The Fall of Constantinople

By Rolando Castillo

Translated by Owen Williamson

Map of Constantinople by Cristóphorus Boundelmonti. s. XV

Being that you have chosen war and neither with oaths nor with sweet words can I dissuade you, do what you please; as for me, I take refuge in God and if it be His will to deliver this city unto you, who can stand in the way?... I, from this moment on, have closed the gates of the city and will protect its inhabitants by whatever means possible; you may exercise your oppressive power, but there will come a day when the Good Judge will pass just sentence on us both, on me and on you.”

Ducas. Letter of Constantine XI to Mehmet II.

The Preparations

According to contemporary historians, the Turkish army numbered between 80,000 and 160,000 men (Ducas exaggerated this figure to 400,000), while the defenders were about 5,000 Greeks, numbers that give us some idea of how unequal the two armies were as they stood face to face, an inequality that was only saved by the walls of Constantinople which presented a truly formidable barrier to overcome.

The Ottoman Turks, beyond having a numerical advantage, had the use of  artillery the likes of which had never before been seen on Earth, including a powerful cannon built by a mysterious figure, with which the army of Mehmet II saw an increasing  chance for victory with the possibility of breaking through the mighty fifth century walls with fifteenth century cannon fire.

The Byzantines, on the other hand, had lances, arrows and catapults, plus a few small cannon for which they did not even possess enough ammunition.

What is more, the impressive Turkish fleet consisted of some 400 ships of all sorts, arrayed against the defenders’ 26 or 28 warships at the Golden Horn.  These forces were prepared to defend the city with the help of the famous iron chain that stretched from shore to shore and which formed a key element of the city’s defense because it stopped Mehmet from attacking the several kilometers of wall on the coast of the Golden horn and thus freed up many of the defenders who were needed in other areas of the battle.

Nonetheless, the Turks had in their favor the building of the fortress of Bogazkesen (Narrow Pass), today known as Rumeli Hisar, on the European shore of the Bosporus, blocking the way and warning the Sultan of any naval assistance that the Byzantines might receive as well as firing from there with cannons which gave no rest to those who led the defense.

The protectors of the city could count on the invaluable help of Giovanni Giustiniani Longo, a valiant Genoese fighter who had arrived at the beginning of April with two galleys and some 700 of his compatriots from Genoa, Chios and Rhodes to aid in the defense of the city, from which his Republic had extracted so much resources over the previous two centuries to the disadvantage of the Empire.  For the Genoese, his presence there was a sort of compensation.

Unfortunately, the short-sighted Genoese merchants of Galata declared themselves neutral by decision of the chief of their colony, Angelo Lomellino, preferring to yield before the Sultan and keep the benefits that they enjoyed rather than glorify the mother of their business.  In spite of this, many citizens of Pera decided to cross over the Golden Horn and join Giustiniani before the attack, attracted by the personality of the great captain.

To the city arrived other Genoese willing to fight for her survival, including for example the brothers Paolo, Troilo and Antonio Bocchardi who brought with them their own fully-equipped soldiers.

Cardinal Isodore and Bishop Leonardo of Chios also brought with them two hundred archers to aid in the defense of the city.

The greater part of Constantinople’s Venetian colony, under the command of their community chief, Girolamo Minotto, volunteered to give unconditional support to the Emperor. Among them were two newly arrived ship captains, Gabriel Trevisano and Alviso Diedo, who also took part in the fighting on the side of the Byzantines.

Peré Juliá organized the best Catalan elements residing in the city and was joined by many sailors from his homeland to form a strong unit that defended a part of the Marmara sea walls.

An engineer named John Grant, possibly an Englishman or Scotsman, played an important role in the defense of the city due to his experience with the undermining of walls.

Emperor Constantine XI had the help of several members of the Cantacuzene family, his cousin Theophilus, and a number of Byzantine nobles, among them the Grand Duke Lucas Notaras who supported him throughout the struggle, as well as a Castilian nobleman, Don Francisco de Toledo, who claimed without a shadow of doubt to be the emperor’s own cousin.

Finally, Prince Orjan, a former contender for the Ottoman throne exiled since his infancy in Constantinople offered to take part in defending the city with a small number of loyal troops.

There would be no reinforcements from Mistra or the rest of the Peloponnesus because Mehmet II, in an effort to insure his victory by every means available to him had sent Turachan from Thessaly to devastate the region. Thus, the emperor’s brothers could not help him because they were busy fighting for their own lives.

This measure taken by Mehmet during the siege suggests the enormity of the resources that he had at his disposal, resources that had once belonged to the Byzantine Empire, including command of the armies of vassal nations such as Serbs, Bulgars, Albanians, etc., who participated in all his battles, and even a great number of Slavs from these and other conquered regions.   

Mehmet II

The Battle Begins

On April 2, 1453, the first Turkish detachments arrived near the city, which was already prepared and supplied as well as possible. The Golden Horn was protected by the famous chain that the Genoan Bartolomeo Soligo had hung by order of the Emperor.  The bridges over the trench or moat that surrounded the city had been destroyed, and the walls were in perfect condition, having been rebuilt as well as possible and inspected by Giustiniani himself.

That day, when the first Turks arrived there were a few clashes because the Emperor ordered several sallies by the Byzantine army, but when their enemies showed their immense numbers, the defenders withdrew to within the walls.

On April 5 the main body of the Turkish army arrived, commanded by the very Sultan himself who, the day before, had pitched his tent close to the Lycus River about five hundred meters from the walls and protected by Mehmet’s crack troops, the Janissaries.

There were not enough defenders to guard both the inner and the outer walls, thus the emperor ordered the troops to be stationed to protect the outer walls with the few men on the inner walls concentrating on launching projectiles to defend their comrades on the front lines.

The fact that the morale of the defenders was high at the beginning of the battle is shown by the fact that a few detachments of the defenders kept on making sallies out of the fortified city to ambush the Turks. However, this tactic was abandoned once the element of surprise was lost and when it became evident that it had no practical effect due to the enormous numerical superiority of the besiegers.

As required by Islamic law, on April 6^th Mehmet sent an ultimatum via his ambassadors. However, this was flatly rejected.

On April 7, 1453, the attacks began with a bombardment that Mehmet ordered to be directed against the Fifth Military Gate, sometimes referred to as Pempton and popularly known as the Military Gate of Saint Romanus, located a little less than 200 meters to the north of the Lycus River (not to be confused with the Civil Gate of Saint Romanus, south of the river [see map]).  Due to the flatness of the terrain this sector of the defenses, known as the Mesoteichion, was considered the weakest point of the land walls, because if was not on a hill or high point but rather in a flat river valley.  Here were stationed the main body of Byzantine troops. Once the Emperor realized that Mehmet had decided to attack that sector, he ordered immediate reinforcement by Gustiniani’s Genoese, who at first held the Miriandron sector close to the Blachernae at the Carisia or Adrianople Gate.

On April 9^th Turkish ships under the command of Balta Oghe attempted to bypass the great chain and extend the battle to the Golden Horn, but they were repelled by the fleet that was defending the city.

Perhaps that same day the Sultan gave the order to demolish with cannon fire several outlying fortifications beyond the walls, and had all prisoners of war impaled before the eyes of the defenders in order to show them the punishment that awaited them. However, the indignation of the emperor and his troops at this act of barbarism only gave them more strength to carry on the battle.

On April 12th a relentless cannonade began against the walls, resulting in several enormous breaches in the outer walls defended by the Emperor’s army. For this reason every night the Byzantine citizens, including the women and children, went out the gates of the inner walls and dug up the dirt between the walls, using it to fill sandbags and great wooden barrels that they pressed into service to cover each gap in order to begin the following day with the walls at least partially restored.

That same day a Turkish fleet arrived from the Black Sea and Balta Oghe once again decided to try to bypass the chain, but once again he was thrown back thanks to the greater fighting-power of the Christian ships, whose sailors were seasoned experts in this type of warfare.  Soon the unstoppable pressure of the young and inexperienced Sultan would have severe repercussions for the valiant leader of the Turkish fleet.

On the 18th of April, alter Balta Oghe tried a weak attack with his fleet and was thrown back yet again, shortly before sunset Mehmet ordered his troops to launch a full-scale attack on the walls. The outer walls of the Mesoteichion had been almost totally destroyed by cannon fire several days before and even though the defenders, with the aid of the people of the city, women, nuns, and even children, had raised a real wall of barrels and sandbags, wood and any other material that came to hand, this sector appeared to be weaker than ever.  As the sound of drums and bugles raised a monumental din to encourage the attackers who were screaming like madmen, the battle was joined. Giustiniani and the Greeks and Genoese under his command defended themselves fiercely, while Constantine inspected the rest of the walls in fear that there could be simultaneous attacks on other positions. After several hours of intense combat, well after nightfall, the Turks received the order to retreat, leaving behind hundreds of dead beneath the walls.  It was a tremendous victory for the Emperor’s army.  

On April 20th an Imperial transport ship loaded with food reached Constantinople under the command of Flatanelas, escorted by three Genoese vessels.  After several hours of skirmishes and occasional fierce combat they had broken through the blockade of smaller Turkish ships and crossed toward the Golden Horn in order to peacefully unload their provisions.  In the struggle Balta Oghe moved heaven and earth to try to stop the giant ships which were much larger than his, but in spite of his daring and bravery he lost many ships and hundreds of men in the battle and was unable to achieve his objective, even though under the very eyes of the infuriated Sultan who watched him from the shore. 

The emperor’s soldiers and the whole population of Constantinople watched the battle as well as they could from the hills of the city and were rewarded with a memorable triumph. Balta Oghe, who lost vision in one eye during the fighting, was able to save his life thanks to his comrades in arms who respected his valor, but he was stripped of all his belongings and dishonored by the unjust Sultan. He was replaced by one of Mehmet’s favorites, Hamza Bey. 

Nonetheless, on April 21^st the Sultan, who had not lost heart and who had access to immense resources, ordered the construction of a wooden road with a rolling platform behind the Genoese settlement of Pera, located between the Bosporus and the Golden Horn, while his cannons bombarded the Christian fleet so it could not approach. 

On April 24, without granting any respite to the city’s defenders the tireless Mehmet achieved one of the greatest victories of the siege, passing his ships over to the Golden Horn via this specially-built 12 kilometer long wooden road, which was dizzyingly constructed beside Pera by Italian engineers and which ran behind the walls of the Genoese settlement of Galata from the coast of the Bosporus to the shore of the Golden Horn.  By this method they were able to avoid the chain on which the Byzantines had pinned so many of their hopes, causing yet another loss of morale among the defenders of the city.  By this method the Turks were able to transfer some 70 ships, more than twice what the defenders had in place, and trapping their enemies between two firing lines.

This forced the unlucky defenders of the city to care for several more kilometers of sea wall overlooking the Golden Horn, and forced the beleaguered fleet that was defending that stretch of sea to face a fleet that was three times their number, even though no match in fighting power or experience.  This multiplied the number of combat actions, which became increasingly significant as battle-fatigue began to set in.

The sudden effect of this action was disastrous for the defenders’ morale. The emperor was in anguish for the lack of men and the need to now protect so many kilometers of walls that previously did not have to be guarded.  All this drew away forces that were needed to defend the point that Mehmet obsessively wanted to take: the Mesoteichion.

The total lack of collaboration on the part of the Genoese colony of Galata was also crucial for the Turks to remain on the Golden Horn, since if the defenders had been able to call on the formidable Genoese ships that were lying at anchor in the port this important arm of the sea would not have been conquered, and if the Genoese had cooperated the land route for the ships could hardly have been built.  But at this point the colony thought only about its own safety, maintaining a neutrality that was suspect to Byzantines and Turks alike, turning it into a nest of spies for both sides.

On April 28^th a Venetian plan proposed by Giacomo Coco to set fire to the Turkish ships ended in catastrophic failure.  The Turks, who had learned of the plan which had been inexplicably delayed for four days, destroyed several Christian vessels.  Coco died in the battle and the Ottoman soldiers captured a number of sailors who were decapitated before the eyes of the inhabitants of Constantinople as a warning. Infected by the Sultan’s own cruelty, the Byzantines took several hundred Turkish prisoners and cut their throats in view of the enemy soldiers—the mutual escalation of atrocities was beyond the point of no return.

Meanwhile, the cannons were fiercely bombarding the walls and opening gaps that the fervent protectors of the city then tried to plug in order to deny the Turks any opportunities to penetrate into the city.  This continued every day at every hour.

The bombardment also produced uncontrollable fires in the city after Mehmet ordered his cannons to be fired over the walls and into the city itself.  The defenders had to run wherever they were needed to extinguish each of these blazes and to clear the streets of rubble.

The invading army’s sappers also became more important. These units were specially formed by Serbian mining experts who burrowed under the walls trying to create tunnels into the city, and who were able to work undiscovered for several days.

The Fatal Month of May

By the beginning of May the Emperor’s aides were suggesting to him that he should flee the city because, they said, he would certainly be more useful counterattacking from the Morea together with his brothers and raising rebel forces in the Balkans rather than trapped within these walls where the risk of death drew nearer and nearer as days went by.  But Constantine did not wish to hear any discussion of it, and he resigned himself to his fate beside the inhabitants of Constantinople.

During these days the Turks’ great cannon was found to be damaged, which caused the intensity of the bombardment to diminish slightly.  Mehmet did not wish to attempt an all-out attack without the invaluable support of his full compliment of artillery. Thus it was that Constantinople lived on for another week without great news to report.

On May 3^rd an imperial ship sailed out disguised under a Turkish flag, attempting to locate the squadron that had been requested from the Venetians, in which the emperor had placed great hope.

On May 6^th the great cannon was returned to service and there was an intense bombardment that increased in effectiveness as the days passed, becoming unbearable for Constantine’s army, which stoically bore the brunt at the foot of the walls.

On the evening of May 7^th the Turks once again attacked the wall in the Mesoteichion sector. There were several hours of violent combat in which the Byzantine soldiers distinguished themselves by cutting down many Turks, even though defended by nothing more than a ruined outer wall and improvised parapets.

In the face of the somber prospects that faced them in that part of the sea, on May 9th the Venetians who commanded the fleet at the Golden Horn decided to anchor their fleet and transfer their sailors to the defense of the Blachernae sector of the walls, which had suffered great damage due to cannon fire.  This decision was very badly received by the ships’ crews, but they hastened to obey.

On the afternoon of May 12^th the Sultan sent his troops in a ferocious charge toward the Blachernae sector, but they were defeated, although not without difficulty.  

On May 13th the crews of the Venetian ships arrived to take their places on the Blachernae walls and to repair the damage, and that very night the Turks attacked again, but after fierce combat were once again thrown back.  The Sultan began to realize that the only place where he would have any real chances for success would be the Mesoteichion.

Nonetheless, the mood of the emperor and his collaborators was further darkened by the threat of having two different sectors of the walls simultaneously at risk (Mesoteichion and Blachernae) and worries about having practically abandoned the fight on the Golden Horn.

On May 14 Mehmet resolved to hold firm in his position and to transfer more artillery to the Blachernae sector in an effort to further weaken that part of the wall. On the 15^th and 16^th of May the neighborhood underwent a hellish bombardment. Nevertheless the Sultan himself could see that it had not been sufficiently effective, so he now made a final decision to move the cannons to face the Mesoteichion.  Thus, from May 17^th onward the Mesoteichion sector was subject to a terrible, virtually uninterrupted bombardment that caused even more serious damage and forced the citizen squadrons who repaired the damage to the walls to work ever more energetically both day and night.  

On May 16th the Turkish fleet tried unsuccessfully to overcome the great chain and then returned to their previous positions. 

That same day the Byzantines discovered that the Blachernae walls, at the point of the Caligaria Gate, were being undermined by the Serbian sappers in the service of the Sultan, experts in making excavations,

A nobleman of the city, the Grand Duke Lucas Notaras, who had already acted wisely in defending the sea walls and collaborating with the Venetian fleet in the first days of the siege, requested the cooperation of the engineer John Grant, who directed the countermining operation and blew up the Serbs’ tunnel with all who were inside. Notaras and Grant then spent the following days destroying the Serbs’ mines; sometimes they flooded them, sometimes they burned them out, some they blew them up, and they even filled them with smoke to drive out the enemy. 

On the 18^th of May a rolling wooden tower, higher than the walls of the Mesoteichion, was assembled by the Turks.  This veritable fortress on wheels was covered with leather and equipped with ladders, and had the mission of defending the soldiers who were trying to fill in the trench around the city with dirt and rubble.  No doubt the plan was to build a flat ramp across the trench in order to move the tower up to the walls and aid in the attack.  However, that night the Byzantines sent out a contingent who were able to move barrels of gunpowder up to the tower and blow it up; the same fate befell the other towers which the Ottomans constructed at different points along the walls.

On May 21^st, Hamza Bey’s fleet once again tried to break through the great chain, this time with a spectacular maneuver to the sound of trumpets and drums, involving a large number of ships which ran along the chain from one side to the other.  The city became truly alarmed, but once again the ships, after seeing that they could not manage to enter the Golden Horn, backed off and returned to their original positions.  Here we can realize the enormity of the high-handed error perpetrated by the Sultan against his admiral, Balta Oghe, since after his removal the Ottoman fleet played a very poor role in the fighting.

On May 23^rd Notaras and Grant’s miners captured a large number of sappers who were trying to drive a mine into the Blachernae sector, among them an Ottoman official who, after repeated torture, confessed each and every one of the places where they were working beneath the walls; some of the most really dangerous were hidden under the towers that had been constructed by the Ottoman soldiers to attack the walls.  This was a great victory for the Byzantines, who succeeded in eliminating the constant threat of this form of attack.

Also on May 23^rd Constantine received an embassy from Mehmet II under the command of Ismail, prince of Sinope, offering terms:  Everyone’s life would be guaranteed if they would all surrender.  But the Emperor refused to negotiate the fate of the city, even in the face of insistent pleas by Ismail, who had friends among the Greeks and begged them in good faith to surrender.  In response the Emperor sent a representative (whose name is lost to history) to negotiate with the Sultan.  Knowing Mehmet, it seemed that this individual had little chance of returning alive. However he was well treated and returned with a proposal for buying peace at the cost of one hundred thousand gold bezants per year, a price that was absolutely impossible for the Emperor to pay. On his part, the Emperor, without thinking twice, answered in these terms: “Handing the city over to you is not up to me, nor to any of its inhabitants, because we are all going to die by common decision, by our own free will, and we will not hesitate to lay down our lives.”

That same day the imperial ship that had sailed out to locate the supposed Venetian rescue squadron returned.  The chain was opened to let them pass, but they brought back very bad news: no Venetian fleet had been spotted in any of the many places where they had sailed; they declared that they had returned to serve the Emperor until death.  Constantine was moved to tears, visibly shaken by this noble gesture and by his tremendous disappointment in the western powers’ lack of understanding.

On May 24^th there were rumors throughout the city of the reality that there would be no more reinforcements from the West.  Everybody now knew that they were on their own in the fight and could rely on their own strength alone, which was nearing the limits of complete exhaustion. There were more religious processions, even under the hail that lashed the city that day, and the Faith was raised as high as it could be given the crucial moment the city was facing.

The Byzantines remembered with terror the ancient prophecy that foretold that the city would never fall unless the moon, the symbol of ancient Byzantium, was in its fourth quarter.  On this dark day on which everyone came to know that there would be no help forthcoming there was a full moon, and the next day would begin the waning moon, the fourth quarter. When the human spirit is under such moving circumstances these sorts of predictions come particularly to mind. Given this prophecy and the baleful news of the day many soldiers were aware that they were living through the final hours of their empire.

On the 25^th of May there was an odd glow in the sky, followed by a strange luminosity which deeply moved the spirits of both Greeks and Turks. All considered this strange prodigy occurring at such a dramatic moment to be either an evil omen or an extraordinary message, and both the Emperor and the Sultan took pains to interpret it as something favorable, even though Constantine surely was unable to do so in spite of his enormous desire to grasp at any bit of good news.

The nobles who were closest to the Emperor once again begged him to try to escape and to lead a revolt outside of the city, but it was impossible to persuade him because Constantine had already accepted his fate and knew that he would fight to the death within those walls.  Very probably, in his heart of hearts he still held out hope that Christ and the Virgin would come to his aid at the last moment.

The situation in those days was one of unease, anxiety and worry on both sides.  The Byzantines could not believe that they had held out for so long, but they were exhausted and alone, abandoned by the West, their walls falling to pieces at several points, and they commended themselves to the hands of Christ and the Virgin. The ancient prophecy about the moon in the fourth quarter darkened their spirits even more.  Yet the Ottomans too were disillusioned. They could not believe that in spite of all their efforts not a single soldier had yet been able to enter the city.  The fleet was not living up to expectations, their sappers were being discovered and killed at every hand, their enormous wooden towers were in ashes, they could not build roads or bridges over the ditch, and each assault was invariably repelled. The Turks’ only satisfaction had been their cannons, which had greatly weakened the walls, especially in the Mesoteichion sector, which was now Mehmet’s only possible hope. 

On May 26^th, Mehmet called together his general staff; he was not in the best of moods. Nonetheless, with the exception of his Wazir, Khalil, who had generally been in favor of leaving the Greeks in peace, all his officers and strategists encouraged him to continue with the siege until Mehmet, once again convinced of success, ordered the initial preparations for an assault that would mobilize all his forces.

The Final Attack

On the 28^th of May the Byzantines were already aware that in the wee hours of the 29^th  Mehmet II would launch a violent attack against the city, one of those merciless, all-out assaults that were designed to win or die trying, and panic overcame the defenders.  There was weeping in the Palace, lamentations that expressed the awareness of living through the truly final hour of the Christian city, tears of sadness and pain for what tomorrow might bring, crying for the possible death of Christianity and Hellenism in its own most prized stronghold.

The defenders participated in services at Santa Sofia together with the entire population of the city, Greeks and Latins, all well aware that this could be the last mass that they would hear in this beloved place for Christians, and at least for one day their differences were put aside.

On May 29^th, apparently long before sunrise, Mehmet launched his first attack on the walls of the city with thousands and thousands of soldiers coming from different countries:  Serbs, Bulgars, Italians, Germans, and also Turkish irregulars, all of whom came together to form an army of many hues and little uniformity, consisting largely of mercenaries who fought only for pay and for their part of the booty.  It was an army that was generally unreliable and which became discouraged when its objective could not be quickly taken, as is the case with all who are paid to fight. 

Harassed by the Janissaries who allowed them no avenue of escape, the Ottoman forces threw themselves with all their strength against several points along the walls, particularly in the now-ruined Mesoteichion sector, and relentlessly tried to advance over the soldiers of the city.  The defenders, who were terribly tired, some hurt or wounded, spared no reinforcements and threw back the Turks, although with enormous difficulty.  However, they were finally able to gain the upper hand over a very disorganized enemy force, inflicting hundreds of casualties on the attackers.

This setback probably meant very little to Mehmet, whose idea was to wear out the defenders of the Saint Romanus Military Gate and grind them down gradually, while making sure they received no reinforcements by attacking all along the rest of the costal wall as well as on the land side. 

A few minutes later, without granting the defenders any respite, the Sultan launched a second assault which was terrifying in its extreme violence and in the sheer number of soldiers who took part, this time coming from the fearsome Anatolian corps of the army, Turkish Islamic regulars who wanted to be the first to enter the city.  Tightly disciplined, they threw themselves into the attack but even though they were many and very well armed, they were contained again and again, decisively repelled by the valiant defenders who, although exhausted, kept on bravely fighting. The advance of the Anatolians was finally contained barely before dawn, but when they were about to retreat a terrible cannon-blast opened them a huge breach in the walls that encouraged them to try to enter. However, the Byzantines finally ended up taking the lives of all the fearless soldiers who dared to enter there, thus quashing this second attack. 

In spite of their victory, the city’s defenders realized that they were in an ever more dangerous situation because they had lost many men, and each man who guarded the Metropolis was worth fifteen Turkish soldiers, given the numerical difference between the two armies.

Tired and sick of fighting, the city’s protectors nonetheless never lowered their arms and as many times as necessary they tried to repair the gigantic holes that the Turkish artillery had blown in the walls, redoubling their efforts.

However, on history’s longest day for the Byzantines there was still time for another charge; the defenders only needed to contain this attack, sparing no effort, and Turkish morale would fall apart, perhaps forever. 

But Mehmet II, in spite of his great disappointment in seeing his crack Anatolians thrown back, had yet another card up his sleeve saved for the last moment, and as the great strategist that he was, he put it into play just at the right moment, without allowing the defenders any chance to succeed.  It was the Janissaries, the elite corps that the Sultans had been building for several generations with Christian boys who were snatched from their parents in the conquered territories and given special military training while being educated in Islam.  It would be an irony of fate that the Christian city was to be conquered by its own reprogrammed sons.  

The Janissaries, well rested, highly trained and heavily armed and supplied, soon made the difference in a ferocious assault marked by the great violence and daring of the attackers.

It is not hard to imagine them advancing at the quickstep, elbow to elbow, with resolution and courage in spite of the projectiles that struck them down one by one, the wounded being replaced by fresh fighters who immediately took their place.  They advanced without fear, in order, certain of their final victory, and this order and confidence soon drew them into hand-to-hand combat with the Byzantines and Genoese at the Fifth Military Gate where the defenders’ morale was still very high in spite of fatigue, and where there was vicious one-on-one fighting.

Soon the defenders saw themselves seriously threatened. Even though they fought man-to-man and even though they were able to throw down ladder after ladder, the ladders were raised once again.  Each Janissary they threw down,   wounded or killed was immediately replaced by another of the same, and this was already wearing down the exhausted soldiers on the walls.  At one point they were all gripped by terror: Giovanni Giustiniani, the valiant Genoese defender who gave clear and precise orders for the defense, had been wounded by a Janissary.

We do not know for certain how Giustiniani was wounded, but it is known that he was in grave condition and that he immediately ordered his closest companions to take him away to get medical attention.

Constantine, who was immediately advised of what had happened, went to him and tried to convince him not to leave.  The emperor spoke to him about the importance of taking a stand on the battlefield, but the Genoese was well aware of the gravity of the situation and unfortunately stayed firm in his wish to fall back to receive medical attention.

When the rest of the Genoese soldiers saw that their captain was being carried away the result was as could be expected. They became demoralized and deserted their posts along the wall following their captain just at the precise moment when the Janissaries’ forces were gaining the initiative in the area.   

Without most of the Genoese soldiers only the Byzantines remained to fight the dangerous enemy, yet even then they fought on valiantly with nearly superhuman effort.

It was probable at that instant, when dawn had already broken, that the soldiers one and all, Greeks and Turks alike, in the midst of the heat of combat, saw the -crescent banner waving over one of the towers in the Blachernae sector.

The shouts of the Turks were those of victory, and many Greeks probably were already thinking twice, perhaps about how to escape from this hell in order to protect their families.

Constantine, certainly after encouraging his soldiers and promising to return, quickly mounted his horse and went at full gallop, together with his cousin Theophilus, with John Dalmatius and Francisco de Toledo, certainly along with a few faithful soldiers toward that sector to see what was happening, as this might well mean the beginning of the end.

The Importance of a Small Gate.

There was a narrow opening on the north side of the land wall of the city, a small, simple entrance located in the neighborhood of the Blachernae, an ancient gateway that had been used for many years as an emergency escape route.  It had long been sealed, evidently because a fortune-teller had foretold many centuries ago that those who would finally take the city would enter there.

This gate, close to the Blachernae Palace, once it was “discovered” by the defenders and unsealed, was used by the Greeks to launch surprise attacks outside the city.  But, these sallies were suspended because the Turks were innumerable and once the advantage of surprise was lost the attacks no longer served any purpose.

For several days the Kerkoporta was not used by the Byzantines.  It was when the Janissaries were in full attack, when the Turks were pressing forward the death-dealing wave of their third attack of May 29, 1453, that several Ottoman soldiers entered, most likely pursuing Greek soldiers who had carried out a surprise sally.

The small contingent of Turks who entered the city seems to have gone directly to the closest tower and raised above it the Turkish flag, to the total disconcert of the defenders of the Military Gate of Saint Romanus, where the Emperor was fighting  and saw the sad spectacle of his own flag being lowered and replaced by the crescent of Islam, to the satisfaction of the Turks who still fought to enter the city from without.

It is not known if it was the Emperor and his soldiers who eliminated the enemy presence in that sector, or if the situation was already under control when the Venetian and Greek soldiers arrived under the command of the Bocchiardi brothers, who were in charge of this part of the wall.  It must have been one or the other; otherwise it cannot be explained why the Emperor rushed back to the Mesoteichion sector that he had left at the wrong moment for the best of reasons. When he returned he encountered the sad spectacle of his soldiers massacred in the area between the walls and the Janissaries in full control of the situation.

Defenders of the city who saw the crescent flag on the towers closest to the Emperor’s palace, particularly if he and his lieutenants were not present, might well have concluded that their task was now hopeless and would begin to flee, leaving the way open for the besieging army, and, in the midst of a disorderly rout, exposing themselves to the charge of the Janissaries.

It is indeed likely that the very soldiers who were fighting in the area between the walls may have opened some of the minor gates of the inner wall in order to save themselves from being massacred and that through these same gates great waves of the Turkish army entered the city to stay.

When Constantine reached the Mesoteichion along with his cousin Theophilus, the Spaniard Francisco de Toledo and John Dalmatius and they saw the shocking spectacle of imminent defeat, they jumped to their feet and began the last charge of the Romans, a charge that would bring them death and at the same time immortality…

Fighting Inside the City

The fighting in the streets proceeded neighborhood by neighborhood.  Some districts offered strong resistance while others did not for lack of men and weapons, which had been concentrated on the walls.  There was great confusion and many fled in desperation as the Turkish army quickly occupied the city, opening gate after gate to allow more and more Turks into the city.  Only a few of the inhabitants of Constantinople, particularly the Italians who knew well the location of their compatriots’ ships, were able to save themselves by fleeing in the Venetian vessels.   

Many valiant soldiers died surrounded by the enemy.  Many tried to flee but were not able to do so, while others were captured and executed on the spot and still others had the “luck” to be captured alive, but their lives were a hell until they could either buy their own freedom or flee, never to return.

The majority of the foreign fighters, the Venetians, Genoese and Catalans, were executed on the spot while the most notable Greeks were spared, at least for the moment.

In any case, within a few hours the Turks were already masters of the situation in the new city, now under Ottoman dominion.

One of humanity’s most important historical events was over, one of those happenings that have no parallel in history both because of the importance it has in and of itself and because of the consequences that it would bring for the future of the world. This was one of those grand events that very rarely occur but which came to pass before the terrorized gaze of all Christendom: the overwhelming triumph of Turkish Islam over Orthodox Christianity and the definitive fall of a unique, memorable, Roman, Hellenic and Christian civilization that would never rise again.

By Rolando Castillo

Translated by Owen Williamson