The Fall Of Istanbul

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For political reasons, its capture would symbolise the rise of their empire as the most powerful force in the region.

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Its location meant it had enormous tactical advantages, easy to defend and a perfect location to facilitate trade between East and West. Just as importantly, it was a city rumoured to be filled with gold, silver and precious gems, although how true this was following the years of decline is unclear.

Already having a fort on the Asian shore of the Bosporous, another Ottoman fort, known as Rumeli Hisari, was constructed on the European shore, giving Mehmet II control of the strait and cutting Constantinople off from the Black Sea. On 6th April, , the siege of Constantinople began. The fate of the last Byzantine Emperor is unclear — rumours persisted that he had somehow escaped the city, but officially his head was presented to Mehmed on the 29th May.

Pope Nicholas V called a crusade to recover Constantinople, but no western European monarch was willing to send troops or money to the cause. The consequences for the region, and Europe as a whole, were clear. You must be logged in to post a comment. He has always had a strong interest in writing, particularly about history, politics, the environment or culture. Originally from London, he currently lives in Riga, Latvia. Alongside history he has a strong interest in environmental and political issues.

His other passion is music. He has worked as a writer on the subject, as well as being a musician himself. Daryl is interested in cultural, social and political history. His particular period of interest is modern history and he is keenly interested in the relationship between mainstream and counter cultures. Please enter your name and email below to receive daily latest news updates from New Historian. Registered in England and Wales. What was the Berlin Conference?

The Emperors of Constantinople recognized the Ottoman threat and often attempted to manipulate the affairs of the Ottomans by inciting rebellions and backing powerful claimants to the Ottoman throne. At times they were successful, but other times their meddling efforts failed, and they were attacked in response. In , the Ottomans under Murad II set out to sack the city.

The Byzantines were well prepared for the siege and had been adopting new cannons into their defenses. The Ottomans brought their own cannons, but these were still early cannons that proved ineffective against the strong Theodosian walls. The Ottomans were eventually forced to withdraw as they found no way to gain access to the city and Byzantine leaders were able to successfully incite a rebellion within Ottoman territory. The Byzantine empire was in tatters, and the population continued to shrink, but the last remnants of the Romans stumbled on.

He resolved to stand up to the Ottomans, and when a young and ambitious Mehmet II took the Ottoman throne in , the two leaders would fight with everything they possessed.

Mehmet II had a grand strategic vision that was dependent on securing Constantinople for use as a new imperial capital. Mehmet was twenty-one when he ascended the throne and had spent his life learning how to rule. His approach for the capture of the city was similar to the previous Arab attempts; he secured and fortified areas around Constantinople to cut supplies to the city.

Mehmet started his campaign by building his army up near Adrianople. He employed the services of a talented cannon designer known as Orban, who spent months designing and casting some of the largest cannons in the world at the time. Mehmet II spent the time waiting for the cannons by incessantly planning out ways to actually take the city. Mehmet II was truly prepared to take the city and arrived at the gates with an estimated , infantry, 90 ships and 70 cannons of varying calibers.

The Byzantines under Constantine and the previous emperor John VIII had the experience of the first siege and were well aware that an attack would come again. Some foreign reinforcements had come, and the greatest of them were the Genoans led by Giovanni Giustiniani, who arrived just days before the siege with men and several ships.

The total number of men defending the city numbered around , including a large combination of European allies who had finally realized that they would much rather have the Byzantines at their borders than the Turks.

Constantine XI also ensured that the walls were in pristine condition and raised the chain across the golden horn. In the early days of April, Mehmet arranged his forces around the city and by the seventh of April , the full-scale siege of the city began. In contrast to the previous Ottoman siege, it was now the Byzantines who had inferior cannons as Mehmet had been quite motivated to accrue a collection of the most cutting-edge gunpowder technology while the vast majority of the Byzantine cannons had been around since the first Ottoman siege.

The Ottomans set up their cannons across from the very middle of the Theodosian walls located along the westernmost hill. A few days into the siege the cannons were able to destroy the tower of St. Romanos along the main wall. Constantine was shaken enough by this to seek peace with Mehmet in exchange for vast tribute payments to the Sultan.

1453: The Fall of Constantinople and the end of the Roman Empire

Mehmet offered to let Constantine leave the city and rule the Peloponnese of Greece while Mehmet would peacefully occupy the city. Constantine adamantly refused to leave the city, and the two sides resolved to fight to the end. The Turkish navy attempted to fight their way into the Golden Horn. However, they were thwarted by the great chain, and the Byzantines were able to destroy a large portion of the Navy with cannon fire from the ships in the harbor and the sea walls along the Horn. When fire ships were sent to counterattack these ships they were sunk by the Ottoman cannons that Mehmet had taken to repositioning almost daily.

Mehmet focused much of the cannon power on the neighborhood of Blachernae and the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus, which was located at the juncture of the Theodosian and Blachernae walls. The Palace was the imperial residence of the last line of emperors, and Constantine XI remained there for the duration of the siege despite the palace being constantly bombarded and assaulted.

The Turks launched several assaults at the juncture of the walls near the palace but were repulsed with heavy casualties each time.

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Though the cannons of the Turks were superior at the time, the Byzantines still were able to cause significant casualties with their cannons. When a breach was opened in the walls and the Turkish infantry rushed through the defenders aimed into the masses and fired their cannons, which were packed with multiple shots each the size of a walnut. This primitive shotgun devastated each wave of Turkish attacks and forced Mehmet to devise other methods of attack.

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