The
Fall of Constantinople was the capture of
the capitalConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
of the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
which occurred after a siege laid by the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, under the command of
SultanSultan is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power"...
Mehmed IIMehmet II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446,...
. The siege lasted from Thursday, 5 April, 1453 until Tuesday, 29 May, 1453 (according to the
Julian CalendarThe Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, and came into force in 45 BC . It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year, known at least since Hipparchus...
), when the city fell to the Ottomans. Constantinople was defended by the army of Emperor
Constantine XIConstantine XI Palaiologos or Palaeologus was the last reigning Roman Emperor...
. The event marked the end of the political independence of the millennium-old
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
, which was by then already fragmented into several
GreekThe Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in diaspora communities around the world....
monarchies.
Following his accession to the Ottoman throne, Mehmed had been applying pressure on Constantinople and the Byzantines by building forts along the
DardanellesThe Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosporus. It is located at approximately...
. On 5 April, he laid siege to Constantinople with an army numbering 80,000 to 200,000 men. The city was defended by an army of 7,000 of whom 2,000 were foreigners. The siege began with heavy Ottoman artillery firing at the
city's wallsThe Walls of Constantinople are a series of stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople since its founding as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire by Constantine the Great...
while a smaller Ottoman force captured the rest of the Byzantine strongholds in the area. Ottoman attempts to blockade the city completely failed at first owing to the boom blocking the entrance to the
Golden HornThe Golden Horn is a historic inlet of the Bosphorus dividing the city of Istanbul and forming the superb natural harbor that has sheltered Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other ships for thousands of years...
thus allowing four Christian ships to enter the city. Mehmed had his ships rolled into the Golden Horn on greased logs and a Byzantine effort to destroy the ships with fire ships failed, allowing the Ottomans to seal the city off.
The Turkish frontal assaults on the walls were all repulsed with heavy casualties and the Turkish attempts to undermine the walls were all countered and abandoned. Mehmed's offer to lift the siege, if he was given the city, was rejected. On 22 May, the moon rose in eclipse prophesying the fall of the city and a few days later Constantine received news that no
VenetianThe Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797...
relief fleet was coming. After midnight of the 29, the Ottoman army attacked the walls. The first wave of irregulars was thrown back. The second Turkish wave of
Anatolians- Anatolians :The term "Anatolian" denotes any ethnic inhabitant of Anatolia descended from the inhabitants native to the Anatolian Peninsula before the Turks arrived in the region...
managed to breach the
BlachernaeBlachernae or Blachernæ was a suburb in the northwestern section of Constantinople. It was the site of a spring and a number of churches were built there, notably by Pulcheria in the 5th century and by Justinian I in the 6th century. These were originally outside the city walls, until 627 when the...
section of walls. The defenders pushed back the Anatolians and managed to hold out against the Sultan's elite Janissaries. During the fighting, the
GenoeseThe Most Serene Republic of Genoa was an independent state in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast from 1005 to 1797, when it was invaded by armies of Revolutionary France under Napoleon. It was then succeeded by the Ligurian Republic, which existed until 1805 before being annexed by the...
commander,
Giovanni GiustinianiGiovanni Giustiniani Longo , died 1453, was a Genoese captain during the Middle Ages and protostrator of the Byzantine Empire...
was fatally wounded and retreated to his ships with his men. The Emperor and his men continued to hold off the Turks until the Turks discovered an unlocked gate upon which they flooded into the city. Constantine reportedly fell leading a charge against the invaders, though his body was never found. The last defenders were subdued and the Turks proceeded to loot the city.
This battle marked the end of the Byzantine Empire, an empire which had lasted for over 1,100 years. The city's fall was a massive blow for Christendom.
Pope Nicholas VPope Nicholas V , born Tommaso Parentucelli, was Pope from March 6, 1447 to his death in 1455.-Biography:He was born at Sarzana, Liguria, where his father was a physician...
ordered an immediate counter-attack, but his death soon after marked the end of the plan. Mehmed made Constantinople his capital and proceeded to conquer the last two Byzantine states, the
Despotate of MoreaThe Despotate of the Morea was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centuries. Its territory varied in size during its 100 years of existence but eventually grew to take in almost all the southern Greek peninsula, the Peloponnesos, which was called...
and the
Empire of TrebizondThe Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire...
. Many Greeks fled the city and migrated to other parts of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, in particular
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. This move is thought to have helped fuel the
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
. The Fall of Constantinople is seen by some scholars as being a key event in leading to the end of the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, and some mark the end of the Middle Ages by this event.
State of the Byzantine Empire
In the approximately 1,100 years of the existence of the
Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
, Constantinople had been besieged many times but had been captured only once, during the
Fourth CrusadeThe Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire...
in 1204. The crusaders had most likely not intended to conquer Byzantium from the beginning, and an unstable
Latin stateThe Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...
was established in Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire fell apart into a number of Greek successor states, notably
NicaeaThe Empire of Nicaea was the largest of the three Byzantine Greek states founded by the aristocracy of the Byzantine Empire that fled after Constantinople was conquered during the Fourth Crusade...
,
EpirusThe Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204...
and
TrebizondThe Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire...
. The Greek states fought as allies against the Latin establishments but also as rivals against each other over the Byzantine throne. The Nicaean Greeks were the first to re-conquer Constantinople from the Latins in 1261. In the following two centuries, the much-weakened Byzantine Empire was facing attacks from the Latins, the Serbians, the Bulgarians and most importantly, the Ottoman Turks.
In 1453 the empire consisted of little more than city of Constantinople itself and a portion of the
PeloponneseThe Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a large peninsula and region in southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
(centered on the fortress of
MystrasMystras, also Mistra, Mystra and Mistras was a fortified town in Morea , on Mt. Taygetos, near ancient Sparta. In the 14th and 15th centuries, it served as the capital of the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea, experiencing a period of prosperity and cultural flowering...
). The
Empire of TrebizondThe Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire...
, a completely independent successor state formed in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade also survived on the coast of the
Black Seaur a loser!The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to...
.
Preparations
When Sultan
Murad II Murad II Kodja was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1451 ....
was succeeded by his son
Mehmed IIMehmet II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446,...
in early 1451, it was widely believed that the new Sultan would turn out to be an incapable ruler who could pose no great threat to Christian possessions in the Balkans and the Aegean. This belief was reinforced by Mehmed's friendly assurances to envoys that were sent to him at the assumption of his reign. During the spring and summer of 1452, Mehmed II, whose great grandfather
Bayezid IBayezid I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, then Rûm, from 1389 to 1402...
had previously built a fortress on the
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
n side of the
BosporusThe Bosphorus or Bosporus , also known as the Istanbul Strait , is a strait that forms part of the boundary between the European part of Turkey and its Asian part . It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with the Dardanelles...
called
Anadolu HisarıAnadoluhisarı is a fortress located in Istanbul, Turkey on the Anatolian side of the Bosporus, which also gives its name to the quarter around it...
, now built a second fortress several miles north of Constantinople on the
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an side, right across the strait from Anadolu Hisarı, which would increase Turkish influence on the straits. An especially relevant aspect of this fortress was its ability to prevent help from
GenoeseGenoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000...
colonies on the
Black Seaur a loser!The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to...
coast from reaching the city. This castle was called
Rumeli HisarıRumelihisarı is a fortress located in the Sarıyer district of Istanbul, Turkey, on a hill at the European side of the Bosporus. It gives the name of the quarter around it. It was built by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II between 1451 and 1452, before he conquered Constantinople...
;
RumeliRumelia or Rumeli is a Turkish name, used from the 15th century onwards, for the southern Balkan regions of the Ottoman Empire...
and
AnadoluAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
being the names of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an and
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
n portions of the Ottoman Empire, respectively. The new fortress is also known as
Boğazkesen which has a dual meaning in
TurkishTurkish is spoken as a first language by over 63 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other...
; strait-blocker or throat-cutter, emphasizing its strategic position. The
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
name of the fortress,
Laimokopia, also bears the same double-meaning.
Byzantine emperor
Constantine XIConstantine XI Palaiologos or Palaeologus was the last reigning Roman Emperor...
appealed to Western Europe for help, but his request did not meet the expected attention. Ever since the
mutual excommunicationThe East–West Schism, or The Great Schism, divided medieval Christianity into Eastern and Western branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively. Relations between East and West had long been embittered by political and ecclesiastical...
of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in 1054, the Roman Catholic West had been trying to gain domination over the East; union had been attempted before at Lyons in 1274 and, indeed, some Paleologan emperors had been received in the Latin Church since. Emperor John VIII Palaeologus had attempted to negotiate Union with
Pope Eugene IVPope Eugene IV , born Gabriele Condulmer, was Pope from March 3, 1431, to his death.-Biography:He was born in Venice to a rich merchant family, a Correr on his mother's side. Condulmer entered the Order of Saint Augustine at the monastery of St. George in his native city...
, and the Council held in 1439 resulted in the proclamation, in
FlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence...
, of a
Bull of Union. In the following years, a massive propaganda initiative was undertaken by anti-unionist forces in Constantinople and the population as well as the leadership of the Byzantine Church was in fact bitterly divided. Latent
ethnic hatredEthnic hatred, inter-ethnic hatred, racial hatred, or ethnic tension refers to feelings and acts of prejudice and hostility towards an ethnic group in various degrees. See list of anti-ethnic and anti-national terms for specific cases....
between Greeks and Italians stemming from the events of 1204 and the
sack of ConstantinopleThe Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire...
by the Latins, also played a significant role, and finally the Union failed, greatly annoying
Pope Nicholas VPope Nicholas V , born Tommaso Parentucelli, was Pope from March 6, 1447 to his death in 1455.-Biography:He was born at Sarzana, Liguria, where his father was a physician...
and the Roman Catholic Church.
In the summer of 1452, when Rumeli Hisari was completed and the threat had become imminent, Constantine wrote to the Pope, promising to implement the Union, which was declared valid by a half-hearted imperial court on Tuesday 12 December 1452. Although he was eager for an advantage, Pope Nicholas V did not have the influence the Byzantines thought he had over the Western Kings and Princes, some of whom were wary of increasing Papal control, and these had not the wherewithal to contribute to the effort, especially in light of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
being weakened from the
Hundred Years' WarThe Hundred Years' War was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne, which was vacant with the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The two primary contenders were the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
being in the final part of the
ReconquistaThe Reconquista was a period of 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims...
, the internecine fighting in the
German PrincipalitiesThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
, and
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
and
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
's defeat at the
Battle of VarnaThe Battle of Varna took place on November 10, 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. In this battle the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Murad II defeated the Polish and Hungarian armies under Władysław III of Poland and János Hunyadi...
of 1444. Although some troops did arrive from the mercantile city states in the north of Italy, the Western contribution was not adequate to counterbalance Ottoman strength. Some Western individuals, however, came to help defend the city out of their own account; one of them was an accomplished soldier from Genoa,
Giovanni GiustinianiGiovanni Giustiniani Longo , died 1453, was a Genoese captain during the Middle Ages and protostrator of the Byzantine Empire...
, who arrived with 700 armed men in January 1453. A specialist in defending walled cities, he was immediately given the overall command of the defense of the land walls by the emperor. Around the same time, the captains of the Venetian ships which happened to be present in the Golden Horn offered their services to the Emperor, barring contrary orders from Venice, and Pope Nicholas undertook to send three ships laden with provisions, which set sail near the end of March. In Venice, meanwhile, deliberations were taking place concerning the kind of assistance the Republic would lend to Constantinople. The Senate decided upon sending a fleet, but there were delays, and when it finally set out late in April, it was already too late for it to be able to partake in the battle. Undermining Byzantine morale further, 7 Italian ships with around 700 men slipped out of the capital at the same moment when Giovanni arrived, men who had sworn to defend the capital. At the same time, Constantine's attempts to appease the Sultan with gifts ended in the execution of the former's ambassadors - even Byzantine diplomacy could not save the city.
Odds
The army defending Constantinople was small; it totalled about 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreigners. When the siege began the population of the city amounted, including the
refugees from the surrounding area, to about 50,000 people. The city had about 20 km of walls (Theodosian Walls: 5.5 km; sea walls along the
Golden HornThe Golden Horn is a historic inlet of the Bosphorus dividing the city of Istanbul and forming the superb natural harbor that has sheltered Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other ships for thousands of years...
: 7 km; sea walls along the
Sea of MarmaraThe Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Black Sea and...
: 7.5 km), probably the strongest set of fortified walls in existence at the time. The walls had recently been repaired (under John VIII) and were in fairly good shape, giving the defenders sufficient reason to believe that they could hold out until help from the West arrived. In addition, the defenders were relatively well-equipped fleet of 26 ships: 5 from
GenoaGenoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000...
, 5 from
VeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, a population of 271,367 . Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area . The city historically was an independent nation...
, 3 from Venetian
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
, 1 from
AnconaAncona is a city and a seaport in the Marche, a region of central Italy, population 101,909 . Ancona is situated on the Adriatic Sea and is the center of the province of Ancona and the capital of the region....
, 1 from
AragonAragon is an autonomous community of Spain. Located in northeastern Spain, the region comprises three provinces from north to south: Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza .Aragon's northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees...
, 1 from
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, and about 10 Byzantine. The Ottomans, on the other hand, had a larger force. Recent estimates span between 80,000 soldiers, including mounted troops and 5/6,000–10,000
JanissariesThe Janissaries comprised infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
. Also, the
SerbianSerbs are a South Slavic people living in the Central Europe and the Balkans , between the Balkan- and Carpathian mountains in the east and the Adriatic sea in the west. They are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in Croatia...
lord Đurađ Branković supplied an additional 1,500 Serbian cavalry as part of his obligation to the Ottoman sultan even though, just a few months prior, he had supplied the money for the reconstruction of the walls of
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
. Contemporary witnesses of the siege, who tend to exaggerate the military power of the Sultan, provide higher numbers (Nicolò Barbaro: 160,000; the Florentine merchant Jacopo Tedaldi and the Great Logothete
George SphrantzesGeorge Sphrantzes was a late Byzantine Greek historian. He was born in Constantinople. At an early age he became secretary to Manuel II Palaiologos; in 1432 protovestiarius ; in 1446 prefect of Sparta, and subsequently great logothete...
: 200,000; the Cardinal
Isidore of KievIsidore of Kiev, also known as Isidore of Thessalonica was a Greek Metropolitan of Kiev, cardinal, humanist, and theologian...
and the Archbishop of
MytileneLesbos is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of 1632 km² with 320 kilometres of coastline, making it the third largest Greek island and the largest of the numerous Greek islands scattered in the Aegean. Administratively, it forms part of the Lesbos Prefecture...
Leonardo di Chio: 300,000). Mehmed also built a fleet to besiege the city from the sea (partially manned by Greek sailors from Gallipoli). Contemporary estimates of the strength of the Ottoman fleet span between about 100 ships (Tedaldi), 145 (Barbaro), 160 (Ubertino Pusculo), 200–250 (Isidore of Kiev, Leonardo di Chio) to 430 (Sphrantzes). A more realistic modern estimate puts the total at 6 large galleys, 10 ordinary galleys, 15 smaller galleys, 75 large rowing boats, and 20 horse-transports.
According to Nicolle (2000), the idea that Constantinople was inevitably doomed is wrong, and the overall situation was not as one-sided as a simple glance at a map might suggest.
Ottoman dispositions
Prior to the siege of Constantinople it was known that the Ottomans had the ability to cast medium-sized cannon, but the range of some pieces they were able to put to field far surpassed the defenders' expectations. Instrumental to this Ottoman advancement in arms production was a somewhat mysterious figure by the name of
OrbanOrban, also known as Urban, was a Hungarian gunfounder who cast superguns for the Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453.Originally he offered his services to the Byzantine defenders, but emperor Constantine XI could not afford his salary nor possessed the materials necessary for constructing such...
, a Hungarian (though some suggest he was German).
The master founder initially tried to sell his services to the Byzantines, who were, however, unable to secure the funds needed to hire him. Orban then left Constantinople and approached Mehmed II, claiming that his weapon could blast 'the walls of
BabylonBabylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
itself'. Given abundant funds and materials, the Hungarian engineer built the gun within three months at Adrianople, from which it was dragged by sixty oxen to
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
. In the meantime, Orban also produced other cannon instrumental for the Turkish siege forces.
Orban's cannon had several drawbacks, however: it took three hours to reload; the cannon balls were in very short supply; and the cannon is said to have collapsed under its own recoil after six weeks (this fact however is disputed, being only reported in the letter of Archbishop Leonardo di Chio and the later and often unreliable Russian chronicle of Nestor Iskander). Having previously established a large foundry approximately 150 miles away, Mehmed now had to undergo the painstaking process of transporting his massive pieces of artillery. Orban's giant cannon was said to have been accompanied by a crew of 60 oxen and over 400 men.
Mehmed planned to attack the Theodosian Walls, the intricate series of walls and ditches protecting Constantinople from an attack from the West, the only part of the city not surrounded by water. His army encamped outside the city on the Monday after Easter, 2 April 1453.
The bulk of the Ottoman army were encamped south of the Golden Horn. The regular European troops, stretched out along the entire length of the walls, were commanded by Karadja Pasha. The regular troops from
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
under Ishak Pasha were stationed south of the Lycus down to the Sea of Marmara. Mehmed himself erected his red-and-gold tent near the
Mesoteichion, where the guns and the elite regiments, the Janissaries, were positioned. The Bashi-bazouks were spread out behind the front lines. Other troops under
Zaganos PashaZağanos Pasha was a prominent Ottoman military commander during the reign of Sultan Mehmet II.- Life :He was one of the prominent Ottoman military commanders of Mehmet II and a lala, at once an advisor, mentor, tutor, councillor, protector, for the sultan.A Christian Greek converted to Islam, He...
were employed north of the Golden Horn. Communication was maintained by a road that had been constructed over the marshy head of the Horn.
Byzantine dispositions
On April 5, as the Sultan himself arrived with his last troops, the defenders took up their positions. As their numbers were insufficient to occupy the walls in their entirety, it had been decided that only the outer walls would be manned. Constantine and his Greek troops guarded the
Mesoteichion, the middle section of the land walls, where they were crossed by the river Lycus. This section was considered the weakest spot in the walls and an attack was feared here most. Giustiniani was stationed to the north of the emperor, at the Charisian Gate (
Myriandrion); later during the siege, he was shifted to the
Mesoteichion to join Constantine, leaving the
Myriandrion to the charge of the Bocchiardi brothers. Minotto and his Venetians were stationed in the
BlachernaeBlachernae or Blachernæ was a suburb in the northwestern section of Constantinople. It was the site of a spring and a number of churches were built there, notably by Pulcheria in the 5th century and by Justinian I in the 6th century. These were originally outside the city walls, until 627 when the...
palace, together with Teodoro Caristo, the Langasco brothers, and Archbishop Leonardo of Chios. To the left of the emperor, further south, were the commanders Cataneo, with Genoese troops, and Theophilus Palaeologus, who guarded the Pegae Gate with Greek soldiers. The section of the land walls from the Pegae Gate to the Golden Gate (itself guarded by a certain Genoese called Manuel) was defended by the Venetian Filippo Contarini, while Demetrius Cantacuzenus had taken position on the southernmost part of the Theodosian wall. The sea walls were manned more sparsely, with Jacobo Contarini at Stoudion, a makeshift defense force of Greek monks to his left hand, and prince Orhan at the Harbour of Eleutherius. Péré Julia was stationed at the Great Palace with Genoese troops; Cardinal Isidore of Kiev guarded the tip of the peninsula near the boom. The sea walls at the southern shore of the
Golden HornThe Golden Horn is a historic inlet of the Bosphorus dividing the city of Istanbul and forming the superb natural harbor that has sheltered Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other ships for thousands of years...
were defended by Venetian and Genoese sailors under Gabriele Trevisano. Two tactical reserves were kept behind in the city, one in the Petra district just behind the land walls and one near the
Church of the Holy ApostlesThe Church of the Holy Apostles , also known as the Imperial Polyandreion, was a Christian basilica built in Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, in 550. It was second only to the Church of the Holy Wisdom among the great churches of the Eastern Empire...
, under the command of Lucas Notaras and Nicephorus Palaeologus, respectively. The Genoese Alviso Diedo commanded the ships in the harbor. Although the Byzantines also had cannons, they were much smaller than those of the Ottomans and the
recoilRecoil is the 'kick' given by a gun when it is fired. In technical terms, this kick is caused by the gun's backward momentum, which exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile...
tended to damage their own walls.
Siege of the city
At the beginning of the siege, Mehmed sent out some of his best troops to reduce the remaining Byzantine strongholds outside the city of Constantinople. The fortress of Therapia on the Bosphorus and a smaller castle at the village of Studius near the Sea of Marmara were taken within a few days. The
Princes' IslandsThe Princes' Islands , are a chain of nine islands off the coast of Istanbul, Turkey, in the Sea of Marmara.They consist of four larger islands,...
in the Sea of Marmara were taken by Admiral Baltoghlu's fleet.
Mehmed's massive cannon fired on the walls for weeks, but due to its imprecision and extremely slow rate of reloading the Byzantines were able to repair most of the damage after each shot, limiting the cannon's effect.
Meanwhile, despite some probing attacks, the Ottoman fleet under
Suleiman Baltoghlu-Life:Turkish Admiral in the 15th Century. He led the Turkish fleet against the Byzantines in 1453 during the final siege of Constantinople. Famous for the naval battle in which four Christian ships took on his entire fleet and managed to win and escape. Sultan Mehmet II was so angered during...
could not enter the
Golden HornThe Golden Horn is a historic inlet of the Bosphorus dividing the city of Istanbul and forming the superb natural harbor that has sheltered Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other ships for thousands of years...
due to the boom the Byzantines had laid across the entrance, and although one of its main tasks was to prevent any ships from outside from entering the Golden Horn, on 20 April a small flotilla of four Christian ships managed to slip in after some heavy fighting, an event which strengthened the morale of the defenders and caused embarrassment to the Sultan. Baltoghlu's life was spared after his subordinates testified to his brave yet fruitless efforts to Mehmed. To circumvent the boom, Mehmed ordered the construction of a road of greased logs across
GalataGalata or Galatae is a neighbourhood in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey, on the European side. Galata is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of old Constantinople. The Golden Horn is crossed by...
on the north side of the Golden Horn, and rolled his ships across on 22 April. This seriously threatened the flow of supplies from
GenoveseGenoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000...
ships from the - nominally neutral - colony of
PeraBeyoğlu is a district located on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city by the Golden Horn...
and demoralized the Byzantine defenders. On the night of 28 April, an attempt was made to destroy the Ottoman ships already in the Golden Horn using fire ships, but the Ottomans had been warned in advance and forced the Christians to retreat with heavy losses. From then on, the defenders were forced to disperse part of their forces to the Golden Horn walls, causing defense in other sections of the walls to weaken.
The Turks had made several frontal assaults on the land wall, but were always repelled with heavy losses. From mid-May to 25 May, the Ottomans sought to break through the walls by constructing underground tunnels in an effort to mine them. Many of the sappers were
SerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a country located in both Central and Southeastern Europe. Its territory covers the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and central part of the Balkans...
ns sent from
Novo BrdoNovo Brdo is a town and municipality in the Pristina district of eastern Kosovo and Metohija...
by the Serbian Despot. They were placed under the command of
Zaganos PashaZağanos Pasha was a prominent Ottoman military commander during the reign of Sultan Mehmet II.- Life :He was one of the prominent Ottoman military commanders of Mehmet II and a lala, at once an advisor, mentor, tutor, councillor, protector, for the sultan.A Christian Greek converted to Islam, He...
. However, the Byzantines employed an engineer named
Johannes GrantJohannes Grant was an engineer employed by the Byzantine Empire at the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Contemporary Greek accounts referred to him as being German, although more recent scholarship has suggested he may actually have been Scottish, named "John Grant". His use of counter-tunnelling...
(who was said to be German but was probably Scottish), who had countermines dug, allowing Byzantine troops to enter the mines and kill the Turkish workers. The Byzantines intercepted the first Serbian tunnel on the night of 16 May. Subsequent tunneling efforts were interrupted on 21, 23, and 25 May, destroying them with Greek fire and vigorous combat. On 23 May, the Byzantines captured and tortured two Turkish officers, who revealed the location of all the Turkish tunnels, which were then destroyed.
Mehmed offered to lift the siege if they gave him the city. When this was declined, Mehmed planned to overpower the walls by sheer force, knowing that the weak Byzantine defense would be worn out before he ran out of troops. Around this time, Mehmed had a final council with his senior officers. Here he encountered some resistance; one of his Viziers, the veteran
Halil PashaÇandarlı Halil Pasha was a highly influential Ottoman grand vizier under the Sultans Murat II and, for the first years of his reign, under Mehmet II . He was a member of the Çandarlı family, considered to have contributed nearly as much as the ruling Ottoman dynasty to laying the foundations of...
, who had always disapproved of Mehmed's plans to conquer the city, now admonished him to abandon the siege in the face of recent adversity. Halil was overruled by Zaganos Pasha, who insisted on an immediate attack. Having been bribed by the Byzantines, Halil Pasha was put to death later that year.
On May 22, 1453, the moon, symbol of Constantinople, rose in dark
eclipseAn eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object moves into the shadow of another. The term is derived from the ancient Greek noun , which is derived from the verb , "to cease to exist," a combination of prefix , from preposition , "out," and of verb , "to be absent"...
, fulfilling a prophecy on the city's demise. Four days later, the whole city was blotted out by a thick fog, a condition unknown in that part of the world in May. When the fog lifted that evening, a strange light was seen playing about the dome of the
Hagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
, and from the city walls lights were seen in the countryside to the West, far behind the Turkish camp. The light around the dome was interpreted by some as the
Holy SpiritIn Christianity, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. In mainstream Christian beliefs he is the third person of the Trinity. As part of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit is equal with God the Father and with God the Son....
departing from the Cathedral, while there was a distant hope that the lights were the campfires of the troops of
John HunyadiJohn Hunyadi , nicknamed the White Knight, was a Voivode of Transylvania , captain-general and regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, argueably the most renowned military commander of the 15th century...
who had come to relieve the city.
The following day a small Venetian ship of 12 entered the Capital and reported to the Emperor that no Venetian relief fleet was on its way after having searched the Aegean. Nonetheless the Emperor was able to receive the aid of the 12 in the defense of the city.
Final assault
Mehmed called a war council on 26 May and at his tent declared that the siege had gone on long enough. Preparations were to be made in the evening and continue on into the next day on the 27th. Prayer and resting would be then granted to the soldiers on the 28th and thereafter the final assault would be launched. For 36 hours after the war council the Ottomans mobilized their manpower for extensive preparations for an all-out assault. Prior to this the Ottomans had tried to starve the city and make notable breaches in the walls with artillery, occasionally testing the sea walls with his land-hauled fleet.
On May 28, as the Ottoman army prepared for the final assault, large-scale religious processions were held in the city. In the evening a last solemn ceremony was held in the Hagia Sophia, in which the Emperor and representatives of both the Latin and Greek church partook, together with nobility from both sides. Shortly after midnight the attack began. The first wave of attackers, the
azab-1389 forward:In 1389 a system of conscription was introduced in the Ottoman military. In times of need every town, quarter, and village should present a fully equipped conscript at the recruiting office. The new force of irregular infantrymen was called Azabs and it was used in a number of...
s (auxiliaries), were poorly trained and equipped, and were meant only to kill as many defenders as possible. The second assault, consisting largely of
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
ns, focused on a section of the
BlachernaeBlachernae or Blachernæ was a suburb in the northwestern section of Constantinople. It was the site of a spring and a number of churches were built there, notably by Pulcheria in the 5th century and by Justinian I in the 6th century. These were originally outside the city walls, until 627 when the...
walls in the northwest part of the city, which had been partially damaged by the cannon. This section of the walls had been built much more recently, in the eleventh century, and was much weaker; the crusaders in 1204 had broken through the walls there. The Ottoman attackers also managed to break through, but were just as quickly pushed back out by the defenders. The Christians also managed for a time to hold off the third attack by the Sultan's elite
JanissariesThe Janissaries comprised infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
, but the Genoese general in charge of the land troops,
Giovanni GiustinianiGiovanni Giustiniani Longo , died 1453, was a Genoese captain during the Middle Ages and protostrator of the Byzantine Empire...
, was grievously wounded during the attack, and his evacuation from the ramparts caused a panic in the ranks of the defenders. Giustiniani was carried to
ChiosChios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
, where he succumbed to his wounds a few days later.
With Giustiniani's Genoese troops retreating into the city and towards the harbour, Constantine and his men, now left to their own devices, kept fighting and managed to hold off the attackers for a while. At this point, some historians suggest that the Kerkoporta gate in the
BlachernaeBlachernae or Blachernæ was a suburb in the northwestern section of Constantinople. It was the site of a spring and a number of churches were built there, notably by Pulcheria in the 5th century and by Justinian I in the 6th century. These were originally outside the city walls, until 627 when the...
section had been left unlocked, and the Ottomans soon discovered this mistake. The Ottomans rushed in. Around the same time, the defenders were being overwhelmed at several points in Constantine's section. When Turkish flags were seen flying above the Kerkoporta, a panic ensued and the defense collapsed, as Janissary soldiers, led by
Ulubatlı HasanUlubatlı Hasan was a Timarli Sipâhî in the service of Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire who achieved legendary status as a heroic Turkish martyr at the successful Siege of Constantinople.He was born in a small village called Ulubat in the province of Bursa Ulubatlı Hasan (sometimes written...
pressed forward. It is said that Constantine, throwing aside his purple regalia, led the final charge against the oncoming Ottomans, dying in the ensuing battle in the streets like his soldiers, although his ultimate fate remains unknown.
After the initial assault, the Ottoman army fanned out along the main thoroughfare of the city, the Mese, past the great forums, and past the
Church of the Holy ApostlesThe Church of the Holy Apostles , also known as the Imperial Polyandreion, was a Christian basilica built in Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, in 550. It was second only to the Church of the Holy Wisdom among the great churches of the Eastern Empire...
, which Mehmed II wanted to provide a seat for his newly appointed patriarch which would help him better control his Christian subjects. Mehmed II had sent an advance guard to protect key buildings such as the Holy Apostles, as he did not wish to establish his new capital in a thoroughly devastated city.
The Army converged upon the
AugusteumAn Augusteum was originally a site of the imperial cult of ancient Rome, named after the imperial title of Augustus. It was known as a Sebasteion in the Greek East of the Roman Empire...
, the vast square that fronted the great church of Hagia Sophia whose bronze gates were barred by a huge throng of civilians inside the building, hoping for divine protection at this late hour. After the doors were breached, the troops separated the congregation according to what price they might bring on the slave markets. There were some raping and pillaging according to the English historian
John Julius NorwichJohn Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
. Soldiers fought over the possession of some of the
spoils of warBotín de guerra is a 2000 Argentine documentary film directed and written by David Blaustein with Luis Alberto Asurey. The film premiered on 11 April 2000 in Buenos Aires...
. According to the Venetian surgeon Nicolo Barbaro "all through the day the Turks made a great slaughter of Christians through the city". At the conclusion of the siege, Mehmet ordered all looting to stop and sent his troops back outside the walls.
Aftermath
Byzantine historian
George SphrantzesGeorge Sphrantzes was a late Byzantine Greek historian. He was born in Constantinople. At an early age he became secretary to Manuel II Palaiologos; in 1432 protovestiarius ; in 1446 prefect of Sparta, and subsequently great logothete...
was in the city, and witnessed the fall of Constantinople. He later recalled in his chronicle about the fall of the city, what happened at the end of the third day of the conquest:
On the third day after the fall of our city, the Sultan celebrated his victory with a great, joyful triumph. He issued a proclamation: the citizens of all ages who had managed to escape detection were to leave their hiding places throughout the city and come out into the open, as they were remain free and no question would be asked. He further declared the restoration of houses and property to those who had abandoned our city before the siege, if they returned home, they would be treated according to their rank and religion, as if nothing had changed.
The loss of the city was a massive blow to Christendom; the Pope called for an immediate counter-attack in the form of a crusade, but when no European monarch was willing to lead the crusade, the Pope himself decided to go; his early death eliminated the possibility of a counter-attack.
With Constantinople beneath his belt, Mehmed II had acquired a great, rich city albeit one in decline due to years of war. The Capital allowed the Turks to establish a permanent supply base in Christian Europe. Further advances into Hungary and the principalities bordering the two kingdoms would have been difficult, if not impossible, without the harbors of Constantinople bringing in supplies and serving as a fortified center from which to administer the empire and strategy.
Far from being in its heyday, by then, Constantinople was severely depopulated as a result of the general economic and territorial decline of the empire following its partial recovery from the disaster of the Fourth Crusade inflicted on it by the Christian army two centuries before. Therefore, the city in 1453 was a series of walled villages separated by vast fields encircled in whole by the fifth-century Theodosian walls. When the Ottoman troops first broke through the defenses, many of the leading citizens of these little townlets submitted their surrender to Mehmed's generals. These villages, specifically along the land walls, were allowed to keep their citizens and churches and were protected by Mehmed's special contingents of Janissaries. It was these people who formed what the Ottomans called a
MilletMillet is an Ottoman Turkish term for a confessional community in the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th century, with the Tanzimat reforms, the term started to refer to legally protected religious minority groups, other than the ruling Sunni. Millet comes from the Arabic word millah and literally means...
, a self-governing community in the multi-national Ottoman Empire of which Constantinople was to become the capital.
Hagia SophiaHagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
was converted into a mosque, although the Greek Orthodox Church remained intact, and Gennadius Scholarius was appointed
Patriarch of Constantinople-Current Ecumenical Patriarch:The current Ecumenical Patriarch is His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.-General Introduction:...
.
Many Greeks fled the city and found refuge in the
Latin WestEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, bringing with them knowledge and documents from the Greco-Roman tradition that further propelled the Renaissance, although the influx of Greek scholars into the West began much earlier, especially in the Northern
Italian city-statesThe Italian city-states were a remarkable political phenomenon of small independent states in the northern Italian peninsula between the tenth and fifteenth centuries....
which had started welcoming scholars in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The chancellor of Florence
Coluccio SalutatiColuccio Salutati was an Italian man of letters and one of the most important political and cultural leaders of Renaissance Florence.-Biography:...
began this cultural exchange in 1396 by inviting a Byzantine Scholar to lecture at the
University of FlorenceThe University of Florence is one of the largest and oldest universities in Italy. It consists of 12 facultiesand has currently about 60,000 students enrolled.-History:...
. It was the Italians' hunger for Latin Classics and a command of the Greek Language that fueled the Renaissance. Those Greeks who stayed behind in Constantinople were mostly confined to the Phanar and
GalataGalata or Galatae is a neighbourhood in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey, on the European side. Galata is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of old Constantinople. The Golden Horn is crossed by...
districts. The Phanariots, as they were called, provided many capable advisers to the Ottoman Sultans, but were seen as traitors by many Greeks.
The
MoreaThe Morea was the name of the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece during the Middle Ages and the early modern period...
n (Peloponnesian) fortress of Mystras, where Constantine's brothers Thomas and Demetrius ruled, constantly in conflict with each other and knowing that Mehmed would eventually invade them as well, held out until 1460. Long before the fall of Constantinople, Demetrius had fought for the throne with Thomas, Constantine, and their other brothers John and Theodore. Thomas escaped to Rome when the Ottomans invaded Morea while Demetrius expected to rule a puppet state, but instead was imprisoned and remained there for the rest of his life. In Rome, Thomas and his family received some monetary support from the Pope and other Western rulers as Byzantine emperor in exile, until 1503. In 1461 the independent Byzantine state in
TrebizondThe Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire...
fell to Mehmed.
Scholars consider the Fall of Constantinople as a key event ending the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
and starting the
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
because of the end of the old religious order in Europe and the use of cannon and gunpowder. The fall of Constantinople and general encroachment of the Turks in that region also severed the main overland trade link between Europe and Asia, and as a result more Europeans began to seriously consider the possibility of reaching Asia by sea.
Third Rome
With Byzantium considered the continuation of the Roman Empire, or the "Second Rome", the fall of Constantinople led competing factions to lay claim to being the "
Third RomeThe term Third Rome describes the idea that some European city, state, or country is the successor to the legacy of the Roman Empire, with Byzantium being the "second Rome."- Russian claims :...
". Russian claims to Byzantine heritage clashed with those of the Ottoman empire's own claim. In Mehmed's view, he was the successor to the Roman Emperor, declaring himself
Kayser-i Rum, literally "
Caesar of RomeCaesar , Latin: Caesar , is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
", that is, of the Roman Empire, though he was remembered as "the Conqueror", founder of a political system that survived until 1922 with the establishment of the Republic of Turkey that has since held Constantinople (renamed Istanbul) but moved the capital of the Turkish state to
AnkaraAnkara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2007 the city had a population of 4,751,360, which includes eight districts under the city's administration...
. Such conflict in ideology only stimulated warfare between the
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, with the 18th and 19th century seeing Russian armies approach slowly closer to Constantinople. In fact the Russian armies came all the way to
YesilkoyYeşilköy is a part of the Bakırköy district of Istanbul, Turkey....
suburb of
IstanbulIstanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province...
, which is only 10 miles west of
Topkapi PalaceThe Topkapı Palace or in Ottoman Turkish: طوپقپو سرايى, usually spelled "Topkapi" in English)is a palace in Istanbul, Turkey, which was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans for 400 years of their 600-year reign, from 1465 to 1853.The palace was a setting for state...
during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878).
Stefan Dušan, Tsar of
SerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a country located in both Central and Southeastern Europe. Its territory covers the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and central part of the Balkans...
, and Ivan Alexander, Tsar of
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
both made similar claims, regarding themselves as legitimate heirs to the Byzantine Empire. Other potential claimants, such as the
Republic of VeniceThe Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797...
and the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
have disintegrated into history. The Vatican is the final remaining claiment. Their claim dates back from the establishment of the
Papal StatesThe Papal States, State of the Church or Pontifical States were one of the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
which were originally forged as the "Rome-Ravenna" corridor after Emperor Justinian's conquests. Later placed under Frankish protection, the Papal States remained as they were throughout the centuries, until the 1870 conquest by Victor Emanuel. It was not until the subsequent Concordat of Rome in 1929, that their claim to the Byzantine Empire was revived, a continuous claim dating back over 1500 years.
In addition to the military and political benefits bestowed upon the Turks with its capture, it also brought the trade in Eastern Spices through Muslim intermediaries into a declining period. Europeans would continue to trade through Constantinople into the 16th century but high prices propelled the search for alternative sources of supply that did not pass through the intermediaries of the Ottomans and, to a lesser extent, the Safavids and Mamelukes. An increasing number of Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch ships began to attempt to sail to India via the southern tip of Africa. Indeed, had Columbus not believed that he would reach Asia to negotiate trade rights by sailing west—the mission as he presented it to his patron, the King of Spain—he would not have found the New World.
Renaming
It is widely believed that the city was renamed to "Istanbul" in the aftermath of the conquest. In actuality, Ottomans used the Arabic translation of the city, "Kostantiniyye," as can be seen in numerous Ottoman documents. The name Istanbul, deriving from a Greek phrase ("to the City", Greek: eis -tin- polin ) was already spread among the populace before the conquest. Istanbul would become the official name of the city in 1930.
Ottoman casualties
Ottoman casualties are unknown; the Venetian surgeon Barbaro describes the sea around the capital floating with the bodies of the Turks and Christians "like melons out to canal". Whatever the Ottoman casualties, the Empire had to recover its strength; to the East lay the Karamanids, and to the North the Hungarians and numerous smaller states, such as the Despotate of Morea and the many Slavic territories in the Balkans contested by Hungary.
Cultural references
There are many legends in Greece surrounding the Fall of Constantinople. One of them holds that two priests saying
divine liturgyThe Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the...
over the crowd disappeared into the cathedral's walls as the first Turkish soldiers entered. According to the legend, the priests will appear again on the day Constantinople returns to Christian hands. Another legend refers to the
Marble King, Constantine XI, holding that, when the Ottomans entered the city, an angel rescued the emperor, turned him into marble and placed him in a cave under the earth near the Golden Gate, where he waits to be brought to life again (a variant of the sleeping hero legend)..
Western cultural impact
The Christian re-conquest of Constantinople remained a fascinating and much sought-after event in Western Europe for years to come after its fall to the
House of OsmanHouse of Osman was the name of the administrative structure of the Ottoman Dynasty, part of the state organization of the Ottoman Empire but nonetheless directly linked to the dynasty...
. Rumours of Constantine XI's survival and subsequent rescue by an angel led many to hope that the city would one day return to Christian hands. However, as Western Europe entered the 15th century, the age of Crusading began to come to an end. Initially, the fall of the city seemed to cause a stir of crusading zeal in the West, where, apart from religious sentiments,
Renaissance humanismRenaissance Humanism was a European intellectual movement that was a crucial component of the Renaissance, beginning in Florence in the latter half of the 14th century. The humanist movement developed from the rediscovery by European scholars of Latin literary and Greek literary texts. Initially,...
had for about a century been fueling an interest in the cultural and intellectual heritage of
classical antiquityClassical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
, and the role that Byzantium had played in preserving that heritage. The great humanist Aeneas Silvius lamented that with the fall of Constantinople "Homer and Plato have died a second death". While this utterance was surely true for learning in the fallen city, refugees from Constantinople to Italy brought with them ancient texts that further inspired humanist investigation of ancient philosophy and esotericism, especially Platonic and Neo-Platonic thought. As
Pope Pius IIPope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini was Pope from August 19, 1458 until his death in 1464. Pius II, "whose character reflects almost every tendency of the age in which he lived", was born at Corsignano in the Sienese territory of a noble but decayed family...
, the same Aeneas Silvius declared a crusade in 1459 for the recapture of Constantinople, but any genuine enthusiasm that existed was short-lived, and a crusade never came into effect.
Guillaume DufayGuillaume Dufay was a Franco-Flemish composer of the early Renaissance. As the central figure in the Burgundian School, he was the most famous and influential composer in Europe in the mid-15th century.-Early life:From the evidence of his will, he was probably born in Beersel, in the vicinity of...
composed several songs lamenting the fall of the Eastern church, and the duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, avowed to take up arms against the Turks. With the
Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
and subsequent
counter-reformationThe Counter-Reformation denotes the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648....
, the recapture of Constantinople became an ever-distant dream. Even France, once a fervent participant of the Crusades, became an ally of the Ottomans. Nonetheless depictions of Christian coalitions taking the city and of the late Emperor's resurrection by Leo the Wise persisted. Entertaining such ideas became politically incorrect in the Western world after the defeat of Greek armies, which tried to invade Turkey during 1919-1922, right after the defeat of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
in the First World War. After this
Turkish war of independenceThe Turkish War of Independence is the political and military resistance developed by Turkish Nationalists to the Allied partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I...
, Turkey emerged as a secular constitutional republic in 1923, later becoming a democratic republic in 1950 and joined
NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization ); ), also called "the Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949...
along with
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
in 1952.
Eastern cultural impact
Contrary to popular belief the city was not immediately renamed to Istanbul, but rather many different names were used by the Ottomans: such as Kostantiniyye, Istanbul, Islâmbol, Stamboul. Later the name was changed to
IstanbulIstanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province...
by the Turkish Postal Law of 1930.
The fall of the city to Islam seemed to fulfill a prophecy of
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
from the
HadithHadith are oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith are regarded by traditional schools of jurisprudence as important tools for determining the Muslim way of life, the sunnah. Hadith were originally oral traditions of Muhammad's actions and customs...
. With the rise of Arab nationalism however and the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, the efforts of Saladin became more popular in the Middle East than the achievements of Mehmed. In the Arab world, the achievements of Saladin rather than Mehmed are remembered.
Fall of Constantinople in media
John BellairsJohn Anthony Bellairs was an American author, best known for his well-respected fantasy novel The Face in the Frost, as well as many gothic mystery novels for young adults featuring Lewis Barnavelt, Anthony Monday, and Johnny Dixon.-Biography:After earning degrees at University of Notre Dame and...
' book
The Trolley to Yesterday is based upon the fall of Constantinople.
The sacking of Constantinople is mentioned in the opening song of the
Tim RiceSir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice is an English Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, author, radio personality and television gameshow panellist....
musical, CHESS.
See also
- Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
- Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
- Military of the Ottoman Empire
The military of the Ottoman Empire was divided in three organizational structures: the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The history of the Ottoman Army can be divided in two main periods...
- Janissary
The Janissaries comprised infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
- Mehmed II
Mehmet II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446,...
- Constantine XI
Constantine XI Palaiologos or Palaeologus was the last reigning Roman Emperor...
- Ulubatlı Hasan
Ulubatlı Hasan was a Timarli Sipâhî in the service of Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire who achieved legendary status as a heroic Turkish martyr at the successful Siege of Constantinople.He was born in a small village called Ulubat in the province of Bursa Ulubatlı Hasan (sometimes written...
- Orban
Orban, also known as Urban, was a Hungarian gunfounder who cast superguns for the Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453.Originally he offered his services to the Byzantine defenders, but emperor Constantine XI could not afford his salary nor possessed the materials necessary for constructing such...
External links