In May 1453, an event occurred on the shores of the Bosphorus that left its mark on the entire subsequent course of world history. Unable to withstand the onslaught of the Turkish hordes, Constantinople fell, for many centuries it was the stronghold of Orthodoxy and was called the Second Rome. The troops of the Ottoman Empire were led by the very young Sultan Mehmed II, whose biography formed the basis of this article.
Heir to the throne
On March 30, 1432, a Greek concubine gave birth to the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Murad II, the fourth son, who became his heir and went down in world history as Mehmed II Fatih (Conqueror). It should be noted that initially his father did not prepare him for such a high field, since by his birth from a slave he was considered lower than his older brothers, whose mothers were noble Turkish. However, they all died in the early years, freeing the son of a slave the way to supreme power.
During the life of the brothers Mehmed II, whose parents (especially his father) did not see him as a future ruler, he grew up like all children in wealthy families, that is, indulging in games and pleasures. But after the death of the elder sons, Murad II was forced to radically change his attitude towards the child, whom fate itself had chosen as heirs to the throne, and to make every effort to prepare him for the fulfillment of the highest mission in the future.
First Board Experience
The Sultan assigned all care for the upbringing and education of his successor to the High Vizier Khalil. Under his tutelage, Mehmed for a short time received that necessary basic amount of knowledge, which subsequently allowed him to improve both in military science and in the art of diplomacy.
The biographies of the Ottoman conqueror that have come down to us indicate that Mehmed II first began administrative activities at the age of six, becoming the governor of the Manis province. True, there immediately follows a reservation that the same inseparable educator and mentor, the supreme vizier Khalil, helped him in this. One should hardly be surprised. Obviously, it was in his hands that the real power was located, and Murad II appointed the infant son only a nominal ruler, thus giving him the opportunity to join the art of government from an early age.
It is reliably known that, being a successful commander and a skilled diplomat, Murad II was nevertheless burdened with power and expressed his desire, quickly putting the reign of the empire on his heir, to indulge in idleness and pleasures in his magnificent palace in Magnesia. He realized this dream in 1444, making his son a sultan, but leaving him under the tutelage of the same vizier. This is understandable, because Mehmed was then barely twelve years old.
Unfortunate failure
However, the first pancake of the young ruler was clearly lumpy. The fact is that, with his age-specific desire to try something that cannot be, the young man secretly established relations with members of the Sufi religious movement, which is forbidden in the empire. Upon learning of this, the mentor ordered the execution of their preacher-dervish, who dared to lead astray the true young ruler.
The execution took place and had the most unexpected consequences. Outraged by blasphemy, the Janissaries revolted, sympathizing with this movement. Following this, taking advantage of the moment, the inhabitants of Anatolia withdrew from obedience, and after them the Christian population of Varna. Thus, the blood of a roaming preacher became the cause of very serious unrest.
In general, the wise vizier fell into disgrace - he wanted the best, but it turned out ... Murad II had to leave his harem for a while and, cursing the unlucky Khalil, again take up the duties of the Sultan. After such a fiasco, Mehmed II, who had been removed from power, spent two years in the palace, not showing himself and trying not to catch his father’s eyes.
Marriage chores
But, as biographers testify, from 1148 the heir who has already reached the age of sixteen is once again attracted by the sultan to participate in all state affairs. And so that henceforth all nonsense did not get into his head, he decided to resort to the old and proven method - to marry a guy. Will get a family - settle down.
But even here, the ungrateful offspring managed to upset his father - he fell in love with a Christian captive, whom he saw in one of the slave markets. He did not begin to sing serenades to her, but, simply paying what was required, he brought the beauty to the palace and married her (nevertheless, he was a decent man). She bore him a son, who received the Muslim name Bayazid and after many years who played a fateful role in her father’s life.
At first - heretics-Sufis, now - a Christian wife, no, that was too much. Managing a vast empire and everywhere meeting humility, Murad II could not cope with his own son. The infuriated father personally chose him a worthy bride from the most noble Turkish family. I had to submit. According to custom, he saw the face of his wife only after the wedding. One can only guess what appeared before his eyes, but it is known for certain that he was too shy to introduce this “gift” into the harem.
Ruler of the empire
In February 1451, an important event took place in the life of the Ottoman Empire - its ruler Sultan Murad II, the father of Mehmed, unexpectedly died. Since that time, all power has completely passed to him, and, taking up his duties, he first got rid of a possible rival and candidate for power - the infant son of his father, that is, his own brother.
Mehmed II ordered him executed, and this did not cause a negative reaction from anyone. The practice of eliminating conspirators to the throne had previously taken place at court, but only now it was framed by law. Having dealt with his brother, the young sultan sent to the chopping block a very bored mentor to him - the vizier Khalil.
According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II was a smart and energetic man, but at the same time very secretive, unpredictable and able to pursue a contradictory policy. We can fairly fully judge his appearance on the basis of intravital portraits created by European brush masters, the most famous of which is Gentile Bellini. On his canvases, the artist captured this low, but full internal strength of a man whose curved hooked nose gave his face a sinister expression.
Duplicity and treachery
Filled with true Eastern cunning, the future conqueror began his activity by trying to create for himself the image of a certain peacemaker. To this end, he did not stop reassuring Western diplomats of his desire to establish peace and stability in the region, and before the Ambassador of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX, he even swore to the Koran that he would never infringe on his possessions. The oath sounded exactly two years before the day when he brought down the might of his army on the walls of Constantinople, conquering this stronghold of Christianity forever.
However, the true essence of his policy was soon revealed. Throughout 1452, Sultan Mehmed II, contrary to his assurances, was preparing to seize the Byzantine capital. They built military fortifications near Constantinople, and guns were installed on the coast of the straits through which the ships of the Venetian merchants got from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Under the threat of immediate execution from all travelers, his officials levy a tax, which, in essence, is the most outright robbery.
The fall of Byzantium
In April 1453, the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, who was only twenty-one years old at that time, approached the walls of the Second Rome with a hundred thousandth army, the fifth of which were selected Janissary regiments. Against such an impressive army, the defenders of the city managed to put up only seven thousand soldiers. The forces were too unequal, and on May 29 Constantinople was taken. After the fall of the Great Roman Empire, this was the second largest tragedy in the history of the Christian world, which has since caused the center of world Orthodoxy to move to Moscow, which received the status of the Third Rome.
After the capture of the city, the Turks slaughtered most of its inhabitants, and those who could be sold into slavery were sent to slave markets. The emperor himself died that day - shortly before that, Constantine XI ascended the throne. A tragic, but in many ways instructive fate befell the Byzantine commander Luke Notar.
Counting on the magnanimity of the enemy, he was a supporter of the voluntary surrender of the city, for which he soon paid. When the capital was in the hands of the Turks, Mehmed II himself drew attention to his young and very pretty son. The harem of the boys was his weakness, and the sultan decided to make a replenishment. Having received the refusal of the indignant father, he did not argue, but ordered the whole family to be executed immediately.
In the new capital of the empire
Immediately after the capture of Constantinople, Mehmed II transferred the capital of his empire to it from Adrianople, which contributed to the intensive influx of the Turkish population. The suburb of the city, Galata, which until then was a Genoese colony, completely became subordinate to the Sultan administration and was also soon settled by the Turks. In addition, Mehmed II, whose wives and concubines were previously in the former capital, resettled to Constantinople and his entire numerous harem.
From the first days of Ottoman rule, the main Christian shrine of the city - the temple of Hagia Sophia - was turned into a mosque. However, in view of the fact that a significant number of former Christian residents remained in the occupied territory, a serious problem was the issue of regulating their religious life.
The attitude of the Sultan towards the Gentiles
It is worth noting that Mehmed II was guided by the principles of religious tolerance in his domestic policy, and under his rule the Gentiles sometimes felt much more at ease than in most European countries, where at that time there was a persecution for religious dissent. This was especially acute for the Jews - refugees from Western Europe who escaped from the Inquisition and who arrived in large numbers to the Ottoman Empire.
To control the numerous Christian communities of the empire, the Sultan appointed a Primate with his authority, who went down in history as Patriarch Gennady II Scholarius. An outstanding religious figure of his time, he became the author of a large number of theological and philosophical works, and the agreement he reached on regulating relations between Muslim authorities and Orthodox communities remained valid until 1923. Thus, Patriarch Gennady Scholarius and Mehmed II were able to prevent the inevitable in such cases bloodshed on religious grounds.
New hiking
After the internal affairs were settled, Mehmed II the Conqueror continued his treacherous policy. Over the next ten years, the Trebizond Empire, which was formerly a Byzantine colony, Serbia, Bosnia, the Duchy of Athens, the Principality of Marey and many other, previously independent states, fell at his feet.
In 1475, the Crimean Khanate fell under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire with its capital - the city ​​of Kafa, now Feodosia. It had previously inflicted significant damage on Eastern European countries by its raids, and when it entered the Ottoman Empire and significantly strengthened its military power, it created the preconditions for new aggressive campaigns by Mehmed II.
Death without glory
One of the few states that managed to resist the Sultan was the Venetian Republic. Unable to defeat it by military means, Mehmed concluded an agreement in 1479, on the basis of which the Venetians received the right to free trade within the Ottoman Empire. This largely untied his hands for further action, and in 1480, his troops seized southern Italy. But fate wished that this campaign would be the last in the life of the conqueror. In the midst of battles, he unexpectedly dies, but not on the battlefield, but in his own tent.
It is believed that Mehmed II, whose son from his Christian wife was the rightful heir, was the victim of a conspiracy. It is believed that Bayazid, led by a thirst for power (he was already mentioned in the article), managed to force his father’s personal doctor to give him a lethal dose of opium, as a result of which he died. Even before the burial of Mehmed II, his son took his place on the throne as the next ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Bayazid II.
Summing up the reign of Mehmed II, historians agree that he was able to largely change the attitude of the heads of European states towards his empire, forcing him to recognize her equal among the leading world powers of that era. He himself took a place in world history along with the most prominent commanders and statesmen.
Over the following centuries, the rulers of the state created by him changed, but the principles laid down by Sultan Mehmed II were the basis of their foreign and domestic policy. Chief among them was expansion, combined with relative tolerance for the conquered peoples.