Mehmed II was the seventh Ottoman sultan. In Turkey he is known as Fatih Sultan Mehmed, Mehmed the Conqueror. If you searched for him as Mehmed II osvajač, you have reached the same man. He was born in Edirne on 30 March 1432. He took Constantinople at 21 and died at 49. This guide follows his life from Edirne to Hünkârçayırı near Gebze, using only checkable sources.
Who was Mehmed II’s father?
His father was Sultan Murad II. Mehmed was Murad’s fourth son, so the throne was not an obvious inheritance. His mother was Hüma Hatun. English Wikipedia notes that her origin is not known for certain.
In spring 1443 the young prince was sent to Manisa as governor. Two tutors, called lalas, went with him: Kassabzâde Mahmud and Nişancı İbrâhim. Provincial service was how an Ottoman heir learned to rule before he reached the capital.
Mehmed held the throne twice. His first reign ran from 1444 to 1446. His second began in 1451 and lasted until his death in 1481. The conquest you are probably reading about came in the second reign.
Mehmed II and Constantinople: how the siege worked
The preparation began a year early. In 1452 Mehmed had the Rumeli Fortress built to block any help reaching Byzantium from the north.
The siege itself, by Halil İnalcık’s dating, ran from 6 April to 29 May 1453. That is 54 days. On the morning of 22 April 1453 part of the Ottoman fleet was hauled overland and lowered into the Golden Horn. The city fell on 29 May 1453.
Mehmed was 21 years old that day. The conquest ended the Byzantine Empire. It also gave him the name Fatih, the Conqueror, which Turks still use.
Mehmed II vs Vlad: what really happened
The Vlad story is the one most people ask about. In 1462 Mehmed marched into Wallachia against Vlad III. He backed Vlad’s brother Radu as voivode, the ruler of the principality. The campaign was about who would govern Wallachia, not a personal duel.
Season two of Rise of Empires: Ottoman covers the struggle between Mehmed and Vlad.
Campaigns after 1453
Not every campaign succeeded. In 1456 Mehmed besieged Belgrade. The city was defended by János Hunyadi, and it did not fall.
In 1461 he marched on Trabzon. The city surrendered, and the Empire of Trebizond ceased to exist. On 11 August 1473, at the Battle of Otlukbeli, he defeated Uzun Hasan, ruler of the Akkoyunlu.
At home he built. According to the National Palaces administration, Topkapı Palace was constructed on Mehmed’s orders between 1460 and 1478.
The poet behind the armour
Mehmed wrote poetry under the pen name Avnî. His poems were collected as the Avnî Dîvânı.
He was also a linguist. Halil İnalcık lists the languages he knew as Turkish, Greek and Slavic. That matters for a ruler who governed a city of Greek speakers and campaigned in the Balkans.
Mehmed II cause of death: gout or poison?
Mehmed died on 3 May 1481 at Hünkârçayırı, near Gebze. He was 49.
Why did Mehmed II die? İnalcık reports gout, called nikris in Ottoman sources. The poisoning claim rests on one reading of the chronicler Âşıkpaşazâde. İnalcık notes that no other source confirms it. So the honest answer is this: gout is the reported illness, and poison is an unconfirmed interpretation.
Who was Mehmed II’s successor?
His son Bayezid II took the Ottoman throne in 1481. The succession came in the same year as the death at Hünkârçayırı. The empire Bayezid inherited now stretched from the former Byzantine capital to Trabzon and the Wallachian frontier.
Was Mehmed II gay? What the sources say
The question comes from one source. The historian Chalkokondyles records a story of a sexual relationship between Mehmed and Radu, Vlad’s brother. Baki Tezcan’s 2025 study of the passage stresses that the narrator was biased. Tezcan also argues against dismissing the story as pure invention. The fair summary: a single hostile source, read with care, neither proven nor disproven.
Mehmed II in books
For reading, there is Franz Babinger’s book, published in Turkish as Fatih Sultan Mehmed ve Zamanı. The Turkish Historical Society library catalogue records Dost Körpe’s translation in Alfa’s second edition of 2022, running to 799 pages.
Timeline
- 30 March 1432 Born in Edirne.
- 1443 Sent to Manisa as governor.
- 1444-1446 First reign.
- 1451 Took the Ottoman throne for the second time.
- 1452 Built the Rumeli Fortress.
- 6 April 1453 Siege of Constantinople began.
- 22 April 1453 Part of the Ottoman fleet was moved overland into the Golden Horn.
- 29 May 1453 Constantinople fell.
- 1456 Siege of Belgrade failed.
- 1461 Empire of Trebizond ended.
- 1462 Wallachian campaign against Vlad III.
- 11 August 1473 Uzun Hasan defeated at Otlukbeli.
- 1478 Mehmed-era construction of Topkapı Palace completed.
- 1480 Gentile Bellini painted his portrait.
- 3 May 1481 Died at Hünkârçayırı; Bayezid II succeeded him.
Details you won’t find in guidebooks
He ordered his portrait from Venice. In 1479 Mehmed asked Venice for a painter. The republic sent Gentile Bellini, who painted the sultan in 1480.
He also wanted a map. A University of Chicago publication on European cartographers and the Ottoman world records that Mehmed asked Bellini for a map of Venice as well. The sultan wanted to see the rival city, not just be seen by it.
His poems survive in a named manuscript. The Turkish Manuscripts Institution’s edition, Fâtih Dîvânı ve Şerhi, is based on manuscript Ali Emîrî Manzum 305 in the Millet Library.
Count the towers. The Rumeli Fortress has 15 towers, three of them large, and five entrance gates.
FAQ
Why did Mehmed II kill his brother?
Mehmed was the fourth son of Murad II. The sources used for this article do not describe the fate of his brothers, so we do not speculate here.
How old was Mehmed II when he took Constantinople?
He was 21 years old on 29 May 1453, the day the city fell. The conquest ended the Byzantine Empire.
What was Mehmed II’s cause of death?
Halil İnalcık reports gout. The poisoning claim rests on one reading of the chronicler Âşıkpaşazâde and is not confirmed by other sources. He died on 3 May 1481 near Gebze, aged 49.
Who succeeded Mehmed II?
His son Bayezid II took the Ottoman throne in 1481, the same year Mehmed died.
Sources
- Türkçe Vikipedi — II. Mehmed tr.wikipedia.org
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi — Halil İnalcık, MEHMED II islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
- English Wikipedia — Mehmed II en.wikipedia.org
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism — Rumeli Fortress ktb.gov.tr
- Millî Saraylar — Topkapı Sarayı millisaraylar.gov.tr
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism — Avnî (Fatih) Dîvânı ekitap.ktb.gov.tr
- National Gallery — The Sultan Mehmet II nationalgallery.org.uk
- University of Chicago — European Cartographers and the Ottoman World, p. 97 oi.uchicago.edu
- Türkiye Yazma Eserler Kurumu Başkanlığı — Yayın Kataloğu omeralibey.yek.gov.tr
- Kültür Varlıkları ve Müzeler Genel Müdürlüğü — İstanbul Hisarlar Müze Müdürlüğü kvmgm.ktb.gov.tr
- Hokkaido University — Dariusz Kołodziejczyk, Acta Slavica Iaponica 32 src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp
- Netflix Türkiye — Rise of Empires: Ottoman Season 2 Official Trailer youtube.com
- Türk Tarih Kurumu Library — Fatih Sultan Mehmed ve Zamanı kutuphane.ttk.gov.tr
- Crete University Press — Baki Tezcan, Male Same-Sex Relations and Gendered Patronage, pp. 391-392 cup.gr
Image: Bellini, Gentile – Sultan Mehmet II.jpg — Gentile Bellini, Public domain