Constantinople, Fall of, occurred when Ottoman Empire forces captured Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, in 1453. Located at the narrow junction of Asia and Europe, Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) has long been key to controlling the region. The city’s capture was an important turning point in world history. It marked the end of the Byzantine Empire, which had developed from the Roman Empire in the A.D. 300’s. It also marked a major step in the rise of the Ottoman Empire, which extended across the Middle East, northern Africa, and southeastern Europe until the early 1900’s. The transfer of power in Constantinople also shifted the religious balance of the region from Christianity to Islam.
Background.
In the 300’s, Constantinople (then called Byzantium) became a capital of the Roman Empire. In 395, the Roman Empire split into the West Roman and East Roman empires. The East Roman Empire—called the Byzantine Empire by modern historians—retained control of its core lands in Asia Minor and southeastern Europe for centuries. Despite the empire’s Roman origins, Greek language and culture and Eastern Christianity dominated the Byzantine Empire. Over time, Constantinople and the empire survived disastrous civil wars, riots, and attacks by outside invaders. By the mid-1400’s, however, the Ottomans had conquered the Asian lands that once belonged to the Byzantine Empire and had bypassed Constantinople. They had also seized control of much of the Balkan Peninsula. The Ottoman Empire was predominantly Muslim. In April 1453, Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II lay siege to (repeatedly attacked) the city, intent on making it the capital of his expanding empire.
Historians estimate that about 50,000 people lived in Constantinople at the time of Mehmet’s siege. Layers of strong walls and towers protected the city by land. Sea walls and a small navy defended the city by water. A heavy chain, or boom, on wooden floats blocked the Golden Horn, the slim waterway north of Constantinople. The Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI led the city’s garrison and some foreign volunteers, together numbering about 8,000 soldiers. The Ottoman army probably numbered about 80,000, but some estimates suggest the number was much larger. The Ottoman forces included cavalry (fighters on horseback) and several thousand highly trained soldiers called Janissaries. They also had heavy bronze and iron cannons and other siege weapons. In addition, the Ottomans brought more than 100 warships to attack Constantinople by sea.
The siege of Constantinople.
Mehmet arrived outside Constantinople on April 2, 1453. Ottoman forces then dug trenches and cleared trees before the city walls to the west. Following Muslim tradition, Mehmet offered the city’s inhabitants their lives and property in return for surrender. The Byzantines refused. The siege then began on April 6 with Ottoman cannons bombarding the walls. Ottoman soldiers attacked the walls several times, but they were repelled with heavy losses. To get around the blocking chain across the Golden Horn, Ottoman ships were carried and dragged overland. A number of small naval battles then left the Ottomans mostly in control of the waters. At the end of April, the Byzantines again rejected Mehmet’s offer to lift the siege in return for a peaceful handover of the city.
In May, Ottoman attacks on the city walls again failed with heavy losses. The Ottomans dug tunnels beneath the walls. Byzantine miners were at work too, and enemy troops sometimes met and fought underground. The Byzantines found and destroyed the Ottoman tunnels. On about May 25, the Byzantines rejected a last Ottoman offer to lift the siege. Some of Mehmet’s generals advised him to abandon the siege and leave the city in Byzantine hands. He refused, and planned one final, massive assault.
Just after midnight on May 29, waves of Ottoman troops stormed the now-crumbling city walls. They climbed ladders against Byzantine gunfire, arrows, rocks, and Greek fire, a chemical mixture that burned furiously. Despite heavy losses, the Ottomans managed to enter the city in several places. Fighting spread throughout Constantinople, but Byzantine resistance quickly ended. By noon, Constantinople had fallen.
Aftermath.
A few Byzantine ships escaped, but most of Constantinople’s citizens and soldiers were trapped. Thousands of people were killed—including Constantine XI—and thousands more were captured and enslaved. Ottoman troops plundered the city until Mehmet ordered the looting and killing to stop. He withdrew his troops from the city and began restoring damaged buildings. He also converted many of the Christian churches into mosques, including the famous Hagia Sophia.
The city, now called Istanbul, became the Ottoman capital. The Ottomans launched numerous military campaigns in Europe and the Middle East from Istanbul. By the mid-1500’s, Istanbul was a booming political, commercial, and cultural center with a population of almost half a million. Istanbul remained the Ottoman capital until the end of the empire in 1922. In 1923, the Republic of Turkey was created from the remnants of the empire, and the capital was moved to Ankara. However, Istanbul remains Turkey’s largest city.
