Murad II
Murad II was the
sultan of the
Ottoman Empire from
1421 to
1451 (except a period in
1444 to
1446). Murad's reign was marked by the long war he fought against the Christians of the
Balkans and the
Turkish emirates in
Anatolia. The open hostilities lasted for 25 years, from
1423 to
1448, first against
Venice, the emirate of Karaman,
Serbia and
Hungaria. Karaman was defeated in
1428 and
Venice withdrawed in
1432 following the defeat at the second Siege of Salonika in
1430. In the
1430s Murad captured huge terretories in the
Balkans and could annex Serbia in
1439. In
1441 the
Holy Roman Empire,
Poland and
Albania joined the
Serbian-
Hungarian coalition. Murad won the
Battle of Varna in
1444 against
Janos Hunyadi but lost the Battle of Jalowaz and was forced to abdicate. In
1446 he regained command at the interference of the Janissaries and could crush the Christian coalition at the second
Battle of Kosovo (the first one took place in
1389). When the Balkan front was secured Murad turned east to defeat Timur Lenk's son, Shah Rokh, and the emirates of Karaman and Çorum-Amasya.