Murad II
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Murad II Ottoman Period |
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| Preceded by Mehmed I |
Ottoman Sultan 1421–44 |
Succeeded by Mehmed II |
| Preceded by Mehmed II |
Ottoman Sultan 1446–51 |
Succeeded by Mehmed II |
Murad II (June 1404, Amasya – February 3, 1451, Edirne) (Ottoman Turkish: مراد ثانى Murād-ı sānī, Turkish:II. Murat) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1451 (except for a period from 1444 to 1446).
Murad II's reign was marked by the long war he fought against the Christians of the Balkans and the Turkish emirates in Anatolia, a conflict lasting for 25 years. He was brought up in Amasya, and ascended the throne on the death of his father.
[edit] Biography
Murad II, when called from his vice-royalty in Asia Minor to become the sovereign of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, was only eighteen years of age. He was solemnly recognized as sultan, girded with the sabre of Osman at Bursa and the troops and officers of the state willing paid homage to him as their sovereign.
But his reign was soon troubled by insurrection. The Byzantine emperor, released the pretender Mustafa Çelebi (known as Düzmece Mustafa) from confinement and acknowledged him as the legitimate heir to the throne of Bayezid I (1389 - 1402). The Byzantine Emperor, Manuel II, had first secured a stipulation, that Mustafa should, if successful, repay the him for his liberation by giving up a large number of important cities. The pretender was landed by the Byzantine galleys in the European dominion of the sultan and for a time made rapid progress. Many Turkish soldiers joined him, he defeated and killed the veteran general Beyazid Pasha whom Murad had sent to fight him. Mustafa defeated Murad's army and declared himself Sultan of Adrianople (modern Edirne). He then crossed the Dardanelles to Asia with a large army; but the young Sultan showed in this emergency that he possessed military and political abilities worthy of his best ancestors. Mustafa was out-manoeuvered in the middle of the field and his troops, whose confidence in his person and cause he had lost by his violence and incapacity, passed over in large numbers to Murad II. Mustafa took refuge in the city of Gallipoli but the sultan, who was greatly aided by a Genoese commander named Adorno, besieged him there and stormed the place. Mustafa was taken and put to death by the sultan who then turned his arms against the Greek emperor and declared his resolution to punish the Palaiologos for their unprovoked enmity by the capture of Constantinople.
Murad II then formed a new army called Azeb in 1421 and marched through the Byzantine Empire, laid siege to its capital Constantinople. While Murad was besieging that city, the Byzantines, in league with some independent Turkish Anatolian states, sent the sultan's younger brother Mustafa (who was only 13 years old) to rebel against the sultan and besiege Bursa. Murad had to abandon the siege of Constantinople in order to deal with his rebellious brother. He caught Prince Mustafa and executed him. The Anatolian states that had been constantly plotting against him — Aydın, Germian, Menteshe and Teke were annexed and henceforth became part of the Ottoman Empire.
Murad II then declared war against Venice, the Karamanid emirate, Serbia and Hungary. The Karamanids were defeated in 1428 and Venice withdrew in 1432 following the defeat at the second Siege of Salonika in 1430. In the 1430s Murad captured huge territories in the Balkans and succeeded in annexing Serbia in 1439. In 1441 the Holy Roman Empire, Poland and Albania joined the Serbian-Hungarian coalition. Murad II won the Battle of Varna in 1444 against János Hunyadi but lost the Battle of Jalowaz and was forced to abdicate.
In 1446 he regained command at the interference of the janissaries and in 1448 he crushed the Christian coalition at the Second Battle of Kosovo (the first one took place in 1389). When the Balkan front was secured Murad II turned east to defeat Timur's son, Shah Rokh, and the emirates of Karamanid and Çorum-Amasya.
In 1450 Murad II advanced his army into Albania and laid an unsuccessful siege to the castle of Kruje in efforts to defeat the resistance lead by Skanderbeg. In the winter of 1450–1451, Murad II became ill, and died in Edirne. He was then was succeeded by his son Mehmed II (1451–81).
He married Mara Branković, the daughter of George Brankovich of Serbia [1].
[edit] Reference
- Incorporates text from "History of Ottoman Turks" (1878)
[edit] External links
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| Rise (1299–1453) | Osman I - Orhan I - Murad I - Bayezid I - Mehmed I - Murad II - Mehmed II |
| Growth (1453–1683) | Bayezid II - Selim I - Suleiman I - Selim II - Murad III - Mehmed III - Ahmed I - Mustafa I - Osman II - Murad IV - Ibrahim I - Mehmed IV |
| Stagnation (1683–1827) | Suleiman II - Ahmed II - Mustafa II - Ahmed III - Mahmud I - Osman III - Mustafa III - Abdul Hamid I - Selim III - Mustafa IV - Mahmud II |
| Decline (1828–1908) | Abdülmecid - Abdülâziz - Murad V - Abdul Hamid II |
| Dissolution (1908–1923) | Mehmed V - Mehmed VI |
