Battle of Gallipoli (1422)

After achieving victory easily at Ulubad, Murad II’s first task was to reorganize his army, and at the same time he quickly rebuilt what he had previously ordered to be demolished. Then, without wasting time, he set out to cross into Rumelia. He wanted to finish off Mustafa Çelebi before he could recover and regroup. When he arrived in Lapseki, he could not find any naval vessels to transport his soldiers to Rumelia, because Mustafa Çelebi had taken the available ships on the Anatolian side across and had them pulled ashore there.^[1]

Murad had sent one of his men to Adorno, the Podestà of New Phocaea. Adorno was waiting for the sultan between Gallipoli and Lapseki with a fleet composed of seven warships. Sultan Murad chose the largest of the ships and boarded it together with his 500-man unit. When the Genoese fleet reached the middle of the strait, Adorno fell at the sultan’s feet and asked for forgiveness of the tax he owed. Upon this request, the sultan agreed. Meanwhile, Mustafa Çelebi saw from the walls of Gallipoli that the Genoese ships were approaching one after another with their sails full. Mustafa sent one of his men to Adorno, offering him a bribe of 50,000 ducats in exchange for the surrender of Sultan Murad. However, Adorno refused. When Sultan Murad learned of this situation, he was deeply moved and declared Adorno a true friend.^[2]