Two accessions
Mehmed was born in Edirne, a son of Murad II, and was sent to Manisa in 1443. His father's abdication brought him to the throne in 1444, but factional conflict, military unrest and external threats helped produce Murad's return in 1446.
After Murad died in 1451, Mehmed became sultan again. He reorganized forces, managed relations with neighbouring powers and built Rumeli Hisarı on the Bosporus in preparation for the Constantinople campaign.
References: [1]
Conquest and the capital
Ottoman forces captured Constantinople on 29 May 1453. Mehmed promoted rebuilding and repopulation, using both incentives and compulsory transfers. Maintaining the capital, armies and garrisons also increased fiscal demands.
Further expansion reached Serbia, the Morea and Trebizond, although the 1456 siege of Belgrade failed. After his death in 1481, his sons Bayezid and Cem contested the succession.
References: [1]
Scholarship and portraiture
Mehmed's court supported scholars working in religion, astronomy, geography and literature, including Ali Qushji and Amiroutzes. Interest in Ptolemy, maps and Greek books accompanied his political and military activities.
In 1479 he requested a painter from Venice, bringing Gentile Bellini to his court. Bellini's 1480 portrait, now in the National Gallery, presents the sultan beneath an arch. The museum identifies substantial damage and nineteenth-century repainting, an important limit when interpreting the surviving image.