It remained the capital of the eastern, Greek speaking empire for over a thousand years and it was the richest and largest European city, exerting a powerful cultural pull and dominating economic life in the Mediterranean. Visitors and merchants were especially struck by the beautiful monasteries and churches of the city, particularly Hagia Sophia, or the Church of Holy Wisdom.
This city was especially important for preserving manuscripts of Greek and Latin authors throughout a period when instability and disorder caused their mass destruction in Western Europe and North Africa. The influence of the city on the west, over the many centuries of its existence, is incalculable. In terms of technology, art and culture, as well as sheer size, Constantinople was without parallel anywhere in Europe for a thousand years.
On the day after Orthodox Easter in 1453, the Ottoman siege began. HellasFrappe believes that the horror of the fall of the City is best described by the following two citations. The first is an eyewitness account from George Sphrantzes, a close friend of the Emperor Constantine and one of his ministers.
“As soon as the Turks were inside the City, they began to seize and enslave every person who came their way, all those who tried to offer resistance were put to the sword. In many places the ground could not be seen, as it was covered by heaps of corpses. There were unprecedented events: all sorts of lamentations, countless rows of slaves consisting of noble ladies, virgins, and nuns, who were being dragged by the Turks by their headgear, hair, and braids out of the shelter of Churches, to the acompaniment of mourning. There was the crying of children, the looting of our sacred and holy buildings. What horror can such sounds cause! The Turks did not hesitate to trample over the body and blood of Christ poured all over the ground and were passing his precious vessels from hand to hand;The following passage pertains to the horrible fate suffered by the Grand Duke Lukas Notaras and his family. The quote comes from Franz Babinger’s Mehmed the Conqueror and his Time:
“Christ our Lord, how inscrutable and incomprehensible your wise judgements! Our greatest and holiest Church of Saint Sophia, the earthly heaven, the throne of God’s glory, the vehicle of the cherubim and second firmament, God’s creation, such edifice and monument, the joy of all earth, the beautiful and more beautiful than the beautiful, became a place of feasting; its inner sanctum was turned into a dining room; its holy altars supported food and wine, and were also employed in the enactment of their perversions with our women, virgins, and children. Who could have been so insensitive as not to wail Holy Church? - This account comes from “The Fall of the Byzantine Empire A Chronicle by George Sphrantzes 1401-1477 Translated by Marios Phillipides
“…the Sultan prepared a great banquet near the imperial Palace. Drunk with wine, he ordered the chief of the black eunuchs to go to the grand duke’s home and bring back his youngest son, a handsome lad of fourteen. When the order was transmitted to the boy’s father, he refused to comply, saying he would rather be beheaded than allow his son to be dishonored. With this reply, the eunuch returned to the sultan, who sent the executioner to bring him the duke and his sons. Notaras took leave of his wife and accompanied by his eldest son and his son in law Cantacuzenos, followed the executioner. The sultan ordered all three beheaded. The three heads were brought to the Sultan; the bodies remained unburied. Notaras, popularly known as the “pillar of the Rhomaioi (Romans) had once declared “Rather the Turkish Turban in the City than the Roman miteir”. His wish had been fulfilled”.Before reading our article on the Fall of Costantinopole, and/or watching the two documentaries that we have posted (the first is in the Greek language with English Subs, and the second is in the English language with Greek Subs.) it would be wise to remember that on this sad day for Greek Orthodox Christians, Turkish citizens celebrate with glamorous festivities (while there have also been discussions on declaring this day a National Day for Turkey.)
After centuries of decline, the Byzantine Empire finally fell through a new weapon called gunpowder. At the time Islamic janissaries, who were baptized Christians converted to Islam, and they shattered the famous gates of Constantinople and brought an era of the world to an end five hundred and fifty odd years ago.
The Ottoman Turks were originally based in western Anatolia and had risen to prominence as a frontier principality on the eastern borders of the Byzantine Empire during the thirteenth and fourteenth century. By the mid-fifteenth century, the Ottoman sultanate had conquered much of Anatolia, Greece, Thrace, and the Slavic-speaking regions south of the Danube; in effect, they had replaced the Byzantine Empire as the dominant power in the Balkans and the Aegean. The culmination of Ottoman expansion in southeastern Europe was the conquest of Constantinople on May 29th 1453, which was accomplished after a fifty-four-day siege by Sultan Mehmed II (r.1451–1481), known as “the Conqueror” following his capture of the Byzantine capital.
The conquest of Constantinople had a tremendous impact both on the Ottoman sultanate, which was transformed into an imperial state with far-reaching aspirations and claims to legitimacy, and on Christian Europe. Most Latin Christians viewed the fall of Constantinople as a devastating blow to Christendom and as an event far more worrisome than the fall of the last Crusader stronghold of Acre in 1291. Not only did the symbolic and religious significance of the city resonate deeply with many Christians, but its capture by a strong expansionist Islamic power provoked anxiety within Europe. Almost immediately there were renewed calls for crusades against the Ottomans. Although similar initiatives were earlier organized by the Papacy and defeated by the Turks, first at Nicopolis in 1396 and then at Varna in 1444, there was an increased sense of urgency associated with the post-1453 crusades. Fears of the extension of Ottoman power deeper into Christian Europe were confirmed when Mehmed II besieged Belgrade (unsuccessfully) in 1456, Negroponte (successfully) in 1470, Rhodes (unsuccessfully) in 1480, and, more alarmingly, launched an assault on the Italian peninsula, capturing Otranto in 1480.
Although the Ottoman threat to Europe eventually subsided, the memories of the conquest of Constantinople remained as powerful as ever and the event itself—which terminated the last remnant of the Roman Empire as far as most Europeans were concerned—was lamented as one of the great tragedies in history. Alternatively, there are some—notably in the Muslim world—who have taken May 29th 1453 to be a day of celebration and victory since it marked a transformative development in the history of the Ottoman Empire. I personally find it abhorrent that anyone would celebrate conquest—any conquest—let alone one which was carried out with such brutality. I believe that to combat these trends of idealization and chauvinism, it is imperative to present facts about the events in question and demonstrate that while there are a whole range of emotions and reactions which once can have to the conquest of Constantinople, celebration or happiness should never be one of them. As will be seen, even Mehmed II himself lamented upon entering the city and seeing it in ruins.
The following account was written by Michael Kritovolous of Imbros (d. 1470)—a Greek Christian governor who was in the service of Mehmed II—shortly after the events described. His account is vivid, embellished, and detailed. It is modeled upon the writing styles of the ancient historians Thucydides and Josephus. Although dedicated to the Ottoman sultan and praising many of his accomplishments, the account captures the sense of loss and devastation felt by many European Christians following the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. As a former subject of the Byzantine Empire himself, Kritovolous represents the conquest as an important event which signified the end of the nearly 1100-year old Byzantine Empire. Overall, his account of the city’s fall reflects his contradictory feelings about the event, in that he openly admired the sultan’s military ability (which he called “in no way inferior to those of Alexander the Macedonian”), while lamenting the final disappearance of the Byzantine Empire. On this event of the conquest of Constantinople, I have provided some excerpts of the work in order to provide ample material for all to reflect upon the events which brought about the end of the Byzantine Empire, one of the greatest civilizations in history. The excerpt I have chosen from the work (which is rather long) deals with the Ottoman entrance into the city:
“Sultan Mehmed, who happened to be fighting quite nearby, saw that the palisade and the other part of the wall that had been destroyed were now empty of men and deserted by the defenders. He noted that men were slipping away secretly and that those who remained were fighting feebly because they were so few. Realizing from this that the defenders had fled and that the wall was deserted, he shouted out: “Friends, we have the City! We have it! They are already fleeing from us! They can’t stand it any longer! The wall is bare of defenders! It needs just a little more effort and the City is taken! Don’t weaken, but on with the work with all your might, and be men and I am with you!”So saying, he led them himself. And they, with a shout on the run and with a fearsome yell, went on ahead of the Sultan, pressing on up to the palisade. After a long and bitter struggle, they hurled back the Romans from there and climbed by force up the palisade. They dashed some of their foe into the ditch between the great wall and the palisade…the rest they drove back to the gate.
Death of Emperor Constantine XII Palaiologos
He had opened this gate in the great wall, so as to go easily over to the palisade. Now there was a great struggle there and great slaughter among those stationed there, for they were attacked by the heavy infantry and not a few others in irregular formation, who had been attracted from many points by the shouting. There the Emperor Constantine, with all who were with him, fell in gallant combat.
The heavy infantry was already streaming through the little gate into the City, and others had rushed through the breach in the great wall. Then all the rest of the army, with a rush and a roar, poured in brilliantly and scattered all over the City. And the Sultan stood before the great wall, where the standard also was and the ensigns, and watched the proceedings. The day was already breaking.
Great Rush, and Many Killed
Then a great slaughter occurred of those who happened to be there: some of them were on the streets, for they had already left the houses and were running toward the tumult when they fell unexpectedly on the swords of the soldiers; others were in their own homes and fell victims to the violence of the Janissaries and other soldiers, without any rhyme or reason; others were resisting, relying on their own courage; still others were fleeing to the churches and making supplication — men, women, and children, everyone, for there was no quarter given. The soldiers fell on them with anger and great wrath. For one thing, they were actuated by the hardships of the siege. For another, some foolish people had hurled taunts and curses at them from the battlements all through the siege. Now, in general they killed so as to frighten all the City, and to terrorize and enslave all by the slaughter.
Plunder of the City
When they had had enough of murder, and the City was reduced to slavery, some of the troops turned to the mansions of the mighty, by bands and companies and divisions, for plunder and spoil. Others went to the robbing of churches, and others dispersed to the simple homes of the common people, stealing, robbing, plundering, killing, insulting, taking and enslaving men, women, and children, old and young, priests, monks—in short, every age and class.
Here, too, a Sad Tragedy
There was a further sight, terrible and pitiful beyond all tragedies: young and chaste women of noble birth and well to do, accustomed to remain at home and who had hardly ever left their own premises, and handsome and lovely maidens of splendid and renowned families, till then unsullied by male eyes — some of these were dragged by force from their chambers and hauled off pitilessly and dishonorably. Other women, sleeping in their beds, had to ensure nightmares. Men with swords, their hands bloodstained with murder, breathing out rage, speaking out murder indiscriminate, flushed with all the worst things—this crowd, made up of men from every race and nation, brought together by chance, like wild and ferocious beasts, leaped into the houses, driving them out mercilessly, dragging, rendering, forcing, hauling them disgracefully into public highways, insulting them and doing every evil thing.
They say that many of the maidens, even at the mere unaccustomed sight and sound of these men, were terror-stricken and came near losing their very lives. And there were also honorable old men who were dragged by their white hair, and some of them beaten unmercifully. And well-born and beautiful young boys were carried off. There were priests who were driven along, and consecrated virgins who were honorable and wholly unsullied, devoted to God alone and living for Him to whom they had consecrated themselves . . . Tender children were snatched pitilessly from their mothers, young brides separated ruthlessly from their newly-married husbands. And ten thousand other terrible deeds were done.
Plundering and Robbing of the Churches
And the desecrating and plundering and robbing of the churches — how can one describe it in words? Some things they threw in dishonor on the ground—icons and reliquaries and other objects from the churches. The crowd snatched some of these, and some were given over to the fire while others were torn to shreds and scattered at the crossroads. The last resting-places of the blessed men of old were opened, and their remains were taken out and disgracefully torn to pieces, even to shreds, and made the sport of the wind while others were thrown on the streets…And holy and divine books, and others mainly of profane literature and philosophy, were either given to the flames or dishonorably trampled underfoot. Many of them were sold for two or three pieces of money, and sometimes for pennies only, not for gain so much as in contempt. Holy altars were torn from their foundations and overthrown. The walls of sanctuaries and cloisters were explored, and the holy places of the shrines were dug into and overthrown in the search for gold. Many other such things they dared to do.
Those unfortunate Romans who had been assigned to other parts of the wall and were fighting there, on land and by sea, supposed that the City was still safe and had not suffered reverses, and that their women and children were free—for they had no knowledge at all of what had happened. They kept on fighting bravely, powerfully resisting the attackers and brilliantly driving off those who were trying to scale the walls. But when they saw the enemy in their rear, attacking them from inside the City, and saw women and children being led away as captives and shamefully treated, some were overwhelmed with hopelessness and threw themselves with their weapons over the wall and were killed, while others in utter despair dropped their weapons from hands already paralyzed and surrendered to the enemy without a struggle, to be treated as the enemy chose.
In the same manner [as described above], the Ottoman naval forces streamed into the City victoriously through the other gates, smashing them and throwing them down. Thus, the whole naval force, scattering through the whole City, turned to plunder, robbing everything in their way, and falling on it like a fire or a whirlwind, burning and annihilating everything, or like a torrent sweeping away and destroying all things…Churches, holy places, old treasuries, tombs, underground galleries, cisterns and hiding places, caves and crannies were burst into. And they searched every other hidden place, dragging out into the light anybody or anything they found hidden. Going into the largest church, that of the Holy Wisdom (Aghia Sophia), they found there a great crowd of men, women, and children taking refuge and calling upon God. Those they caught as in a net, and took them all in a body and carried them captives, some to the galleys and some to the camp.
Surrender of Galata to the Sultan
Upon this, the men of Galata, seeing the City already captured and plundered, immediately surrendered en masse to the Sultan so as to suffer no ills. They opened their gates to admit Zaganos [Pasha] and his troops, and these did them no harm. The entire army, the land and naval force, poured into the City from daybreak and even from early dawn until the evening. They robbed and plundered it, carrying all the booty into the camp and into the ships…Thus, the whole City was emptied and deserted, despoiled and blackened as if by fire. One might easily disbelieve that it had ever had in it a human dwelling or the wealth or properties of a city or any furnishings or ornaments of a household. And this was true although the City had been so magnificent and grand. There were left only ruined homes, so badly ruined as to cause great fear to all who saw them. There died, of Romans and of foreigners, as was reported, in all the fighting and in the capture of the City itself, all told, men, women, and children, over four thousand, and a little more than fifty thousand were taken prisoners, including about five hundred from the whole army.
Entry of the Sultan into the City and His Grief
After this, the Sultan entered the City and looked about to see its great size, its situation, its grandeur and its beauty, its teeming population, its loveliness and the luxury of its churches and public buildings and of the private houses and community houses and those of the officials. He also saw the setting of the harbor and of the arsenals, and how skillfully and ingeniously they had everything arranged in the City—in a word, all the construction and adornment of it. When he saw what a large number had been killed, and the ruin of the buildings, and the wholesale ruin and destruction of the City, he was filled with compassion and repented not a little at the destruction and plundering. Tears fell from his eyes as he groaned deeply and passionately: “What a city we have given over to plunder and destruction!”
Kritovoulos’ Personal Lamentation for the City
With the conquest, the City’s possessions vanished, its goods summarily disappeared, and it was deprived of all things: wealth, glory, rule, splendor, honor, brilliance of population, valor, education, wisdom, religious orders, dominion—in short, of all. And in the degree in which the City had advanced in prosperity and good fortune, to a corresponding degree it was now brought down into the abyss of misfortune and misery. While previously it had been called blessed by very many, it now heard everyone call it unfortunate and deeply afflicted. And while it had gloriously advanced to the boundaries of the civilized world, it now filled land and sea alike with its misfortunes and its ignominy, sending everywhere as examples of its misery the inhabitants—men, women, and children—who were scattered disgracefully in captivity and slavery and insult.
And the City which had formerly ruled with honor and glory and wealth and great splendor over many nations was now ruled by others, amid want and disgrace and dishonor and abject and shameful slavery. While it had been an example of all good things, the picture of brilliant prosperity, it now became the image of misfortune, a reminder of sufferings, a monument of disasters, and a by-word for life.”
(Kritovoulos, History of Mehmed the Conqueror, trans. Charles Riggs, pp. 70–80. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1954)
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