TRENDEFRARAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Siege · 1462
The Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos had given Lesbos to his Genoese brother-in-law Francesco Gattilusio in 1354; the family ruled the island until 1462. According to the TDV article on Lesbos, the campaign was caused by the duke allowing Italian and Spanish corsairs to use the island as a base. The army under Mehmed II and the fleet under Mahmud Pasha took Lesbos in September 1462 after a short but very fierce siege.
| Date | September 1462 |
|---|---|
| Location | Lesbos (Midilli) |
| Result | The island passed to the Ottomans; Gattilusio rule ended |
| Belligerents | Ottoman state | Gattilusio lordship of Lesbos |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Mehmed II Mahmud Pasha | Niccolò Gattilusio |
Took place during the reign of Mehmed II (1451–1481). Mehmed II
The atlas records this territorial change for the year:
By the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 826,000 km² in 1462; at the start of Mehmed II's reign they measured 664,000 km², at its end 1,140,000 km².
During Mehmed II (1451–1481) the atlas records 13 regions gained and 0 regions lost.
Regions gained: Istanbul and the Straits (1453), Moldavia (1455), Athens–Central Greece (1456), Morea (Peloponnese) (1460), Trabzon (Pontus) (1461), Kastamonu–Sinop (Candar) (1461), Aegean Islands (Lesbos–Lemnos–Samos) (1462), Bosnia (1463), and 5 more.
The conquest of Constantinople (1453) ended the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), turned the Ottoman state into an empire and moved the centre of the state permanently to Istanbul. By eliminating most of the independent states in the Balkans and Anatolia he consolidated the borders between the Danube and the Euphrates; his first reign was in 1444–1446.
Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “MİDİLLİ” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.
Cite as: Atlas of the Sultans, “Ottoman conquest of Lesbos (1462): Date, Commanders and Outcome”, https://padisahlaratlasi.com/en/events/ottoman-conquest-of-lesbos/ (last updated 12 November 2026). Corrections