Abstract: Throughout the Middle Ages, both Rome and Constantinople were depicted in Muslim literature as "pillars of Christendom." Therefore, capturing any of them would be considered the greatest and ultimate victory of Islam. Not surprisingly, several prophecies were attributed to the prophet Muḥammad on the Faṭh , that is, the conquest of the city of Heraclius (Constantinople) first, then Rome second. These prophecies, accompanied by the Turkish myth of Kızıl Elma ("the Red Apple") that, in some narratives, refers to the city of Rome, were aptly utilized in political and military Ottoman expansion, stirring the enthusiasm of the soldiers as well as the aspirations of the leaders. In 1453, the Ottomans fulfilled the old Muslim dream of capturing the city of Constantine the Great and the young Sultan Meḥmed II (1444–46/1451–81) achieved his aspiration of becoming the New Roman Caesar. This paper hypothesizes that this achievement emboldened the Ottomans to expand their military movements further into eastern and western Europe, including into the Italian Peninsula. In August 1480, Turkish forces landed on the Italian shores, attacking and capturing the city of Otranto, with ambitions for further advancement into Italy. Both events, 1453 and 1480, were linked with prophecies attributed to the prophet Muḥammad concerning conquest of the two great Christian cities, Constantinople and Rome. This paper will delineate the religious scope of the 1480 Ottoman campaign against Italy and explain the religious ethos on both sides. Thereafter, it will illustrate the potential dangers of the Ottoman presence in southeastern Italy for Western Europe, as well as the Christian response to this immense threat.
İtalya’nın 20 bölgesinden biri olan Pulya (Puglia/Apulia), ülkenin güneyinde yer almaktadır. Tarihte Türkler bölgeye seferler düzenlemek suretiyle bölge ile temaslarda bulunmuşlardır. Osmanlıların bölgeye yönelik ilk teması 1480 yılında siyasi, askerî, dinî ve stratejik nedenlerle Gedik Ahmed Paşa komutasında gerçekleştirilen Otranto Seferi ile sağlanmıştır. Bu seferle birlikte Osmanlı, Otranto’yu fethetmiş ve 13 ay süresince şehir Osmanlı hâkimiyetinde kalmıştır. Bu temasların her biri bölgenin kültürel dokusunu derinden etkilemiş, bölge folklorunda günümüzde varlığını belirgin biçimde koruyan izler bırakmıştır. Pulya’nın kültürel belleğindeki bu izlerin günümüzde belirgin olarak öne çıktığı unsurlardan biri Otranto Katedrali’dir. Bölgenin kültürel mirasında önemli bir yere sahip olan bu katedralde yer alan folklorik unsurların tespit edilmesi, incelenmesi ve değerlendirilmesi, İtalya’nın Pulya bölgesinde yer alan Otranto’nun kültürel belleğinin ve kültürel mirasının oluşumu ve gelişiminde Türklerin rolünü ve bu sürece katkısını ortaya koymak bakımından önemlidir. Araştırmanın amacı İtalya’nın Pulya bölgesinin Otranto şehrinde bulunan katedral merkezinde gelişen kültürel belleğinin ve mirasının oluşumu ve gelişiminde Türklerin rolü ile sürece katkısını belirlemek ve değerlendirmektir. Nitel araştırma yönteminin kullanıldığı bu çalışmada görüşme (mülakat), gözlem, veri kaynakları taraması gibi veri toplama tekniklerinden yararlanılmıştır. Bu bağlamda Otranto ve çevresinde yaşayan 15 kaynak kişi ile görüşülmüş, katedralde düzenlenen anma törenlerinde gözlem yapılmış, konu ile ilgili kaynaklar taranmıştır. Çalışma alanı Otranto ve çevresi ile sınırlandırılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda Türk imgesinin İtalya’nın Pulya bölgesinin kültürel belleğinde, maddi unsurlar, anlatılar ve törenler aracılığıyla gözlenebilir öneme sahip olduğu ve “Türk” kavramının Osmanlı Devleti’ni ve tüm Müslüman coğrafyayı karşıladığı tespit edilmiştir.
Otranto (UK: ,US: , Italian: [ˈɔːtranto]; Salentino: Oṭṛàntu; Griko: Δερεντό, romanized: Derentò; Ancient Greek: Ὑδροῦς, romanized: Hudroûs; Latin: Hydruntum) is a coastal town, port and comune in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a fertile region once famous for its breed of horses. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").
It is located on the eas
Otranto occupies the site of the ancient Greek city of Magna Graecia Hydrus (in Greek: Ὑδροῦς) or Hydruntum (in Latin), also known as Hydrunton, Hydronton, or Hydruntu. Otranto was a town of Messapian origin, which, in the wars of Pyrrhus and of Hannibal sided against Rome.
In Roman times it was a city. As it is the nearest port to the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, it was perhaps more important than Brundisium (present Brindisi), under the Roman emperors as a point of embarkation for the East, as the distance to Apollonia (in present Albania) was less than from Brundisium.
In the 8th century, it was for some time in the possession of duke Arechis II of Benevento.
On 17 August 928, the city was sacked by a Fatimid fleet under Sabir al-Fata. Its inhabitants were carried to North Africa as slaves. It remained in the hands of the Byzantine…
In 1480, Sultan Mehmed II sent an Ottoman fleet to invade Rome under the command of Gedik Ahmed Pasha. The force reached the shores of Apulia on 28 July 1480, and the city was captured in two weeks on 11 August 1480. All of the male inhabitants were slaughtered by the victorious Ottomans. Of the 22,000 inhabitants, only 10,000 were left alive. Some 800 citizens, known as the "Martyrs of Otranto", were beheaded after they had refused to convert to Islam. They were canonised by Pope Francis on 12 May 2013. Archbishop Stefano Pendinelli was also martyred.
Between August and September 1480, the Italian and European kingdoms failed to help King Ferdinand of Naples except for his cousin Ferdinand the Catholic of Spain, the Kingdom of Sicily and later the Republic of Genoa. In 1481, the Pope, in panic, called for a crusade to be led by King Ferdinand of Naples and was joined by troops of Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus. The Ottomans controlled the city for 13 months. Mehmed II died on his way to capture the rest of Italy. His successor, Sultan Bayezid II, ordered Gedik Ahmed Pasha to be hanged. On 11 September 1481, the Ottomans abandoned the city.
In 1537, the famous Ottoman corsair and admiral Barbarossa recaptured Otranto and the Fortress of Castro, but the Ottomans were again repulsed from the city and from the rest of Apulia.
Everything we examined (3)
This check searched the claim as stated. It did not run a separate search for evidence against it.