The Rise of an Expansionist Sultan
Following his historic conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed II, known as “the Conqueror,” transformed the city into the new capital of the Ottoman Empire. With his rear secured, the ambitious sultan turned his attention toward consolidating and expanding Ottoman territories. His vision extended beyond mere territorial acquisition—he sought to revive the Byzantine Empire under Ottoman rule, positioning himself as the heir to both Roman and Islamic imperial traditions.
Mehmed inherited a formidable military machine from his father, Murad II, but he refined it further. He expanded the navy, fortified key ports, and constructed strategic strongholds along the Dardanelles, including twin fortresses at Sestos and Abydos. Unlike his predecessors, Mehmed centralized military command, keeping his campaigns shrouded in secrecy. When questioned about his next target, he famously replied that if even a single hair of his beard knew his plans, he would pluck it and cast it into the fire.
The Balkan Campaigns: From Belgrade to Bosnia
### The Siege of Belgrade (1456)
Mehmed’s first major obstacle was Belgrade, a Hungarian-held fortress on the Danube. The city served as a critical buffer between Ottoman and Hungarian territories. In 1456, Mehmed assembled a massive force of 150,000 men, supported by a river fleet carrying siege engines. Confident after his victory in Constantinople, he expected an easy triumph.
However, the Hungarian commander John Hunyadi and the fiery Franciscan friar John of Capistrano rallied a desperate defense. After weeks of bombardment, Hungarian river forces broke the Ottoman naval blockade in a bloody battle that turned the Danube red. When Mehmed ordered a final night assault, his Janissaries breached the lower city—only to fall into a trap. Hunyadi’s forces set fire to prepared pyres, engulfing the Ottomans in flames. Mehmed himself was wounded and forced to retreat, abandoning his artillery. The victory, though short-lived due to a subsequent plague, became a celebrated Christian triumph.
### The Annexation of Serbia and Bosnia
With Hunyadi and his Serbian rival Đurađ Branković dead, Mehmed exploited regional divisions. By 1459, Serbia was fully absorbed into the empire. Bosnia followed in 1463 after a ruthless campaign. King Stephen Tomašević surrendered under promises of safety, only for Mehmed to execute him personally, citing Islamic legal justification. The conquest marked the end of Bosnia’s independence and the rise of Ottoman influence among the Bogomil heretics, many of whom converted to Islam.
The Greek and Anatolian Fronts
### The Fall of Morea and Athens
In 1458, Mehmed turned to Greece, where the last Paleologus despots ruled a fractured Morea. With minimal resistance, Ottoman forces overran the Peloponnese. Corinth fell after its walls were shattered by marble cannonballs. Athens, which had already been under Ottoman control since 1456, fascinated Mehmed. He admired the Acropolis and granted the city tax exemptions, even restoring privileges to the Orthodox Church after the collapse of Latin rule.
### The Destruction of Trebizond (1461)
The Comnenus dynasty in Trebizond, the last remnant of Byzantine rule, became Mehmed’s next target. Emperor David Comnenus allied with Uzun Hasan of the White Sheep Turkomans, but Mehmed’s forces isolated the city. After a negotiated surrender, David was initially spared but later executed alongside his family. Trebizond’s fall secured Ottoman dominance over the Black Sea coast.
The Albanian Resistance and Venetian Wars
### Skanderbeg’s Defiance
Albania, under the legendary Gjergj Kastrioti (Skanderbeg), proved a stubborn obstacle. From 1443 until his death in 1468, Skanderbeg used the mountainous terrain to repel Ottoman invasions. Even after Mehmed’s 1466 siege of Krujë failed, Albanian resilience delayed Ottoman control for decades.
### The Venetian-Ottoman Conflict
Venice, fearing Ottoman expansion into the Adriatic, allied with Skanderbeg and Uzun Hasan. A 16-year war ensued, marked by Ottoman raids into Friuli, Italy, in 1477. By 1479, Venice conceded defeat, ceding key territories like Shkodër and Negroponte. The peace freed Mehmed to plan an invasion of Italy itself.
The Italian Gambit and Rhodes Campaign
### The Attack on Otranto (1480)
In 1480, Ottoman forces seized Otranto, massacring 800 civilians who refused conversion. The invasion sent shockwaves through Europe, with Pope Sixtus IV contemplating flight. However, Mehmed’s sudden focus on Rhodes spared Italy a full-scale invasion.
### The Siege of Rhodes
The Knights Hospitaller, entrenched in Rhodes, withstood a brutal Ottoman assault in 1480. Despite initial breaches, the defenders repelled the attack, forcing Mehmed’s navy to retreat. Rhodes remained a Christian bastion for another 50 years.
Legacy of Mehmed the Conqueror
Mehmed II died in 1481, leaving an empire that stretched from the Danube to the Euphrates. His campaigns reshaped the Balkans, extinguished the last Byzantine successor states, and brought the Ottomans to the gates of Europe. Though his dream of conquering Rome went unfulfilled, his military innovations, administrative reforms, and cultural patronage laid the groundwork for Ottoman dominance in the 16th century.
His conquests also sowed the seeds of future conflicts—particularly in the Balkans and Mediterranean—where the memory of resistance, as seen in Belgrade and Albania, fueled nationalist movements centuries later. Today, Mehmed remains a polarizing figure: a visionary empire-builder to some, a ruthless conqueror to others. Yet his impact on Eurasian history is undeniable.