The 1453 Siege Of Constantinople: Part 1
We trace the final days of the Byzantine Empire through the eyes of its last emperor.
In this episode, we trace the final, desperate days of the Byzantine Empire through the eyes of its last emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, and his formidable rival, Sultan Mehmet II.
As the walls of Constantinople trembled under the relentless bombardment of Ottoman cannons, two vastly different leaders prepared for war—Constantine, a resolute ruler defending his crumbling empire, and Mehmet, a young, ambitious conqueror determined to carve his name into history.
Both men knew the battle was inevitable.
In Constantinople, fear hung heavy in the air as the people clung to fading hopes of Western aid. In Edirne, Mehmet’s forges thundered, casting the largest cannon ever built.
Ancient prophecies foretold the city's fall, but history also warned of disaster for any Muslim ruler who dared to seize it.
The last battle of the great Christian empire was at hand—and both sides knew it would be a fight to the death.
SOURCES:
- Isidore of Kie’s account of The Siege
- Nicholas Barbaro’s Diary
- Decline and fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks - Doukas
- Laonikos Chalkokondyles - Demonstrations Of History
- Michael Kritovolous - History
- George Sphrantzes - Chronicle
- Makarios Melissenos account of The Siege (expanded Sphrantzes Chronicle)
- The Immortal Emperor: The Life and Legend of Constantine Palaiologos, Last Emperor of the Romans by Donald M Nicol
- The Last Centuries of Byzantium by Donald Nicol
- Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time: 314 by Franz Babinger
- Painting the Soul: Icons, Death Masks and Shrouds by Robin Cormack
- The Fall Of Constantinople To The Ottomans by Michael Angold
- The Fall of Constantinople by Steven Runciman
- Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire by Gábor Ágoston
- The Siege and the Fall of Constantinople in 1453: Historiography, Topography, and Military Studies by Marios Philippides, Walter K. Hanak
- Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire 500 -1492
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