Editing Mehmed II (section)

=== 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]].