On May 3, 1481, Mehmed II the Conqueror dies. He died during a campaign against Egypt.
Mehmed II was the 7th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, ruling from August 1444 - September 1446 and February 3, 1451 - May 3, 1481. He is called the Conqueror because of the successful siege of Constantinople in 1453.
He ruled from August 1444 to September 1446, and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. During Mehmed II's first reign, he defeated the crusade led by János Hunyadi. When Mehmed II ascended the throne again in 1451, he strengthened the Ottoman navy and made preparations for an attack on Constantinople. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople and brought an end to the Byzantine Empire.
After conquering the city, Mehmed claimed the title "Caesar" of the Roman Empire, based on the fact that Constantinople had been the seat and capital of the surviving Eastern Roman Empire since its consecration in 330 AD by Emperor Constantine I. His claim was recognized only by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Nevertheless, Mehmed II viewed the Ottoman state as an extension of the Roman Empire for the rest of his life. This claim was eventually abandoned by his successors.
Mehmed continued his conquests in Asia and in southeastern Europe as far west as Bosnia and as far north as Wallachia and Transylvania.
At home, he made many political and social reforms, and encouraged the arts and sciences. By the end of his reign, his program of rebuilding the city had transformed Constantinople into a thriving imperial capital. Today, he is considered a hero in Turkey and parts of the wider Muslim world.
In the spring of 1481, Sultan Mehmed prepared a major campaign against the Mamluk sultans of Egypt and gathered his armies on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus. At the head of his troops, he set out for Izmit, but on 3 May 1481, probably near Gebze, he suddenly fell ill and died the same day.