Last year, the great movie saga "Sultan Mehmet Fatih the Conqueror" was filmed. The film, directed by Merve Chirginin, is in the original a shorter name, Fatih. The cast of stars promises the average viewer a pleasant viewing experience. But people familiar with the story found a lot of discrepancies in the film with realities. A wise and fair ruler, as the Turks want him to be, was not humane at all. What do historical sources tell us about this conqueror of Constantinople?
Childhood and adolescence
Mehmet Fatih the Conqueror was born in late March 1432. Murad II was his father, and his mother a Christian slave of Albanian or Greek origin. The film tells that from the very birth of his son, the Sultan had great views of his future. Allegedly, as early as six years old, little Mehmet headed the Manisa sanjak, which was traditionally “reserved” for the heir to the throne. In fact, the future conqueror of Europe was the youngest son of the Sultan. Yes, he received a brilliant education, like the entire shah-zade, but he caught the attention of his father only after the death of his older brothers.
Murad II took his son on all campaigns, so the episode from the movie where a 12-year-old boy takes part in the battle is completely true. From 1444 to 1446, Mehmet even managed (while his father was still alive) to lead the Ottomans. In the conquered by the Turks Magnesia, he was presented with a gift of a Christian captive, whom he fell in love with. This woman became the mother of the heir. However, at the insistence of his father, Mehmet Fatih the Conqueror was combined with a dynastic marriage with a noble Turkish woman.
The first steps of government
After the death of his father in 1451, Mehmet took the throne. Turkish law stated that in order to suppress civil strife, the heir to the throne has the right to kill all his brothers. And the 19-year-old Sultan Mehmet Fatih the Conqueror did not fail to seize this opportunity. He even killed his brother Amurat, who was only 9 months old, as well as other male relatives. Unpredictable and bold, he combined erudition, insidiousness and cruelty that did not fit into the framework of common sense.
He shocked the artist Bellini, whom he invited to paint his portrait, by cutting off the head of the slave, only to show how the neck muscles contract in convulsions. Mehmet Fatih the Conqueror also liked to play Harun al-Rashid, with the only difference being that he who knew him would certainly die from the saber of the guards. Sources also mention that when a melon disappeared from the Sultan's melon, the padishah ordered 14 slaves to open their bellies.
Conquest
A lot is known about them. The empire of the Romans did not give rest to the father of Mehmet. However, the new Sultan began to act more insidiously. He assured the Byzantine ambassadors that he did not claim the land of the empire. He set off on a campaign east, and then he systematically began to build military fortresses in the immediate vicinity of Constantinople, cutting off the supply of food from the Black and Marmara Seas to the great city . In 1453, the capital of Byzantium was sunk in blood. Mehmet Fatih the Conqueror moved his residence from Adrianople to Constantinople and immediately continued his aggressive policy. The European powers were then fragmented and fell one after another. In the end, Turkish forces captured the Italian city of Otranto in 1480. Only the unexpected death of the Sultan due to an overdose of opium stopped the advance of the Ottomans to the west.