At a glance
Era 8- Dates
- 1432-1481 CE; ruled 1444-1446 and 1451-1481 CE
- Who
- Ottoman sultan who conquered Constantinople in 1453
- Era
- The Ottomans
ProfileMehmed II, al-Fatih
Mehmed II first took the throne at twelve, when his father Murad II retired, but had to give it back after two years. When his father died in 1451 he became sultan again at nineteen. He was well educated and spoke several languages.
He set his heart on Constantinople. He built a fortress on the Bosphorus to cut the city off, cast great cannon, and in April 1453 began the siege. When a chain blocked the harbour, he had ships dragged overland into the Golden Horn. On 29 May 1453, after fifty-three days, his army broke through the walls. Hagia Sophia became a mosque, and the city became his capital.
He rebuilt and repopulated it, welcomed people of all faiths and founded schools and a great mosque complex. He went on to take Serbia, Bosnia and the lands around the Black Sea. He died in 1481 on campaign.
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