Mehmed II: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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Mehmed II's first campaigns after Constantinople were in the direction of Serbia, which had been an Ottoman [[vassal state]] intermittently since the [[Battle of Kosovo]] in 1389. The Ottoman ruler had a connection with the [[Serbian Despotate]] – one of [[Murad II]]'s wives was [[Mara Branković]] – and he used that fact to claim Serbian lands. [[Đurađ Branković]]'s recently made alliance with the Hungarians, and his irregular payments of tribute, further served as justifications for the invasion. The Ottomans sent an ultimatum demanding the keys to some Serbian castles which formerly belonged to the Ottomans.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Uzunçarşılı |first=İsmail Hakkı |title=Osmanlı Tarihi |publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu |year=2019 |isbn=9789751600127 |pages=13–18 |language=tr |trans-title=History of the Ottomans}}</ref> When Serbia refused these demands, the Ottoman army led by Mehmed set out from [[Edirne]] towards Serbia in 1454, sometime after the 18th of April.<ref name=":4">Elizabeth A. Zachariadou, Romania and the Turks Pt. XIII p. 837-840, “First Serbian Campaigns of Mehemmed II (1454-1455)”</ref> Mehmed's forces quickly succeeded in capturing Sivricehisar (sometimes identified with the [[Ostrvica Fortress]]) and Omolhisar,<ref name=":5">Ibn Kemal, Tevarih-i Al-i Osman, VII. Defter, ed. Ş. Turan, 1957, pp. 109-118</ref> and [[Battle of Ostrvica|repulsed]] a Serbian cavalry force of 9,000 cavalry sent against them by the despot.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Jorga |first=Nicolae |title=Büyük Türk - Fatih Sultan Mehmed |publisher=Yeditepe Yayınevi |year=2018 |isbn=9786052070383 |pages=73–84 |language=tr}}</ref> Following these actions, the Serbian capital of [[Smederevo]] was put under siege by the Ottoman forces. Before the city could be taken, intelligence was received about an approaching Hungarian relief force led by Hunyadi, which caused Mehmed to lift the siege and start marching back to his domains.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Muresanu |first=Camil |title=John Hunyadi: Defender of Christendom |publisher=Center for Romanian Studies |year=2018 |isbn=9781592111152 |pages=205 |language=en}}</ref> By August the campaign was effectively over,<ref name=":4" /> Mehmed left a part of his force under the command of Firuz Bey in Serbia in anticipation of a possible offensive on Ottoman territories by Hunyadi.<ref name=":3" /> This force was defeated by a combined Hungarian-Serbian army led by Hunyadi and [[Nikola Skobaljić]] on the 2nd of October near [[Battle of Kruševac|Kruševac]], after which Hunyadi went on to raid Ottoman controlled Nish and Pirot before returning back to Belgrade.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Babinger |first=Franz |title=Fatih Sultan Mehmed ve Zamanı |publisher=Oğlak Yayıncılık |year=2003 |isbn=975-329-417-4 |pages=109 |language=tr |trans-title=Mehmed the Conqueror and His Times}}</ref> Roughly a month later, on the 16th of November, the Ottomans avenged their earlier defeat at Kruševac by defeating Skobaljić's army near Tripolje, where the Serbian voivode was captured and executed via impalement.<ref name=":7" /> Following this a temporary treaty was signed with the Serbian despot, where Đurađ would formally recognize the recently captured Serbian forts as Ottoman land, send thirty thousand [[florin|florins]] to the [[Sublime Porte|Porte]] as yearly tribute and provide troops for Ottoman campaigns.<ref name=":3" /> The 1454 campaign had resulted in the capture of fifty thousand prisoners from Serbia, four thousand of whom were settled in various villages near [[Constantinople]].<ref name=":3" /> The following year, Mehmed received reports from one of his frontier commanders about Serbian weakness against a possible invasion, the reports in combination with the dissatisfactory results of the 1454 campaign convinced Mehmed to initiate another campaign against Serbia.<ref name=":3" /> The Ottoman army marched on the important mining town of [[Novo Brdo]], which Mehmed put under [[Siege of Novo Brdo (1455)|siege]]. The Serbians couldn't resist the Ottoman army out in the open, thus resorted to fortifying their various settlements and having their peasants flee to either various fortresses or forests.<ref name=":6" /> After forty days of siege and intense cannon fire, Novo Brdo surrendered.<ref name=":6" /> Following the conquest of the city, Mehmed captured various other Serbian settlements in the surrounding area,<ref name=":5" /> after which he started his march back towards Edirne, visiting his ancestor [[Murad I]]'s grave in Kosovo on the way.<ref name=":4" />

In 1456, Mehmed decided to continue his momentum towards the northwest and capture the city of [[Belgrade]], which had been ceded to the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] by the Serbian despot [[Đurađ Branković]] in 1427. Significant preparations were made by the Sultan for the conquest of the city, including the casting of 22 large cannons alongside many smaller ones and the establishment of a navy which would sail up the [[Danube]] to aid the army during the siege.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Türkmen |first=İlhan |date=5 January 2015 |title=The Campaigns Against Serbia During the Reign of Mehmed the Conqueror per Ottoman Chronicles |trans-title= |journal=Asia Minor Studies - International Journal of Social Sciences |volume=3 |issue=5 |pages=115–132 |via=Dergipark}}</ref> The exact number of troops Mehmed commanded varies between sources,<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Babinger |first=Franz |title=Fatih Sultan Mehmed ve Zamanı |publisher=Oğlak Yayıncılık |year=2003 |isbn=975-329-417-4 |pages=132–137 |language=tr |trans-title=Mehmed the Conqueror and His Times}}</ref> but the rumours of its size were significant enough to cause panic in Italy.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Setton |first=Kenneth M. |title=A History of the Crusades |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |year=1989 |isbn=0-299-10740-X |pages=323-325 |language=en}}</ref> On the 13th of June the Ottoman army reached Belgrade.<ref name=":8" /> After the necessary preparations were finished, Ottoman cannons started bombarding the city walls and Ottoman troops started filling the ditches in front the walls with earth to advance forward.<ref name=":8" /> As despair started to set in amongst the defenders, news started arriving of a relief force assembling across the Danube under the command of John Hunyadi.<ref name=":8" /> Upon learning of this development, Mehmed held a war council with his commanders to determine the army's next actions.<ref name=":8" /> [[Karaca Pasha]] recommended that a part of the army should cross the Danube to counter the approaching relief army.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Tansel |first=Selahattin |title=Osmanlı Kaynaklarına Göre Fatih Sultan Mehmed'in Siyasi ve Askeri Faaliyeti |publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu |year=1953 |isbn=9789751610812 |pages=122–123 |language=tr |trans-title=Mehmed the Conqueror's Political and Military Activity per Ottoman Sources}}</ref> This plan was rejected by the council, particularly due to the opposition by the Rumelian Begs.<ref name=":8" /> Instead, the decision was made to prioritize capturing the fortress, a move seen as a tactical blunder by modern historians.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":8" /> This allowed Hunyadi to set up camp with his army across the Danube uncontested.<ref name=":11" /> Shortly after, the Ottoman navy was defeated in a five hour long battle by the newly arrived Christian Danubian navy.<ref name=":11" /> Following this, Hunyadi's troops started entering the city to reinforce the besieged, which increased the morale of the defending forces.<ref name=":9" /> Infuriated by the unfolding events, Mehmed ordered a final attack to capture the city on the 21st of July, after continuous cannon fire building up to the day of the attack.<ref name=":9" /> Ottoman troops were initially successful in breaching the defences and entering the city, however were eventually repulsed by the defenders.<ref name=":10" /> The Christians pressed their advantage by launching a counter attack, which started pushing back the Ottoman forces,<ref name=":8" /> managing to advance as far as the Ottoman camp.<ref name=":3" /> At this crucial point of the battle, one of the viziers advised Mehmed to abandon the camp for his safety, which he refused to do so on the grounds that it would be a “sign of cowardice”.<ref name=":3" /> After this, Mehmed personally joined the fighting, accompanied by two of his [[Bey|begs]].<ref name=":8" /> The Sultan managed to personally kill three<ref name=":3" /> enemy soldiers before being injured, forcing him to abandon the battlefield.<ref name=":9" /> The news of their Sultan fighting alongside them caused a morale boost amongst the Ottoman troops, which allowed them to go on the offensive again and push the Christian forces out of the Ottoman camp.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8" /> The actions of the Sultan had prevented a complete rout of the Ottoman army,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mixson |first=James D. |title=The Crusade of 1456: Texts and Documentation in Translation |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-4875-3262-8 |pages=26 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8" /> however, the army had been far too weakened to attempt to take the city again, causing the Ottoman war council to decide on ending the siege.<ref name=":8" /> The Sultan and his army retreated to Edirne, without the Christian forces being able to pursue them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jorga |first=Nicolae |title=Büyük Türk - Fatih Sultan Mehmed |publisher=Yeditepe Yayınevi |year=2018 |isbn=9786052070383 |pages=93–97 |language=tr}}</ref> Hunyadi died shortly after the siege, meanwhile [[Đurađ Branković]] regained possession of some parts of Serbia.

Shortly before the end of the year 1456, roughly 5 months after the [[Siege of Belgrade (1456)|siege of Belgrade]], the 79-year-old Branković died. Serbian independence survived after him for only around three years, when the Ottoman Empire formally annexed Serbian lands following dissension among his widow and three remaining sons. Lazar, the youngest, poisoned his mother and exiled his brothers, but he died soon afterwards. In the continuing turmoil the oldest brother [[Stefan Branković]] gained the throne. Observing the chaotic situation in Serbia, the Ottoman government decided to definitively conclude the Serbian issue.{{sfn|Uzunçarşılı|2019|p=20}} The Grand Vizier [[Mahmud Pasha Angelović|Mahmud Pasha]] was dispatched with an army to the region in 1458, where he initially conquered [[Resava (river)#Region|Resava]] and a number of other settlements before moving towards Smederevo.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=130}} After a battle outside the city walls, the defenders were forced to retreat inside the fortress.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=130}} In the ensuing siege, the outer walls were breached by Ottoman forces, however the Serbians continued to resist inside the inner walls of the fortress.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=130}} Not wanting to waste time capturing the inner citadel, Mahmud lifted the siege diverted his army elsewhere, conquering [[Rudnik (mountain)|Rudnik]] and its environs before attacking and capturing the fortress of Golubac.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=130}} Subsequently, Mehmed who had returned from his campaign in Morea met up with Mahmud Pasha in [[Skopje]].<ref name=":10" />{{sfn|Uzunçarşılı|2019|p=20}} During this meeting, reports were received that a Hungarian army was assembling near the Danube to launch an offensive against the Ottoman positions in the region.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=131}} The Hungarians crossed the Danube near Belgrade, after which they marched south towards [[Užice]].{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=131}} While the Hungarian troops were engaged in plunder near Užice, they got [[Battle of Užice|ambushed]] by the Ottoman forces in the region, forcing them to retreat.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aşıkpaşazade |first=Ahmed |title=Osmanoğulları'nın Tarihi |publisher=K Kitaplığı |year=2003 |isbn=975-296-043-X |editor-last=Yavuz |editor-first=Kemal |pages=228-229 |language=tr |trans-title=Aşıkpaşazade's History of the Ottomans}}</ref><ref name=":10" />{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=131}} Despite this victory, for Serbia to be fully annexed into the empire, Smederevo still had to be taken.{{sfn|Tansel|1953|p=131}} The opportunity for its capture presented itself the following year. [[Stefan Branković]] was ousted from power in March 1459. After that the Serbian throne was offered to [[Stephen Tomašević]], the future king of Bosnia, which infuriated Sultan Mehmed. After Mahmud Pasha suppressed an uprising near [[Prizren|Pizren]],{{sfn|Uzunçarşılı|2019|p=20}} Mehmed personally led an army against the Serbian capital,<ref name=":10" /> capturing [[Smederevo]] on the 20th of June 1459.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SEMENDİRE |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/semendire |access-date=2024-09-14 |website=TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi |language=tr}}</ref> After the surrender of the capital, other Serbian castles which continued to resist were captured in the following months,{{sfn|Uzunçarşılı|2019|p=20}} ending the existence of the [[Serbian Despotate]].<ref name="Miller1">{{cite book |title=The Balkans: Roumania, Bulgaria, Servia, and Montenegro |last=Miller |first=William |year=1896 |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons |location=London |isbn=978-0836999655 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J98DAAAAYAAJ |access-date=8 February 2011 |archive-date=29 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429210022/https://books.google.com/books?id=J98DAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>