May 29th is a day of remembrance and sorrow for Hellenism. On this day in 1453, the over-thousand-year-old Byzantine Empire, fully Hellenized in its final phase, definitively passed into the past. It had certainly been preceded by a long course of decline and disintegration, so that the fall of Constantinople was merely the final act.
The Fall of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453 definitively closed a great historical period that began with the founding of Constantinople by Constantine the Great and was characterized by the gradual Hellenization of the Roman Eastern state, as a result of its restriction to Greek-speaking territories, the dominance of the Roman legal system and the Greek language and literature.
The fall of Constantinople is not just an event that cuts across Greek history. It marks the end of an era and the beginning of another for all of Europe and Western civilization and even beyond. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 was one of the landmark events in World History, marking the transition from the medieval era to modern times.
The City will always have its Byzantine aroma. No power, no authoritarian regime can uproot what nourishes the unique creation of the Queen. The desecration of Hagia Sophia will always expose the savagery of the conqueror, that conqueror who feels "small" in the face of the sacred grandeur of history and the freedom of the spirit. The persecutions of the Greeks with the bloody events of September 1955 demonstrated the anxiety and barbarity of the Turks to get rid of the living testimonies. The City will always be Constantinople – even as Istanbul (!) – and Constantinople will always be the City.
The chronology of the Fall
(By Vlasis Agtzidis, Doctor of History, Mathematician)
Winter 1452: Mehmed II, a young sultan in the Ottoman state who had now moved their capital to Adrianople, decides to turn the last page in the conflict with the Greek-speaking Roman Christians who continued to control the largest city in the East, Constantinople. In his entourage are the moderate vizier (prime minister) Khalil, who expresses the conservative tendency, and his generals, the converted Roman Zaganos and Turahan.
December 12, 1452: In an attempt to mobilize the Westerners to help the threatened Constantinople, the "unitarian collegium" takes place with Cardinal Isidore, the Pope's envoy. The anti-unitarians revolt and Loukas Notaras will utter a phrase that will remain in history: "it is more beautiful to see in the middle of the city a Turk with a falcon king or a Latin one", which in a precise translation of the meanings will mean "better a Muslim sari than a Catholic tiara in Constantinople".
January 1453: Mehmed announces his decision to invade Constantinople at a gathering of all Ottoman officials in Adrianople.
January 29, 1453: The Genoese warlord Justinian (Giovanni Giustiniani Logo) arrives in Constantinople with 700 warriors. In the same month, the Hungarian engineer Urban builds the first cannon for Muhammad. A huge firearm with a diameter of one meter that could fire 400-kilogram projectiles.
February 1453: Dağı Karantza Bey, leader of the Ottoman forces in Europe, attacks the last Byzantine possessions in Eastern Thrace. Syllibria and Perinthos, which resist, are destroyed and plundered, while Anchialos and Mesimvria surrender.
February 24, 1453: Venice decides to help the threatened Constantinople by sending letters to Pope Nicholas and the Christian kings of the West for immediate assistance. However, two days later the 700 Venetian soldiers in the city escape with seven ships, fearing a siege.
March 1453: Muhammad blocks the straits, gathering a fleet at Gallipoli. The fleet consists of six triremes, ten biremes, fifty galleys with kupiaks, etc. The head of the fleet is the converted Bulgarian Suleiman Baltoglu. Muhammad gathers an army of about 150.000 men, consisting of 20.000 elite janissaries, i.e. converted Christians from the pedo-massage, 60.000 regular army and 20.000 irregular warriors. The Westerners fail to agree on the details of the aid mission.
March 23, 1453: Mehmed departs from Adrianople at the head of his army. Constantinople is surrounded by sea, by the fleet coming from Gallipoli, and by land, from the side of Thrace. Against the Ottoman troops, the Greeks will field an army of seven thousand men, of whom two thousand are Latins.
March 30, 1453: Three ships depart from Genoa with munitions and food for Constantinople, chartered by Pope Nicholas. The Christian states are unable or unwilling to join the Byzantines in the fight. The Greeks will fight the final battle almost alone.
April 2, 1453: The siege of Constantinople begins. The sultan encamps outside the gate of St. Romanos. The Ottoman troops coming from the West are led by the converted Roman Zaganos Pasha, the troops from the East are led by the converted Mahmud Pasha, who comes from the Angelos family, and the Ottoman fleet is led by the converted Bulgarian Baltoglou as admiral. The Byzantines block the harbor with a heavy iron chain. There are 10 Greek and 5 Venetian ships in the Horn. The emperor and the best of the Greek warriors take on the defense of the Mesoteichus and the Gates of St. Romanos and Agia Kyriaki, which will receive the bulk of the Ottoman attack.
April 5, 1453: The entire Ottoman army is in front of the walls, having surrounded the 29 kilometers of the city's perimeter. The sultan asks for a peaceful surrender, according to the rules of Islam. He promises respect for the life, honor and property of the inhabitants. Constantine Palaiologos rejects the proposals and gives the monumental answer: "As for the city they give you, it is not mine nor that of any of the inhabitants in it... For it is common opinion that we all die voluntarily and that we will not spare our lives...".
April 6, 1453: The Ottomans begin the bombardment of Constantinople from 14 points.
April 7, 1453: The Battle of the Trench begins. The Ottomans dig trenches to enter the city through them. They are faced with particular success by the Scotsman John Grant. Grant, an experienced engineer, had come to Constantinople with Justinian.
April 9-10, 1453: The Ottomans fail to break the Golden Horn chain. However, they capture three small castles located outside the walls: Therapia, Studium in the Propontis, and Pringipo in the Princes' Islands.
April 12, 1453: The bombardment of the walls continues with unabated intensity. Urban's cannons fire 7 shots each per day, causing great damage to the walls. The largest of them will self-destruct in an explosion, killing the gunners using them. Mehmed orders the construction of a larger cannon. The besieged manage to repair the damaged sections of the wall. The Ottoman fleet fails once again, with heavy losses, to break through the defenses of the Christian ships and break the chain.
April 18, 1453: After a fierce attack with Urban's new cannon, Mehmed orders an attack against the walls of the Mesoteichion, defended by Palaiologos himself. The Ottomans manage to penetrate the walls, but are repelled by Greeks and Latins, leaving 200 dead behind them. And a second attack the next day ends ingloriously for the attackers.
April 20, 1453: Four ships, 3 Genoese and one Greek led by Fladanella, loaded with wheat and weapons attempt to reach Constantinople. Despite the efforts of the Ottoman fleet and the multiple number of ships it had, the Christian ships will manage to enter the city, having caused great losses to their opponents.
April 22 to 23, 1453: Muhammad, with the advice of an Italian mercenary, manages to overrun the Golden Horn and transport 70 ships to it by land, by "over-towing". Thus, by placing the Golden Horn under their control, the Ottomans gain a great maritime advantage.
May 7, 1453: After an incessant bombardment of the walls, the janissaries stormed the Middle Wall with siege engines, ladders and grappling hooks. The attack was repelled by the besieged.
May 18, 1453 AD: A huge Ottoman wooden bastion rises in front of the walls, surpassing them in height. Its goal is to approach the walls and lower the catapult, so that the besiegers can enter through the walls. With a night raid, the besieged manage to set it on fire.
May 23, 1453 AD: Led by the engineer Grant, the besieged manage to destroy all the burrows dug by the Ottomans.
May 24, 1453 AD: Litany through the streets of Constantinople with the Icon of the Virgin Mary of Blachernae, while in the Ottoman camp they prepare for the great attack.
May 25, 1453 AD: Pessimism prevails in both camps. Muhammad sends Ishmael to Constantinople, a converted Greek from Sinope, with offers of peace. The negative response angers Muhammad. He is reported to have said: "One choice remains for the Romans. Either surrender, or embrace the true faith of Allah, or perish by the sword and the axe."
May 26, 1453 AD: In a meeting with Muhammad and his advisors, the solution of retreat is heard. The moderate vizier Khalil asks the sultan to compromise by offering favorable terms to the Byzantines and to lift the siege. The opposite position is supported by his general Zaganos, a converted Greek, citing Alexander the Great: "In ancient times, King Alexander, with an army much smaller than ours, subdued half the world. Will we be afraid now?" Thus it was decided to continue the siege.
May 27, 1453: The Ottoman attack is organized. In a speech to his army, Muhammad refers to the benefits that will be enjoyed by both those who are killed and those who live. He states that in the retribution provided by the Quran for those who are killed: "Whoever is killed in war goes straight to Paradise to eat and drink there with Muhammad, to rest in green flowery places with boys, beautiful women and girls, to bathe in wonderful baths". For his part, he promised double the salary to soldiers and officers and in addition allowed them to plunder the city: "...I will leave the city for three days to plunder it".
May 28, 1453: After a procession of the Byzantines around the walls, Palaiologos delivers his last speech to the "descendants of the Greeks and Romans": "You know well, brothers, that for four reasons we must all prefer death to life: first, for our faith and piety; second, for our homeland; third, for the king and Christ; and fourth, for our relatives and friends..." His speech is quoted in the "Chronicle of the Great Logothete George Sphrantze or Frantz", published in Corfu in 1477.
May 29, 1453 AD: The final attack of the Ottomans begins. They charge the walls, first sending the irregular basivouzuks (considered to be the only authentic Turks) along with their Serbian, Hungarian, German, Italian and even Greek allies. After the repulse of this attack, the second line of the Ottomans charged, which was also repulsed. Finally, the elite corps of the Janissaries attacked, which were also repulsed, but a small gate that the Byzantines opened to launch counterattacks had been left open. Through this small gate, the Kerkoporta, Muhammad's soldiers invaded. The injury of Justinian and the withdrawal of the Genoese from the battle will favor the Ottoman attacks. At two-thirty in the afternoon, the city was occupied by the Ottomans.
Source: skai.gr
