Mehmed II, known as "The Conqueror," transformed the Ottoman Empire into a dominant Muslim superpower through military genius, administrative reform, and the monumental conquest of Constantinople.

How did Western Europe learn of the fall of Constantinople, the loss of Negroponte, and the Ottoman defeat at Lepanto? In the ...

Mehmed IV wanted to live up to, and even surpass, the legacy of his forefather Mehmed II, who had secured the Ottomans' inheritance to the Roman Empire through his conquest of Constantinople.

But in 1453, when Ottoman sultan Mehmed II (a.k.a. Mehmed the Conqueror) captured Constantinople, his victory paved the way for the Ottoman Empire, which would last until 1922.