Everything about Murad Ii totally explained
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 Christian peoples of the
Balkans and the
Turkish emirates in
Anatolia, a conflict that lasted 25 years. He was brought up in
Amasya, and ascended the throne on the death of his father.
Biography
Murad II, when called from his vice-royalty in
Asia Minor to become the sovereign of the 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 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'd 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 and laid siege to its capital
Constantinople. While Murad was besieging the 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,
Germiyan,
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 vast 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 through the interference of the
janissaries and in 1448 he defeated 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 lead his army into
Albania and unsuccessfully besieged the Castle of
Kruje in an effort to defeat the resistance lead by
Skanderbeg. In the winter of 1450–1451, Murad II fell ill, and died in
Edirne. He was succeeded by his son
Mehmed II (1451–81).
He married
Mara Branković, the daughter of
Đurađ Branković of Serbia
(External Link
).
Popular Culture
- Murad features in the game Legendary Warriors. Despite being only 47 years old when he died, he's portrayed as a very old man. He is shown to be a cunning strategist and something of a rival to John Hunyadi. He is also joking and funloving, like his son Mehmed. He wields a scimitar.
Further Information
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