Aegan Expedition (1456)

Last updated
Aegean expedition
Part of Ottoman wars in Europe
Enez kalesi - panoramio.jpg
Enez castle
Date1456
Location
Result Ottoman Victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire Republic of Genoa
Commanders and leaders
Mehmed the Conqueror
Has Yunus Beg
Mahmud Pasha
Hadım İsmail Pasha
Michael Critobulus
Hamza Bey
Dorino II Gattilusio
John Ryhndacenos
Niccolò Gattilusio
Domenico Gattilusio
Giovanni Fontana
Spineta Colomboto
Strength
10 galleys Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown number of dead soldiers
150 young people were recruited into the Janissaries [1]
40 captives

The Aegean Expedition of 1456 was the expedition in which the Ottoman army under the command of Mehmed the Conqueror captured Enez, Lemnos and the island of Samothrace. [2]

Contents

Before

A disagreement arose between Dorino, who was the ruler of Enez, Limbos, and Samothrace, and his aunt, who had the right to govern the government. The woman filed a complaint with the Ottomans, whose sovereignty she recognized. During the Ottoman invasion of Rumelia, this place was not occupied by the Turks because the lords of Enez paid taxes to the Ottomans. And the pirates in Ainos were kidnapping the Turks and selling them as slaves in the markets. [3] In addition, Dorino started to sell the salt that he only sold to the Ottomans to foreigners.The last time was that the Muslims of Ipsala and Firecik were attacked by the people of Enez and were beaten when they went to the town to sell their goods. Angered by these events, Sultan Mehmed declared an expedition on Enez. [4]

Expedition and battle

On January 24, 1456, the Sultan began to march towards Enez. A harsh winter prevailed in the Thracian plain. At the same time, Yunus Pasha blockaded the port of Enez with 10 galleys. But Dorino was not in town. The stern man had retired to the island of Samothrace to spend his time in his father's palace. Enez and his guards were left to their fate. A delegation of ambassadors came to the Sultan and said that they would surrender on the condition that no harm would come to the people. Sultan Mehmed welcomed the ambassadors and then sent Mahmud Pasha to take the city. The next day, the Sultan personally entered the city, entered Dorino's palace and confiscated all the valuable goods he found. He left a man named Murat as his officer in the city. Yunus Pasha also ordered to capture Imbros and Samothrace. After Yunus Pasha landed on Imbros, he summoned Kritovulos, who was loyal to him, and made him governor instead of the arrested John Lasacaris Ryhndacenos. (Lasacaris was formerly Dorino's subordinate governor).

At the same time, a ship was sent to the island of Samothrace to capture Dorino. Prince Dorino, who did not trust the Ottoman captain, preferred to go to the sultan alone; After sending his daughter ahead with gifts, he went himself. Sultan Mehmed gave Zihne in Macedonia to Dorino. But Dorino found life here intolerable and killed the Turkish guards and fled to Christendom. He settled in Naxos, married Elisabetta Crispo, daughter of Giacomo II, and stayed there until the end of his life.

The Ottoman army captured 3 islands without a fight. The people of Lemnos, affected by these events, secretly complained about Nicollo Gattilusio to the sultan; They went further and asked him to appoint a manager to the candidate. Sultan Mehmed took this as an opportunity and sent Hadım İsmail Pasha to Lemnoz to replace Hamza Pasha as the Ottoman governor. Before Ismail Pasha's arrival on the island, a war broke out with the island's inhabitants and the sailors under the command of Giovanni Fontono and Spienta Colomboto, who were sent from Lesbos by Domenico Gattilusio. Some of the sailors were killed and some were captured. Ismail, who completed his duty in May, brought 40 Lesbos prisoners as a gift to Sultan Mehmed. Mehmed, who had just returned from the Serbian Campaign, first wanted to execute them, but later spared their lives and sold them as slaves. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mehmed II</span> 7th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (r. 1444–1446, 1451–1481)

Mehmed II, commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror, was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemnos</span> Greek island in the northern part of the Aegean Sea

Lemnos or Limnos is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Myrina. At 477.583 square kilometres (184.396 sq mi), it is the 8th-largest island of Greece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gattilusio</span> Genoese family

The House of Gattilusio was a powerful Genoese family who controlled a number of possessions in the northern Aegean from 1355 until the mid 15th century. Anthony Luttrell has pointed out that this family had developed close connections to the Byzantine ruling house of the Palaiologos—"four successive generations of Gattilusio married into the Palaiologos family, two to emperors' daughters, one to an emperor, and one to a despot who later became an emperor"—which could explain their repeated involvement in Byzantine affairs. The Gattilusi were Lords of Lesbos from 1355 to 1462 and Lords of Aenus from 1376 to 1456.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niccolò Gattilusio</span> Final Lord of Lesbos

Niccolò Gattilusio was the sixth and last Gattilusio lord of Lesbos, from 1458 to 1462. He was a younger son of Dorino I Gattilusio and Orietta Doria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Negroponte (1470)</span> 1470 battle during the First Ottoman–Venetian War

The siege of Negroponte was fought between the forces of the Ottoman Empire, led by Sultan Mehmed II in person, and the garrison of the Venetian colony of Negroponte (Chalcis), the capital of the Venetian possession of Euboea in Central Greece. The Ottoman sultan Mehmed II laid siege to the fortress at Negroponte. It lasted for almost a month, and despite great Ottoman casualties ended in the capture of the city and the island of Euboea by the Ottomans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enez</span> Municipality in Edirne, Turkey

Enez is a town in Edirne Province, in East Thrace, Turkey. The ancient name of the town was Ainos, Latinised as Aenus. It is the seat of Enez District. Its population is 4,301 (2022). The mayor is Özkan Günenç (CHP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Otlukbeli</span> Battle between the Aq Qoyunlu and the Ottoman Empire

The Battle of Otlukbeli or Otluk Beli was fought between Aq Qoyunlu and the Ottoman Empire on August 11, 1473.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorino I Gattilusio</span>

Dorino Gattilusio was the fourth Gattilusio Lord of Lesbos from 1428 until his death. He ruled Lesbos at a time of increasing Ottoman power, and his last years were preoccupied with maintaining some measure of independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domenico Gattilusio</span>

Domenico Gattilusio was the fifth Gattilusio lord of Lesbos from 1455 to 1458. He was a son of Dorino I Gattilusio and Orietta Doria.

Dorino II Gattilusio was the Lord of Ainos, Samothrace and Imbros from 1455 to January 1456. He was the second son of Palamede Gattilusio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltacı Mehmet Pasha</span> Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (1704–1706, 1710–1711)

Baltacı Mehmet Pasha was an Ottoman statesman who served as grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire, first from 1704 to 1706 and again in 1710 to 1711, and as Kapudan Pasha in 1704.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piri Mehmed Pasha</span> Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1518 to 1523

Piri Mehmed Pasha was an Ottoman statesman, and grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1518 to 1523.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gazi Hüseyin Pasha</span> Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (1656)

Gazi Hüseyin Pasha, also known as Deli Hüseyin Pasha or Sarı Hüseyin Pasha or Baltaoğlu Hüseyin Pasha, was an Ottoman military officer and statesman. He was governor of Egypt (1635–1637), Kapudan Pasha in the 1630s, and briefly Grand Vizier in 1656.

Hamza Bey was a 15th-century Ottoman admiral of Albanian origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ottoman conquest of Lesbos</span> Conquest of the island of Lesbos by the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman conquest of Lesbos took place in September 1462. The Ottoman Empire, under Sultan Mehmed II, laid siege to the island's capital, Mytilene. After its surrender, the other forts of the island surrendered as well. The event put an end to the semi-independent Genoese lordship that the Gattilusio family had established in the northeastern Aegean since the mid-14th century, and heralded the beginning of the First Ottoman–Venetian War in the following year.

'Ala' al-Dln 'All al-Bistami (1403-1470/71), better known as Ali al-Bistami or Musannifek, was a Persian Hanafi Maturidi scholar, prolific author, mullah and sheikh who served the Ottoman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Amasra</span> 1460 capture of the Genoese colony of Amasra by the Ottoman Empire

The siege of Amasra was the land and sea besiegement that resulted in the Ottoman Army, under the command of Fatih Sultan Mehmed, and the Ottoman Navy, under the command of Grand Vizier Veli Mahmud Pasha, capturing the Genoese colony of Amasra, and annexing it into Ottoman lands in 1460.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Smederevo (1459)</span> Ottoman siege in Serbia

The siege of Smederevo was Mehmed II's assault on the Smederevo Fortress during his fourth Serbian campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Zvornik (1464)</span>

Battle of Zvornik or siege of Zvornik took place during the second Bosnian campaign of Mehmed the Conqueror in 1464.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Užice</span>

The Battle of Tahtalu took place during the campaign launched by Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus against the Ottomans.

References

  1. Jorga, Nicolae. Büyük Türk. p. 87.
  2. İnalcık, Halil (June 2022). Kuruluş Dönemi Osmanlı Sultanları. İsam Yayınları. p. 193. ISBN   9789753898997.
  3. Uzuçarşılı, İsmail Hakkı. Osmanlı Tarihi II.Cilt. p. 32-33. ISBN   9789751600103.
  4. Tansel, Selahattin (2014). Osmanlı Kaynaklarına Göre Fatih Sultan Mehmed'in Siyasi ve Askeri Faaliyetleri. Türk Tarih Kurumu. p. 236-237. ISBN   9789751610812.
  5. Babinger, Franz (July 2021). Fatih Sultan Mehmed ve Zamanı. Alfa Basim Yayim Dagitim. p. 211-212. ISBN   9786254493607.