The Fall of Constantinople

Summary

In 1453, the Byzantine Empire faced its final days as the Ottoman army, led by Sultan Mehmed II, besieged Constantinople. The city, once a Roman stronghold, had withstood numerous sieges with its formidable fortifications. Despite its reduced population, Constantinople's defenses were strong, but the Ottomans' use of a massive cannon, designed by a Hungarian engineer named Orban, slowly eroded the walls. The Ottomans' innovative tactics, including bypassing the Golden Horn's defensive chain, and the eventual breach of the city's weaker northwest walls, led to Constantinople's fall. After three days of looting and violence, the city's surviving inhabitants were enslaved, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire and the beginning of the Ottoman rule over the city.

Takeaways

• 🏰 The year 1453 marked the final siege of the Byzantine Empire's capital, Constantinople, which had been a symbol of Rome's legacy for nearly 1500 years.
• ⚔️ The Byzantine Empire faced decline due to continuous warfare and a religious schism between Eastern and Western Christianity.
• 👑 Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire aimed to capture Constantinople, leading a massive army against the city.
• 🕍 Constantinople was renowned for its fortifications, having withstood many sieges, including a notable fall in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade.
• 🏙️ By 1450, Constantinople had significantly diminished in size and population, becoming a series of walled villages.
• 🎁 Emperor Constantine XI attempted to appease Sultan Mehmed II with gifts and diplomatic overtures, but to no avail.
• 🔍 Constantine XI sought aid from Western Christian powers, but the schism in Christianity and political exhaustion in Western Europe limited the support received.
• 🤔 A Hungarian engineer named Orban played a crucial role by designing a massive cannon for the Ottoman forces, capable of firing 600-pound projectiles over a mile.
• 🔥 Despite the superior fortifications, the city's defenders were overwhelmed by the relentless bombardment and strategic military maneuvers by the Ottomans.
• 🌊 The Ottomans bypassed the city's sea defenses by manually moving their ships overland on a road of greased logs, circumventing the harbor chain.
• 💥 The use of gunpowder and counter-tunneling tactics by both sides led to a stalemate, with the defenders managing to flood the Ottoman tunnels with Greek fire.
• 🏳️ The final assault on May 29th led to the breach of the city walls, the retreat of the Genoese troops, and the eventual fall of Constantinople.

Q & A

In what year did the Ottoman Empire, led by Sultan Mehmed II, threaten the Byzantine Empire's capital, Constantinople?

The year was 1453 when the Ottoman Empire threatened Constantinople.

What was the significance of Constantinople in the context of the Roman Empire?

Constantinople was the seat of the Byzantine Empire, the last remnant of the Roman Empire, and was also the first Christian capital, declared by Constantine the Great in 330 AD.

What was the primary reason for the decline of the Byzantine Empire?

The decline was primarily due to centuries of constant warfare and a schism between the Eastern and Western Christian churches.

How did the Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI initially attempt to avoid war with the Ottoman Empire?

Constantine XI initially attempted to placate Sultan Mehmed II by sending gifts, which were returned, and diplomats, who were executed.

What was the estimated size of the Ottoman army that besieged Constantinople?

The Ottoman army was estimated to be between fifty to eighty thousand men.

What was the name of the Hungarian engineer who offered his services to Sultan Mehmed II?

The Hungarian engineer's name was Orban.

What was the capacity of the super cannon built by Orban for Sultan Mehmed II?

The super cannon could blast a six hundred pound (272 kg) stone projectile well over a mile.

How did Sultan Mehmed II bypass the giant sea chain that barred access to the harbor of Constantinople?

Mehmed II ordered his men to manually pull each ship over a road of greased logs, effectively moving them around the chain and into the Golden Horn.

What was the fate of the surviving population of Constantinople after the city fell to the Ottoman Empire?

The surviving population was shipped off as slaves.

What was the final act of Sultan Mehmed II after the conquest of Constantinople?

Sultan Mehmed II rewarded his victorious troops with three days of unlimited looting and violence within the city.

What was the reaction of Sultan Mehmed II after he saw the destruction caused by his troops in Constantinople?

He was moved to tears and commented on what a city they had given over to plunder and destruction.

How did the Byzantine defenders manage to hold out against the much larger Ottoman forces?

The Byzantine defenders relied on the city's impressive fortifications, including walls, towers, and a sea chain, as well as the small force of seven thousand men.

Outlines

00:00

🏰 The Fall of Constantinople: The Last Stand of the Byzantine Empire

In 1453, the Byzantine Empire faced its final days as the Ottoman army, led by Sultan Mehmed II, prepared to conquer Constantinople. The city, once a pinnacle of Roman and Christian civilization, had been besieged many times but remained largely impregnable due to its formidable fortifications. Despite the city's decline to a fraction of its former size and population, it was still considered nearly invincible. Emperor Constantine XI sought aid from Western Europe, but the deep schism within Christianity and political exhaustion led to only a small contingent of support. The city's defense relied on its fortifications and a small force of 7,000 men. However, the introduction of a massive cannon by a Hungarian engineer named Orban, who had been initially rejected by the Byzantines, posed a significant threat to the city's walls.

05:01

💥 The Siege of Constantinople: A Clash of Ancient and Modern Warfare

The Ottoman siege of Constantinople began on April 2, 1453, with Mehmed II's forces launching a relentless three-month assault on the city's fortifications. The Byzantines' own cannons were used sparingly to avoid damaging their walls, and the city's defense relied on traditional weapons like bows and crossbows. The Ottoman fleet was initially thwarted by a massive sea chain, but Mehmed ingeniously bypassed this obstacle by manually moving his ships overland on a road of greased logs. The city's defenders faced numerous challenges, including the threat of fire ships and the construction of counter-tunnels to flood Ottoman mines with Greek fire. Despite these efforts, the tide turned when the Genoese general was wounded, causing a retreat that left the city's northwest walls vulnerable. The final, desperate assault by Mehmed's forces on May 29 led to the city's fall, with the last Byzantine emperor meeting an uncertain fate.

10:03

🏛️ The Aftermath: Constantinople's Descent into Ruin and Enslavement

Following the fall of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed II allowed his troops three days of unrestricted looting and violence, resulting in widespread rape, murder, and the plundering of the city's treasures. The surviving population was enslaved, and the once-great city was left in ruins. The sultan, surveying the devastation, was moved to tears, reflecting on the tragic fate of a city that had been reduced to plunder and destruction. The fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire and a significant shift in the balance of power in the region.

Keywords

💡Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the eastern continuation of the Roman Empire, lasting from the 4th century until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. It was once a superpower and a beacon of European civilization. In the video, the Byzantine Empire is depicted as being in its final days, with Constantinople as its last stronghold, under threat from the Ottoman forces.

💡Constantinople

Constantinople, now known as Istanbul, was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and a significant city in the ancient world. It was renowned for its fortifications and had only fallen once before in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. The video describes it as the last gasp of the Roman Empire and the target of Sultan Mehmed II's conquest.

💡Sultan Mehmed II

Sultan Mehmed II was the Ottoman Sultan who led the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. He is portrayed in the video as determined and ruthless, willing to use innovative military technology, such as the large bombards, to breach the city's defenses. His successful siege marked the end of the Byzantine Empire.

💡Theodosian Walls

The Theodosian Walls were a series of fortifications that protected Constantinople from the west. They were a crucial part of the city's defense system, which the Ottoman forces targeted during the siege. The video highlights the importance of these walls in the city's defense and their eventual weakening under the bombardment.

💡Orban

Orban was a Hungarian engineer who played a pivotal role in the fall of Constantinople by designing a massive cannon for the Ottoman forces. His cannon was capable of firing huge stone projectiles over a mile, which significantly contributed to the weakening of the city's walls. The video emphasizes the impact of Orban's engineering on the outcome of the siege.

💡Christian Schism

The Christian Schism refers to the division between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, which is highlighted in the video as a factor that limited the support Constantinople received from Western Europe during the siege. The schism is depicted as having a profound impact on the political and military alliances of the time.

💡Siege of Constantinople

The Siege of Constantinople in 1453 was a pivotal event in which the Ottoman Empire captured the city, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire. The video details the military tactics used during the siege, including the use of cannons, naval blockades, and underground tunnels filled with gunpowder.

💡Golden Horn

The Golden Horn is a natural harbor in Istanbul, which played a strategic role in the defense of Constantinople. The video describes how the Ottoman fleet was initially barred from entering the harbor by a giant sea chain, and how they eventually bypassed this obstacle by manually moving their ships overland on a road of greased logs.

💡Greek Fire

Greek Fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine defenders during the siege. It was employed to counter the Ottoman's underground tunnels filled with gunpowder. The video illustrates the use of Greek Fire to flood the enemy's tunnels, preventing the walls from being breached.

💡Impalement

Impalement was a form of execution and intimidation tactic used by the Ottoman forces, as described in the video. After capturing Italian sailors, Sultan Mehmed ordered them to be impaled, a brutal act that was intended to demoralize the city's defenders.

💡Looting and Destruction

Following the fall of Constantinople, the video recounts that Sultan Mehmed allowed his troops three days of unrestricted looting and violence. This period resulted in widespread rape, murder, and the plundering of the city's wealth, illustrating the brutal aftermath of the siege.

Highlights

The Byzantine Empire, the last remnant of Rome's glory, was in its final days in 1453.

Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, was under threat by the Ottoman army led by Sultan Mehmed II.

Constantinople had been a significant Christian capital since 330 AD.

The city was renowned for its fortifications and had only fallen once before in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade.

Constantinople's fortifications included 12 miles of walls and sea walls to prevent naval assaults.

The city had shrunk significantly by 1450, with a population of about fifty thousand.

Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI sought help from Western Europe but received little support due to the schism in Christianity.

The Byzantines could only gather a force of seven thousand men to defend against an estimated fifty to eighty thousand Ottomans.

Orban, a Hungarian engineer, built a massive cannon for the Ottomans that could fire 600-pound stone projectiles over a mile.

The Ottomans' super cannon had significant drawbacks, including a three-hour reload time and limited ammunition.

Sultan Mehmed II established a foundry to build and supply the massive artillery pieces.

The Theodosian Walls, not surrounded by water, were the focus of the Ottoman attack.

The defenders of Constantinople were able to repair the damage caused by the Ottoman artillery.

The Ottoman fleet was unable to enter the Golden Horn due to a giant sea chain.

Sultan Mehmed II devised a plan to bypass the sea chain by manually moving his ships over land on greased logs.

The defenders sent fire ships against the Ottoman fleet but were forced to retreat with heavy losses.

The Ottomans executed 260 prisoners in retaliation for the execution of their own men by the Byzantines.

The Ottomans used underground tunnels filled with gunpowder to breach the city walls.

The Byzantines discovered and destroyed the Ottoman tunnels after capturing and torturing Turkish officers.

Sultan Mehmed II launched a final massive attack on May 29th, which led to the fall of Constantinople.

The fall of Constantinople resulted in three days of unrestricted looting and violence by the Ottoman troops.

The surviving population was enslaved, and the city was left in ruins.

Transcripts

The year is 1453, and the Byzantine Empire, the very last figment of Rome's long-faded

glory, is itself in its death throes.

Having continued the legacy of Roman rule for almost fifteen hundred years, the Byzantine

empire was once a superpower, but centuries of constant warfare and a schism between east

and west in the Christian church have bled the empire dry.

Constantinople itself, seat of Byzantine empire, one of the jewels of the ancient world, and

the last gasp of the Roman Empire is now threatened by a massive Ottoman army led by Sultan Mehmed

II, who is hellbent on making the legendary capital his new seat of power.

The first Christian capital, Constantinople had been the seat of imperial power since

330 AD, when the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine the Great, declared it his capital.

As the shining jewel of European civilization, Constantinople was no stranger to warfare,

and the city had been besieged many times, falling only once before in 1204 during the

Fourth Crusade.

After each siege though the city added to its impressive array of fortifications, and

was widely considered throughout the world as all but unassailable.

With 12 miles (20 km) of walls that surrounded the city and sixty foot moats, the city was

easily held by a small number of defenders against a much larger force.

On the Bosphorus strait, sea walls prevented a naval assault of the city, and a heavy chain

stretched across the Golden Horn blocked any ship from entering the city.

Yet by 1450 the city had shrunk drastically in size due to the collapse of the Byzantine

empire, and by the time of the Ottoman siege, it consisted mostly of a series of walled

villages separated by fields that were often planted.

The once-booming metropolis and center of imperial and Chrisitan power was in essence

a ghost town, and only had about fifty thousand inhabitants at the time of its final siege,

considerably less than the eight hundred thousand people who lived there at its peak.

Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI had understood that the new Sultan of the Ottoman Empire,

Sultan Mehmed II, wanted his city for himself.

At first he tried to placate the sultan by sending gifts, but these were returned and

the diplomats sent to Mehmed's court were executed.

Realizing that war was inevitable, Constantine XI turned to the Christian powers of western

europe, but a deep schism between eastern and western Christianity had split the church

in two.

Constantine offered Pope Nicholas V to reunite the two churches, but he had severely overestimated

the influence that the Pope had on the Western powers.

Britain, France, and Spain had become wary of the growing power of the papacy, and for

their part, Britain and France were exhausted after the Hundred Years' War.

Ultimately all that the West would be able to contribute to the defense of Constantinople

would be a few hundred volunteers, along with about two dozen ships and some supplies.

In total the Byzantines were able to marshal a force of only seven thousand men to defend

the city against an estimated fifty to eighty thousand Ottomans.

While the numbers were wildly one-sided, Constantinople was so well fortified that there was every

reason to believe that the city could hold out until either help from the West arrived

or the Sultan expended too many of his troops and supplies to make the conquest worth the

effort.

With its incredible system of walls, towers, and fortifications, the tiny force of seven

thousand could have easily held against overwhelming numbers- were it not for the brilliant mind

of one Hungarian engineer.

A mysterious figure known only by the name of Orban, this master craftsman initially

offered his services to the Byzantines, but they had been unable to meet his fees.

Taking his services to Sultan Mehmed II instead, he promised that his weapons would “blast

the walls of Babylon itself”.

Mehmed decided to gamble on the confident engineer, and he would not be disappointed

as Orban immediately began construction on a cannon which would take a whopping three

months to build.

The cannon would be twenty seven feet (8.2 m) long, and could blast a six hundred pound

(272 kg) stone projectile well over a mile.

This far exceeded the capacity of other Ottoman cannons, which while formidable could only

blast projectiles weighing between one hundred and two hundred pounds.

But this super cannon had some serious drawbacks, as it took three hours to reload and its cannonballs

were in short supply.

Nonetheless, knowing that he faced the greatest fortifications in the world, Mehmed had a

foundry established one hundred and fifty miles (240 km) away to build and supply the

massive artillery pieces, which were so big that each one had to be dragged by sixty oxen

all the way to Constantinople.

Mehmed was determined to take the city though, and ultimately had seventy of these large

bombards built, with more built while the siege was happening.

Facing the impressive fortifications, Mehmed decided that his attack would be on the Theodosian

Walls, a series of heavy walls and ditches which protected Constantinople from the west,

and was the only part of the city not surrounded by water.

On the second of April, 1453, his army made camp in front of the mighty walls and officially

began the three month siege.

The defenders enjoyed the benefit of walls that had recently been repaired after a long

state of disrepair, and were equipped with various medium cannons.

However the recoil of their own cannons could cause damage to the walls, and thus were only

sparingly used.

The attack would mostly be repelled with bow and crossbow, as well as some rudimentary

firearms that had been brought in from the west.

A fleet of twenty six ships defended the city from naval assault, and though Mehmed's own

forces numbered at one hundred and twenty six ships, a giant sea chain prevented access

to the harbor, and venturing too near the walls could be disastrous for the attackers.

On the fifth of April, the Sultan himself arrived at his war camp, and stood with his

army opposite Constantine XI and his defenders, the last Byzantine emperor standing on his

walls alongside his men.

As the siege began, Mehmed sent teams of elite troops to assault the remaining smaller Byzantine

strongholds outside of the city.

Within a few days these forts were taken and Mehmed's rear was secure against an unexpected

counterattack from outside the city.

The massive cannons began their terrible bombardment, hurling giant stone balls at the mighty walls.

However the three hour reload process, poor accuracy, and small numbers allowed the city's

defenders to repair damage to their walls caused by the artillery.

For weeks the mighty guns would relentlessly fire, and the titanic stones they hurled would

slowly erode even Constantinople's mighty walls.

At sea the Ottoman fleet encountered the giant chain that had been stretched across the entrance

to the Golden Horn and barred approach into the city.

Unable to destroy the mighty chain, the ships were largely excluded from the siege, and

instead would serve as guards to ensure that no Christian ships exited or entered the city.

Against all odds though on the twentieth of April a small flotilla of four Christian ships

broke through the huge Ottoman army after heavy fighting, deeply embarrassing the Ottomans

and boosting the morale of the defenders.

Commander of the Ottoman fleet, Suleiman Baltoghlu, was spared his life for his humiliating failure

only after his subordinates testified to his extreme bravery during the fighting.

With supplies slipping into the city and the Ottomans unable to break past the mighty harbor

chain, Sultan Mehmed decided that if his ships couldn't sail past the chain and into the

Golden Horn, then they would simply go around the chain.

He set thousands of his soldiers to cutting down every available tree in the area and

greased hundreds of logs which he had laid side by side.

This created a road of greased logs, and he then commanded his men to manually pull each

and every one of his ships up a hill and down the other side to settle them back in the

water, effectively bypassing the mighty chain.

In a desperate attempt to destroy the massing ships, the defenders sent out a wave of fire

ships to attack the Ottoman ships.

Sporting few weapons but loaded with barrels of oil, fire ships were meant to be piloted

into the midst of an enemy fleet and then set on fire, which would in turn set the rest

of the enemy fleet on fire.

Yet the Turks had advance warning of the attack and were prepared for the fire ships, forcing

the Christians to retreat with heavy losses.

Swimming to shore and fleeing their sinking ships, forty italian sailors were captured

by Ottoman forces and Sultan Mehmed ordered that they be impaled in full view of the city's

defenders.

In retaliation, the Byzantines gathered two hundred and sixty Ottoman prisoners and executed

them upon their walls one by one.

The bypassing of the chain upon the mouth of the Golden Horn meant that the defenders

now had to reposition a large number of their forces to defend the sea walls, lowering the

strength on the western walls which faced repeated heavy attacks.

After several unsuccessful frontal attacks which left thousands of Ottoman dead, the

Sultan ordered the construction of underground tunnels to be dug below the walls and filled

with barrels of gunpowder.

The ensuing explosion would devastate the walls above and leave the city open for invasion.

However, a German engineer, Johannes Grant, who had volunteered to defend Constantinople,

had envisioned this turn of events and was quick to have counter-tunnels dug, which let

the Byzantines flood the Ottoman tunnels with Greek fire.

On the twenty third of May, two Turkish officers were captured and tortured until they revealed

the location of all the Turkish tunnels which were quickly destroyed.

About this time, opposition to Mehmed's siege had begun rising amongst his war council.

Casualties were mounting and despite the stunning bypassing of the sea chain, the city was still

not any closer to falling.

The dragging siege was also putting the Turkish forces in a precarious position, as it was

feared that any day now reinforcements from Western Europe would arrive and trap the Turks

between themselves and the city's walls.

Yet Mehmed was determined to take the city, and thus he mobilized his remaining troops

for one last massive attack.

Shortly after midnight on May 29th, the attack began.

The walls in the northwest portion of the city had suffered heavy damage from the giant

cannons, as they had been built earlier than the rest of the walls and were thus much weaker.

A force of Turks managed to breach this section of the walls, only to be pushed back out by

a brutal counter-attack by the city's defenders.

At this time though, the Genoese general in charge of Constantine's defenders was seriously

wounded and had to be evacuated from the ramparts, causing panic amongst the Genoese troops.

Those troops retreated from their positions along the walls and towards the harbor, and

in that retreat Constantinople's fate was sealed.

Constantine XI is said to have died leading his troops against the Turkish defenders,

while other sources say that he had hung himself when he saw that defeat was inevitable.

Constantinople's fate however is well documented, as the Sultan rewarded his victorious troops

with three days of unlimited looting and violence.

Thousands of women were raped and everything of value was stripped from the city.

Turkish troops murdered anyone they pleased, and after the three days the Sultan ordered

an end to the violent free-for-all.

The surviving population of Constantinople was shipped off as slaves, and it is said

that when the sultan overlooked the massive destruction his men had caused on the legendary

city after the three days, he was moved to tears, commenting, “What a city we have

given over to plunder and destruction.”