With the 700 men he had brought to the city he first
took charge of the landward walls between the Horn and the Hadrianople
Gate, but
soon transferred his men with a number of Greeks to the
enclosure in the Lycus valley as the post of greatest danger.
took charge of the landward walls between the Horn and the Hadrianople
Gate, but
soon transferred his men with a number of Greeks to the
enclosure in the Lycus valley as the post of greatest danger.
Cambridge Medieval History - v4 - Eastern Roman Empire
Ducas states
that Hunyadi refused either to sign or swear. This peace, signed at Szege-
din, is regarded by the Turkish writers as intended by Murād to be the
culminating point of his career. Murād was a philosopher, a man who
loved meditation, who wished to live at peace, to join his sect of dervishes
in their pious labour, and to have done with war. But his enemies would
not allow him. The treaty thus solemnly accepted was almost immediately
broken. The story is an ugly one and, whether told by Turks or Christians,
shews bad faith on the side of the Christians. The cardinal legate Julian
Cesarini bears the eternal disgrace of declaring that an oath with the
infidel might be set aside and broken. Against the advice of Hunyadi,
the ablest soldier in the army of the allies, battle was to be joined. The
decision was ill-considered, for the French, Italian, and German volunteers
had left for their homes on the signature of the treaty. John was not
ready to send aid. George of Serbia would have no share in the war.
He refused not only to violate his oath but even to permit Skanderbeg to
join Vladislav. The place of rendezvous was Varna, but the whole number
of the Christians, who gathered there in the early days of November 1444,
probably did not exceed 20,000 men. Hunyadi reluctantly joined. To
the astonishment of the Christians they found immediately after their
army
1 Bartletus, Vita Scanderbegii; Ducas, xxxır; Leunclavius, 107; von Hammer, 11.
299. Callimachus was present at the battle and describes it.
CH. XXI.
41-2
## p. 692 (#734) ############################################
692
Murād's victories at Varna and Kossovo
arrival at Varna that Murād had advanced with the rapidity then char-
acteristic of Turkish military movements, and that he had with him
60,000 men. A great battle followed, during which one of the most
notable incidents was that the Turks displayed the violated treaty upon
a lance, and in the crisis of the battle, according to the Turkish annals,
Murād prayed:
“O Christ, if thou art God, as thy followers say, punish
their perfidy. ” The victory of the Turks was complete. The Christian
army was destroyed? . Murād, who in June 1444 had abdicated in favour
of his son Mahomet when the latter was only fourteen years old, again
retired after the victory of Varna and fixed his residence at Magnesia.
But in 1445 the Janissaries became discontented. His son is reported to
have written to him in the following terms: "If I am Sultan I order you
to resume active service. If you are Sultan then I respectfully say that
your duty is to be at the head of your army. ” Murād accordingly
was compelled to reascend the throne. In 1446 one of Murād's generals
desolated Boeotia and Attica. His fleet in the meantime attacked the
Greek settlements in the Black Sea. Later in the same year Murād
destroyed the fortifications at the Isthmus though he was opposed by
60,000 men. Patras was also taken and burned. Thereupon the Morea
was ravaged, and the inhabitants were either killed or taken as slaves.
Constantine, afterwards the last Emperor of Constantinople, was compelled
to pay tribute for the Morea. During the years 1445-8 a desultory war
was being waged against the Albanians under Skanderbeg. In 1447
Murād, having failed to capture Kroja, later called Aq-Hisār, the capital
of Albania, withdrew to Hadrianople where, according to Chalcondyles,
he remained at
peace
In the autumn of 1448 the war against the Albanians recommenced.
George Castriotes, known to us already as Skanderbeg, was still their
trusted leader, and now and for many years was invincible. Meantime
under the directions of Pope Nicholas V the Hungarians and the Poles
were preparing once more to aid in resisting the advance of the Turks.
Hunyadi, notwithstanding the defeat at Varna, for which he was not re-
sponsible, was named general, and succeeded in forming a well-disciplined
but small
army of 24,000 men. Of these 8000 were Wallachs and 2000
Germans. As the King of Serbia refused to join, Hunyadi crossed the
Danube and invaded his kingdom. While Murād was preparing for a
new attack on the Albanians, Hunyadi encamped on the plains of
Kossovo, where in 1389 the Sultan's predecessor of the same name had
defeated his enemies and had been assassinated. The Turkish army
probably numbered 100,000 men? .
for a
year.
1 For a full description of this battle see The Destruction of the Greek Empire,
pp. 161 and 170, by the present writer. Cf. supra, Ch. xviii, pp. 571-72.
2 Aeneas Sylvius says two hundred thousand, Chalcondyles fifteen hundred
thousand, which vou Hammer reasonably suggests is an error for a hundred and fifty
thousand.
## p. 693 (#735) ############################################
Accession of Mahomet II
693
For some unexplained reason Hunyadi did not wait for the arrival of
Skanderbeg. A battle ensued on 18 October 1448. It lasted three days.
On the second the struggle was the fiercest, but the brave Hungarians
were powerless to break through the line of the Janissaries. On the third
day the Wallachs turned traitors, obtained terms from Murād, and
passed over to his side. The Germans and a band of Bohemians held
their ground, but the battle was lost. Eight thousand, including the
flower of the Hungarian nobility, were said to have been left dead on
the field. During the fight 40,000 Turks had fallen.
The effect of this defeat upon Hungary and Western Europe was
appalling. The Ottoman Turks had nothing to fear for many years from
the enemy north of the Danube. Skanderbeg struggled on, and in 1449
beat in succession four Turkish armies and again successfully resisted an
attempt to capture Kroja. Indeed one author states that the Sultan
died while making this attempt. In the autumn Murād returned to
Hadrianople, where he died in February 1451.
MAHOMET II (1451-1481).
The great object which Mahomet II had to accomplish to make him
supreme lord of the Balkan peninsula was the capture of Constantinople
itself. He was only twenty-one years old when he was girt with the
sword of Osmān. But he had already shewn ability, and had had ex-
perience both in civil and military affairs. The contemporary writers,
Muslims and Christians, give ample materials from which to form an
estimate of his character. From his boyhood he had dreamed of the
capture of New Rome. Ducas gives a striking picture of his sleeplessness
and anxiety before the siege of the city. Subsequent events shewed that
he had laid his plans carefully, and had foreseen and prepared for every
eventuality.
When his father Murād died he was at Magnesia. He hastened to
Gallipoli and Hadrianople, and at the latter place was proclaimed Sultan.
Though he distrusted Khalil Pasha, who had prevented him from retaining
supreme power when his father had abdicated, he named him again to
the post of grand vizier, called him his father, and continued to shew
him confidence. He commenced his reign by the murder of his infant
brother Aḥmad', the only other member of the Ottoman dynasty being
Orkhān who was with the Emperor in Constantinople, though in order
to avoid public disapprobation for the act he had 'Alī, the actual
murderer, put to death”.
Shortly after his arrival at Hadrianople he received ambassadors with
congratulations from Constantinople and the semi-independent emirs of
i Von Hammer notes that Turkish historians praise Mahomet for this act of
brutality, vol. 11. p. 429, note 3.
2 Filelfo, De imbecilitate et ignavia Turcorum, quoted by Jorga, Geschichte, vol.
II. p. 4.
CH, XXI.
## p. 694 (#736) ############################################
694
Preparations for the siege of Constantinople
Asia Minor, but he noted that Ibrāhīm, the Emir of Karamania, was not
represented. Mahomet confirmed the treaty already made with Con-
stantine, and professed peaceful intentions to all. His father had failed
in 1422 to capture the city because of the rebellion of the Emir of Kara-
mania. To prevent the repetition of such opposition the Sultan crossed
into Anatolia and forced the emir to sue for peace.
No sooner had Mahomet left Europe than the Emperor committed
the blunder of sending ambassadors to Khalil Pasha, Mahomet's grand
vizier, who had always been friendly to the Empire, with a demand that
Orkhān, a pretender to the throne for whose maintenance Murād had
paid, should receive double the amount, failing which the ambassadors
suggested that Orkhān's claims would be supported by the Empire. Khalil
bluntly asked them if they were mad, and told them to do their worst.
Mahomet, when he learned the demand, hastily returned to Europe.
He at once set about preparations for the capture of Constantinople.
He concluded arrangements with the Venetians, and made a truce with
Hunyadi for three years, the latter step enabling him to arrange peace
with Hungary, Wallachia, and Bosnia. He amassed stores of arms, arrows,
and cannon balls. He was already master of the Asiatic side of the
Bosphorus by means of the castle at Anatolia-Hisār built by Bāyazīd.
In order to seize the tribute paid by ships passing through the Bosphorus,
and also that he might have a strong base for his attack upon the city,
he decided to build a fortress opposite that of Bāyazīd at a place now
known as Rumelia-Hisār. The straits between the two castles are half
a mile wide. In possession of the two he would have command of the
Bosphorus, and could transport his army and munitions without difficulty.
When the Emperor, the last Constantine, and his subjects heard of
Mahomet's preparations, they were greatly alarmed, and remonstrated.
Mahomet's answer was a contemptuous refusal to desist from building a
fort; for he knew that the imperial army was so reduced in strength as
to be powerless outside the walls.
In the spring of 1452 Mahomet himself took charge of the construc-
tion of the fortress, and pushed on the works with the energy that
characterised all his military undertakings. Constantine sent food to
Mahomet's workmen, with the evident intention of suggesting that he
was not unwilling to see executed the work which he could not prevent.
Meantime the Turks gathered in the harvest in the neighbourhood of
the new building, and seemed indeed to have desired that Constantine
should send out troops to prevent them, a step which the Emperor dared
not undertake. All the neighbouring churches, monasteries, and houses
were destroyed in order to find materials for building the series of walls
and castles which formed the fortification. The work was begun in March
1452 and completed by the middle of August. The fortifications still
remain to add beauty to the landscape and as a monument of the con-
queror's energy. When they were completed, as the Turks seized the toll
## p. 695 (#737) ############################################
Western assistance for the Emperor
695
paid by ships passing the new castle, Constantine closed the gates of Con-
stantinople. Mahomet answered by declaring war and appearing before
the landward walls with 50,000 men. But he had not yet completed his
preparations for a siege. After three days he withdrew to Hadrianople.
The value of his new fortification was seen a few weeks afterwards, for
when on 10 November two large Venetian galleys from the Black Sea
attempted to pass they were captured, the masters killed, and their crews
imprisoned and tortured.
Mahomet now made no secret of his intention to capture Constan-
tinople. Critobulus gives a speech, which he declares was made by the
Sultan at Hadrianople, attributing the opposition to the Ottomans from
a series of enemies, including Tīmūr, to the influence of the Emperors.
The country around Constantinople was cleared by Mahomet's army.
San Stefano, Silivri, Perinthus, Epibatus, Anchialus, Vizye, and other
places on the north shore of the Marmora and on the coast of Thrace on
the Black Sea were sacked. In November 1452 Cardinal Isidore had arrived
in Constantinople with 200 soldiers sent by the Pope, together with a
papal letter demanding the completion of the Union of the Churches.
In consequence on 12 December a service was held in St Sophia com-
memorating the reconciliation of the Eastern and Western Churches.
Leonard, Archbishop of Chios, had arrived with the cardinal. Six
Venetian vessels came a few weeks afterwards, and at the request of the
Emperor their commander, Gabriel Trevisan, consented to give his
services per honor de Dio et per honor de tuta la christianitade. They had
safely passed the Turkish castles owing to the skilful navigation of their
captain. On 29 January 1453 the city received the most important of its
acquisitions, for on that day arrived John Giustiniani, a Genoese noble
of great reputation as a soldier. He brought with him 700 fighting men.
He was named, under the Emperor, commander-in-chief, and at once
took charge of the works for defence. In April a chain fixed upon beams
closed the harbour of the Golden Horn, its northern end being fastened
within the walls of Galata. Ten large ships, with triremes near them,
were stationed at the boom. The Genoese of Galata undertook to aid in
its defence.
By the end of March, Mahomet's preparations were nearly completed.
Nicolò Barbaro, a Venetian surgeon who was present within the city
from the beginning to the end of the siege, states that there were
50,000 men in the besieging army between the Golden Horn and the
Marmora, a distance of three miles and three-quarters? . Barbaro's estimate
is confirmed by that of the Florentine soldier Tedaldi, who states that
there were 140,000 effective soldiers, the rest, making the number of
1 Filelfo estimates 60,000 foot and 20,000 horse. Ducas' estimate is 250,000,
Montaldo's 240,000. Phrantzes says 258,000 were present. The Archbishop of Chios,
Leonard, with whom Critobulus agrees, gives 300,000, while Chalcondyles increases
this to 400,000.
CB. XXI.
## p. 696 (#738) ############################################
696
The besieging force
יו
וי
Mahomet's army amount to 200,000,“ being thieves, plunderers, hawkers,
and others following the army for gain and booty. ”
In this army the most distinguished corps consisted of at least
12,000 Janissaries, who formed the body-guard of the Sultan. This force
had shewn its discipline and valour at Varna and at Kossovo. This,
the most terrible portion of Mahomet's force, was derived at that time
exclusively from Christian families. It was the boast of its members in
after
years that they had never fled from an enemy, and the boast was
not an idle one. The portion of the army known as Bashi-bazuks was
an undisciplined mob. La Brocquière says that the innumerable host of
these irregulars took the field with no other weapon than their curved
swords or scimitars. “Being,” says Filelfo, “under no restraint, they
proved the most cruel scourge of a Turkish invasion. ”
In January 1453 report reached the capital of a monster gun which
was being cast at Hadrianople by Urban, a Hungarian or Wallach. By
March it had been taken to the neighbourhood of the city. Fourteen
batteries of smaller cannon were also prepared, which were subsequently
stationed outside the landward walls. Mahomet had also prepared and
collected a powerful fleet of ships and large caiques. A hundred and
forty sailing-ships coming up from Gallipoli arrived at the Diplokionion
south of the present palace of Dolma Bagcha on 12 April'. Cannon balls
of a hard stone were made in large numbers on the Black Sea coast, and
brought to the Bosphorus in the ships which joined the fleet.
The Turkish army with Mahomet at its head arrived before the city
on 5 April. The arrangement of the troops was as follows: Mahomet,
with his Janissaries and
others of his best troops, took up his position in
the Lycus valley between the two ridges, one crowned by what is now
called the Top Qāpū Gate, but which was then known as that of
St Romanus, and the other by the Hadrianople Gate. This division
probably consisted of 50,000 men. On the Sultan's right, that is between
Top Qāpū and the Marmora, were 50,000 Anatolian troops, while on
his left from the ridge of the Hadrianople Gate to the Golden Horn were
the least valuable of his troops, including the Bashi-bazuks, among whom
were renegade Christians. With them was also a small body of Serbs.
Two or three days after his arrival Mahomet sent a formal demand
for the surrender of the city upon terms which were probably intended
to be rejected. Upon their rejection he at once made his dispositions for
a regular siege.
For the most part the remains of the walls still exist, so that little
difficulty is found in learning what were Mahomet's chief points of attack.
The Golden Horn separates Galata and the district behind it, known as
Pera, from Constantinople proper, now distinguished as Stamboul, the
Turkish corruption of eis Thy Tów. Galata was a walled city under
1 So Barbaro; Phrantzes gives the total number of ships and boats as 480; Ducas
as 300; Leonard as 250; Critobulus as 250.
## p. 697 (#739) ############################################
The defences of Constantinople
697
the protection of the Duke of Milan, and ruled under capitulations by
the Genoese, and was not attacked during the siege. The length of the
walls which gird Constantinople or, to give it the modern name, Stamboul,
is about thirteen miles. Those on the Marmora and the Horn are strong
but single. Those on the landward side are triple, the inner wall being
the loftiest and about forty feet high. The landward walls have also in
front of them a foss about sixty feet broad, with a series of daṁs in every
part except about a quarter of a mile of steep ascent from the Horn, where
exceptionally strong walls and towers made them impregnable before the
days of cannon.
The walls on the two sides built up from the water were difficult to
capture, because the attack would have to be made from boats. They
therefore required few men for their defence. The landward walls were,
in all the great sieges, except that by the filibustering expedition in
1202–4 called the Fourth Crusade, the defence which invaders sought to
capture. Some places, notably near the Silivri Gate and north of that
of Hadrianople, were weaker than others, but the Achilles' heel of the
city was the long stretch of wall across the Lycus valley. About a hundred
yards north of the place where the streamlet, which gives the valley its
name, flows under the walls to enter the city, stood a military gate
known as the Pempton, or Fifth Military Gate, and called by the non-
Greek writers who describe the siege the St Romanus Gate. It gave
access to the enclosure between the Inner and the Second wall. Mahomet's
lofty tent of red and gold, with its sublima porta, as the Italians called
it, was about a quarter of a mile distant from the Pempton in the valley.
The fourteen batteries, each of four guns, were distributed at various
places in front of the landward walls. The Emperor Constantine had
fixed his headquarters within the city in the vicinity of the same gate.
Under normal conditions a large detachment of the defenders should
have been stationed on the city side of the great Inner wall. But the
troops for the defence were not even sufficient to guard the second land-
ward wall. Indeed the disparity in numbers between the besiegers and
besieged is startling. To meet the 150,000 besiegers the city had only
about 8000 men. Nearly all contemporary writers agree in this estimate.
Phrantzes states that a census was made and that, even including monks,
it shewed only 4983 Greeks. The result was so appalling that he was
charged by the Emperor not to let it be known? Assuming that there
were 3000 foreigners present, 8000 may be taken as a safe total.
The foreigners were nearly all Venetians or Genoese. The most dis-
tinguished among them was the Genoese Giustiniani. We have already
seen the spirit which actuated Trevisan. Barbaro records the names “for
a perpetual memorial” of his countrymen who took part in the defence.
1 Leonard's estimate was 6,000 Greeks and 3,000 foreigners. Tedaldi says there
were between 5,000 and 7,000 combatants within the city “and not more. ” Ducas
says that there were not more than 8,000 all told.
CH, XXI.
## p. 698 (#740) ############################################
698
The dispositions of the besieged
The arrangements for the defence were made by Giustiniani under
the Emperor.
With the 700 men he had brought to the city he first
took charge of the landward walls between the Horn and the Hadrianople
Gate, but
soon transferred his men with a number of Greeks to the
enclosure in the Lycus valley as the post of greatest danger. Archbishop
Leonard took the place which he had left. At the Acropolis, that is
near Seraglio Point, Trevisan was in command. Near him was Cardinal
Isidore. The Greek noble, the Grand Duke Lucas Notaras, was stationed
near what is now the Maḥmūdīye mosque with a few men in reserve.
The monks were with others at the walls on the Marmora side. The
besieged had small cannon, but they were soon found to be useless. The
superiority of the Turkish cannon, and especially of the big gun cast by
Urban, was so great that Critobulus says: “it was the cannon which did
everything. ”
A modern historian of the siegel claims that the population of the
city was against the Emperor. This is scarcely borne out by the
evidence. It is true that a great outcry had been raised against the
Union of the Churches; that the popular cry had been “better under the
Turk than under the Latins;” that the demand of the Pope for the
restoration of Patriarch Gregory, sent away because he was an advocate
of Union with Rome, offended many; that Notaras himself, the first
noble, had declared that he “preferred the Turkish turban to the cardinal's
hat;” and that the populace had sought out Gennadius because he was
hostile to the Union. But when the gates of the city were closed against
the enemy, this sentiment in no way interfered with the determination of
all within the city to oppose the strongest resistance, and the population
rallied round the Emperor.
In the early days of the siege Mahomet destroyed all the Greek
villages which had already escaped the savagery of his troops, including
Therapia and Prinkipo.
Mahomet's army took up its position for the siege on 7 April. On
9 April the ships in the Golden Horn were drawn up for its defence, ten
being placed at the boom and seventeen held in reserve. On the 11th the
Turkish guns were placed in position, and began firing at the landward
walls on the following day. The diary of the Venetian doctor, Nicolò
Barbaro, and the other contemporary narratives shew that the firing of
the Turks went on with monotonous regularity daily from this time, and
that the three principal places of attack were, first, between the
Hadrianople Gate and the end of the foss which terminates a hundred
yards north of the palace of the Porphyrogenitus, secondly, in the Lycus
valley at and around the Pempton or so-called St Romanus Gate, and
thirdly, near the Third Military Gate to the north of the Silivri (or Pege)
Gate. The ruined condition of the walls, which have hardly been touched
1 M. Jorga, Geschichte des osmanisches Reiches, vol. 11. p. 22.
## p. 699 (#741) ############################################
Defeat of Mahomet's fleet
699
since the siege, confirms in this respect the statement of contemporaries.
The cannon from the first did such damage that Mahomet on 18 April
tried a general assault in the Lycus valley. It failed, and Giustiniani held
his ground in a struggle which lasted four hours, when Mahomet recalled
his men, leaving 200 killed and wounded.
The effect of the cannon in the Lycus valley soon, however, became
terrible. In front of the Pempton, the Middle wall, as well as that which
formed one of the sides of the foss, was broken down, and the foss in
the lower part of the valley had been filled in. Giustiniani therefore
constructed a stockade or stauroma of stones, beams, crates, barrels of
earth, and other available material, which replaced the Outer and Middle
walls through a length of 1500 feet.
Probably on the same date as the first general assault, Balta-oghlu, the
admiral of Mahomet's fleet, tried to force the boom, but failed. On
20 April occurred a notable sea-fight which raised the hopes of the
besieged. Three large Genoese ships in the Aegean, bringing soldiers and
munitions of war for the besieged, fell in with an imperial transport.
They had been long expected in the capital and also by the Turks.
Mahomet's fleet was anchored a little to the south of the present
Dolma Bagcha palace. When the ships were first seen Mahomet hastened
to the fleet, and gave orders to the admiral to prevent them entering the
harbour or not to return alive. The inhabitants of the city crowded the
east gallery of the Hippodrome, and saw the feet of at least 150 small
vessels filled with soldiers drawn up to bar the passage. One of the
most gallant sea-tights on record ensued. The large ships, having a strong
wind on their quarter, broke through the Turkish line of boats, passed
Seraglio point and, always resisting the mosquito fleet, fought under the
walls of the citadel, when the wind suddenly dropped. The ships drifted
northwards towards the shores of Pera and a renewed struggle began,
which lasted till sunset, at the mouth of the Golden Horn. It was
witnessed by Leonard, the Archbishop of Chios, and hundreds of the
inhabitants from the walls of the city, and by Mahomet from the Pera
shore. The Christian ships lashed themselves together, while the Turks
and especially the vessel containing Balta-oghlu made repeated efforts to
capture or burn them. Mahomet rode into the water alternately to en-
courage and threaten his men. All his efforts, however, failed and, when
shortly before sunset a northerly breeze sprung up, the four sailing ships
drove through the fleet, causing enormous loss'. After sunset the boom
was opened and the relieving ships passed safely within the harbour.
The defeat of his fleet was the immediate cause of Mahomet's decision
to obtain possession of the Golden Horn by the transport of his ships
overland from the Bosphorus to a place outside the walls of Galata.
1 The Destruction of the Greek Empire, by the present writer, gives a full de-
scription of the fight.
CH. XXI.
## p. 700 (#742) ############################################
700
The Turkish fleet in the Golden Horn
But preparations for this task had been in hand for several days. He
had tried, and failed, to destroy the boom. He was unwilling to make
an enemy of the Genoese by trying to force an entrance into Galata,
where one end of the boom was fastened. His undisputed possession of
the country beyond its walls enabled him to make his preparations for the
engineering feat he contemplated without interruption. He had already
stationed cannon, probably on the small plateau where the British
Crimean Memorial Church now stands, in order to fire over a corner of
Galata on the ships defending the boom and to distract attention from
what he was doing. Seventy or eighty vessels had been selected, a road
levelled, wooden tram-lines laid down on which ship's cradles bearing the
ships could be run, and on 22 April the transport was effected! . A hill
of 240 feet had been surmounted and a distance of a little over a mile
traversed. The ships probably were started from Tophana and reached
the Horn at Qāsim Pasha”.
The sudden appearance of 70 or 80 ships in the Golden Horn caused
consternation in the city. After a meeting of the leaders of the defence,
it was decided to make an effort to destroy them. James Coco, described
by Phrantzes as more capable of action than of speech, undertook the
attempt. Night was chosen and preparations carefully made, but the
plan could not be kept secret. On 28 April the attack was made and
failed, the design probably having been signalled to the Turks from the
Tower of Galata. Coco's own vessel was sunk by a well-aimed shot fired
from Qāsim Pasha. Trevisan, who had joined the expedition, and his
men only saved their lives by swimming from their sinking ship. The
fight, says Barbaro, was terrible, "a veritable hell, missiles and blows
countless, cannonading continual. ” The expedition had completely
failed.
The disadvantages resulting from the presence of the fleet were imme-
diately felt. Fighting took place almost daily on the side of the Horn as
well as before the landward walls. The besieged persisted in their efforts
to destroy the enemy's ships, but their inefficient cannon did little damage.
During the early days of May, a Venetian ship secretly left the harbour
in order to press the Venetian admiral Loredan, who, sent by the Pope,
was believed to be in the Aegean, to hasten to the city's relief. The
Emperor was urged by the nobles and Giustiniani to leave the city, but
refused. Meantime Mahomet continued an attack on the ships in the
harbour with his guns on the slope of Māltepe. On 7 May a new general
assault was made, and failed after lasting three hours. A similar attempt
was made on 12 May, near the palace of the Porphyrogenitus, now called
Tekfür Serai. This also failed.
1 Critobulus says there were 68 ships, Barbaro 172, Tedaldi between 70 and 80,
Chalcondyles 70, and Ducas 80.
2 For a description of the disputed question as to the route followed, see
Appendix ii of my Destruction of the Greek Empire.
## p. 701 (#743) ############################################
Preparations for a general assault
701
יל
After 14 May the attacks on the landward side were concentrated on
the stockade and walls of the Lycus valley. Attempts were made to under-
mine the walls, and failed ; and to destroy the boom, and thus admit the
great body of the fleet which still remained in the Bosphorus. The latest
attempt on the boom was on 21 May. Two days later the Venetian bri-
gantine, which had been sent to find Loredan, returned in safety but with
the news that they had been unable to find him. Their return was due
to a resolution of the crew which has the best quality of seamanship,
“whether it be life or death our duty is to return. '
In the last week of May the situation within the city was desperate.
The breaching of the walls was steadily going on, the greatest damage
being in the Lycus valley, for in that place was the big bombard throwing
its ball of twelve hundred pounds weight seven times a day with such
force that, when it struck the wall, it shook it and sent such a tremor
through the whole city that on the ships in the harbour it could be felt.
The city had been under siege for seven weeks and a great general assault
was seen to be in preparation. Two thousand scaling ladders, hooks for
pulling down stones, and other materials in the stockade outside the
Pempton had been brought up, and ever the steady roaring of the great
cannon was heard. In three places, Mahomet declared, he had opened a
way into the city through the great wall. Day after day the diarists re-
count that their principal occupation was to repair during the night the
damages done during the day. The bravery, the industry, and the perse-
verance of Giustiniani and the Italians and Greeks under him is beyond
question; and as everything pointed to a great fight at the stockade, it
was there that the élite of the defence continued to be stationed.
Mahomet shewed a curious hesitation in these last days of his great
task. The seven weeks' siege was apparently fruitless. Some in the army
had lost heart. The Sultan's council was divided. Some asserted that the
Western nations would not allow Constantinople to be Turkish. Hunyadi
was on his way to relieve the city. A fleet sent by the Pope was reported
to be at Chios. Mahomet called a council of the heads of the
army on
Sunday, 27 May, in which Khalil Pasha, the man of highest reputation,
declared in favour of abandoning the siege. He was opposed and overruled.
Mahomet thereupon ordered a general assault to be made without delay.
On Monday Mahomet rode over to his fleet and made arrangements
for its co-operation, then returned to the Stamboul side and visited all
his troops from the Horn to the Marmora. Heralds announced that
every one was to make ready for the great assault on the morrow.
What was destined to be the last Christian ceremony in St Sophia
was celebrated on Monday evening. Emperor and nobles, Patriarch and
Cardinal, Greeks and Latins, took part in what was in reality a solemn
liturgy of death, for the Empire was in its agony. When the service was
ended, the soldiers returned to their positions at the walls. Among the
defenders was seen Orkhān, the Turk who had been befriended by Con-
CH. XXI.
## p. 702 (#744) ############################################
702
Commencement of the assault, 29 May 1453
stantine. The Military Gates, that is those from the city leading into
the enclosures between the walls, were closed, so that, says Cambini, by
taking from the defenders any means of retreat they should resolve to
conquer or die. The Emperor, shortly after midnight of 28-29 May,
went along the whole line of the landward walls for the purpose of in-
spection.
The general assault commenced between one and two o'clock after
midnight. At once the city was attacked on all sides, though the princi-
pal point of attack was on the Lycus valley. First of all, the division of
Bashi-bazuks came up against the stockade from the district between the
Horn and Hadrianople Gate. They were the least skilled of the army, and
were used here to exhaust the strength and arrows of the besieged. They
were everywhere stoutly resisted, lost heavily, and were recalled. The be-
sieged set up a shout of joy, thinking that the night attack was ended.
They were soon undeceived, for the Anatolian troops, many of them
veterans of Kossovo, were seen advancing over the ridge crowned by Top
Qāpū to take the place of the retired division. The assault was renewed
with the utmost fury. But in spite of the enormous superiority in num-
bers, of daring attempts to pull down stones and beams from the stockade,
of efforts to scale the walls, the resistance under the brave defenders of
the thousand-year-old walls proved successful. The second division of
the
army had failed as completely as the first.
The failure of the Turks had been equally complete in other parts of
the city. Critobulus is justified in commenting with pride on the courage
of his countrymen: “Nothing could alter their determination to be faithful
to their trust. ”
There remained but one thing to do if the city was to be captured
on 29 May—to bring up the reserves. Mahomet saw that the two succes-
sive attacks had greatly weakened the defenders. His reserves were the
élite of the army, the 12,000 Janissaries, a body of archers, another or
lancers, and choice infantry bearing shields and pikes. Dawn was now
supplying sufficient light to enable a more elaborate execution of his plans.
The great cannon had been dragged nearer the stockade. Mahomet placed
himself at the head of his archers and infantry and led them up to the
foss. Then a fierce attack began upon the stockade. Volleys were fired
upon
the Greeks and Italians defending it, so that they could hardly shew
a head above the battlements without being struck. Arrows and other
missiles fell in numbers like rain, says Critobulus. They even darkened
the sky, says Leonard.
When the defenders had been harassed for some time by the heavy
rain of missiles, Mahomet gave the signal for advance to his “fresh,
vigorous, and invincible Janissaries. ” They rushed across the foss and
attempted to carry the stockade by storm. “Ten thousand of these grand
masters and valiant men,” says Barbaro with admiration for a brave
enemy, “ran to the walls not like Turks but like lions. ” They tried to
## p. 703 (#745) ############################################
The Janissaries force the stockade
703
1
tear down the stockade, to pull out the beams, or the barrels of earth of
which it was partly formed. For a while all was noise and mad confusion.
To the roar of cannon was added the clanging of every church bell in
the city, the shouts “Allāh! Allāh! " and the replies of the Christians.
Giustiniani and his little band cut down the foremost of the assailants,
and a hard hand-to-hand fight took place, neither party gaining advan-
tage over the other.
It was at this moment that Giustiniani was seriously wounded. He
bled profusely, and determined to leave the enclosure to obtain surgical
aid. That the wound was serious is shewn by the fact that he died from it
after a few days, though some of his contemporaries thought otherwise
and upbraided him for deserting his post. Critobulus, whose narrative,
written a few years after the event, is singularly free from prejudice, says
that he had to be carried away. It was in vain that the Emperor implored
him to remain, pointing out that his departure would demoralise the little
host which was defending the stockade. He entered the city by a small
gate which he had opened to give easier access to the stockade. The
general opinion at the time was undoubtedly that by quitting his post
he had hastened the capture of the city! Meanwhile the Emperor him-
self took the post of Giustiniani, and led the defenders.
Mahomet witnessed from the other side of the foss the disorder caused
by the departure of the Genoese leader. He urged the Janissaries to
follow him, to fear nothing: “The wall is undefended; the city is ours
already. ” At his bidding a new attempt was made to rush the stockade
and to climb upon the debris of the wall destroyed by the great gun.
A stalwart Janissary named Hasan was the first to gain and maintain
a position on the stockade, and thereby to entitle himself to the rich re-
ward promised by the Sultan. The Greeks resisted his entry and that of
his comrades and killed eighteen. But Hasan held his position long
enough to enable a number of his followers to climb over the stockade.
A fierce but short struggle ensued while other Turks were pouring into
the enclosure. They followed in crowds, once a few were able to hold their
position on the stockade. Italians and Greeks resisted, but the Turks
were already masters of the enclosure. Barbaro says that within a quarter
of an hour of the Turks first obtaining access to the stockade there must
have been 30,000 within the enclosure. The defenders fled in panic. The
Turks, according to Leonard, formed a phalanx on the slope of each side
of the hill and drove Greeks and Italians before them. Only the small
gate into the city was open, and this was soon crowded with dying or
dead.
The overwhelming numbers of the invaders enabled them soon to
slaughter all opponents who had not escaped into the city. The military
1 See the statements of contemporaries quoted in my Destruction of the Greek
Empire, pp. 346-7.
CH, XXI.
## p. 704 (#746) ############################################
704
Capture of Constantinople
gate of the Pempton was at once opened. Hundreds of Turks entered
the city, while others hastened to the Hadrianople Gate and opened it to
their comrades. From that time Constantinople was at the mercy of
Mahomet. A public military entry followed, probably at about ten in
the morning, and then the city was handed over to the army, as Mahomet
had promised, for a three days' sack.
In the first struggle within the enclosure and near the Pempton, the
Emperor bore a part worthy of his name and his position. The last Con-
stantine perished among his own subjects and the remnant of the Italians
who were fighting for the honor de Dio et de christianitade. All accounts
of his death attest his courage. He refused, says Critobulus, to live after
the capture of the city, and died fighting. The manner of his death
and the question whether his body was ever found are, however, both'
doubtfuli.
An incident is mentioned by Ducas, and is incidentally confirmed by
other writers, which may have hastened the capture of the city. Whether
by accident or by treason a small postern gate near Tekfür Serai (the palace
of the Porphyrogenitus) had been left open, and in the midst of the final
struggle a number of Turkish troops entered and obtained possession of
the walls between the palace and the Hadrianople Gate, where they hoisted
Turkish ensigns. Some even went as far as the mosaic mosque,
known as
the Chora, and plundered it. But an alarm was immediately given, and
the Emperor hastened to the Hadrianople Gate and assisted in driving
out the intruders. Then as hastily he returned to the stockade, arriving
just at the moment when Giustiniani was preparing to leave. The story
of Ducas is not mentioned by Critobulus, who either knew nothing of it
or regarded the incident as unimportant. Sa'd-ad-Dīn gives a version
which, apart from the bombastic fashion in which he wrote his account
of the capture of the city, occasionally contains a grain of truth. He says
that, “while the blind-hearted Emperor” was busy resisting the besiegers
to the north of the Hadrianople Gate,“ suddenly he learned that the up-
raising of the most glorious standard of the Word of God' had found a
path to within the walls. ” The entrance into the city at this moment by
the sailors opposite the church of St Theodosius, now the Gul-jāmi', may
be held to confirm the story of Ducas.
Mahomet's capture of Constantinople was the crowning of the work
done by his able predecessors. With the sack of the city and with the
further conquests of Mahomet we have nothing to do. His biographers
claim that he conquered two empires and seven kingdoms. Cantemir
calls him the most glorious prince who ever occupied the Ottoman throne.
Halil Ganem is justified in saying that, judged by his military exploits,
? See the various contemporaries quoted on pp. 353–4 of The Destruction of the
Greek Empire.
## p. 705 (#747) ############################################
Character of Mahomet
705
Mahomet occupies the first place in the Ottoman annals. Responsibility
had been thrown upon him by his father while still a boy. Throughout
his life he was self-reliant. He cared nothing for the pleasures usually
associated with an Asiatic sovereign. As he was, like so many of the
earlier Sultans, the son of a Christian mother, he may have derived many
of the elements in his character from her.
that Hunyadi refused either to sign or swear. This peace, signed at Szege-
din, is regarded by the Turkish writers as intended by Murād to be the
culminating point of his career. Murād was a philosopher, a man who
loved meditation, who wished to live at peace, to join his sect of dervishes
in their pious labour, and to have done with war. But his enemies would
not allow him. The treaty thus solemnly accepted was almost immediately
broken. The story is an ugly one and, whether told by Turks or Christians,
shews bad faith on the side of the Christians. The cardinal legate Julian
Cesarini bears the eternal disgrace of declaring that an oath with the
infidel might be set aside and broken. Against the advice of Hunyadi,
the ablest soldier in the army of the allies, battle was to be joined. The
decision was ill-considered, for the French, Italian, and German volunteers
had left for their homes on the signature of the treaty. John was not
ready to send aid. George of Serbia would have no share in the war.
He refused not only to violate his oath but even to permit Skanderbeg to
join Vladislav. The place of rendezvous was Varna, but the whole number
of the Christians, who gathered there in the early days of November 1444,
probably did not exceed 20,000 men. Hunyadi reluctantly joined. To
the astonishment of the Christians they found immediately after their
army
1 Bartletus, Vita Scanderbegii; Ducas, xxxır; Leunclavius, 107; von Hammer, 11.
299. Callimachus was present at the battle and describes it.
CH. XXI.
41-2
## p. 692 (#734) ############################################
692
Murād's victories at Varna and Kossovo
arrival at Varna that Murād had advanced with the rapidity then char-
acteristic of Turkish military movements, and that he had with him
60,000 men. A great battle followed, during which one of the most
notable incidents was that the Turks displayed the violated treaty upon
a lance, and in the crisis of the battle, according to the Turkish annals,
Murād prayed:
“O Christ, if thou art God, as thy followers say, punish
their perfidy. ” The victory of the Turks was complete. The Christian
army was destroyed? . Murād, who in June 1444 had abdicated in favour
of his son Mahomet when the latter was only fourteen years old, again
retired after the victory of Varna and fixed his residence at Magnesia.
But in 1445 the Janissaries became discontented. His son is reported to
have written to him in the following terms: "If I am Sultan I order you
to resume active service. If you are Sultan then I respectfully say that
your duty is to be at the head of your army. ” Murād accordingly
was compelled to reascend the throne. In 1446 one of Murād's generals
desolated Boeotia and Attica. His fleet in the meantime attacked the
Greek settlements in the Black Sea. Later in the same year Murād
destroyed the fortifications at the Isthmus though he was opposed by
60,000 men. Patras was also taken and burned. Thereupon the Morea
was ravaged, and the inhabitants were either killed or taken as slaves.
Constantine, afterwards the last Emperor of Constantinople, was compelled
to pay tribute for the Morea. During the years 1445-8 a desultory war
was being waged against the Albanians under Skanderbeg. In 1447
Murād, having failed to capture Kroja, later called Aq-Hisār, the capital
of Albania, withdrew to Hadrianople where, according to Chalcondyles,
he remained at
peace
In the autumn of 1448 the war against the Albanians recommenced.
George Castriotes, known to us already as Skanderbeg, was still their
trusted leader, and now and for many years was invincible. Meantime
under the directions of Pope Nicholas V the Hungarians and the Poles
were preparing once more to aid in resisting the advance of the Turks.
Hunyadi, notwithstanding the defeat at Varna, for which he was not re-
sponsible, was named general, and succeeded in forming a well-disciplined
but small
army of 24,000 men. Of these 8000 were Wallachs and 2000
Germans. As the King of Serbia refused to join, Hunyadi crossed the
Danube and invaded his kingdom. While Murād was preparing for a
new attack on the Albanians, Hunyadi encamped on the plains of
Kossovo, where in 1389 the Sultan's predecessor of the same name had
defeated his enemies and had been assassinated. The Turkish army
probably numbered 100,000 men? .
for a
year.
1 For a full description of this battle see The Destruction of the Greek Empire,
pp. 161 and 170, by the present writer. Cf. supra, Ch. xviii, pp. 571-72.
2 Aeneas Sylvius says two hundred thousand, Chalcondyles fifteen hundred
thousand, which vou Hammer reasonably suggests is an error for a hundred and fifty
thousand.
## p. 693 (#735) ############################################
Accession of Mahomet II
693
For some unexplained reason Hunyadi did not wait for the arrival of
Skanderbeg. A battle ensued on 18 October 1448. It lasted three days.
On the second the struggle was the fiercest, but the brave Hungarians
were powerless to break through the line of the Janissaries. On the third
day the Wallachs turned traitors, obtained terms from Murād, and
passed over to his side. The Germans and a band of Bohemians held
their ground, but the battle was lost. Eight thousand, including the
flower of the Hungarian nobility, were said to have been left dead on
the field. During the fight 40,000 Turks had fallen.
The effect of this defeat upon Hungary and Western Europe was
appalling. The Ottoman Turks had nothing to fear for many years from
the enemy north of the Danube. Skanderbeg struggled on, and in 1449
beat in succession four Turkish armies and again successfully resisted an
attempt to capture Kroja. Indeed one author states that the Sultan
died while making this attempt. In the autumn Murād returned to
Hadrianople, where he died in February 1451.
MAHOMET II (1451-1481).
The great object which Mahomet II had to accomplish to make him
supreme lord of the Balkan peninsula was the capture of Constantinople
itself. He was only twenty-one years old when he was girt with the
sword of Osmān. But he had already shewn ability, and had had ex-
perience both in civil and military affairs. The contemporary writers,
Muslims and Christians, give ample materials from which to form an
estimate of his character. From his boyhood he had dreamed of the
capture of New Rome. Ducas gives a striking picture of his sleeplessness
and anxiety before the siege of the city. Subsequent events shewed that
he had laid his plans carefully, and had foreseen and prepared for every
eventuality.
When his father Murād died he was at Magnesia. He hastened to
Gallipoli and Hadrianople, and at the latter place was proclaimed Sultan.
Though he distrusted Khalil Pasha, who had prevented him from retaining
supreme power when his father had abdicated, he named him again to
the post of grand vizier, called him his father, and continued to shew
him confidence. He commenced his reign by the murder of his infant
brother Aḥmad', the only other member of the Ottoman dynasty being
Orkhān who was with the Emperor in Constantinople, though in order
to avoid public disapprobation for the act he had 'Alī, the actual
murderer, put to death”.
Shortly after his arrival at Hadrianople he received ambassadors with
congratulations from Constantinople and the semi-independent emirs of
i Von Hammer notes that Turkish historians praise Mahomet for this act of
brutality, vol. 11. p. 429, note 3.
2 Filelfo, De imbecilitate et ignavia Turcorum, quoted by Jorga, Geschichte, vol.
II. p. 4.
CH, XXI.
## p. 694 (#736) ############################################
694
Preparations for the siege of Constantinople
Asia Minor, but he noted that Ibrāhīm, the Emir of Karamania, was not
represented. Mahomet confirmed the treaty already made with Con-
stantine, and professed peaceful intentions to all. His father had failed
in 1422 to capture the city because of the rebellion of the Emir of Kara-
mania. To prevent the repetition of such opposition the Sultan crossed
into Anatolia and forced the emir to sue for peace.
No sooner had Mahomet left Europe than the Emperor committed
the blunder of sending ambassadors to Khalil Pasha, Mahomet's grand
vizier, who had always been friendly to the Empire, with a demand that
Orkhān, a pretender to the throne for whose maintenance Murād had
paid, should receive double the amount, failing which the ambassadors
suggested that Orkhān's claims would be supported by the Empire. Khalil
bluntly asked them if they were mad, and told them to do their worst.
Mahomet, when he learned the demand, hastily returned to Europe.
He at once set about preparations for the capture of Constantinople.
He concluded arrangements with the Venetians, and made a truce with
Hunyadi for three years, the latter step enabling him to arrange peace
with Hungary, Wallachia, and Bosnia. He amassed stores of arms, arrows,
and cannon balls. He was already master of the Asiatic side of the
Bosphorus by means of the castle at Anatolia-Hisār built by Bāyazīd.
In order to seize the tribute paid by ships passing through the Bosphorus,
and also that he might have a strong base for his attack upon the city,
he decided to build a fortress opposite that of Bāyazīd at a place now
known as Rumelia-Hisār. The straits between the two castles are half
a mile wide. In possession of the two he would have command of the
Bosphorus, and could transport his army and munitions without difficulty.
When the Emperor, the last Constantine, and his subjects heard of
Mahomet's preparations, they were greatly alarmed, and remonstrated.
Mahomet's answer was a contemptuous refusal to desist from building a
fort; for he knew that the imperial army was so reduced in strength as
to be powerless outside the walls.
In the spring of 1452 Mahomet himself took charge of the construc-
tion of the fortress, and pushed on the works with the energy that
characterised all his military undertakings. Constantine sent food to
Mahomet's workmen, with the evident intention of suggesting that he
was not unwilling to see executed the work which he could not prevent.
Meantime the Turks gathered in the harvest in the neighbourhood of
the new building, and seemed indeed to have desired that Constantine
should send out troops to prevent them, a step which the Emperor dared
not undertake. All the neighbouring churches, monasteries, and houses
were destroyed in order to find materials for building the series of walls
and castles which formed the fortification. The work was begun in March
1452 and completed by the middle of August. The fortifications still
remain to add beauty to the landscape and as a monument of the con-
queror's energy. When they were completed, as the Turks seized the toll
## p. 695 (#737) ############################################
Western assistance for the Emperor
695
paid by ships passing the new castle, Constantine closed the gates of Con-
stantinople. Mahomet answered by declaring war and appearing before
the landward walls with 50,000 men. But he had not yet completed his
preparations for a siege. After three days he withdrew to Hadrianople.
The value of his new fortification was seen a few weeks afterwards, for
when on 10 November two large Venetian galleys from the Black Sea
attempted to pass they were captured, the masters killed, and their crews
imprisoned and tortured.
Mahomet now made no secret of his intention to capture Constan-
tinople. Critobulus gives a speech, which he declares was made by the
Sultan at Hadrianople, attributing the opposition to the Ottomans from
a series of enemies, including Tīmūr, to the influence of the Emperors.
The country around Constantinople was cleared by Mahomet's army.
San Stefano, Silivri, Perinthus, Epibatus, Anchialus, Vizye, and other
places on the north shore of the Marmora and on the coast of Thrace on
the Black Sea were sacked. In November 1452 Cardinal Isidore had arrived
in Constantinople with 200 soldiers sent by the Pope, together with a
papal letter demanding the completion of the Union of the Churches.
In consequence on 12 December a service was held in St Sophia com-
memorating the reconciliation of the Eastern and Western Churches.
Leonard, Archbishop of Chios, had arrived with the cardinal. Six
Venetian vessels came a few weeks afterwards, and at the request of the
Emperor their commander, Gabriel Trevisan, consented to give his
services per honor de Dio et per honor de tuta la christianitade. They had
safely passed the Turkish castles owing to the skilful navigation of their
captain. On 29 January 1453 the city received the most important of its
acquisitions, for on that day arrived John Giustiniani, a Genoese noble
of great reputation as a soldier. He brought with him 700 fighting men.
He was named, under the Emperor, commander-in-chief, and at once
took charge of the works for defence. In April a chain fixed upon beams
closed the harbour of the Golden Horn, its northern end being fastened
within the walls of Galata. Ten large ships, with triremes near them,
were stationed at the boom. The Genoese of Galata undertook to aid in
its defence.
By the end of March, Mahomet's preparations were nearly completed.
Nicolò Barbaro, a Venetian surgeon who was present within the city
from the beginning to the end of the siege, states that there were
50,000 men in the besieging army between the Golden Horn and the
Marmora, a distance of three miles and three-quarters? . Barbaro's estimate
is confirmed by that of the Florentine soldier Tedaldi, who states that
there were 140,000 effective soldiers, the rest, making the number of
1 Filelfo estimates 60,000 foot and 20,000 horse. Ducas' estimate is 250,000,
Montaldo's 240,000. Phrantzes says 258,000 were present. The Archbishop of Chios,
Leonard, with whom Critobulus agrees, gives 300,000, while Chalcondyles increases
this to 400,000.
CB. XXI.
## p. 696 (#738) ############################################
696
The besieging force
יו
וי
Mahomet's army amount to 200,000,“ being thieves, plunderers, hawkers,
and others following the army for gain and booty. ”
In this army the most distinguished corps consisted of at least
12,000 Janissaries, who formed the body-guard of the Sultan. This force
had shewn its discipline and valour at Varna and at Kossovo. This,
the most terrible portion of Mahomet's force, was derived at that time
exclusively from Christian families. It was the boast of its members in
after
years that they had never fled from an enemy, and the boast was
not an idle one. The portion of the army known as Bashi-bazuks was
an undisciplined mob. La Brocquière says that the innumerable host of
these irregulars took the field with no other weapon than their curved
swords or scimitars. “Being,” says Filelfo, “under no restraint, they
proved the most cruel scourge of a Turkish invasion. ”
In January 1453 report reached the capital of a monster gun which
was being cast at Hadrianople by Urban, a Hungarian or Wallach. By
March it had been taken to the neighbourhood of the city. Fourteen
batteries of smaller cannon were also prepared, which were subsequently
stationed outside the landward walls. Mahomet had also prepared and
collected a powerful fleet of ships and large caiques. A hundred and
forty sailing-ships coming up from Gallipoli arrived at the Diplokionion
south of the present palace of Dolma Bagcha on 12 April'. Cannon balls
of a hard stone were made in large numbers on the Black Sea coast, and
brought to the Bosphorus in the ships which joined the fleet.
The Turkish army with Mahomet at its head arrived before the city
on 5 April. The arrangement of the troops was as follows: Mahomet,
with his Janissaries and
others of his best troops, took up his position in
the Lycus valley between the two ridges, one crowned by what is now
called the Top Qāpū Gate, but which was then known as that of
St Romanus, and the other by the Hadrianople Gate. This division
probably consisted of 50,000 men. On the Sultan's right, that is between
Top Qāpū and the Marmora, were 50,000 Anatolian troops, while on
his left from the ridge of the Hadrianople Gate to the Golden Horn were
the least valuable of his troops, including the Bashi-bazuks, among whom
were renegade Christians. With them was also a small body of Serbs.
Two or three days after his arrival Mahomet sent a formal demand
for the surrender of the city upon terms which were probably intended
to be rejected. Upon their rejection he at once made his dispositions for
a regular siege.
For the most part the remains of the walls still exist, so that little
difficulty is found in learning what were Mahomet's chief points of attack.
The Golden Horn separates Galata and the district behind it, known as
Pera, from Constantinople proper, now distinguished as Stamboul, the
Turkish corruption of eis Thy Tów. Galata was a walled city under
1 So Barbaro; Phrantzes gives the total number of ships and boats as 480; Ducas
as 300; Leonard as 250; Critobulus as 250.
## p. 697 (#739) ############################################
The defences of Constantinople
697
the protection of the Duke of Milan, and ruled under capitulations by
the Genoese, and was not attacked during the siege. The length of the
walls which gird Constantinople or, to give it the modern name, Stamboul,
is about thirteen miles. Those on the Marmora and the Horn are strong
but single. Those on the landward side are triple, the inner wall being
the loftiest and about forty feet high. The landward walls have also in
front of them a foss about sixty feet broad, with a series of daṁs in every
part except about a quarter of a mile of steep ascent from the Horn, where
exceptionally strong walls and towers made them impregnable before the
days of cannon.
The walls on the two sides built up from the water were difficult to
capture, because the attack would have to be made from boats. They
therefore required few men for their defence. The landward walls were,
in all the great sieges, except that by the filibustering expedition in
1202–4 called the Fourth Crusade, the defence which invaders sought to
capture. Some places, notably near the Silivri Gate and north of that
of Hadrianople, were weaker than others, but the Achilles' heel of the
city was the long stretch of wall across the Lycus valley. About a hundred
yards north of the place where the streamlet, which gives the valley its
name, flows under the walls to enter the city, stood a military gate
known as the Pempton, or Fifth Military Gate, and called by the non-
Greek writers who describe the siege the St Romanus Gate. It gave
access to the enclosure between the Inner and the Second wall. Mahomet's
lofty tent of red and gold, with its sublima porta, as the Italians called
it, was about a quarter of a mile distant from the Pempton in the valley.
The fourteen batteries, each of four guns, were distributed at various
places in front of the landward walls. The Emperor Constantine had
fixed his headquarters within the city in the vicinity of the same gate.
Under normal conditions a large detachment of the defenders should
have been stationed on the city side of the great Inner wall. But the
troops for the defence were not even sufficient to guard the second land-
ward wall. Indeed the disparity in numbers between the besiegers and
besieged is startling. To meet the 150,000 besiegers the city had only
about 8000 men. Nearly all contemporary writers agree in this estimate.
Phrantzes states that a census was made and that, even including monks,
it shewed only 4983 Greeks. The result was so appalling that he was
charged by the Emperor not to let it be known? Assuming that there
were 3000 foreigners present, 8000 may be taken as a safe total.
The foreigners were nearly all Venetians or Genoese. The most dis-
tinguished among them was the Genoese Giustiniani. We have already
seen the spirit which actuated Trevisan. Barbaro records the names “for
a perpetual memorial” of his countrymen who took part in the defence.
1 Leonard's estimate was 6,000 Greeks and 3,000 foreigners. Tedaldi says there
were between 5,000 and 7,000 combatants within the city “and not more. ” Ducas
says that there were not more than 8,000 all told.
CH, XXI.
## p. 698 (#740) ############################################
698
The dispositions of the besieged
The arrangements for the defence were made by Giustiniani under
the Emperor.
With the 700 men he had brought to the city he first
took charge of the landward walls between the Horn and the Hadrianople
Gate, but
soon transferred his men with a number of Greeks to the
enclosure in the Lycus valley as the post of greatest danger. Archbishop
Leonard took the place which he had left. At the Acropolis, that is
near Seraglio Point, Trevisan was in command. Near him was Cardinal
Isidore. The Greek noble, the Grand Duke Lucas Notaras, was stationed
near what is now the Maḥmūdīye mosque with a few men in reserve.
The monks were with others at the walls on the Marmora side. The
besieged had small cannon, but they were soon found to be useless. The
superiority of the Turkish cannon, and especially of the big gun cast by
Urban, was so great that Critobulus says: “it was the cannon which did
everything. ”
A modern historian of the siegel claims that the population of the
city was against the Emperor. This is scarcely borne out by the
evidence. It is true that a great outcry had been raised against the
Union of the Churches; that the popular cry had been “better under the
Turk than under the Latins;” that the demand of the Pope for the
restoration of Patriarch Gregory, sent away because he was an advocate
of Union with Rome, offended many; that Notaras himself, the first
noble, had declared that he “preferred the Turkish turban to the cardinal's
hat;” and that the populace had sought out Gennadius because he was
hostile to the Union. But when the gates of the city were closed against
the enemy, this sentiment in no way interfered with the determination of
all within the city to oppose the strongest resistance, and the population
rallied round the Emperor.
In the early days of the siege Mahomet destroyed all the Greek
villages which had already escaped the savagery of his troops, including
Therapia and Prinkipo.
Mahomet's army took up its position for the siege on 7 April. On
9 April the ships in the Golden Horn were drawn up for its defence, ten
being placed at the boom and seventeen held in reserve. On the 11th the
Turkish guns were placed in position, and began firing at the landward
walls on the following day. The diary of the Venetian doctor, Nicolò
Barbaro, and the other contemporary narratives shew that the firing of
the Turks went on with monotonous regularity daily from this time, and
that the three principal places of attack were, first, between the
Hadrianople Gate and the end of the foss which terminates a hundred
yards north of the palace of the Porphyrogenitus, secondly, in the Lycus
valley at and around the Pempton or so-called St Romanus Gate, and
thirdly, near the Third Military Gate to the north of the Silivri (or Pege)
Gate. The ruined condition of the walls, which have hardly been touched
1 M. Jorga, Geschichte des osmanisches Reiches, vol. 11. p. 22.
## p. 699 (#741) ############################################
Defeat of Mahomet's fleet
699
since the siege, confirms in this respect the statement of contemporaries.
The cannon from the first did such damage that Mahomet on 18 April
tried a general assault in the Lycus valley. It failed, and Giustiniani held
his ground in a struggle which lasted four hours, when Mahomet recalled
his men, leaving 200 killed and wounded.
The effect of the cannon in the Lycus valley soon, however, became
terrible. In front of the Pempton, the Middle wall, as well as that which
formed one of the sides of the foss, was broken down, and the foss in
the lower part of the valley had been filled in. Giustiniani therefore
constructed a stockade or stauroma of stones, beams, crates, barrels of
earth, and other available material, which replaced the Outer and Middle
walls through a length of 1500 feet.
Probably on the same date as the first general assault, Balta-oghlu, the
admiral of Mahomet's fleet, tried to force the boom, but failed. On
20 April occurred a notable sea-fight which raised the hopes of the
besieged. Three large Genoese ships in the Aegean, bringing soldiers and
munitions of war for the besieged, fell in with an imperial transport.
They had been long expected in the capital and also by the Turks.
Mahomet's fleet was anchored a little to the south of the present
Dolma Bagcha palace. When the ships were first seen Mahomet hastened
to the fleet, and gave orders to the admiral to prevent them entering the
harbour or not to return alive. The inhabitants of the city crowded the
east gallery of the Hippodrome, and saw the feet of at least 150 small
vessels filled with soldiers drawn up to bar the passage. One of the
most gallant sea-tights on record ensued. The large ships, having a strong
wind on their quarter, broke through the Turkish line of boats, passed
Seraglio point and, always resisting the mosquito fleet, fought under the
walls of the citadel, when the wind suddenly dropped. The ships drifted
northwards towards the shores of Pera and a renewed struggle began,
which lasted till sunset, at the mouth of the Golden Horn. It was
witnessed by Leonard, the Archbishop of Chios, and hundreds of the
inhabitants from the walls of the city, and by Mahomet from the Pera
shore. The Christian ships lashed themselves together, while the Turks
and especially the vessel containing Balta-oghlu made repeated efforts to
capture or burn them. Mahomet rode into the water alternately to en-
courage and threaten his men. All his efforts, however, failed and, when
shortly before sunset a northerly breeze sprung up, the four sailing ships
drove through the fleet, causing enormous loss'. After sunset the boom
was opened and the relieving ships passed safely within the harbour.
The defeat of his fleet was the immediate cause of Mahomet's decision
to obtain possession of the Golden Horn by the transport of his ships
overland from the Bosphorus to a place outside the walls of Galata.
1 The Destruction of the Greek Empire, by the present writer, gives a full de-
scription of the fight.
CH. XXI.
## p. 700 (#742) ############################################
700
The Turkish fleet in the Golden Horn
But preparations for this task had been in hand for several days. He
had tried, and failed, to destroy the boom. He was unwilling to make
an enemy of the Genoese by trying to force an entrance into Galata,
where one end of the boom was fastened. His undisputed possession of
the country beyond its walls enabled him to make his preparations for the
engineering feat he contemplated without interruption. He had already
stationed cannon, probably on the small plateau where the British
Crimean Memorial Church now stands, in order to fire over a corner of
Galata on the ships defending the boom and to distract attention from
what he was doing. Seventy or eighty vessels had been selected, a road
levelled, wooden tram-lines laid down on which ship's cradles bearing the
ships could be run, and on 22 April the transport was effected! . A hill
of 240 feet had been surmounted and a distance of a little over a mile
traversed. The ships probably were started from Tophana and reached
the Horn at Qāsim Pasha”.
The sudden appearance of 70 or 80 ships in the Golden Horn caused
consternation in the city. After a meeting of the leaders of the defence,
it was decided to make an effort to destroy them. James Coco, described
by Phrantzes as more capable of action than of speech, undertook the
attempt. Night was chosen and preparations carefully made, but the
plan could not be kept secret. On 28 April the attack was made and
failed, the design probably having been signalled to the Turks from the
Tower of Galata. Coco's own vessel was sunk by a well-aimed shot fired
from Qāsim Pasha. Trevisan, who had joined the expedition, and his
men only saved their lives by swimming from their sinking ship. The
fight, says Barbaro, was terrible, "a veritable hell, missiles and blows
countless, cannonading continual. ” The expedition had completely
failed.
The disadvantages resulting from the presence of the fleet were imme-
diately felt. Fighting took place almost daily on the side of the Horn as
well as before the landward walls. The besieged persisted in their efforts
to destroy the enemy's ships, but their inefficient cannon did little damage.
During the early days of May, a Venetian ship secretly left the harbour
in order to press the Venetian admiral Loredan, who, sent by the Pope,
was believed to be in the Aegean, to hasten to the city's relief. The
Emperor was urged by the nobles and Giustiniani to leave the city, but
refused. Meantime Mahomet continued an attack on the ships in the
harbour with his guns on the slope of Māltepe. On 7 May a new general
assault was made, and failed after lasting three hours. A similar attempt
was made on 12 May, near the palace of the Porphyrogenitus, now called
Tekfür Serai. This also failed.
1 Critobulus says there were 68 ships, Barbaro 172, Tedaldi between 70 and 80,
Chalcondyles 70, and Ducas 80.
2 For a description of the disputed question as to the route followed, see
Appendix ii of my Destruction of the Greek Empire.
## p. 701 (#743) ############################################
Preparations for a general assault
701
יל
After 14 May the attacks on the landward side were concentrated on
the stockade and walls of the Lycus valley. Attempts were made to under-
mine the walls, and failed ; and to destroy the boom, and thus admit the
great body of the fleet which still remained in the Bosphorus. The latest
attempt on the boom was on 21 May. Two days later the Venetian bri-
gantine, which had been sent to find Loredan, returned in safety but with
the news that they had been unable to find him. Their return was due
to a resolution of the crew which has the best quality of seamanship,
“whether it be life or death our duty is to return. '
In the last week of May the situation within the city was desperate.
The breaching of the walls was steadily going on, the greatest damage
being in the Lycus valley, for in that place was the big bombard throwing
its ball of twelve hundred pounds weight seven times a day with such
force that, when it struck the wall, it shook it and sent such a tremor
through the whole city that on the ships in the harbour it could be felt.
The city had been under siege for seven weeks and a great general assault
was seen to be in preparation. Two thousand scaling ladders, hooks for
pulling down stones, and other materials in the stockade outside the
Pempton had been brought up, and ever the steady roaring of the great
cannon was heard. In three places, Mahomet declared, he had opened a
way into the city through the great wall. Day after day the diarists re-
count that their principal occupation was to repair during the night the
damages done during the day. The bravery, the industry, and the perse-
verance of Giustiniani and the Italians and Greeks under him is beyond
question; and as everything pointed to a great fight at the stockade, it
was there that the élite of the defence continued to be stationed.
Mahomet shewed a curious hesitation in these last days of his great
task. The seven weeks' siege was apparently fruitless. Some in the army
had lost heart. The Sultan's council was divided. Some asserted that the
Western nations would not allow Constantinople to be Turkish. Hunyadi
was on his way to relieve the city. A fleet sent by the Pope was reported
to be at Chios. Mahomet called a council of the heads of the
army on
Sunday, 27 May, in which Khalil Pasha, the man of highest reputation,
declared in favour of abandoning the siege. He was opposed and overruled.
Mahomet thereupon ordered a general assault to be made without delay.
On Monday Mahomet rode over to his fleet and made arrangements
for its co-operation, then returned to the Stamboul side and visited all
his troops from the Horn to the Marmora. Heralds announced that
every one was to make ready for the great assault on the morrow.
What was destined to be the last Christian ceremony in St Sophia
was celebrated on Monday evening. Emperor and nobles, Patriarch and
Cardinal, Greeks and Latins, took part in what was in reality a solemn
liturgy of death, for the Empire was in its agony. When the service was
ended, the soldiers returned to their positions at the walls. Among the
defenders was seen Orkhān, the Turk who had been befriended by Con-
CH. XXI.
## p. 702 (#744) ############################################
702
Commencement of the assault, 29 May 1453
stantine. The Military Gates, that is those from the city leading into
the enclosures between the walls, were closed, so that, says Cambini, by
taking from the defenders any means of retreat they should resolve to
conquer or die. The Emperor, shortly after midnight of 28-29 May,
went along the whole line of the landward walls for the purpose of in-
spection.
The general assault commenced between one and two o'clock after
midnight. At once the city was attacked on all sides, though the princi-
pal point of attack was on the Lycus valley. First of all, the division of
Bashi-bazuks came up against the stockade from the district between the
Horn and Hadrianople Gate. They were the least skilled of the army, and
were used here to exhaust the strength and arrows of the besieged. They
were everywhere stoutly resisted, lost heavily, and were recalled. The be-
sieged set up a shout of joy, thinking that the night attack was ended.
They were soon undeceived, for the Anatolian troops, many of them
veterans of Kossovo, were seen advancing over the ridge crowned by Top
Qāpū to take the place of the retired division. The assault was renewed
with the utmost fury. But in spite of the enormous superiority in num-
bers, of daring attempts to pull down stones and beams from the stockade,
of efforts to scale the walls, the resistance under the brave defenders of
the thousand-year-old walls proved successful. The second division of
the
army had failed as completely as the first.
The failure of the Turks had been equally complete in other parts of
the city. Critobulus is justified in commenting with pride on the courage
of his countrymen: “Nothing could alter their determination to be faithful
to their trust. ”
There remained but one thing to do if the city was to be captured
on 29 May—to bring up the reserves. Mahomet saw that the two succes-
sive attacks had greatly weakened the defenders. His reserves were the
élite of the army, the 12,000 Janissaries, a body of archers, another or
lancers, and choice infantry bearing shields and pikes. Dawn was now
supplying sufficient light to enable a more elaborate execution of his plans.
The great cannon had been dragged nearer the stockade. Mahomet placed
himself at the head of his archers and infantry and led them up to the
foss. Then a fierce attack began upon the stockade. Volleys were fired
upon
the Greeks and Italians defending it, so that they could hardly shew
a head above the battlements without being struck. Arrows and other
missiles fell in numbers like rain, says Critobulus. They even darkened
the sky, says Leonard.
When the defenders had been harassed for some time by the heavy
rain of missiles, Mahomet gave the signal for advance to his “fresh,
vigorous, and invincible Janissaries. ” They rushed across the foss and
attempted to carry the stockade by storm. “Ten thousand of these grand
masters and valiant men,” says Barbaro with admiration for a brave
enemy, “ran to the walls not like Turks but like lions. ” They tried to
## p. 703 (#745) ############################################
The Janissaries force the stockade
703
1
tear down the stockade, to pull out the beams, or the barrels of earth of
which it was partly formed. For a while all was noise and mad confusion.
To the roar of cannon was added the clanging of every church bell in
the city, the shouts “Allāh! Allāh! " and the replies of the Christians.
Giustiniani and his little band cut down the foremost of the assailants,
and a hard hand-to-hand fight took place, neither party gaining advan-
tage over the other.
It was at this moment that Giustiniani was seriously wounded. He
bled profusely, and determined to leave the enclosure to obtain surgical
aid. That the wound was serious is shewn by the fact that he died from it
after a few days, though some of his contemporaries thought otherwise
and upbraided him for deserting his post. Critobulus, whose narrative,
written a few years after the event, is singularly free from prejudice, says
that he had to be carried away. It was in vain that the Emperor implored
him to remain, pointing out that his departure would demoralise the little
host which was defending the stockade. He entered the city by a small
gate which he had opened to give easier access to the stockade. The
general opinion at the time was undoubtedly that by quitting his post
he had hastened the capture of the city! Meanwhile the Emperor him-
self took the post of Giustiniani, and led the defenders.
Mahomet witnessed from the other side of the foss the disorder caused
by the departure of the Genoese leader. He urged the Janissaries to
follow him, to fear nothing: “The wall is undefended; the city is ours
already. ” At his bidding a new attempt was made to rush the stockade
and to climb upon the debris of the wall destroyed by the great gun.
A stalwart Janissary named Hasan was the first to gain and maintain
a position on the stockade, and thereby to entitle himself to the rich re-
ward promised by the Sultan. The Greeks resisted his entry and that of
his comrades and killed eighteen. But Hasan held his position long
enough to enable a number of his followers to climb over the stockade.
A fierce but short struggle ensued while other Turks were pouring into
the enclosure. They followed in crowds, once a few were able to hold their
position on the stockade. Italians and Greeks resisted, but the Turks
were already masters of the enclosure. Barbaro says that within a quarter
of an hour of the Turks first obtaining access to the stockade there must
have been 30,000 within the enclosure. The defenders fled in panic. The
Turks, according to Leonard, formed a phalanx on the slope of each side
of the hill and drove Greeks and Italians before them. Only the small
gate into the city was open, and this was soon crowded with dying or
dead.
The overwhelming numbers of the invaders enabled them soon to
slaughter all opponents who had not escaped into the city. The military
1 See the statements of contemporaries quoted in my Destruction of the Greek
Empire, pp. 346-7.
CH, XXI.
## p. 704 (#746) ############################################
704
Capture of Constantinople
gate of the Pempton was at once opened. Hundreds of Turks entered
the city, while others hastened to the Hadrianople Gate and opened it to
their comrades. From that time Constantinople was at the mercy of
Mahomet. A public military entry followed, probably at about ten in
the morning, and then the city was handed over to the army, as Mahomet
had promised, for a three days' sack.
In the first struggle within the enclosure and near the Pempton, the
Emperor bore a part worthy of his name and his position. The last Con-
stantine perished among his own subjects and the remnant of the Italians
who were fighting for the honor de Dio et de christianitade. All accounts
of his death attest his courage. He refused, says Critobulus, to live after
the capture of the city, and died fighting. The manner of his death
and the question whether his body was ever found are, however, both'
doubtfuli.
An incident is mentioned by Ducas, and is incidentally confirmed by
other writers, which may have hastened the capture of the city. Whether
by accident or by treason a small postern gate near Tekfür Serai (the palace
of the Porphyrogenitus) had been left open, and in the midst of the final
struggle a number of Turkish troops entered and obtained possession of
the walls between the palace and the Hadrianople Gate, where they hoisted
Turkish ensigns. Some even went as far as the mosaic mosque,
known as
the Chora, and plundered it. But an alarm was immediately given, and
the Emperor hastened to the Hadrianople Gate and assisted in driving
out the intruders. Then as hastily he returned to the stockade, arriving
just at the moment when Giustiniani was preparing to leave. The story
of Ducas is not mentioned by Critobulus, who either knew nothing of it
or regarded the incident as unimportant. Sa'd-ad-Dīn gives a version
which, apart from the bombastic fashion in which he wrote his account
of the capture of the city, occasionally contains a grain of truth. He says
that, “while the blind-hearted Emperor” was busy resisting the besiegers
to the north of the Hadrianople Gate,“ suddenly he learned that the up-
raising of the most glorious standard of the Word of God' had found a
path to within the walls. ” The entrance into the city at this moment by
the sailors opposite the church of St Theodosius, now the Gul-jāmi', may
be held to confirm the story of Ducas.
Mahomet's capture of Constantinople was the crowning of the work
done by his able predecessors. With the sack of the city and with the
further conquests of Mahomet we have nothing to do. His biographers
claim that he conquered two empires and seven kingdoms. Cantemir
calls him the most glorious prince who ever occupied the Ottoman throne.
Halil Ganem is justified in saying that, judged by his military exploits,
? See the various contemporaries quoted on pp. 353–4 of The Destruction of the
Greek Empire.
## p. 705 (#747) ############################################
Character of Mahomet
705
Mahomet occupies the first place in the Ottoman annals. Responsibility
had been thrown upon him by his father while still a boy. Throughout
his life he was self-reliant. He cared nothing for the pleasures usually
associated with an Asiatic sovereign. As he was, like so many of the
earlier Sultans, the son of a Christian mother, he may have derived many
of the elements in his character from her.
