Fall Of Constantinople

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{{Warbox|conflict=Siege of Constantinople|partof=the Byzantine-Ottoman wars–[May 29, 1453 (present-day [Istanbul)]|combatant1=|combatant2= Ottoman Empire|commander1=Constantine XI †,
Loukas Notaras,
Giovanni Giustiniani †],
Zağanos Pasha on Tuesday, [May 29, 1453. The event marked the end of the political independence of the millennium-old Byzantine Empire, which was by then already fragmented into several Greeks monarchies.The Fall of Constantinople 1453 - Steven Runciman Most importantly, the fall of Constantinople accelerated the scholarly exodus of Byzantine Greeks which caused the influx of Classical Studies into the European Renaissance.A direct causal connection between the fall of the city and the exodus of Greek scholars to the West is often made; see for example The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Renaissance. On the other hand, Runciman (1965) is careful not to overestimate the role which the fall of Constantinople in 1453 played in the emigration of scholars to Western Europe, which he emphasizes had already been underway for more than 50 years as a result of the decline of the empire by the time the city fell. (See Runciman (1965), p. xi, p. 188.) The role of non-scholarly Greeks in transferring the knowledge of ancient Greek literature is stressed by J. Harris ( On-line Reference Book for Medieval Studies). In addition, it played a crucial role in Ottoman political stability and its subsequent expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. The date of the event is one of the frequently Middle Ages#Periodization issues marking the end of the Middle Ages as a historical period.

State of the Byzantine Empire In the approximately 1,100 years of the existence of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople had been besieged many times but had been captured only once, during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. The crusaders had most likely not intended to conquer Byzantium from the beginning, and an unstable Latin Empire was established in Constantinople for a short period of time. The Byzantine Empire fell apart into a number of Greek successor states, notably Empire of Nicaea, Despotate of Epirus and Empire of Trebizond. 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 finally the first to re-conquer Constantinople from the Latins in 1261. In the following two centuries, the much-weakened Byzantine Empire was facing threats from the Latins, the Serbians, the Bulgarians and most importantly, the Ottoman Turks. In 1453 the "empire" consisted of little more than the city of Constantinople itself and a portion of the Peloponnese (centered on the fortress of Mystras); the Empire of Trebizond, a completely independent successor state formed in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade also survived on the coast of the Black Sea.

Preparations remained under Byzantine rule until 1453 (not shown on the map).When Sultan Murad II was succeeded by his son Mehmed II 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.Runciman 1965, p. 60 This belief was reinforced by Mehmed's friendly assurances to envoys that were sent to him at the assumption of his reign. His promise to respect Byzantine territorial integrity, however, soon proved false. During the spring and summer of 1452, sultan Mehmed II, whose great grand-father Bayezid I had previously built a fortress on the Asian side of the Bosporus called Anadoluhisari, now built a second castle outside the walls of Constantinople on the European side, which would increase Turkish influence on the straits. An especially relevant aspect of this fortress was its ability to prevent help from Genoa colonies on the Black Sea coast from reaching the city. This castle was called Rumelihisari; Rumelia and Anatolia being the names of European and Asian portions of the Ottoman Empire, respectively. The new fortress is also known as Boğazkesen which has a dual meaning in Turkish language; strait-blocker or throat-cutter, emphasizing its strategic position. The Greek language name of the fortress, Laimokopia, also bears the same double-meaning.

Constantine appealed to Western Europe for help, but his request did not meet the expected attention. Ever since the East-West Schism of the Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism churches in 1054, the Roman Catholic west had been trying to re-integrate the east; union had been attempted before at Second Council of 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 IV, and the Council of Basel#Eugenius IV held in 1439 resulted in the proclamation, in 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 hatred between Greeks and Italians stemming from the events of 1204 and the Fourth Crusade by the Latins, also played a significant role, and finally the Union failed, greatly annoying Pope Nicholas V 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. However, although he was eager to help, Pope Nicholas V did not have the influence the Byzantines thought he had over the Western Kings and princes, and these had not the wherewithal to contribute to the effort, especially in light of France and England being weakened from the Hundred Years' War, Spain being in the final part of the Reconquista, the internecine fighting in the Holy Roman Empire, and Hungary and Poland's defeat at the Battle of Varna 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 the 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 Giustiniani, who arrived with 700 armed men in January 1453.Runciman 1965, pp. 83-84 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.Runciman 1965, p. 81 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.Runciman 1965, p. 85.

Odds The army defending Constantinople was small; it totalled about 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreigners.According to Phrantzes, whom Constantine had ordered to make a census, the Emperor was appalled when the number of native men capable of bearing arms turned out to be only 4,983. Leonardo di Chio gave a number of 6,000 Greeks. See Runciman 1965, p. 85. The city had about 20 km of walls (Theodosian Walls: 5.5 km; sea walls along the Golden Horn: 7 km; sea walls along the Sea of Marmara: 7.5 km), probably the strongest set of fortified walls in existence at the time. The walls had recently been repaired (under John VIII Palaeologus) and were in fairly good shape. In addition, the defenders were relatively well-equipped. The defenders also had a fleet of 26 ships: 5 from Genoa, 5 from Venice, 3 from Venetian Crete, 1 from Ancona, 1 from Spain, 1 from France, and about 10 Byzantine.D. Nicolle, Constantinople 1453: The end of Byzantium, 45 The Ottomans, on the other hand, had a larger force. It was thought to number around 100,000 men, including 20,000 Janissary; recent estimates span between 80,000 soldiers and 5,000 Janissary{{cite book|last = Nicolle |first = David |year = 2000 |title = Constantinople 1453: The end of Byzantium (Campaign) |publisher = Osprey Publishing |id = ISBN 1-84176-091-9 --> and 150,000 soldiers, including mounted troops and 6,000-10,000 Janissary.{{cite book|last = Pertusi |first = Agostino, ed. |year = 1976 |title = La Caduta di Costantinopoli |publisher = Fondazione Lorenzo Valla: Verona. (An anthology of contemporary texts and documents on the fall of Constantinople; includes bibliographies and a detailed scholarly comment) --> Contemporary witnesses of the siege provide higher numbers for the military power of the sultan (Nicolò Barbaro: 160,000;Nicolò Barbaro, Giornale dell'Assedio di Costantinopoli, 1453 (the autograph copy is conserved in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice) the Florentine merchant Jacopo TedaldiConcasty, M.-L., Les «Informations» de Jacques Tedaldi sur le siège et la prise de Constantinople and the Great Logothete George Sphrantzes:Chronicles of George Sphrantzes; Greek text is reported in A. Mai, Classicorum auctorum e Vaticanis codicibus editorum, tome IX, Romae 1837, pp 1-100 200,000; the cardinal Isidore of KievEpistola reverendissimi patris domini Isidori cardinalis Ruteni scripta ad reverendissimum dominum Bisarionem episcopum Tusculanum ac cardinalem Nicenum Bononiaeque legatum (letter of cardinal Isidore to cardinal Johannes Bessarion), dated 6 July 1453 and the archbishop of Lesbos Island Leonardo di Chio:Epistola reverendissimi in Christo patris et domini domini Leonardis Ordinis Praedicatorum, archiepiscopi Mitileni, sacrarum litterarum professoris, ad beatissimum dominum nostrum Nicolaum papam quintum (letter of archbishop of Mitilene Leonardo di Chio to Pope Nicholas V), dated 16 August 1453 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 PusculoUbertino Pusculo, Constantinopolis, 1464), 200-250 (Isidore of Kiev, Leonardo di Chio) to 430 (Sphrantzes). A realistic report puts the total at 6 large galleys, 10 ordinary galleys, 15 smaller galleys, 75 large rowing boats, and 20 horse-transports.D. Nicolle, Constantinople 1453: The end of Byzantium, 44

Equipment and strategies Prior to the siege of Constantinople it is known that the Ottomans held the ability to cast medium-sized cannon, yet nothing near the range of some pieces they were able to put to field. Instrumental to this Ottoman advancement in arms production was a somewhat mysterious figure by the name of Orban, a Hungarian. The master founder immediately tried to peddle his skills to the city's invaders. Guaranteeing Mehmed that he could cast cannons powerful enough to break down the greatest fortifications ever constructed, every resource was placed at his fingertips. In a move of unprecedented technicality, working in a makeshift foundry, Orban pushed the limits of his art and cast what was likely the largest contemporary gun ever made—27 feet long and large enough for a full grown man to crawl into. Orban's cannon could fire a 1200 lb (544 kg) ball as far as one mile. It was dubbed "the Great Turkish Bombard". 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 Iskinder). The creation of such a weapon was such a feat for its time that it took on an air of religious reverence. Orban's accomplishments in dealing with such fine tolerances on such a massive scale place his work as one of the greatest engineering feats of the time yet nothing is certainly known about his demise. Another expert who was employed by the Ottoman Empires was Ciriaco Pizzecolli, also known as Ciriaco of Ancona, traveller and collector of antiquities. 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 90 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, April 2, 1453.

On April 5, as the sultan himself arrived with his last troops, the defenders took up their positions.The following information is taken from Runciman (1965), pp. 92-94. 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 Mesoteichon, 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. Guistiniani was stationed to the north of the emperor, at the Charisian Gate and the Myriandrion; later during the siege, he was shifted to the Mesoteichon to join Constantine, leaving the Myriandron to the defense of the Bocchiardi brothers. Minotto and his Venetians were stationed in the Blachernae palace, together with Teodoro Caristo, the Langasco brothers, and archbishop Leonardo di Chio. 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 Horn 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 Apostles, under the command of Lucas Notaras and Nicephorus Palaeologus, respectively. The Genoese Alviso Diedo commanded the ships in the harbour. Although the Byzantines also had cannons, they were much smaller then those of the Ottomans and the recoil tended to damage their own walls.

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 Anatolia under Ishak Pasha were stationed south of the Lycus down to the Sea of Marmora. Mehmed himself erected his red-and-gold tent near the Mesoteichon, 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 Pasha were employed north of the Golden Horn. Communication was maintained by a road that had been constructed over the marshy head of the Horn.Runciman 1965, pp. 94-95.

Siege and final assault 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 Marmora were taken within a few days. The Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmora were taken by admiral Baltoghlu's fleet.Runciman 1965, pp. 96-97.

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 Baltoghlu could not enter the Golden Horn due to the wikt: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 shipsThese were the three Genoese ships sent by the pope, joined by a large Imperial transport ship which had been sent on a foraging mission to Sicily previous to the siege and was on its way back to Constantinople. (Runciman 1965, p. 100) managed to slip in after some heavy fighting, an event which strengthened the morale of the defenders and caused embarrassment to the Sultan. To circumvent the boom, Mehmed ordered the construction of a road of greased logs across Galata on the north side of the Golden Horn, and rolled his ships across on 22 April. This seriously threatened the flow of supplies from Genoa ships from the - nominally neutral - colony of Beyoğlu 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 Sapping them. Many of the sappers were Serbians sent from Novo Brdo by the Serbian Despot. They were placed under the rule of Zaganos Pasha. However, the Byzantines employed an engineer named Johannes Grant (who was said to be German but was probably Scottish), who had countertunnels dug, allowing Byzantine troops to enter the tunnels 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. Crowley, Roger. 1453: the holy war for Constantinople and the clash of Islam and the West. New York: Hyperion, 2005. p 168-171 ISBN 1-4013-0850-3 tries to save his fleet during the siege of Constantinople

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 defenders 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 Çandarlı (2nd) Halil Pasha, 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, an advice which the Sultan was glad to follow. Suspected of having been bribed by the Byzantines, Halil Pasha was put to death later that year.Runciman 1965, pp. 126-128, 169-170.

On May 22, 1453, the moon, symbol of Constantinople, rose in dark eclipse, 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 Sophia, 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 Spirit departing from the Cathedral, while there was a distant hope that the lights were the campfires of the troops of John Hunyadi who had come to relieve the city.It is possible that all these phenomena were local effects of the cataclysmic Kuwae volcanic eruption in the Pacific Ocean. The "fire" seen may have been an optical illusion due to the reflection of intensely red twilight glow by clouds of volcanic ash high in the atmosphere. Source at NASA

Final assault 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.Vasiliev 1952, pp. 651-652 Shortly after midnight the attack began. The first wave of attackers, the Military of the Ottoman Empire#Conscriptions (auxiliaries), were poorly trained and equipped, and were meant only to kill as many defenders as possible. The second assault, consisting largely of Anatolians, focused on a section of the Blachernae 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 Janissary, but the Genoese general in charge of the land troops, Giovanni Giustiniani, was grievously wounded during the attack, and his evacuation from the ramparts caused a panic in the ranks of the defenders.Sources hostile towards the Genoese (such as the Venetian Nicolò Barbaro), however, report that Giustiniani was only lightly wounded or not wounded at all, but, overwhelmed by fear, simulated the wound to abandon the battlefield, determining the fall of the city. These charges of cowardice and treason were so widespread that the Republic of Genoa had to deny them by sending diplomatic letters to the Chancelleries of England, France, the Duchy of Burgundy and others. See C. Desimoni, Adamo di Montaldo, in Atti della Società Ligure di Storia Patria, X, 1874, pp. 296-7. Giustiniani was carried to Chios, 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 Blachernae section had been left unlocked, and the Ottomans soon discovered this mistake.There was no question of bribery or deceit by the Ottomans; the gate had simply been overlooked, possibly because rubble from a cannon attack had obscured or blocked the door. 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. 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.Barbaro added the description of the emperor's heroic last moments to his diary based on information he received afterwards. According to some Ottoman sources Constantine was killed in an accidental encounter with Turkish marines a little further to the south, presumably while making his way to the Sea of Marmara in order to escape by sea. See Nicolle, D. Constantinople 1453: The end of Byzantium. Oxford 2000.

Consequence 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 Apostles, which Mehmet II wanted to provide a seat for his newly appointed patriarch which would help him better control his Christian subjects. Mehmet 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 Augusteum, 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. A few of the elderly and some infants were summarily slain with a commercial ruthlessness. Soldiers fought over the possession of richly clad senators or for the comely youth or maiden.

There are many legends in Greece surrounding the Fall of Constantinople. One of them holds that two priests saying divine liturgy 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.Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Theodore Rab, Isser Woloch, Raymon Grew: "The Western Experience" 2003 McGraw-Hill 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). The Marble King (in Greek). Odysseas Elytis's poem on Constantine XI Palaeologos: The last Byzantine emperor

Byzantine historian George Sphrantzes was in the city, and witnessed to 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.George Sphrantzes, The Fall of the Byzantium empire-A chronicle by George Sphrantzes 1401-1477. Kritovoulos History of the Mehmed the conqueror. Translated by Marios Philippides, p. 133

Far from being in its heyday, Constantinople was severely depopulated for years following the depredations from the bubonic plague and especially 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 fourth 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 Mehmet's generals.These villages, specifically along the land walls, were allowed to keep their citizens and churches and were protected by Mehmet's special contingents of Janissaries. It was these people who formed what the Ottomans called a Millet (Ottoman Empire), or self governing community in the multi-national empire of what would become Ottoman Istanbul.

In Mehmed's view, he was the successor to the Roman Emperor. He named himself "Kayzer-i Rum", the Caesar (title), but he was nicknamed "the Conqueror". Constantinople became the new capital of the Ottoman Empire. Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque, although the Orthodox Church of Constantinople remained intact, and Patriarch Gennadius II was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople.", or Hagia Sofia, was converted into a mosque

Many Greeks fled the city and found refuge in the Europe, 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-states which had started welcoming scholars in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The chancellor of Florence Coluccio Salutati began this cultural exchange in 1396 by inviting a Byzantine Scholar to lecture at the University of Florence. 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 Galata districts. The Phanariots, as they were called, provided many capable advisers to the Ottoman sultans, but were seen as traitors by many Greeks.

The Morean (Peloponnesian) fortress of Mystras, where Constantine's brothers Thomas and Demetrius Palaeologus 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 VIII Palaeologus and Theodore.Norwich, John. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall Penguin: London, 1995. 446. 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 Empire of Trebizond fell to Mehmed.Norwich, John. Byzantium: The Decline and Fall Penguin: London, 1995. 446.

Scholars consider the Fall of Constantinople as a key event ending the Middle Ages and starting the Renaissance 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 History of Portugal (1415-1542).Davis, Ralph. The Rise of the Atlantic Economies. Ithaca, New York: Cornell UP, 1973. 9-10.

See also

Byzantine-Ottoman wars
Great Turkish Bombard
Greek fire
Byzantine navy
Walls of Constantinople
Loukas Notaras
Sophia Paleologue
Critoboulos of Imbros
Laonicus Chalcondyles
George Phrantza
Istanbul (etymology)
Mehmet II
Kuwae

Notes

References

{{cite book

{{cite book

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{{cite book

The Siege of Constantinople (1453), according to the eyewitness Nicolo Barbaro
Franz Babinger: Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time Princeton University Press. 1992. ISBN 0-691-01078-1
Andrew Wheatcroft: The Infidels: The Conflict Between Christendom and Islam, 638–2002 Viking Publishing. 2003 ISBN 0-670-86942-2
Richard Fletcher: The Cross and the Crescent Penguin Group. 2005 ISBN 0-14-303481-2
Justin Wintle: The Rough Guide History of Islam Rough Guides. 2003 ISBN 1-84353-018-X
Smith, Michael Llewellyn, "The Fall of Constantinople", in History Makers magazine No. 5 (London, Marshall Cavendish, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1969) p. 192.
The Cross and the Crescent Exhibit: Royal Academy of Arts Magazine Spring 2005

External links

The Trouble with Turkey: The Fall of Constantinople The Economist 1999. http://www.economist.com/diversions/millennium/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=346800

Byzantine-Ottoman wars
Great Turkish Bombard
Greek fire
Byzantine navy
Walls of Constantinople
Loukas Notaras
Sophia Paleologue
Critoboulos of Imbros
Laonicus Chalcondyles
George Phrantza
Istanbul (etymology)
Mehmet II
Kuwae

Notes

References

{{cite book

{{cite book

{{cite book

{{cite book

The Siege of Constantinople (1453), according to the eyewitness Nicolo Barbaro
Franz Babinger: Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time Princeton University Press. 1992. ISBN 0-691-01078-1
Andrew Wheatcroft: The Infidels: The Conflict Between Christendom and Islam, 638–2002 Viking Publishing. 2003 ISBN 0-670-86942-2
Richard Fletcher: The Cross and the Crescent Penguin Group. 2005 ISBN 0-14-303481-2
Justin Wintle: The Rough Guide History of Islam Rough Guides. 2003 ISBN 1-84353-018-X
Smith, Michael Llewellyn, "The Fall of Constantinople", in History Makers magazine No. 5 (London, Marshall Cavendish, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1969) p. 192.
The Cross and the Crescent Exhibit: Royal Academy of Arts Magazine Spring 2005

External links

The Trouble with Turkey: The Fall of Constantinople The Economist 1999. http://www.economist.com/diversions/millennium/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=346800

Fall of Constantinople - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Fall of Constantinople refers to the capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire on Tuesday, May 29, 1453 (Julian Calendar).

Constantinople - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Runciman, Steven (1990). The Fall of Constantinople, 1453. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-84413-080-1. Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and ...

Fall of Constantinople, 1453
The Fall of Constantinople, 1453. Scene from the battle defending Constantinople, Paris 1499

The Fall of Constantinople to Ottomans
The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks May 29, 1453. By the year 1440 the Turkish threat was strongest than ever for the Christians of the East.

BBC - h2g2 - Byzantium: Constantine XI and the Fall of Constantinople
h2g2 is the unconventional guide to life, the universe and everything, a guide that's written by visitors to the website, creating an organic and evolving encyclopedia of life

Amazon.com: The Fall of Constantinople 1453 (Canto): Steven Runciman ...
Amazon.com: The Fall of Constantinople 1453 (Canto): Steven Runciman: Books ... Book Description While their victory ensured the Turks' survival, the conquest of Constantinople ...

Fall of Constantinople
Fall of Constantinople. Scene from the battle defending Constantinople, Paris 1499 . The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern part of the Roman empire, a remnant of the breakup of the ...

Amazon.co.uk: The Fall of Constantinople 1453 (Canto) (Canto): Steven ...
Amazon.co.uk: The Fall of Constantinople 1453 (Canto) (Canto): Steven Runciman: Books ... The Fall of Constantinople 1453 (Canto) (Canto) (Paperback) by Steven Runciman (Author ...

Amazon.co.uk: Customer Reviews: The Fall of Constantinople 1453 (Canto ...
Find, shop for and buy at ThisStore.com ... An excellent read! The first few chapters go into a lot of detail about the years preceeding the final seige - the rise of the Ottomans ...

The Fall of Constantinople 1453 - Cambridge University Press
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