The fall of the Byzantine Empire is associated with the fall of their legendary capital - Constantinople, a fortress that was almost impossible to take by storm.
Constantinople fell on May 23, 1453 under the onslaught of the huge army of Mehmed II, the Sultan of the Ottomans.
The Byzantine Empire at the time of its fall could hardly be called an empire. Only Constantinople remained the only center of Christianity - everything else had already been captured by the Turks.

Prerequisites for the fall of the empire

For many years, the Byzantine Empire had enormous power, but in the 15th century a crisis began and the decline of the centuries-old empire began. In 1453, the Byzantine Empire lost almost all of its possessions and was only the last city with mighty walls. In its last days, the Byzantine Empire was not even an empire, but rather a city-state, a shadow of its former power.
Constantinople in the 15th century is not a flourishing city; after the Crusades, it was heavily destroyed and plundered, but its walls were still strong. If in the era of the power of Byzantium, 1 million people lived in Constantinople, then by the time of the fall it was hardly possible to count 50 thousand people.
The Turks always dreamed of taking Constantinople and now he was already surrounded by them, it only remained to take the most impregnable fortress in the world. In 1451, Mehmed II became Sultan of the Ottomans and swore to take the city. The new sultan knew that the walls of the city were so strong that they could not be penetrated by any of the existing siege weapons and even by artillery. Then Mehmed decided to make such artillery that even the walls of Constantinople could not resist.
Large-scale preparations for the assault on the city began in 1452.
Sultan Mehmed gathered a huge army of more than 100 thousand people - there is no exact figure, but some historians talk about 180 thousand, and some about 300 thousand.
The city was perfectly protected, as it was located on a peninsula, and all the streets of the city were protected by powerful walls. The city was huge, but the number of soldiers was too small to prepare a solid defense from all sides. The number of defenders did not exceed 10 thousand people, including volunteers.
The last emperor of Byzantium was Constantine XI, and he stood up for the defense of the most vulnerable place of the city - the canal in the wall through which the river Lykos flowed into the city.
Before starting to storm the city, Mehmed sent ambassadors to Constantine and offered to surrender the city without a fight, in which case the Turks would save everyone's lives and allow them to take the property. But Konstantin refused, he said that he was ready to pay any tribute to the Turks, but he would not surrender the city under any circumstances.

Siege of Constantinople

The vanguard of the Turks approached the walls of the city on April 2, 1453. All the inhabitants hid behind the walls of the city, the main gates were closed, and a chain was stretched out in the Golden Horn. On April 5, the entire army approached the walls of the city. The next day the city was already in a deep siege, it was completely blocked from the outside world.
Byzantine forts with defenders were placed outside the city walls. Within a few days these forts were destroyed and all the defenders were killed. Then the Turks put the dead on a stake in front of the walls of Constantinople, so that the inhabitants and defenders of the city could see what awaits them very soon.
Until April 9, the Turks did not dare to act on a large scale, and only on that day the Golden Horn was attacked by the Turkish fleet, but it failed, the Byzantines repelled this attack. Knowing about the vulnerability of the wall near the bed of the Lykos River, the Turks placed a huge number of artillery opposite this section of the wall, then the first artillery bombardment in the history of mankind began - it lasted for six whole weeks. However, artillery, despite great efforts, could not do anything with the walls of the city. But then Mehmed activated the Basilica bombard - the largest in the world at that time, she fired half a tonne cores and only thanks to her, the Turks will be able to make a hole in the wall in the future.
On April 12, the Turks tried to storm the Golden Horn again, but this time they met the resistance of the Greeks. The Greeks were able to withstand the attack of Turkish ships and even went on the counterattack.
On April 18, the first powerful attack on the walls of the city began. The wall near the bed of the Lykos River was hit. On that day, the Turks achieved absolutely nothing, the Greeks repulsed the attack with virtually no losses.
Two days later, the Pope helped Constantine - he sent several ships with food and weapons. A small group of ships skillfully fought off the Turkish fleet and managed to get to the Golden Horn, where the entire Byzantine fleet began to cover them - the Turks were afraid to engage in battle and allowed the Pope's ships to enter the city. For this mistake, Sultan Mehmed ordered to punish the commander of his fleet and removed him from his post.
On April 21, with the help of powerful artillery bombardment, the first tower of Constantinople, next to the Lykos River, was destroyed. The morale of the defenders immediately fell, the walls could no longer fully protect them. However, Sultan Mehmed has not yet given the command to storm the city.
On April 22, the Turks did an incredible thing - they dragged 70 ships overland, thereby bypassing the impenetrable chain of the Golden Horn. It was an outstanding engineering operation that brought the fall of the city much closer. The Greeks were stunned by such a move and did nothing, although they could attack these ships with their entire fleet, while the enemy did not expect it. It was decided to attack the Turkish fleet on April 28, but the Turks managed to win, probably someone had a plan of attack for the Turks and they were warned about the attack.
In early May, one Venetian ship, under cover of night, managed to break through from the encirclement and set off in search of the Venetian fleet - the city was in desperate need of help, without which it could not survive. The Turks, meanwhile, continued to bombard the city walls. The Greeks assumed that the Turks would attack from two directions at once: the city walls and the Golden Horn with the help of the fleet.
On May 7, the assault began - the Turks attacked the gaps in the wall, but the Greeks stood bravely and did not allow the Turks to pass beyond the walls of their city - the attack was repulsed, albeit with losses, but the losses of the Turks were much higher.
On May 14, they made another attack, but the Greeks repulsed this attack as well. But already now the Greeks had huge problems, if before there were simply not enough people to protect, now they were sorely lacking, they even had to remove the sailors from the fleet.
On May 18, the tower of St. Roman was destroyed - a fierce battle ensued, but the Greeks were again able to repel the attack and partially restored the tower, they even managed to set fire to the siege machine.
To the sound of drums, the Turks began to dig under the walls of the city, but the Greeks noticed this and undermined their tunnels, then flooding them with water. Even digging did not help to break the defense of the city.

The Last Days of the Empire

On May 21, Mehmed again offered the defenders to surrender the city, but Constantine again refused him. He promised to make every possible concession, a great tribute, anything, but he said that he would never surrender the city. The Turks broke such a price of tribute that Byzantium could not afford such a sum. Consequently, the Greeks refused to pay and said they would defend the cities of their last breath.
Two days later, a Venetian ship arrived, which was able to break through the siege. They failed to find the fleet of Venice. They suggested that Constantine secretly leave the city and lead a war against the Turks somewhere outside of it. Constantine refused this, saying that the city would quickly fall without its emperor, he wished to die as the emperor of his city.
The Sultan, meanwhile, was preparing for a decisive assault. On May 26 and 26, a powerful bombardment of the city walls began again, the cannons fired almost close. Many historians wrote that only artillery helped the Turks to take the city, if not for it, Constantinople would not succumb.
On May 29, a decisive assault began, the main blow of which was aimed at gaps in the area of ​​the Lykos River. Everyone who could hold a weapon began to defend the walls of the city. Emperor Constantine also stood on the defensive and personally commanded the defense. Despite the fact that the onslaught of the Turks was monstrous, the Greeks desperately defended themselves - the losses of the Turks were terrible. Such a brave defense was facilitated by the presence of the emperor, who fought alongside his soldiers. But the fall of Constantinople was already close, as was the fall of the Byzantine Empire.
The Greeks even used Greek fire in defense, which, like napalm, burned the Turks. The fighting spirit of the Turks was greatly undermined, many began to retreat, but the rest drove the retreating to the walls of the city with sticks.
The first attack was repulsed, and the Greeks began to repair the gaps in the walls. Very soon, the regular army of the Turks began to attack, at the same time artillery hit the walls.
But even the regular army could not break through the walls of the city, the Greeks defended themselves to the death. Then the bombard made a big hole in the wall of the city, but even this attack was repulsed. In all areas of the fortifications, the Turks were defeated. Before the last attack of the Turks, Constantine made his last speech to the defenders of the city. This time the Sultan threw his Janissaries into battle.
After one of the defense commanders, Giustiniani Longo, was wounded, the defenders of the city began to retreat. Seeing the retreat of the Greeks, the Turks were finally able to break into the walls of the city. The Greeks had no reserves to be thrown in to defend the gap - the city's defenses collapsed. And only Emperor Constantine, together with his personal protection, rushed to the huge army of the enemy. Before the battle, he dropped all the insignia and went into battle like an ordinary warrior. The Turks were many times outnumbered, and the emperor and his companions were killed.
The Greeks began to flee from the walls, but some units fought desperately on the streets of the city until their death. They understood that the Sultan would kill them anyway, and they felt it was better to die defending the city.
Some managed to break through to the courts and leave the city (Venetians, some Greeks, Italians). The battle for the city continued until the very night - the Greeks did not give up, fought to the death, and therefore the Turks had almost no prisoners. All the defenders either still defended themselves or fled, and the rest lay dead.

Results

The body of the emperor was found among the dead only by boots. His head was cut off and impaled on a pike. The surviving Christians then buried the body of Constantine as befits an emperor.
During the defense of the city, almost all the defenders of the city died - up to 10 thousand people. But the losses of the Turks amounted to about 90 thousand, if not more.
The fall of Constantinople marked the fall of one of the greatest empires - Byzantium.

Byzantium in the 11th century sheltered at its borders, thus providing patronage to the Oguz Turk tribes fleeing from extermination by the crusaders. The long-term neighborhood with highly organized Byzantines had a beneficial effect on the consciousness and lifestyle of semi-savage nomads and laid the foundation for Turkish civilization. Several centuries later, on May 29, 1453, the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks took place, the city that had been the capital of the empire for more than 1000 years, the great Byzantium ceased to exist.

Origins of the Ottoman Empire

Numerous Turkic peoples settled on the outskirts of the Byzantine Empire were subjects of the formally existing Seljuk state, which included a dozen scattered beyliks headed by specific beys. By the end of the 13th century, one of the beyliks came to power. After the overthrow of the Seljuk Sultan, he creates an independent Turkish state, which in the future is destined to become one of the greatest states in the world. Osman himself became the ancestor of the dynasty of the supreme rulers of the Ottoman Empire.

The seizure of foreign territories is the sacred cause of the Ottoman dynasty

Osman I was a zealous follower of the traditions of his Turkic tribe, in which the seizure of foreign lands was revered as a holy cause, having come to power, he began to expand his possessions at the expense of Byzantine lands.

All followers of the founder of the Ottoman dynasty waged aggressive wars. Under Murad I, the third ruler and first sultan of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish army invades Europe for the first time. In 1371, Murad brought to Europe qualitatively new army, professionally trained, with a well-established organization and exemplary discipline. In the battle on the Maritsa River, they defeated the allied army of the states of Southern Europe and at the same time captured part of the territory of the Balkans and Bulgaria. After 18 years on the Kosovo field, the Ottomans defeat the hitherto invincible army of the crusaders Sultan Bayazid was forced to wage war with the crusaders and the Byzantines. In 1396, the crusaders put up a select army against the army of the Sultan, which included representatives of the highest European nobility, and were defeated. The ruler of the Ottomans at the same time managed to organize the siege of Constantinople.

Unsuccessful attempts to capture Constantinople by the Ottomans

The capital of the Byzantine Empire haunted the Ottomans from the day the dynasty was founded. Ambitious and ambitious Murad I in 1340 led his army to the gates of Constantinople, but did not reach the siege and hostilities. The Turkish Sultan was confused by the likely threat from European Christianity. Maybe that's why he decided to redirect the force of the main attack in the first place to Europe, deciding to destroy the enemy separately.

The first siege of Constantinople, undertaken during the reign of Bayezid, was lifted due to the signing of a peace treaty between the sultan and the emperor. Another attempt to capture Constantinople by the Turks in 1400 was halted by the invasion of Timur's Ottoman possessions.

In 1411, the Turks undertook another siege of the capital, but hostilities were again stopped due to the signing of a peace treaty. From 1413 to 1421, when Mehmed I was on the Sultan's throne, Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire experienced good neighborly relations.

With the coming to power of Murad II, the Turks prepared another campaign against Constantinople in 1422. The military operation was carefully planned, everything was taken into account, up to the blocking of all roads leading to the fortress. To raise the morale of the Turkish soldiers, an influential spiritual leader arrived, accompanied by an army composed of dervishes. Constantinople steadfastly held the siege. Suddenly the Turks lifted the siege. The reason was the uprising, which, in the struggle for power, was raised by the brother of the Sultan Mustafa.

Capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks on May 29, 1453

The deadly threat from the Ottoman Empire made Christians forget about the feuds between Catholic and Orthodox Orthodox Church. The crusaders of Europe gather in a powerful army, but in 1444 near Varna they suffer a crushing defeat from the Turks. The defeat of the crusaders in this battle dooms Byzantium, which has lost its former greatness, to death and collapse. The Empire is left face to face with a formidable and cruel enemy.

Beginning in 1452, Sultan Mehmed II intensively prepared for the capture. In the Ottoman Empire, reinforced recruitment into the army was carried out, a powerful navy was built, and a fortress was built on its shore to control the strait. Massive casting of powerful siege weapons took place in a specially created workshop. During the year, the Ottomans captured the last cities under the rule of the Byzantine emperor, and blocked all routes for the possible supply of reinforcements and food.

Capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans: date

In early April 1453, the army and fleet of the Ottoman Empire approached Constantinople. Sultan Mehmed II set up his personal tent near the walls of the fortress opposite the gate of St. Roman. The fortress walls were controlled almost along the entire perimeter, with the exception of a section in the area of ​​the Golden Horn Bay. The Turks had much more ships, but they lost to the Byzantines in their combat quality. All the battles at sea that took place during the siege were lost by the Ottomans, the ships of the Sultan could not break into the bay.

Starting from April 6, the Turkish artillery carried out intensive shelling of the fortifications and walls of the fortress for three days, after which the first assault followed, which ended unsuccessfully.

Artillery resumed its work, the siege of the city continued. The next assault on the fortress was undertaken on April 18, but this time the defenders of Constantinople repulsed the attack of the Ottoman troops. The Turks made an attempt to dig a tunnel under the walls of the fortress, the Byzantines dug preemptive tunnels, an underground war began. On April 20, a detachment of 5 Genoese ships arrived to help the besieged. They were loaded with ammunition and replacements. An unequal naval battle broke out at the entrance to the bay.

Despite the numerical minority, the ships managed to break into the bay. was won due to dedication, more advanced combat skills of sailors and the technical superiority of European ships and their weapons.

After the defeat of the fleet in a battle at sea, the Sultan decided on an unprecedented maneuver. The Turks dragged several kilometers of their 80 ships overland and delivered them to the Golden Horn Bay. Mehmed II decided on a general assault and appointed it for May 29. This number is considered the date of the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in the official chronology.

In the early morning, to the beat of drums and the praise of Allah, light infantry was thrown into the assault. The Byzantines steadfastly held their positions, filling up the foothills of the walls of the fortress with thousands of killed advancing enemies. Turkish soldiers faltered, for some time the wave of the offensive began to roll back. On the way of the fleeing Sultan put special units who beat with sticks and turned the retreating soldiers around. This was followed by a more powerful blow of the elite units, consisting of the natives of Anatolia, several hundred of which managed to break into the city. The forces of the Turks who broke through were too small, they were destroyed by the besieged. Considering that the walls are sufficiently destroyed, and the forces of the defenders are pretty battered, the Sultan sends the Janissaries, the elite of his army, to storm the city. The Turks broke into the fortress, a fierce battle continued on the streets and in the houses of the city. Emperor Constantine XI himself died as a soldier of the empire with a sword in his hands in one of the deadly battles with the enemy.

After the last centers of resistance of the Byzantines faded away, the city was given to the Ottoman soldiers for plunder. Robbery, massacre and violence stretched out for three days, after which Sultan Mehmed II solemnly rode into the defeated Christian capital on a white horse.

The capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks took place in 1453, this marked the end of the thousand-year history of Byzantium and gave rise to the heyday of the greatness of the Ottoman Empire.

1451 - the winner at Varna, Sultan Murad II, died. The 19-year-old Mehmed II became the new sultan. As soon as he came to power, Mehmed swore that he would conquer Constantinople at all costs. And to do this was not at all easy, because Constantinople was one of the most powerful fortresses in the world. Therefore, Mehmed, having barely ascended the throne, began a thorough and well-thought-out preparation for an attack on Constantinople.

Mehmed landed a significant army on the European coast of the Bosporus, in that part of it that still belonged to the empire. He began to destroy the Greek villages, capture the few cities remaining from the Greeks, and then ordered the construction of a fortress equipped with powerful cannons in the narrowest place of the Bosphorus. The exit to the Black Sea was blocked. The delivery of grain to Constantinople could now be stopped at any time. It is no coincidence that this fortress was given the unofficial name of Bogaz-kesen, which in Turkish means "cutting the throat."

Mehmed II, shortly after the construction of the fortress, approached the walls of Constantinople for the first time, but after spending about three days near the walls, he retreated. Most likely, it was a reconnaissance, with a personal assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the fortress. 1452, autumn - the Turks also invaded the Peloponnese and attacked the brothers of Emperor Constantine so that they could not come to the aid of the capital. And in the winter of 1452-1453, preparations began for the assault on the city itself. In early March, the Turks set up camp near the walls of Constantinople, and in April, earthworks began to be carried out to lay siege to Constantinople.

Under the walls of the city, the Sultan arrived on April 5, 1453. The city was already besieged both from the sea and from land. The inhabitants of Constantinople had also been preparing for a siege for a long time. Walls were repaired, moats were cleaned out. Donations from monasteries, churches and private individuals were received for defense needs. The garrison, however, was negligible: less than 5,000 subjects of the empire and about 2,000 Western soldiers, primarily Genoese. The besieged also had about 25 ships. The Turkish army consisted of 80,000 regular fighters, not counting the militia, which was about 20,000. More than 100 ships came with the Sultan.

The city of Constantinople is located on a peninsula formed by the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Golden Horn. The city blocks overlooking the sea and the bay were covered by city walls. A special system of fortifications from walls and towers covered the city from the land. The vulnerable point was the Golden Horn. The Byzantines developed a kind of defensive system there.

A large chain was stretched across the entrance to the bay. It is known that one end of it was fixed on the tower of Eugene on the northeastern tip of the peninsula, and the other - on one of the towers of the Pera quarter on the northern coast of the Golden Horn. On the water, the chain was supported by wooden rafts. The Turkish fleet could not enter the Golden Horn and land troops under the northern walls of the city.

The Byzantine fleet, protected by a chain, could easily make repairs in the Golden Horn. In the west, from the Golden Horn to the Sea of ​​Marmara, the city was surrounded by a double row of walls. And although the walls of the city by that time were very dilapidated and crumbled, these defensive fortifications still represented a rather impressive force. But a strong decline in the population of the city made itself felt. Since the capital itself occupied a very large area, the available soldiers were clearly not enough to repel the assault.

Arriving under the walls of the city, Mehmed sent parliamentarians with a proposal to surrender. However, Emperor Constantine XI, who was repeatedly offered by his close associates to leave the doomed city, was ready to remain until the end at the head of his small army. And although the inhabitants and the defenders had different attitudes towards the prospects of the siege that had begun, and some generally preferred the power of the Turks to a close alliance with the West, almost everyone was ready to defend the City.

On April 6, hostilities began. The Sultan tried in every possible way to achieve decisive predominance at sea, but considered the assault on land fortifications as the main goal. Therefore, a powerful artillery preparation continued for several weeks. The large cannon of the Hungarian cannon master Urban fired 7 times a day, in general, cannons of various calibers fired up to a hundred cannonballs a day around the city.

On April 12, the Turks on ships attacked the chain that blocked the entrance to the Golden Horn. The attack resulted in sea ​​battle with ships that covered the chain from the outside. The Turks swam up to them and tried to set them on fire or board them. The taller ships of the Greeks, Venetians and Genoese volunteers managed to repulse the attack and even launched a counterattack, trying, in turn, to surround the Turkish ships. The Turks were forced to retreat to the Bosphorus.

Already on April 18, the Turks made the first, trial, assault on one of the walls, but their attack was easily repulsed. Obviously, it was only preparation. But on April 20, the Turks suffered a serious setback already at sea. 4 ships approached the city with weapons and food, which were very lacking in Constantinople. They were met by many Turkish ships. Dozens of Ottoman ships surrounded three Genoese and one imperial ship, trying to set them on fire and board them. But the excellent training and discipline of European sailors prevailed over the enemy, who had a huge numerical advantage. After many hours of battle, 4 victorious ships broke out of the encirclement and entered the Golden Horn Bay. The Sultan was furious.

Then, on his orders, a road was built on uneven, elevated terrain, along which the Turks dragged many ships to the Golden Horn on wooden runners on special, immediately built wooden carts. In this way, they were able to drag about 70 ships. In response, the besieged launched a night attack by the forces of the Venetian and Genoese ships. They had the task of burning the Turkish ships in the Golden Horn, but the attack was repulsed by the Turks and the fire of the bombards.

Now all the advantages were on the side of the besiegers. In the first half of May, the Turks made several assaults in various places, probably checking the readiness of the besieged and determining weak spots on the defensive. On May 16, the Turks began to dig under the walls near the Blachernae quarter, but the defenders of Constantinople were able to find the dig and began to conduct counter-digs. On May 23, the Byzantines were able to bring a mine under the tunnel and blow it up. After such a failure, the Turks stopped further attempts to dig.

2 days after the failure to dig, Sultan Mehmed convened a council at which, contrary to the opinion of quite a few skeptics, they decided on a general assault on Constantinople on May 26 and 27, the city was heavily bombarded. Turkish gunners built special platforms closer to the wall and pulled out heavy guns on them to shoot at the walls point-blank.

1453, May 28 - a day of rest was declared in the Turkish camp, so that the soldiers would gain strength before the decisive battle. While the army was resting, the Sultan and his commanders held the last council before the assault. It finally determined the role and place of each attacking detachment, outlined the main and distracting goals.

On the night of May 28-29, Turkish troops stormed the entire line. An alarm was raised in the capital and all who were able to bear arms took their places on the walls and at the breaches. Emperor Constantine himself took a personal part in the battles and repelled the onslaught of the enemy. The assault was protracted and exceptionally bloody, but Mehmed II, having such a significant army, did not pay attention to the losses.

In the first wave, he sent the bashi-bazouk militias, whose purpose was to wear down the besieged and pave the way for regular troops with their blood. The losses of the bashi-bazouks were very high, but their attacks were fairly easily repulsed. But it was clear that this was only a prelude to a real assault.

Immediately after the withdrawal of the militias, a second wave of attacks began, in which Ishak Pasha's regular Turkish troops went. Especially danger position was created in the most vulnerable place of the land wall, at the gates of St. Roman. But the defenders of the capital found new strength in themselves, and the Turks again met with a fierce rebuff. But when the assault seemed to have already choked, the cannonball fired from the huge cannon of the Hungarian Urban broke the barrier erected in the gaps in the wall. Several hundred Turks rushed into the gap with triumphant cries. But the detachments under the command of the emperor surrounded them and killed most of them. In other areas, the successes of the attackers were small. The Turks retreated again.

And only now, when the besieged were extremely tired of the continuous four-hour battle, the elite of the Sultan's army, the select detachments of the Janissaries, was thrown into the assault. Soon the Turks discovered a secret door designed for covert attacks. Oddly enough, it was not locked, and more than 50 Turks broke into the city. Perhaps the besieged could cope with this detachment. But just at that moment, one of the main leaders of the defense, the Genoese Giustiniani, was mortally wounded. Despite Constantine's request to remain at his post, Giustiniani gave the order to be carried away. When the Genoese saw their commander being carried away through the gates inner wall They rushed after him in a panic. The Greeks were left alone, they repulsed several more attacks by the Janissaries, but, in the end, were thrown from the outer fortifications and killed.

Emperor Constantine gathered around him the available soldiers and, with a relatively small detachment, rushed into a desperate counterattack. In the ensuing hand-to-hand fight, the emperor was killed. The Turks, not recognizing him, left him lying on the street like a simple warrior.

The death of Constantine XI seemed to mark the last stage of the battle - the agony of the thousand-year-old capital of the great empire. At first, the invading Turks rushed to the gates, so that new Turkish units would pour into the city from all sides. In many places the besieged found themselves surrounded on the walls they were defending. Some tried to break through to the ships and flee. Some staunchly resisted and were killed.

Panic soon broke out among the besieged. Only a few defenders of the city, mostly Italians, were able to break through to the ships and sail away, which the Turks did not particularly interfere with. With the rest of the defenders, who had nowhere to run, the massacre was brutal. By the evening of May 29, the last pockets of resistance were crushed. Constantinople fell.

The fall of Constantinople is an epochal event in the history of Europe. Some modern historians even believe that it was it that completed the history of the Middle Ages (most, however, consider the discovery of America by Columbus as such). Its consequences were great. The connection between the West and the East turned out to be broken for a long time, which, in fact, led to the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries. With the fall of Constantinople, the heir of the great Rome, the Byzantine Empire, was destroyed. The Turkish onslaught on Europe increased sharply, and for the next 100 plus years, the Ottomans won victory after victory.

The Eastern Empire has outlived its best years at the turn of the millennium. The period called the Golden Age (from 867 to 1025) began with the accession to the throne of Basil I, who killed Emperor Michael III. For Byzantium, this era did not last long, about 200 years. The article will briefly introduce the decline and fall of this once great empire.

The position of Byzantium at the time of the fall.

The Byzantine Empire repeatedly experienced critical moments during the crusades. Once in 1204, Constantinople was already captured by the crusaders, but soon the Byzantines managed to free their capital. Supported by the forces of Christian Europe, for several centuries it was the springboard of Christianity. But in the 15th century, only a shadow of its former glory remained from Byzantium.

The remains of the once majestic Byzantium were reduced to parts of the preserved wall of the capital. An attempt to get help from the West for the price of a church union concluded in Florence in 1439 did not produce any results. The empire could no longer count on outside help, but only on its own weak forces.

Constantine XI - the last Emperor empire - came to power in 1448. After accession to the Byzantine throne, he understood the seriousness of the threat. Byzantium was practically surrounded by Ottoman territories. The newly elected Sultan Mehmed II sought a final solution to the Byzantine problem. By his order, the construction of the Rumeli Hisary fortress on the European shore of the Bosphorus began in 1452.

Capture and defeat of Constantinople.

In 1453, Sultan Mehmed II, at the head of the naval and land forces, began the siege of Constantinople. Part of the Ottoman army of 80,000 under the command of Sultan Mehmed Fatih enters the action. The number of defenders was incredibly small, according to many testimonies, it did not exceed 8 thousand, of which 2 or 3 thousand were Italians and other foreigners. And the army of Mehmed II numbered more than 160 thousand regular troops, had huge artillery, working with unprecedented force and making gaps in the defense walls day after day. According to the Byzantine historian Kritovoulos, the honor of developing a new long-range mortar ball in this siege warfare belonged to Mehmed.

The Byzantine army led by Emperor Constantine was surrounded in a small countryside. Later Emperor Constantine XI fell in battle. The siege of Constantinople lasted almost 2 months, fighting on land, at sea, and there were even fierce clashes underground, as the Turks made their way into the sewer tunnels.

After 53 days the city was conquered by the Turks. The capital of the empire was sacked and devastated. Many priceless works of art were destroyed. Part of the population was killed or sold into slavery. The victorious Sultan entered the conquered city, which became the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan, in confirmation of his power, rode on horseback into the Hagia Sophia, which remembered the times of Emperor Justinian the Great. The temple was turned into a mosque. The millennial empire has fallen irrevocably. Istanbul grew up on the ruins of Constantinople. On the ruins of the Eastern Empire - the Ottoman Empire.

At the same time, the Turks received at their disposal the eastern part of the basin mediterranean sea and began the conquest of Europe, which was able to stop Jan III Sobieski near Vienna in 1683. The collapse of Constantinople made a huge impression on contemporaries. The consciousness of the then Europe, accustomed to the existence of two heads of the Imperial Eagle, was especially shocked by the fact that one of them was cut off.

Several reasons led to the fall of the Byzantine Empire. One of the main ones was the conquest by the Ottomans and the seizure of their land by the Byzantines. Another important reason was the internal disputes that plagued the empire for many centuries. The emperors, instead of focusing on eliminating the external threat, preferred to fight each other. A very good example is the fight between grandfather and grandson. Here we are talking about Emperor Andronicus II, who was deposed by his own grandson in 1328. The next example of battles for power was the rivalry between John V and John Cantacuzene. The third reason was the distrust of the Byzantines to the west. After the last crusade, the inhabitants of the empire saw the worst in the west, any attempts at reconciliation were unsuccessful. In addition, the economy contributed to the decline. Increased tax pressure on the peasants, who were increasingly used by the aristocracy.

In 2009, a panorama museum dedicated to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 (Panorama 1453 Tarih Müzesi) was opened in Istanbul. An international team of artists led by Hashim Watandash worked on the panorama. The background, including the landscape and walls, was made by Ramazan Erkut, the human figures and horses were painted by graduates of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts Yashar Zeynalov and Oksana Legka, and the subject plan, including the platform and 3D objects, was made by Atilla Tunzha.

Warspot invites you to get acquainted with the results of their painstaking work and “visit” the walls of Constantinople at the very moment when the thousand-year history of the Byzantine Empire ended.

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The museum building, which is a squat round pavilion, is located near the Topkapı tram station, where the most fierce assault on the city took place in 1453. It was here, near the Topkapi or Cannon Gates, which in Byzantine times bore the name of St. Roman, the Turks managed to break into the city.

The museum exposition is located on two floors, of which the panorama itself completely occupies the upper one. At the bottom there are stands with various information, including maps, diagrams, engravings depicting the main participants and various episodes of the capture of Constantinople.

In the photo we see a map representing the disposition of the enemy forces. The defenders of the city took refuge behind its walls. The Turkish army is outside. Opposite the central area of ​​\u200b\u200bdefense is the headquarters of Sultan Mehmed II Fatih.

The panorama is a round platform with a diameter of 38 meters, covered with a 20-meter dome. The canvas with a total area of ​​2,350 square meters depicts approximately 9.5 thousand figures of battle participants, city defenders and attackers.

Its creators applied several technical innovations. This is the first panorama in which, thanks to the high dome, you can see the sky above your head. A low-lying visual platform enhances the effect of presence. The viewer, as it were, observes what is happening on the same level as the attackers.

The panorama reproduces the decisive moment of the assault on Constantinople, when on May 29, 1453, after a fierce battle that lasted several hours in the gaps, the Turks managed to break into the city.

Directly in front of us, riding a white horse, is depicted the young Sultan Mehmed II and his retinue. Behind the Sultan, reserve troops were built in several echelons, the tents of the Turkish camp are visible even further.

Sultan Mehmed II at that time was only 21 years old. The intransigence of the Sultan, who insisted on a decisive assault, contrary to the opinion of the retinue inclined towards a siege, ultimately led to victory.

The main forces of the Turks are attacking the city. The scene is depicted very dynamically and is accompanied by a powerful sound effect in which the roar of cavalry hooves, cannon shots, the cries of the combatants and the music of the military band merge into an endless rumble.

The Turkish army besieging the city consisted of 120,000 regular soldiers and another 20,000 horsemen of the bashi-bazouk militia. The composition of the army was very diverse and also included soldiers sent to the Sultan to help the Christian rulers of Serbia dependent on him.

In the foreground on the left we see a horseman, instead of armor, dressed in the skin of a leopard. His headdress and shield are decorated with the wings of birds of prey. Such horsemen were called "del" (literally - "mad"). Usually they were recruited from the natives of the Balkan regions subject to the Ottomans. Delhi fought in border conflicts, in which they were distinguished by "insane" bravery. Hussars originate from them.

The defenders of the city bravely defend themselves, hitting the attackers on the distant approaches to the walls with shots from cannons and throwing machines. They also successfully use the ancient Byzantine weapon "Greek fire", the smoke from which covered the sky that day. In the foreground, a vessel with Greek fire hits right in the middle of the column of advancing troops.

All the troops available to the Turks participate in the assault. The first attack was mainly attended by bashi-bazouks, who suffered heavy losses. After a two-hour battle, they were taken back, and the Anatolian Turks under the command of Ishak Pasha went on the attack. In several places they managed to push the defenders of the city and even break through the gap through the wall, but here, however, they were all surrounded and killed. Then the Sultan himself led the Janissary foot soldiers in the third attack. This time, after a stubborn battle, the Turks managed to break into the city.

Thanks to the descending relief, a wide panorama of the left flank of the Turkish army appears before our eyes. A fierce battle is also in full swing here, ditches in many places are covered with fascines and earth, the Turks with ladders approach the very walls, and the defenders manage to hold back their onslaught with the last of their strength.

The forces of the defenders of the city are depicted somewhat exaggeratedly numerous. In fact, against the 140,000th Turkish army, the Greeks were able to put up only 8,000 soldiers. These forces were barely enough to somehow occupy an extremely long line of defense. The defenders could concentrate troops in any large number only in the direction of the main attack.

On the eve of the decisive assault, Constantinople was subjected to heavy artillery bombardment. Large-caliber Turkish guns hit the city walls almost point-blank, firing more than 5,000 cores at them. Particularly heavy damage to the fortifications was inflicted in the area of ​​the gates of St. Roman. Of the 23 towers that were here, only 11 survived, many curtains turned into piles of stones.

The image shows the decisive moment of the battle - the breakthrough of the Turks for the second line of the walls of Theodosius, which put an end to the resistance of the defenders of the city. The fortifications were badly damaged by the bombardment, in several places the walls turned into piles of broken stone and brick, along which the columns of the attackers move forward. Where the walls survived, the Turks dragged assault ladders to them. New crowds of attackers are climbing up them. The red banner raised above the second wall indicates that the fortification has been captured. However, small groups of defenders still continue to offer hopeless resistance.

Here we see the last minutes of the defense of the city. The resistance of the defenders has already been broken. Crowds of attackers, foot soldiers and horsemen rushed into the huge gap in the wall. A fierce hand-to-hand fight is going on in the gap. From above, the defenders of the city bombard the attackers with arrows and darts. Others fell into despair and only look at the breaking through enemies, no longer offering resistance.

The storm of the city turned around huge losses for the attackers. In this fragment, we see the wounded or dying Janissaries, who are given all possible assistance. In the foreground, a water carrier is depicted giving drink to a mortally wounded warrior.

Gate of St. The novels make it possible to visualize the fortifications that surrounded the capital of Byzantium. These fortifications crossed the Bosphorus Cape from the Sea of ​​Marmara to the Golden Horn at a distance of 5.6 km. The first row of walls 5 m high protected a moat with water 20 m wide and up to 10 m deep. The second row, which was 2-3 meters wide and 10 meters high, was reinforced by 15-meter towers. The third row, the most massive, reached a thickness of 6–7 m and was protected by towers from 20 to 40 m high.

The bases of the walls went 10–20 m underground, which practically excluded the possibility of undermining. The walls were equipped with combat platforms, and the towers were equipped with loopholes through which the defenders of the city could fire at the attackers.

At the highest point of the panorama, on top of the northern tower, is the legendary Turkish giant warrior Hasan Ulubatly, who, according to legend, was the first to hoist the banner over the city tower, inspiring the army with a close victory. The next moment after that, he was killed by a Byzantine arrow.

A large canvas depicting a double-headed eagle is a symbol of the defending Byzantines. While the battle is going on, the symbol is held on one of the towers, the winners are already lowering the double-headed eagle on the other.

Here we see a hand-to-hand fight unfolding in the gap. The city was defended by 5,000 Greek soldiers of the garrison and about 3,000 Latin mercenaries (Catalans, Venetians and Genoese), who responded to a call for help. They were led by an experienced condottiere Giovanni Giustiniani Longo. His contribution to the defense of the city was enormous. It was the fatal wound of Giustiniani in the battle on May 29, from which he died 2 days later, that became one of the reasons for the victory won by the Turks.

Simultaneously with the assault and hand-to-hand combat, the shelling of the city from cannons continues. Under the blows of huge cores, towers collapse, dragging both defenders and attackers down. Along with modern artillery, the Turks also used ancient siege towers against the walls. To protect them from incendiary arrows, they were covered with freshly skinned skins. The defenders of the city used Greek fire (combustible mixture) and red-hot oil, which was poured from bronze cauldrons mounted on the walls, against the attackers.

In the gap through the dust and smoke, the doomed city can be seen. The dome of the Hagia Sophia is clearly visible in the distance.

One of the most destroyed sections of the wall. Towers and curtains turned into a pile of stone scree. The defenders of the city are trying to strengthen what is left with the help of improvised means, and one by one they repulse the attacks of the attackers.

In the foreground we see Turkish diggers who are trying to dig against the fortifications. The massive and deep foundation of the walls, as well as the rocky ground, did not give a chance for the success of such enterprises. However, in the first stage of the siege, the Turks did try to lay several tunnels. All of them were timely discovered and blown up by the defenders of the city, so the Turks had to abandon this plan. Behind the diggers, the assault on the city continues.

The right flank of the Turkish army. The Turkish fleet on the Sea of ​​Marmara and the camp tents are visible in the distance. The fortifications of the southern part of the Theodosius wall suffered much less from the shelling of cannons. During the assault, the defenders of the city who occupied them successfully repelled all the attacks of the Turks. When the attackers still managed to break into the city in the central sector of defense, its defenders were surrounded here. Many of them managed to escape only because the Turks, who were afraid of being left without prey, left their posts to join the robbery.

Most of all, the Turks owed their victory to artillery. Mehmet II took into account the mistakes of previous sieges and prepared well for an attack on the city. By his order, 68 artillery pieces. Most of them fired stone cannonballs weighing 90 kg. Eleven large guns threw cannonballs weighing from 226 to 552 kg. Artillery shelling of the city lasted 47 days. During this time, Turkish guns fired more than 5,000 shots.

The largest Turkish weapon was the Basilica bombard with a barrel length of 8.2 m, a caliber of 76 cm, weighing over 30 tons, made by the Hungarian craftsman Leonard Urban. For its movement and maintenance, 60 oxen were required. 700 people charged this mass with a stone core weighing up to a ton for an hour. Fortunately for the defenders of the city, the gun could fire no more than 7 shots a day, and soon completely failed.

The fate of its creator was also tragic. Upon learning that Urban had previously offered his services to his enemies, Mehmet II ordered his execution a few days after the capture of the city.

In the foreground is a broken artillery barrel and huge cannonballs scattered in disorder. In the background, a panorama of the Turkish camp and the troops lined up in front of it opens up. A military band is visible to the right. The Turks were among the first in Europe to appreciate the importance of music for raising the spirit of their troops and paid close attention to its organization.