1453- The capture of Constantinople (Part 1)
1453- The Capture of Constantinople (Part 1)
Part 1.
A brief history of Constantinople
Constantinople, previously known as Byzantium, and now known as Istanbul is in present day Turkey. The beautiful city, a peninsula ,stands at the edge of the two continents of Europe and Asia.
Constantinople was at the very edge of Asia and Europe. Thus , capturing the city had a monetary and tactical advantage. Constantinople was also called the “Red Apple” by the Turks. Some scholars contend that the idea of the “Red Apple” was to establish dominance over the area- a center of Orthodox Christianity. Roger Crowley in 1453 says that the “Red Apple” also had a distinct geographical location – many believed that the “Red Apple” was the model of the globe in the hands of the statue of the Roman Emperor Justinian outside the church of St Sophia.
Image source: https://i.redd.it/abxjkxuuroz41.png
The Ottoman Sultanate and Mehmet II
The Ottoman sultan Murad II died on 3rd February 1451. His son Mehmet II regained the throne having previously ruled briefly before. (August 1444 to September 1446)
Sultan Mehmet II by Bellini
The
Byzantine emperor- Constantine XI, was going through a crisis. Sources indicate
that his treasury was suffering. Another contender to the Ottoman throne-
Prince Orhan was detained by the Byzantines in exchange for revenue from
Mehmet. Constantine, meanwhile sent a letter
to Mehmet which implied that unless Mehmet raised the revenue paid to the
Byzantines, Orhan could easily be released.
Receiving
the letter rather stoically, Mehmet did something which would ultimately
manifest into the siege of 1453 – the building of the Rumeli Hisari. (“The throat cutter”.)
Rumeli Hisari
The
Rumeli Hisari, built on the pretext of
that letter , is a fortress that was built to cut off the supply coming to
Constantinople from the Bosphorus.
This means war.
While Constantine was trying to gather all his resources - asking the Pope and his allies in Europe for help, Mehmet was satisfied with how strong the fort was. Both these rulers now knew that the war between the Ottomans and the Byzantines was imminent.
Sometime after the building of the fort, the Ottomans began their journey to besiege Constantinople. Mehmet, still very young, was acutely aware that the outcome of this war, along with the choices he would have to make in the near future, would determine the future of his reign for very many years to come.
Sources:
1. Crowley, Roger. 1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West. New York: Hyperion, 2005. Print.
2. https://www.historynet.com/ancient-history-walls-of-constantinople.htm. Accessed on 15th May, 2021
3. https://www.britannica.com/event/Fall-of-Constantinople-1453. Accessed on 15th May, 2021.
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