople, such as the [[Rum Mehmed Pasha Mosque]] built by the Grand Vizier [[Rum Mehmed Pasha]]. From these nuclei, the metropolis developed rapidly. According to a survey carried out in 1478, there were then in Constantinople and neighboring Galata 16,324 households, 3,927 shops, and an estimated population of 80,000.<ref>''The Ottomans and the Balkans'': Fikret Adanır, Suraiya Faroqhi, p. 358, 2002</ref> The population was about 60% Muslim, 20% Christian, and 10% Jewish.<ref>''A History of Islamic Societies'', Ira M. Lapidus, p. 272, 2002</ref>

By the end of his reign, Mehmed's ambitious rebuilding program had changed the city into a thriving imperial capital.{{sfn|Stavrides|2001|p=23}} According to the contemporary Ottoman historian [[Neşri]], "Sultan Mehmed created all of Istanbul".{{sfn|Stavrides|2001|p=23}} Fifty years later, Constantinople had again become the largest city in Europe.

Two centuries later, the well-known Ottoman itinerant [[Evliya Çelebi]] gave a list of groups introduced into the city with their respective origins. Even today, many quarters of [[Istanbul]], such as [[Aksaray, Istanbul|Aksaray]] and [[Çarşamba, Istanbul|Çarşamba]], bear the names of the places of origin of their inhabitants.<ref name=mw28/> However, many people escaped again from the city, and there were several outbreaks of plague, so that in 1459 Mehmed allowed the deported Greeks to come back to the city.<ref name=mw28/> This measure apparently had no great success, since French voyager [[Pierre Gilles]] wrote in the middle of the 16th century that the Greek population of Constantinople was unable to name any of the ancient Byzantine churches that had been transformed into mosques or abandoned. This shows that the population substitution had been total.{{sfn|Mamboury|1953|p=99}}