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Mehmet was born in Edirne, then the capital city of the Ottoman state, on March 30, 1432. His father was Sultan Murad II and his mother Huma Hatun was a daughter of Abd`Allah of Hum. When Mehmet was 11 years old he was sent to Amasya to govern and thus gain experience, as per the custom of Ottoman rulers before his time
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During his first reign, Mehmed asked his father Murad to reclaim the throne in anticipation of the Battle of Varna, but Murad refused. Enraged at his father, who had long since retired to a contemplative life in southwestern Anatolia, Mehmed wrote: "If you are the sultan, come and lead your armies. If I am the sultan I hereby order you to come and lead my armies." It was upon this letter that Murad led the Ottoman army in the Battle of Varna in 1444
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Two years after reclaiming the throne in 1451, Mehmed brought an end to the Byzantine Empire by capturing its capital during the Siege of Constantinople. After this conquest, he conquered the Despotate of Morea in the Peloponnese
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Mehmed advanced toward Eastern Europe as far as Belgrade, and attempted to conquer the city from John Hunyadi at the Siege of Belgrade in 1456
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With Anatolia secure and Constantinople as his capital, Mehmed advanced into Europe. Mehmed thought of himself as the heir to the throne of the Roman Empire - which, technically, he was after capturing Constantinople - and, as a result, adopted the title "Kayser-i-Rûm" (Roman Caesar) and invaded Italy in 1480.