“And Europe Wept” May 29, 1453: Conquest of Constantinople, Part 5

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[00:01:34] Stay tuned till the end of the show for a shout out to everything all Roman history writer Raphael and Europe Wept, May 29th, 1453, Conquest of Constantinople, Part 5. First, if you're just arriving to Empires Podcast the Ottomans or trying to get caught up,

[00:02:03] I really encourage you to hit the pause button, scroll on down to Conquest of Constantinople Episode 25 and begin with Part 1. This episode today is a final part of a five part series on the fall of the Queen of Cities

[00:02:21] and I want you to enjoy your listening experience without feeling left out as far as the details. And now gang, finally we've arrived. I plan on doing a strategic consequences of Constantinople's Conquest in Episode 26.

[00:02:39] In that future episode, I'll make sure and frame the conquest as best I can in terms of both myth, the diplomatic, military and cultural impact it had on Europe and how the Queen of Cities

[00:02:53] slipped away into the abode of Islam, an event that would reverberate throughout time down to our own present day. In today's episode however, we're going to be picking up with Mehmed II and Constantine XI on May 15th, 1453.

[00:03:14] The siege of Constantinople in 1453 was the final, best and most ruthless assault against the city in its history. For the defenders hunkered down behind the Theodosian walls, turrets and forts, they were experiencing four really big problems. First was the fact the Turks,

[00:03:38] despite flashy tactical moves, military history buffs remember, such as the naval crossing over land. We covered in part four or the construction of a massive siege tower fit for Lord of the Rings movie. The Ottomans were beating the defenders with

[00:03:55] simple tactics. The sappers and ditch diggers had been working diligently from April the 6th up till the present, extending Ottoman fortifications all the way up right under the walls of the defenders. The massive moat in front of the central Theodosian wall

[00:04:14] had been filled up with rocks, dirt, logs and other material so that a frontal landed assault on foot with ladders could have at least a chance of success. All these efforts occurred under constant heavy bombardment from the Ottoman cannons.

[00:04:32] Sometimes in military history, it's not the bling but the basics which count. Second, the defenders from April the 6th till middle of May weren't under a direct solid unified chain of command. Emperor Constantine XI was constantly hoarding between over 20 different groups trying to

[00:04:53] keep the peace, the Catholics, the Orthodox, all these groups who didn't see other Orthodox, other Catholics and so on and so forth as really fellow Christians and defenders. Many of these groups had been motivated by gold, some by religion and still some were

[00:05:11] just seeking plain on glory. Whatever their original motivations, by May the 15th most of them were fed up and were looking to skip house. When they weren't fighting the Ottomans they were bickering, arguing and backstabbing amongst themselves. And so as I said, Constantine

[00:05:30] was fighting two battles, one up on the walls and one behind the walls amongst his own people. The third situation in this city was the lack of food. By this point the citizens were eating

[00:05:43] rats, cats and dogs and most of the horses had already been slaughtered and devoured. They still mended some fish from the harbor but malnutrition was beginning to take its toll. This as you can imagine led to a cascading effect of weakened immune systems and disease

[00:06:02] was breaking out in the poor sectors of the city. Fourth, is the siege dragged on and on and on and when it became obvious that help from the rest of Europe was not going to show up.

[00:06:15] A lot of the top noblemen, commanders and mercenary units and leaders began to hedge their bets in case of an Ottoman victory. For the leading citizens of Constantinople this meant hoarding supplies in their own private turrets and little forts which dotted the interior of the city.

[00:06:36] They held back even soldiers for if the Turks did break through they had no illusions about the suffering which would befall everyone. I'll go into detail on these leading citizens

[00:06:48] and their attempts at hedging their bets in the next episode but for now let it suffice to say that Emperor Constantine when he needed every able-bodied sword and lance up on the walls he had to contend with dukes, grand dukes and court officials beginning to hole up in

[00:07:07] their forts and palaces at a crucial time. Another contention of Constantine and really this should be a fifth problem for the Byzantines was that of myths stories and prophecies. I plan on doing a Patreon special extra episode so you'll want to head on over to Empire's podcast

[00:07:30] Ottoman's Patreon and sign up in the future but let's just say that there was a prophecy floating around about the full moon being eclipsed into the crescent of Islam, a holy icon falling during a procession, an eerie cloud of darkness yet strangely illuminated from within draping the

[00:07:51] city. These rumors and prophecies spelled out a terrible demise for the Queen of Cities and one in which Constantine was continually running around trying to put the fires out. Let's talk really quick about the number of defenders and their distribution.

[00:08:12] For most of the conquest series I've been relying upon the work entitled quote The Siege and Fall of Constantinople in 1453 end quote by Marios Philippides and Walter Hanuk, a truly great tone chock full of primary source material and which belongs on the bookshelf

[00:08:30] of every Ottoman history buff. It looks like the defenders behind the wall actual men and women with weapons numbered around some 4,200 to 4500 at this point they were thinly spread with some turrets on the north and south end of the walls manned by just one guy.

[00:08:51] When the Ottomans slipped their naval squadrons up and over the horn and into the harbor the Byzantines had been forced to peel off about 500 soldiers to defend the sea walls. Emperor Constantine and his ever-present Giovanni took the majority of the soldiers

[00:09:10] and manned the central wall with his massive fortress as any breakthrough would come in this sector of the wall. In the Ottoman camp the varied rise and fall of the fortunes of war weren't too kind to the young Sultan. Men and the second must have been extremely anxious.

[00:09:38] It was now over a month into the siege and supplies were running low. His logistic operations had to travel ever more widely in order to supply his army with fresh water and food. Even though the Ottoman camp was an example of cleanliness and order exemplified by the burning

[00:09:58] of corpses, disposal of human waste, and fresh water in medical centers this still was after all the 15th century and the terrible specter of disease and plague was ever present. Plus you had good old Holly and his old guard who were now openly questioning the wisdom of

[00:10:21] Mehmed and his enterprise. Holly once more allied himself with the leading families of Anatolia. Things were looking dicey. If Mehmed fell to take the city then he'd be lucky to keep his life after relinquishing the throne. Holly had been in near constant contact with this Eastern Roman

[00:10:42] counterpart throughout the entire siege and may have, according to rumor, been passing the enemy intelligence on Ottoman attacks. Holly also brought up in meetings that the longer the siege went on the more likely Europe was to intervene, an attack while the Ottomans were

[00:11:01] distracted. The ever present and terrible probability that John Hun Yadi might gather up in Armin Rides south and proceed to roll up the Balkan portion of the Ottoman Empire called Rumelia in Turkish was a constant fear. Mehmed allied with this firebrand and now commander

[00:11:22] of the Janissaries, Zarganos, wanted to continue the siege. As a middle ground between the Warhawks and the Old Guard Mehmed and Holly decided to offer a formal terms of peace to Constantinople

[00:11:38] and so on May 22nd they dispatched a message with those terms. The terms which I won't get into here were let's just say insulting and Constantine had already resolved himself to die in the city

[00:11:52] and he rejected it. This move though strengthened the hand of the Warhawks led by Zarganos and they urged Mehmed to make one last and final push a massive Zerg rush against the city. Losses be damned. On May 26th, summoning his top officers and generals, Mehmed indicated his

[00:12:16] intentions of a full frontal assault on the city. He announced one final push and however this time the Ottomans would be going in full swing. Holly couldn't do anything to stop a direct attack

[00:12:32] and an open order by the Sultan however should the attack fail he was already lining up the dominoes to make sure Mehmed could be sidelined until a suitable replacement be found. In the early morning hours of May 27th the rank and foul of the Ozoms, laborers, mercenaries and

[00:12:52] sapee in various other units repealed away from the entrenchments and positions formed a giant semi-circle around Mehmed who was speaking from a raised platform. The Sultan didn't mince words he shouted that what awaited the first soldier to cross over the Theodosian wall

[00:13:13] was either the riches of this world or eternal martyrdom in heaven. For the cowards who attempted to flee the battlefield, well what awaited them would be torture and long agonizing death at the hands of his janissaries. As the early morning air chilled

[00:13:32] the giant cannons opened up with a massive bombardment and would continue for over a day. Up on top of the central walls the redoubtable Giovanni had been inspecting the defenders with his men when a cannonball nearly ended his life. Within the city the citizens ran for cover

[00:13:52] as some of the cannonballs overshot their target and landed within. Priests began to lead processions up and down the narrow roadways and sprinkled everyone with holy water. Giovanni, now recovered from the concussion of his early encounter

[00:14:09] of the candidate, gave a speech to his men about martyrdom and eternal glory. At the great Haya Sophia Cathedral, the greatest of all Eastern Orthodox churches, for the first time ever a joint mass between Catholics and Orthodox was held,

[00:14:27] a huge ironic twist between the East and West schism within Christianity. After the service, Giovanni, the other top commanders of their units and the emperor, met for what would be the last war council. The spies, ever constantly exchanging information

[00:14:46] between both Ottoman and Eastern Roman camps, reported that Mehmed was gearing up to make one final assault. Constantine must have known that if he could just hold out against this assault he'd have a chance at outlasting the Ottomans, and then the assault, the most furious

[00:15:05] one sure ever witnessed by the Eastern Romans, could simply go down as another failed attempt at taking Constantinople. Oh boy, how the gods of fate are worse when they give us hope it seems.

[00:15:19] As such the emperor resolved to put the cream of the defenders, some two thousand of them, up in the central Theodosian walls. The walls were doubled, you had one wall facing the enemy,

[00:15:31] and then a second wall right behind it. And the center of this wall was the massive fortress called Peribolas. It was here that Constantine and Giovanni would make their final stand. Constantine ordered the soldiers brought in, and the gates leading out of the second wall

[00:15:50] and into the city were shut and locked. Here everyone was going to make their stand, and everyone would die if necessary. 1 a.m. May 29th. Constantine and Giovanni stood shoulder to shoulder looking out at the Ottoman camps. The bombardments had ceased

[00:16:12] a few hours earlier. Spread out before them for miles and miles was the Ottoman camp. Thousands and thousands of campfires, lamps, and candles lit up the darkness like a dragon, bleeding from a million stab wounds. Suddenly the dull humdrum of the Ottoman camp

[00:16:31] was replaced by utter silence. Not even the baying of horses could be heard. Then the lights of the enemy camp were suddenly snuffed out all at once. A blanket of utter silence and blackness covered over the Ottoman positions. All around the ramparts, the last remnant of the

[00:16:52] Eastern Roman Empire defenders murmured and worried. Rushing into the void of darkness and silence, the Ottoman side shot to life with blared music of cymbals, trumpets, and yelling as the professional marching bands of the Janissaries and other units blared out a den of

[00:17:11] terror. Thousands of asoms in several ranks with ladders, lances, and axes came barreling out of the darkness and charging over the now filled up mode in front of the central wall. A cloud of arrows covered their advance as the Greeks poured glowing hot fire

[00:17:31] down on top of the asoms as they clamored up their ladders. For the next hour and a half, the asoms attacked and wave after wave of human zerg attacks. The Italian German contingents,

[00:17:45] trapped with nowhere to flee on top of the walls, fired volleys of musket fire down into the attackers, terribly cutting down their ranks. After about 45 minutes, the momentum of the asoms waned and their numbers were thinning out. All across the foot of the Theodosian

[00:18:05] central wall lay pals of wounded and dead and dying as of foot soldiers. Their cries and carnage at last moved Mehmed, who around 2 30 am ordered the as of charge to stop. Behind the as of the dismounted Sepahi and the brutal disciplinary sergeants allowed the beaten and badly wounded

[00:18:27] asoms to finally fall back. Ottoman martial bands played a different drum cadence, which indicated the order to form up the dismounted Sepahi and the Anatolian soldiers. Accompanying these units were the various soldiers of fortune, conscripts, and other irregular militias. The Anatolian troops especially were better armed and trained

[00:18:53] than their comrades, the regular asoms. With the shouts and cries of the Ottomans and all under the steady drumbeat and trumpets of the marching bands these units attacked. The scene on the central, northern, and southern walls was one of utter carnage, human suffering and utter

[00:19:12] nightmare as the defenders fought back this mass of assault. The defenders couldn't prevent several ladders from taking hold and terrible hand to hand fighting occurred on the tops of the embattlements. Many accounts of the fall of Constantinople give stories of the Turks breaching here

[00:19:31] and there into the city, only for these units to become isolated cut off and destroyed. Either way by dawn the defenders, hungry, exhausted, wounded had pushed back two incredible Ottoman assaults. Back up in Medmen's camp as the early morning dew was resting upon the tents, things were

[00:19:52] getting desperate. So egregious the losses among the asoms that their leaders, some of the more prominent men of the empire who relied upon the labor of the asoms in peacetime to work their estates, raise their crops, harvest the crops for food, were calculating that if the city

[00:20:13] didn't fall and they couldn't make up their losses by profiting off the slaves and treasures of the eastern Romans, they might just have to do something about the butcher Mehmed. Halih as you can imagine was stirring the pot with this group. And he began immediately

[00:20:31] urging peace and for the Sultan to withdraw. No doubt he had already sent word to his counterparts in Edrine, the same place so many years before Mehmed had been deposed. However Zaganos, Akshim Sedin, all counseled the Sultan that he was being tested by God.

[00:20:53] All he needed to do was put his own self on the line at this point along with his janissaries. Ah yes the janissaries! Where were these legendary elite shock troops of the Ottoman Empire doing? Just sitting around twirling their thumbs? Well, kinda. On the battlefield the janissaries

[00:21:22] served the same role the imperial guard would under Napoleon. That of a strategic reserve, depository of military technical expertise and maintaining the strong arm of this leader when times were getting tough. In fact they were the only things standing between Sultan Mehmed

[00:21:40] II and Halih with his old guard. Now that these major Ottoman assaults had failed with heavy losses. The janissaries to a man along with their commanders demanded to be thrown into the attack so they

[00:21:55] could make a crack at the city. From Mehmed's standpoint he realized his standing was other shit from the Anatolian and leaders of the Azabs. Their losses with nothing to gain meant that his janissaries were the only force that was going to keep him in power.

[00:22:12] So for better or worse, his destiny and that of the janissaries were tied together. However if he took the city then all would be forgiven for such a great victory. At any rate Zaganas and a particularly gritty and hard as boiled eggs janissary commander

[00:22:32] Karajou outright threatened Halih and his supporters openly in the war council. Halih stepped aside and the Sultan announced his janissaries would have a crack at the city. His troops were fresh, well fed. The ranks of the janissary regiments called Orta's lined up.

[00:22:53] About 70% of their number were made up from the dervish army or boy tribute whereby Christian nations were made to offer up hundreds or in some cases thousands of healthy and intelligent boys age 8 to 18 for service in the Ottoman Empire. These young kids cut off from family

[00:23:12] and religion or enrolled in the palace schools or training center of the janissaries. And this would be a good moment for me to stop and just kind of add really quick that if you join the Patreon empires podcast the ottoman I will be giving an entire series

[00:23:28] on the janissaries. No it's not going to be me just boringly recounting facts and figures. I plan on crafting a common narrative and really a story about these famed regiments. So you want to hit the pause button scrolling down to the show notes and click the Patreon link.

[00:23:45] Thank you. And now let's get back to it. They now staffed Mehmet's war councils and filled the ranks of the janissaries training from literally childhood. These janissaries were proficient in the Turkish language basic tenets of Islam and more

[00:24:02] importantly war tactics both interpersonal fighting with the janissaries fame double curved blade battle axes and archery. The janissaries would form up in teams of threes and could fight in larger units. So tight their discipline it was said that 10,000 of them could be led by a

[00:24:22] shoestring. They never retreated and they had a brutal reputation which preceded them. They were sheathed on the body in chainmail which was overlaid with metal plates armed with multiple weapons and colorful uniforms. The most fame being their headdress or kepi white

[00:24:42] topped hats. Just how many janissaries did Mehmet have at his disposal at Constantinople during the siege? In episode 25 part two of this series which you can check out I detailed the Ottoman military that showed up outside the Theodosian walls and I estimated based on

[00:25:03] multiple sources because surprisingly the research is spotty on this but I estimate that Mehmet had anywhere between six to eight thousand janissaries which seems about right because military experts say that you need a three-to-one ratio if you're going to attack a fixed fortification.

[00:25:24] With the sun cresting the horizon the janissaries formed up. The first assaulting group rushed upon the walls with a terrible battle cry. Now the defenders already in the hottest pocket of hell found themselves sinking ever lower into the deep layers of suffering. Janissary assaulting

[00:25:45] groups screamed and stepped over dead and dying comrades hurling themselves up and over the walls and fighting the defenders. Gheovani and Constantin fought bitterly against them with lances and pikes trying to keep them at bay. Several groups would break through and make it

[00:26:03] into the city only to be pushed back by a frantic counterattack. Overall there were five attacks made by the janissaries and it was as you guessed it this fifth attack which finally broke the resistance of the defenders. Up in the fort Gheovani was fighting off the

[00:26:22] third wave of attacking janissaries when he was wounded. What happened next goes down in history's mysteries. Some say Gheovani was scared and wanted to flee the city and was looking for an excuse, any excuse really whereby he could save face and escape.

[00:26:41] Others say Gheovani was wounded it just wasn't that bad but it shook his spirit. After all we have to remember Gheovani had been wounded sometimes severely several times during the 53 day siege. Whatever the matter much to Constantin's terror outrage and fear Gheovani was brought

[00:27:02] before him and Gheovani demanded the key to the central gate so that he and his men could escape and head down to their ship. Against the emperor's protest Gheovani and his men opened the rear gate and made their way to his waiting sloop and safety in the harbor.

[00:27:21] News of Gheovani being carried away and of his men abandoning their positions spread like as you can imagine wildfire amongst the Byzantine defenders. The janissaries were launching their fourth attack when legend has it a janissary named Hassan planted the flag of Islam

[00:27:41] up on the tops of the battlements. Hassan however was overwhelmed and cut down in this fourth attack pushed back by Constantine who was leading a furious charge. This fourth attack by the

[00:27:55] janissaries is really key because one of their ortos or what was left of it had been cut off within the two walls. This group of men about 50 fought their way to the Char Sius gate and killed

[00:28:10] the defenders inside. Mehmed watching from the sidelines saw this group take the gate and the ortos raised their standards for the rest of the janissaries to see. The janissaries lined up outside and directed their fifth and final assault at this gate

[00:28:28] held by their comrades. The janissaries stormed over the walls and killed the thinly defended and the Christian defenders at the Char Sius gate found themselves suddenly surrounded by janissaries on both sides and attempted a fighting retreat but because Constantine

[00:28:47] had locked the gates they ended up being cut off and hacked to pieces by the janissaries. This attacking group fought their way up to the Char Sius gate and opened it up from the rest of the

[00:28:58] army to come pouring through. Upon the Peribolas fort Constantine saw Ottoman flags everywhere on the battlements and the cries and shouts of the Turks as they were pouring into the city. His generals and dukes bowed to their emperor took their personal guards and promptly retreated

[00:29:18] and promptly retreated back to their palaces homes turrets and many forts to defend their families. The regular foot soldiers watching all of this attempted to throw down their weapons and flee but they were caught by most of the advancing janissaries, Ottoman army and hacked to pieces.

[00:29:38] What happened to the final Roman emperor we don't really know? Some say he fell fighting the Turks others that he slid out of his armor and regalia and fled on foot to live out his life in

[00:29:51] quiet as a commoner. Whatever happened the Roman emperor Constantine XI disappeared from the pages of history there are tons of books and so I'm not going to dive too deeply into the final fate

[00:30:05] of the emperor but it's just my opinion as the creator of the empires podcast the ottomans that I think in all likelihood emperor Constantine XI died like any good Greek hero did attempting to take

[00:30:20] down his enemies. During the days of pillage and Constantinople I also think that his body just got overlooked and was tossed into the burning piles of corpses with the rest. A sad end to the world's greatest political economic and religious entity the eastern roman empire and that my

[00:30:51] friends concludes our conquest of Constantinople series. Next episode I plan on doing a segment on the strategic implications of the conquest but for the ottomans in Europe. In the meantime I invite you to check out this week's guest writer on empires podcast the ottomans website.

[00:31:10] His name is Raphael. Raphael is a blogger who has studied the roman empire and has many various itinerants for years. He guest author to post for the show's website and I invite you to

[00:31:24] check it out. You can find a link to Raphael's website and the blog post in question in the show notes. Thank you.