Fall of Constantinople

The fall of Constantinople.

The Fall of Constantinople (6 April - 29 May 1453) was the siege of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, by the Ottoman army led by Sultan Mehmed II. It ended with the fall of the city to the Ottomans, bringing about the end of the Byzantine Empire.

Context

In 1451, Mehmed II acceded to the throne of the Ottoman Turkish Sultanate. He was 18 years old at the time and quite unpopular, so he needed a quick and resounding success. He soon turned his attention to the city of Constantinople, which had withstood more than thirty sieges, including three led by Mehmed II's predecessors. Constantinople was even at the heart of a prophecy in the Muslim world about a great prince of Islam who would conquer Constantinople. It would therefore be an ideal victory to reinforce Mehmed II's fragile authority.

At the time, the Byzantine Empire was a shadow of its former self. Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, its territory and power only diminished, until the imperial territory now consisted of the capital, Constantinople. In the Morea, a Byzantine state, the Despotate of Morea, theoretically a vassal of the Empire, still resisted Ottoman domination, but remained very weak.

Mehmed II had fortresses built around Constantinople to block the sea lanes of the Dardanelles Strait, on which the city was built. He waited for the slightest pretext to justify laying siege to the city. This pretext was found when the Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, demanded that the sultan pay a higher tribute for holding a pretender to the Ottoman throne prisoner. Furious, Mehmed II had the Byzantine ambassadors beheaded and prepared the siege of the city. He assembled a gigantic army of more than 80,000 men, armed with numerous cannons. He also set up a blockade using the 120 ships in his fleet.

Constantine XI then called on the other Christian countries of the West for help. Unfortunately, none was able or willing to help. France and England were completing the Hundred Years' War, Spain was pursuing the Reconquista, the Holy Roman Empire was trying to annex Hungary and Muscovy was in the throes of internal unrest. In the Balkans, Serbia, Bulgaria and Wallachia had just been defeated by the Ottoman Empire and were too weak to help Constantinople. Only the Papacy and the republics of Venice and Genoa tried to help the Byzantine Empire, while trying not to incur the wrath of the Ottoman sultan. In all, Constantine XI assembled 4,983 Byzantine soldiers and welcomed just over 2,000 foreigners to defend the city, including 700 Genoese commanded by Giovanni Giustiniani.

Siege

Ottoman troops began laying siege to the town on 6 April 1453. They attempted several assaults, but were repulsed each time. The siege dragged on and on. On 20 April, four ships that had come to help the Byzantines even managed to break through the blockade, bringing food and weapons to the defenders. Mehmed II had doubts and considered abandoning the siege. But two days later, he managed to transport a large number of his ships overland to Constantinople's natural port, the Golden Horn. This forced the Byzantine defenders to redeploy in the harbour to repel any possible assault.

Finally, on the night of 28-29 May, a last major attack was launched on the city. Two successive assaults and fierce fighting took a heavy toll on the defenders. A third assault, this time led by the elite of the Ottoman army, the Janissaries, made a breakthrough. One of the main leaders of the defence, the Genoese Giovanni Giustiniani, was seriously wounded and left the fighting; his soldiers, and soon the entire Byzantine army, panicked and fled. The resistance collapsed. The Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, died with his sword in his hand, along with his cousin and the last governor of Constantinople. His body was never found.

Mehmed II triumphantly entered Constantinople and, in accordance with Muslim tradition, laid waste to the city for three days. He also had his grand vizier, Halil Pasha, executed on charges of treason. Mehmed II subsequently had Constantinople rebuilt and made it the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

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