Gorgoroth
22-05-2004, 13:12
Hastings. October 1066
Centuries of conflict had preceded the Battle of Hastings. Both the Normans and the Saxons were descended from the Danes who between the fifth and eleventh centuries continually attacked, invaded and settled in England. In 911 a group of them moved across the channel to the Seine Valley where they were given land to live on by Charles III of France. They became known by the French as Northmen or Normans. Over the years their population expanded, merged with the French culture, acquired more land, and grew in power. In 1013, King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark successfully invaded England and became the new king so establishing the Danish dynasty and forcing the deposed King Ethelred II to flee to Normandy.
The sister of the Duke Richard II of Normandy, Emma, forged a crucial link between Normandy and England and between England and Denmark. Firstly King Ethelred II of England married her in 1002 vainly hoping to free his country from Danish invasion by being united to Normandy.
After his death in 1016, King Canute of Denmark and England, and son of King Sweyn Forkbeard, married her in order to unite the Danish and Anglo-Saxon dynasties. She produced kings from both marriages but her son, King Edward the Confessor, from her marriage to King Ethelred contributed to causing the Battle of Hastings.
Edward the Confessor succeeded to the English throne in 1042 and re-established the Anglo- Saxon dynasty after the Danish dynasty. Having been brought up in Normandy, he spoke French and had learnt French customs and culture. When he came to England, he tried to impose the French influence on the English and replaced many of his advisers with French supporters and friends. This was counterbalanced by the power of his English father-in-law, Earl Godwin.
Edward died without a successor. Duke William of Normandy claimed Edward had named him successor some years previously. Harold Godwinson, Earl Godwin's son, claimed that words uttered by Edward to him on his deathbed nominated himself as his successor. The Witan, a council of chief advisers, noblemen and churchmen, were responsible for choosing a successor to the throne. If the king had children, the first born son would often inherit the throne with the Witan's approval but, if the king died childless, the Witan selected the successor. It was the Witan who elected Harold as king.
Harold was the grandson of a Viking warrior and son of Earl Godwin, the earl of Wessex and Kent. His mother was a Danish princess. Upon his father's death in 1053, he had taken his father's titles and become one of the most powerful people beside his brother-in-law, King Edward the Confessor.
Harold had a difficult and short reign. Many nobles viewed him as a commoner and only royal by marriage. At the time of Edward's death, Harold's family controlled Wessex, Kent, Sussex and East Anglia giving him a strong and secure position in the southern part of England. He lacked support in the north of England where his brother, Tostig, had been the Earl of Northumbria until he was overthrown and exiled to Flanders as a result of a rebellion by his subjects. After the rebellion, Edwin, Earl of Mercia and his brother, Morcar, Earl of Northumbria became powerful ruling earls in the north and had the political support of Wales because their sister, Aldyth, was the widow of the former king of Wales. Hoping to secure unity and their support, Harold married Aldyth.
Harold's brother, Tostig, posed the first threat to Harold during his reign. Determined to regain his earldom, Tostig invaded the north of the country via the River Humber. He went on to attack Northumbria and Mercia. The Earls of Mercia and Northumberland successfully defended their territory and Tostig retreated to Scotland where he was given refuge by King Malcolm.
A greater threat to Harold's kingdom came from Harald Hardrada of Norway. While Tostig's interest had lain in regaining his earldom, Harald Hardrada believed he had a claim to the English throne. Tostig allied himself to Harald Hardrada and together they sailed up the River Humber to the village of Riccall and then began marching to York, the capital of Northumbria. The Earls of Northumberland and Mercia intercepted Harald's troops outside York at Fulford Gate. On this occasion the army led by the earls was no match for the Norwegians and they were defeated. Harald Hardrada took control of York and demanded that he be given 100 hostages to ensure the support of the people. They were to be handed over at Stamford Bridge on 25th September 1066.
Harald Hardrada's victory forced Harold to march his army north to defend his title. He succeeded in surprising Harald's troops at Stamford Bridge. Harald Hardrada and Tostig were both killed and the remaining Norwegian army retreated to Riccall and sailed back to Norway.
Harold's victory at Stamford Bridge secured his position against Harald Hardrada of Norway but it also distracted him from the biggest threat to his position, Duke William of Normandy. William was the illegitimate son of Duke Robert I of Normandy and his mistress, Herleve. His grandfather Duke Richard II was the brother-in-law of Ethelred II. Despite his illegitimacy, Duke Robert I declared William his successor. William fought hard to secure his position. He grew up with his great-uncle Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, and his uncle Walter as his protectors and then, when he was older, he staved off challenges from his cousin, Guy of Burgundy, Count Geoffrey of Anjou and King Henry of France who, having originally given him support, felt his own position threatened by William's growing power. Over the years, William became politically and militarily stronger and by the time King Philip I inherited the throne in France, William had stabilised his position and married Mathilda of Flanders, the daughter of King Philip's guardian.
Whether it was because he believed Edward had named him as his successor, or because he felt he could lay claim to the throne of England as the grand-nephew of King Edward the Confessor's mother, or because he wanted to increase his power and position by conquering England, William was a threat to Harold's position from the day he became king of England. William spent the winter months preparing and then, once ready, waited for the right moment to invade the country.
Harold learnt that William had landed at Pevensey in the south of England when he was in the north of the country retaking Stamford Bridge and York. He marched his troops south as fast as possible, stopping in London for reinforcements. He took up position at Caldbec Hill, along the Sentlache Ridge, a few miles north of Hastings. As the ridge had deep ravines, streams and marshy ground on either side, Harold blocked William's only road out of the Hastings peninsula so forcing him into a frontal attack. By positioning his army at the top of the hill, he had clear visibility all around him and forced William's army into continually running up the hill to attack. Harold built a shield wall that stretched in rows along the ridge and which was made up of his housecarls, thegns and fyrdmen. Being skilled fighters, the housecarls and thegns were positioned in between the fyrdmen who were unskilled, poorly armed and inexperienced peasant soldiers. Harold expected the wall to hold firm against assault and for William's men to tire and weaken from having to attack uphill. This would eventually allow Harold's army to launch a counter-attack with relatively fresh troops strong enough to defeat the opponent.
William was unprepared for Harold's speedy arrival at Caldbec Hill but quickly gathered his troops and went to meet him at Senlache. His army was divided into three sections, each with a commander. The left section comprised mainly of Bretons, the central section were Norman under Willliam's command and the right section was made up of the French and Flemish. Each section was divided into three rows - the archers, the infantry and the cavalry. William's plan was to use the archers first to send their arrows into the English ranks, followed by the infantry in hand-to-hand combat and to finally advance with the cavalry who had the height and power of being on horseback. The effect would be a three pronged attack and a gradual build up in power that would demoralise the English.
The battle took all day beginning early in the morning of 14th October 1066 with William's archers firing the first arrows into English ranks. William followed up his plan with an attack by the infantry and then by the cavalry, but Harold's army was stronger than expected and William's army sustained many casualties. The Bretons on the left flank panicked due to their lack of experience, the unexpected strength of Harold's army and the noise and confusion. They failed to keep in line and got ahead of the other two sections on their right. In their panic they began to retreat. Harold's less experienced fighters broke rank when they saw the Bretons retreating and William's army slaughtered them.
William retreated and regrouped. The second and following assaults went according to William's plan and he supported his troops by joining in the charge on horseback. Both sides became more tired as the day wore on and suffered heavy casualties. As the supply of arrows was running low, William ordered the archers to fire them high into the air for the final assault so that they fell into the rear ranks of the English army. This caused high casualties and the collapse of the English shield wall. The Normans penetrated the ranks and killed Harold. With the morale of the English troops shattered by the death of their leader, the battle ended in defeat for the English, although the housecarls and thegns continued to fight to their deaths. Over the following months, William captured Canterbury, Winchester and London. He was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066.
There followed 88 years of Norman rule. The French and English cultures merged and the feudal system was introduced. This led to a tough discipline and training and took away much of the Anglo-Saxon's freedom and rights. England's strength grew and she became a powerful force in European politics because of her tie with Normandy. Her army and navy were built up as well. In 1085 William ordered a survey of English assets and this became known as the Doomsday Book. William's reign was not easy and there were rebellions which were quickly stamped out, but the Norman Conquest changed the face of England for ever.
Gorgoroth
22-05-2004, 14:46
The Siege of Nándorfehérvár [Belgrade]. July 1456
In December 1455, the young Sultan Mehmet II began making plans for the capture of Belgrade (then known as Nandorfehervák). He believed that once Belgrade fell he would have little trouble with the Hungarians. He would "be in Buda [the Hungarian capital], eating [his] evening meals in peace in two months," he was quoted as saying. The sultan ordered his army to assemble at Edirne in order to be ready for a campaign in the spring of 1456.
When the 16-year-old king of Hungary heard of the Turkish plans to seize Belgrade, he and his court, accompanied by his uncle Count Ulrich Cilli, bán (viceroy) of Croatia and one of Hunyadi's lifelong enemies, fled Buda for the safety of Vienna.
In those trying days only the new pope, Calixtus III, who called Hungary the "Shield of Christianity," did everything in his power to come to Hunyadi's aid. He sent a Franciscan monk, John of Capistrano, to arouse the people of Hungary. An impassioned orator, John succeeded in recruiting thousands from all walks of society to fight the infidels.
The sultan's army arrived at Belgrade weeks earlier than Hunyadi and his brother-in-law Mihaly Szilagyi, the commander of the city, had expected. When Hunyadi's army and Capistrano's Crusaders arrived, the city's garrison numbered only 6,000 troops.
It has been estimated that the Ottoman army had anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 men, but most historians agree that the lower number would be the more accurate figure. At any rate, that force surpassed by far anything the Hungarians had seen in the past. The Turks' white tents appeared like "freshly fallen snow," one observer remarked.
The mainstay of Mehmet's army consisted, as always, of the fearsome Janissaries. It also included more than 300 cannons, of which 22 were of huge size. The Turkish fleet at Belgrade probably had 200 ships.
Hunyadi's personal army consisted of about 10,000 well-armed, well-trained veterans, most of them light cavalrymen. The crowd of Crusaders probably came to about 30,000 soldiers. Altogether, his army numbered about 60,000 to 75,000, depending upon which source one considers. Most of those troops, with the exception of Hunyadi's personal army, were peasant levies. As one eyewitness reported, only commoners joined the Crusaders from villages and towns of Hungary. Additional volunteers, however, also came from Germany, Poland, Bohemia and Austria.
When Hunyadi arrived at the city in early July 1456, he found it already encircled by the Ottoman army while the Turkish navy lay astride the Danube River. His first task was to break the naval blockade, which he succeeded in doing on July 14, sinking three large Ottoman galleys and capturing four large vessels and 20 smaller ones. That done, Hunyadi could transport his troops and much-needed food into the city.
Meanwhile, Turkish heavy artillery bombardments breached Belgrade's walls in several places and rubble filled up the trenches. On July 21, Mehmet ordered an all-out assault, which began at sundown and continued all night. The Janissaries led the attack, and the ferocity of their charge carried them within the walls. Hunyadi, however, directed the defense with great resourcefulness. He ordered the defenders to throw tarred wood, sulfur-saturated blankets, sides of bacon and other flammable material into the moat, and then set it afire. Soon a wall of flames separated the Janissaries fighting in the city from their comrades outside the walls. Those caught in the moat were burned to death or seriously injured, and the Janissaries remaining inside the city were massacred by Hunyadi's troops. On the morning of the 22nd, a lull in the fighting set in, allowing more reinforcements to cross the river and relieve Belgrade's defenders.
The next day, while the Turks were burying their dead, something unexpected happened. Despite Hunyadi's orders to the defenders not to go outside the walls, some of the Crusader units crept out from demolished ramparts, took up positions across from the Turkish line, and began harassing enemy soldiers, yelling and shooting arrows at them. Some Turkish spahis (provincial cavalry) stationed nearby tried to disperse the harassing force, but without success. Then some more Crusaders joined those outside the wall. What began as an isolated incident quickly escalated into a full-scale battle.
John of Capistrano, who at first tried to order his men back inside the walls, soon found himself surrounded by about 2,000 Crusaders. He then began leading them toward the Ottoman lines, crying, "The Lord who made the beginning will take care of the finish!"
The Turks soon found themselves faced with an angry human avalanche. Taken by surprise at this strange turn of events and, as some chroniclers say, paralyzed by some inexplicable fear, the Turks took flight. The sultan's bodyguard of about 5,000 Janissaries tried desperately to stop the panic and recapture the camp, but by that time Hunyadi's army had also joined the unplanned battle, and the Turkish efforts became hopeless. The sultan himself was badly wounded and rendered unconscious. After the battle, the Hungarian raiders were ordered to spend the night behind the walls of the fortress and to be on the alert for a possible renewal of the battle, but the Turkish counterattack never came.
Under cover of darkness the Turks retreated in haste, bearing their wounded in 140 wagons. At the city of Sarona, the sultan regained consciousness, but probably wished he hadn't. Upon learning that his army had been routed, most of his leaders killed and all his equipment abandoned, the 24-year-old ruler was barely prevented from committing suicide by taking poison.
The Turkish casualties at Belgrade were unprecedented. They lost 50,000 men in the battle, and another 25,000 were slain by Serbs during their retreat. Losses to Belgrade's defenders and Hunyadi's relief force totaled less than 10,000.
The sultan's defeat was hailed as a glorious victory for Christendom. Te Deums (ancient Latin prayers of thanksgiving) were sung in churches, church bells sounded and bonfires burned in celebration. The old truism, "victory has a thousand fathers while defeat is an orphan," was proved again. Even those who had been hostile or indifferent toward Hunyadi now joined in singing praises to his victory.
Pope Calixtus, on learning of the Hungarian warlord's victory, described Hunyadi as "the most outstanding man the world had seen in 300 years."
After the triumph at Belgrade, many expected that the time had come to drive the Turks out of Europe, and perhaps even recapture Constantinople. But that was not to be. On August 11, 1456, Hunyadi died, probably from the plague that had been ravaging Belgrade even before the siege. Two months later, John of Capistrano, the spiritual leader at Belgrade, followed him to the grave.
The jubilation of victory turned to sorrow when the world learned of Hunyadi's untimely death. Even Sultan Mehmet II paid him tribute: "Although he was my enemy I feel grief over his death, because the world has never seen such a man."
The Siege of Belgrade decided the fate of Christendom.
Since the siege of Belgrade it has been established in the Catholic Church the custom to ring the bells at noon [12 o'clock].
Gorgoroth
23-05-2004, 13:51
The Siege of Constantinople. April 1453
On the morning of April 2, 1453, the Monday after Easter, the vanguard of the army of the Ottoman Turks arrived before the walls of Constantinople. It was a small detachment of cavalry. A company of Greeks sailed from the city to drive them off. In the fierce short skirmish, several Turks were killed and many wounded before more Turks were galloping to reinforce their comrades. The defenders withdrew, and the Emperor Constantine XI ordered the bridges over the moat destroyed and the gates shut. For two days the defenders watched from their towers as the Turkish army massed - militia cavalry from every quarter of Ottoman Europe and Asia, regiments of the fierce and rapacious Bashazouks, the elite Sipahis cavalry in their bright silk tunics, and advanced elements of the proud Janissaries. They marched under fluttering pennants, weapons glinting, to the ceaseless beat of cymbals and drums. There were siege engines and endless columns of creaking ox-drawn carts, -among which was one cannon so enormous that the defenders could scarcely believe their eyes. It was a formidable champion to contend with the mightiest walls in the western world.
Between their encampments and the city, about 1,300 yards from the walls, the Turks dug a trench four miles long, piled the earth high into a parapet and erected on this a palisade. Behind this they made emplacements for their guns.
Most preparations were completed by Thursday when the Sultan Mohammed II arrived amid the splendor of his personal Janissary guards and entourage of government ministers and holy men.
The next morning Mohammed ordered his troops to their final positions. He also moved his luxurious red and gold tent forward to within a mile of the city in the pleasant valley of the small Lycus River which flowed through the city to the Sea of Marmora.
He watched impassively as a thousand Venetian sailors in their distinctive garb marched along the city's walls in a show of strength. Then he dispatched an emissary to the city under a flag of truce. In compliance with Islamic law, the emissary announced, the Sultan offered to spare Constantinople if it would surrender. If not, the city would be pillaged and the population massacred or enslaved.
The offer was stoutly rejected. The emissary returned to the Sultan's tent, and shortly afterwards the Turkish cannons boomed. The Siege of Constantinople had begun. It was a siege that all of a weak, divided and indecisive Europe hoped would never happen - a siege that a deluded continent believed could only fail. It was not only a siege by a new and vigorous political and military force rising from Asia to challenge the last besieged bastion of the once omnipotent Roman Empire of the East - an impoverished but still proud symbol of Western hegemony: the siege of Constantinople was also to be a cataclysmic battle between the Moslem and Christian worlds.
Constantinople stood on a triangular peninsula dividing the Bosphorus from the Sea of Marmora, a strategic position that commands the narrow waterway linking the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The circumference of its walls was fourteen miles. On the east side was the great natural harbor of the Golden Horn, the west side bordered on the sea of Marmora. The land walls faced northwest.
That first day, as the Emperor Constantine toured the wells exhorting his troops to stand firm under the Turkish barrage, he was grimly confident his city could withstand the siege. Constantinople had repulsed countless assaults during more than a thousand years. Only once had the city fallen, and not to enemies but to friends - fellow Christians of the Fourth Crusade. In 1204, they had forced entry from the Golden Horn. But they had been aided by treachery and an only half-hearted resistance by the populace. This time there would be no treachery; the city was solidly united against the Turks. And this time Constantine was determined the invaders would not gain control of the Golden Horn. He had ordered a massive chain boom to be drawn across the harbor entrance, and this barrier was protected by some of his most powerful galleys and triremes.
However, the city was divided by bitter religious strife. This had prevented Constantine from obtaining the help he needed from the Pope, although some token vital supplies were reportedly en route. At one time, the population of Constantinople had been nearly a million souls. Now it had dwindled to barely 100,000. Constantine had been appalled to learn that in all the city there were not quite 5,000 Greeks of military age. Fortunately there were some 2,000 foreign troops, most of them Genoese and Venetians - who regarded each other as enemies.
To save the city, Constantine was relying heavily on one man, Giovanni Giustiniani Longo, a young Genoese nobleman who had arrived in January as a volunteer with 700 well-armed troops. He was reputed to be highly skilled in the defense of walled cities. Constantine had immediately appointed him commander of all the land walls, where the main Turkish attack was expected. Giustiniani was also an adroit enough diplomat to persuade the Venetians to accept his command. So far the young Genoese had performed his duties loyally and effectively, and he would do so until the end. Yet he was fated to end his days in shame.
When evening stretched its shadows across the battlefield on the second day, a small section of Constantinople's wall near the Gate of Charisius lay in ruins. The Sultan Mohammed was satisfied so for, but he decided to suspend the bombardment for a few days until more cannon arrived.
In besieging the city Mohammed could hope to gain little value beyond some glory and the fulfillment of a pledge. On the other hand he was risking the military reputation of the Ottomans, not to mention his personal prestige. For Mohammed, this was a decisive undertaking.
He had succeeded his father Murad to the throne only two years before, and although he was able and intelligent - he spoke six languages fluently - he was still an inexperienced young man of twenty-one years. He was of medium height thin - although very strong - with piercing black eyes and a large hooked nose. He was thoroughly trained in science, which had enabled him to immediately perceive the feasibility of the siege weapon a Christian engineer had offered to build for him, Urban's huge cannon that was already contending with the city's walls.
Unlike his father, a man of peace and friend of Constantinople who had desired only to lead a contemplative life, Mohammed was ambitious, arrogant and trusted no one. Twice during his boyhood, when he was twelve and again at sixteen, Mohammed had assumed the throne when his rather abdicated to take up the life he yearned. But both times the young sultan had been so precocious, opinionated, and unpopular that the vizier, Halil Pasha, had mistrusted his ability to deal with a crisis. Twice the vizier recalled Murad from retirement. The last time Mohammed had been banished from the court for two years. The vizier, another friend of Constantinople, was still a man of great influence and he was present at the siege now.
Even the Janissaries disliked Mohammed. A year ago in Asia Minor they had mutinied for higher pay. Mohammed had -partially met their demands, but as a counter-move had enlisted into their ranks most of his 7,000 loyal falconers.
Mohammed fully realized that the siege of Constantinople would be a formidable task even for his army of 80,000 men. The weakest side of the triangle was the Golden Horn. Here the shore was dotted with wharves and warehouses - ideal sites for landing parties. Here the crusaders had forced entry, and so could Mohammed once he gained control of the harbor. That task was assigned to Suleiman Baltoghlu, the governor of Gallipoli. This Bulgarian-born renegade was given command of the largest Turkish fleet ever assembled - several hundred craft. But Baltoghlu was designed to end his days in poverty and disgrace.
The single wall that faced the Golden Horn curved around the southern, tip of the city and continued along the snore of the Sea of Marmora. The point of the city was virtually unapproachable by ships because of swift currents. The Marmora side, except for two small fortified ports, was protected by shoals and rocks. Thus, until Baltoghlu could breech the boom and seize the Golden Horn, the main weight of the Turkish attack had to be thrown against the powerful treble walls facing the land.
The first obstacle facing Mohammed's troops was a moat sixty feet wide and a minimum twenty-five feet deep. At one point the depth actually reached a hundred feet. Many sections of the moat could be flooded from cisterns in the city. On the inner edge of the moat was a low crenelated wall. Behind this was a broad roadway. Then rose the Outer Wall, twenty-five feet high and ten feet thick, studded with towers every fifty to a hundred yards. Behind these fortifications was another roadway. Then began the great Inner Wall, forty feet high and fifteen feet thick, buttressed with huge towers that soared sixty feet.
For most of their length - nearly four miles these walls sat on high ridges, but from the Civil Gate of St. Romanus and the Gate of Charisius the land dropped sharply a hundred feet into the Lycus Valley where Mohammed had established his headquarters and deployed the Janissaries. This low-lying section of the walls was called the Mesoteichion and was considered the weakest point. There was one other vulnerable area - at the Golden Horn end of the walls where a single wall enclosed the suburb of Blachernal. These were the points where Mohammed concentrated his main bombardments.
The Emperor Constantine took personal command of the Greek troops defending the Mesoteichion opposite Mohammed and his Janissaries. He was well qualified to assume this duty. Although he had been emperor for only a few years, he was a swarthy, robust man in his early fifties who had proven himself earlier in Greece to be a competent administrator and a sound military commander. On the second night of the siege he closely supervised the rebuilding of the section of the wall near the Gate of Charisius which the Turkish cannon had destroyed that day. By morning the repairs were adequate.
Constantine had decided to make his stand on the Outer Wall. On the Emperor's right was Giustiniani with his Genoese troops. He faced the Turkish European divisions. On the emperor's left were companies of Greeks, Genoese and Venetians opposing Turkish troops from Asia Minor. The Marmora wall was lightly defended by Catalans, a small band of Turks under Prince Orhan, a pretender to the Ottoman throne, and some Greek monks. Venetian and Genoese sailors were assigned to the Golden Horn. Camped behind the Turkish lines were the Bashi-bazouks as a reserve. Across the Golden Horn was the small Genoese suburb of Pera containing the walled town of Galata. This settlement of prosperous merchants maintained an uneasy neutrality throughout the siege. During the fighting they traded with both sides, and Pera was a hotbed of Turkish and Greek spies. While one hand permitted the Greeks to affix one end of their boom to Pera's walls, the other hand was negotiating with Mohammed for favorable trade concessions in the event of Constantinople's fall. The Sultan had guaranteed Pera's neutrality, but he did not trust these Christians and deployed a large portion of his army in the hills behind the town.
Constantinople stood on a triangular peninsula dividing the Bosphorus from the Sea of Marmora, a strategic position that commands the narrow waterway linking the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The circumference of its walls was fourteen miles. On the east side was the great natural harbor of the Golden Horn, the west side bordered on the sea of Marmora. The land walls faced northwest.
That first day, as the Emperor Constantine toured the wells exhorting his troops to stand firm under the Turkish barrage, he was grimly confident his city could withstand the siege. Constantinople had repulsed countless assaults during more than a thousand years. Only once had the city fallen, and not to enemies but to friends - fellow Christians of the Fourth Crusade. In 1204, they had forced entry from the Golden Horn. But they had been aided by treachery and an only half-hearted resistance by the populace. This time there would be no treachery; the city was solidly united against the Turks. And this time Constantine was determined the invaders would not gain control of the Golden Horn. He had ordered a massive chain boom to be drawn across the harbor entrance, and this barrier was protected by some of his most powerful galleys and triremes.
However, the city was divided by bitter religious strife. This had prevented Constantine from obtaining the help he needed from the Pope, although some token vital supplies were reportedly en route. At one time, the population of Constantinople had been nearly a million souls. Now it had dwindled to barely 100,000. Constantine had been appalled to learn that in all the city there were not quite 5,000 Greeks of military age. Fortunately there were some 2,000 foreign troops, most of them Genoese and Venetians - who regarded each other as enemies.
To save the city, Constantine was relying heavily on one man, Giovanni Giustiniani Longo, a young Genoese nobleman who had arrived in January as a volunteer with 700 well-armed troops. He was reputed to be highly skilled in the defense of walled cities. Constantine had immediately appointed him commander of all the land walls, where the main Turkish attack was expected. Giustiniani was also an adroit enough diplomat to persuade the Venetians to accept his command. So far the young Genoese had performed his duties loyally and effectively, and he would do so until the end. Yet he was fated to end his days in shame.
When evening stretched its shadows across the battlefield on the second day, a small section of Constantinople's wall near the Gate of Charisius lay in ruins. The Sultan Mohammed was satisfied so for, but he decided to suspend the bombardment for a few days until more cannon arrived.
In besieging the city Mohammed could hope to gain little value beyond some glory and the fulfillment of a pledge. On the other hand he was risking the military reputation of the Ottomans, not to mention his personal prestige. For Mohammed, this was a decisive undertaking.
He had succeeded his father Murad to the throne only two years before, and although he was able and intelligent - he spoke six languages fluently - he was still an inexperienced young man of twenty-one years. He was of medium height thin - although very strong - with piercing black eyes and a large hooked nose. He was thoroughly trained in science, which had enabled him to immediately perceive the feasibility of the siege weapon a Christian engineer had offered to build for him, Urban's huge cannon that was already contending with the city's walls.
Unlike his father, a man of peace and friend of Constantinople who had desired only to lead a contemplative life, Mohammed was ambitious, arrogant and trusted no one. Twice during his boyhood, when he was twelve and again at sixteen, Mohammed had assumed the throne when his rather abdicated to take up the life he yearned. But both times the young sultan had been so precocious, opinionated, and unpopular that the vizier, Halil Pasha, had mistrusted his ability to deal with a crisis. Twice the vizier recalled Murad from retirement. The last time Mohammed had been banished from the court for two years. The vizier, another friend of Constantinople, was still a man of great influence and he was present at the siege now.
Even the Janissaries disliked Mohammed. A year ago in Asia Minor they had mutinied for higher pay. Mohammed had -partially met their demands, but as a counter-move had enlisted into their ranks most of his 7,000 loyal falconers.
Two days later the monks standing vigil on the western wall saw their fervent prayers answered. Approaching the city across the Sea of Marmora were three Genoese galleys and a large Imperial transport vessel. They had proceeded this far unopposed because Baltoghlu had concentrated his fleet before the city and left the Dardanelles unguarded.
The three Genoese galleys, hired by the Pope, were filled with arms and provisions; the Imperial transport was loaded with corn. It was not the vast armada the city awaited, but supplies were needed, and the ships would bring news.
The moment a messenger brought the news of these ships to Mohammed, he leapt onto his horse and galloped off to personally give his admiral instructions. The Turkish fleet was based at the Double Columns behind Pera. Mohammed's instructions to Baltoghlu were terse: capture the ships if possible, otherwise sink them. If he failed, he was not to return alive.
By now Baltoghlu was better prepared to engage the Christians. Many of his ships now had guns with higher elevations and the sides of his ships were protected with walls of shields. Baltoghlu embarked the Janissaries the Sultan had brought and set out with his entire fleet, thousands of oars churning the sea.
The Sultan watched with his entourage from Galata Point as the fleets approached each other. Al the same time thousands of citizens of Constantinople lined the city's walls as spectators.
It was early afternoon when the Turkish fleet intercepted the four Christian vessels southeast of the city. The sea was turbulent, causing some difficulties for Baltoghlu's rowers, and a stiff wind favored the Christians.
The Turks swarmed round the high decks of their enemies. Despite the modifications, the Turkish cannon had proved useless. Braving the showers of Christian javelins, arrows, stones, darts and snot, the Turks valiantly tried to set afire the Christian hulls and board the vessels above them. But with the their feet planted on heaving, slippery decks, the Janissaries did not fight well. Again and again the Christian flotilla shook off these attacks and sailed on.
But when the Christian ships were within sight of success, were rounding the point of the city and turning toward the sanctuary of the Golden Horn, Allah himself seemed to intercede - the wind suddenly ceased.
The Christian sails flapped uselessly. Worse, the strong currents off the city's point sent the four ship drifting helplessly directly toward Galata Point where the anxious Sultan watched.
Once more Baltoghlu's oar-powered fleet closed in, but this time not too close. Baltoghlu's crews and soldiers had already suffered far too many casualties in direct assaults against the enemy vessels. This time Baltoghlu decided he could take his time raking the enemy's decks with cannon fire and launching flaming lances,
He signaled his ships to commence fire. But again the unwieldy guns could not be brought to bear on their targets. Some fires were started with the lances but these were quickly put out by the well-trained Christian crews. Baltoghlu finally signaled another assault.
The Turkish admiral ran his trireme into the poop of the Imperial transport. Other ships quickly joined him with grappling hooks and scaling ladders. Meanwhile one Genoese galley was completely surrounded by five triremes, the second was locked in combat with some thirty fustae long-boats, and the fourth ship was surrounded by at least forty parandaria fully loaded with Turkish soldiers.
The Christians fought with precision and discipline against the savage attacks. Their armor saved them from injury countless times while their axes and swords lopped off heads and hands of the screaming boarders. At the same time the Imperial vessel showered the Turkish fleet with unquenchable Greek fire, setting many Turkish ships aflame.
On his flagship Baltoghlu again and again ordered waves of his men to the assault of the high docks of the Imperial transport. More ships attempted to find space to come to his aid. Gradually, however, the currents were drifting the Genoese galleys towards the Imperial transport. Finally all four ships managed to lash themselves together. In the churning sea they became a floating fortress surrounded by the milling turmoil of the smaller Turkish ships.
All this Mohammed watched with much anxiety and excitement. Often he prodded his wheeling horse so far into the sea that his cloak trailed in the water, waving his arms, cursing and shouting orders at Baltoghlu.
The drama continued all afternoon. Each minute the danger to the Christian ships increased. They were running short of arrows and missiles. And more Turkish vessels were maneuvering to join the f ray.
The sun set, and suddenly came a gust of breeze. Then the wind came up and the Christian sails billowed. Gradually the four Christian vessels began to gain steerage, began to plough through the Turkish fleet. They limped slowly toward the boom.
In the gathering darkness, Baltoghlu lost contact with his fleet. The Turkish attacks became sporadic. Then to add to the Turks' confusion a great fanfare of massed trumpets sounded from the boom. As the Turks peered forward they dimly made out Venetian galleys approaching the scene. The din of trumpets grew louder - as though the entire Christian fleet had sallied to the attack. Baltoghlu, fearful of this new threat (actually it was only three Christian ships striving to sound like twenty) ordered the Turks to retreat.
The four ships were escorted into the Golden Horn with their precious cargoes to the cheers of the citizens on the walls. That night there was great rejoicing in Constantinople. Turkish losses were reliably estimated at a hundred killed and three hundred wounded. While practically half the Christian seamen had suffered some wound, only twenty-three had been lost.
Mohammed returned to his tent filled with rage. The three consecutive reverses he had suffered were not only dangerously demoralizing his army, they were also undermining his own position in respect to Vizier Halil Pasha and other government ministers who had opposed the siege from the beginning. That same night Mohammed received a letter from Sheik Ak Shemseddin, one of the chief religious authorities in the camp, informing him that, the troops were beginning to blame their Sultan for his misjudgment and lack of authority. Rumors began to spread throughout the Turkish camp that the siege might be abandoned.
The next morning Beltoghlu was summoned to the Sultan's tent. He stood before his master shamefully and fearfully. He was nursing an eye badly injured by a stone hurled from one of his own ships. Mohammed publicly accused his admiral of being a coward, an incompetent and a traitor, and ordered him beheaded. But Baltoghlu's officers testified to his courageous leadership, his tenacity and skill under difficult conditions. After considering this, Mohammed ordered all Baltoghlu's possessions confiscated and distributed to the Janissaries. The admiral was then stripped, pinned to the ground by four slaves, and beaten with a golden rod a hundred times. He was carried from the Sultan's tent penniless and eternally disgraced.
Mohammed then embarked on a new scheme. It had been done before but never on such a scale against such formidable obstacles. It was ironic that on April 21st, while Mohammed was absent from the camp planning his new stratagem, the ceaseless cannonading suddenly brought down the Bactatinian tower along with a large portion of the adjoining Outer Wall. The city's defenses had been breached. The defenders saw they were now virtually defenseless against a determined Turkish attack. Yet no attack came. There was no one in the camp with the authority to give the order. That night the Greeks hastily patched up the gap with a parapet of earth and rubble topped with a palisade and barrels filled with earth.
Mohammed was at the Turkish naval base of the Double Columns. There were thousands of workmen engaged in his secret project. Meanwhile several batteries of guns were positioned along the headlands of the Golden Horn.
Shortly after dawn on April 22nd the sentinels on the walls gazed across the Golden Horn and beyond Galata and gasped at the outlandish sight of a line of Turkish ships, sails hoisted and billowing in the breeze, sailing across the hills behind the Genoese town.
It was a stupendous engineering feat. Some seventy ships, including even a few triremes and biremes weighing well over a hundred tons, were being hauled from the Bosphorus by straining oxen and men up a slope of two hundred feet; then they were fitted onto cradles on a roadway of planks greased with fats and dragged a mile over hills that rose to 350 test above sea level, finally to slither into the waters of the Golden Horn. The boom had been outflanked.
Twice in the past fleets had been dragged six miles over the isthmus of Corinth, once by Augustus after the battle of Actium and once by a Greek general in the 10th Century; the Syracusan fleet of Dionysius I had been transported nearly three miles over the isthmus of Motya, and Hannibal had once done the same to introduce his fleet into the harbor of Tarentum; but in all these cases the land had been relatively flat.
This was the most serious threat to the city to date. There was not an inhabitant who did not remember the chilling tales of crusaders. Constantine hastily summoned a council of war. There was dissatisfaction with the Genoese because no one in Galata had warned the city about the Sultan's preparations. Thus only Venetians were invited to the council, with the exception of Giustiniani. After much discussion a plan was devised to attack the Turkish ships. Secret preparations were begun immediately. The attack was planned for the night of April 24.
Meanwhile, on the 23rd, Constantine sent an emissary to the Sultan offering peace and the payment of a large tribute. This offer Mohammed rejected. He insisted the city should surrender unconditionally. He would then personally guarantee the safety of the citizens. It was not an offer that appealed to the defenders. They were still confident they could hold out, and no one trusted the young Mohammed to keep his promises.
The secret preparations for the naval attack became known to the Genoese. They were furious they had been excluded and demanded to be allowed to take part. Constantine had to finally agree to this. But as the Genoese had no ship ready, the attack had to be rescheduled for April 28th.
This delay was fatal. Mohammed's spies in Galata eventually learned of the plan. Two hours before dawn on the 28th, the attack party silently slipped out of harbor into the Golden Horn. Leading the flotilla were two large transports with their sides protected against cannon fire by bales of wool. Following these were two Venetian war galleys each with forty rowers. Inside the protective square formed by these four vessels were three fustae long-boats, each with seventy oarsmen, and a number of smaller craft loaded with combustible materials. The plan was to creep up on the Turkish fleet moored at the head of the Golden Horn, and during the attack the small craft would slip unnoticed into the midst of the Turks and set their ships aflame.
But the Turks were waiting. They had even added more batteries to the guns on the headlands protecting their fleet. In the two-hour battle one Venetian galley and several of the small craft were sunk. The Greeks retired after destroying only one enemy ship. The Turks captured forty Christian sailors. Later that day these unfortunate men were brought before the walls and slaughtered. In retaliation Constantine ordered 260 Turkish prisoners brought up to the battlements where there in the sight of the Turks they were beheaded.
Despite this reverse, for the moment, the situation on the Golden Horn was a stalemate. The Christian fleet was still intact and Mohammed was reluctant to risk a major battle. But he now threatened a great new expanse of the city's wall and Constantine was unable to man it adequately. Not only that, trade from Galata dwindled to nearly nothing. The Greeks could not even now safely fish in the harbor. All this for Mohammed was an important victory.
Supplies in the city were running low. Once again a mood of bloom settled over Constantinople. For the next week, Mohammed contented himself with the relentless bombardment of the land walls and occasional feints by his fleet in the Golden Horn. The declining morale of the defenders was becoming a major concern to Constantine. As each day passed the relief armada from the West became more vital. It had long been promised, yet where was it?
By, the beginning of May there were some people in the city actually going hungry. Soldiers on the wall were continually demanding leave to visit their families and find them food. Constantine finally imposed a new tax on the churches and all those who could pay, bought up all the provisions he could find and set up a system of rationing. This proved a satisfactory solution. But still the question remained - how soon would relief come?
One night a swift Venetian brigantine, its twelve volunteer crew members disguised as Turks, crept out of the Golden Horn. Its mission: locate the relief armada.
During the first days of May Urban's cannon had been out of commission. It resumed its relentless work on May 6th. This seemed to be a signal for an intensification of the bombardment. And the Turkish ships in the Golden Horn seemed to be preparing for some major enterprise.
The strain was beginning to tell on the defenders. Throughout the siege Constantine had slept only in snatches. He now looked pole and haggard. Several times his aides had urged him to flee the city, to raise a relief army in Greece. He refused to consider this. Meanwhile the bid enmities between the Venetians and Genoese were being aggravated by weariness and short tempers. Constantine was continually obliged to intervene in their quarrels.
Four hours after sunset on May 7th, the Turks again attacked the Mesoteichion. This battle lasted some three hours before it ended in a Turkish defeat. Just as the defenders were wearily reorganizing themselves, at midnight, a sudden attack fell on the badly damaged Blachernal wall. This attack, too, was eventually repulsed. The bombardment continued.
On the 14th of May Mohammed recalled all his guns from Galata Point and the headlands of the Golden Horn. He concentrated all of them on the Mesoteichion. On the 16th and 17th the main Turkish fleet from the Double Columns made feints against the boom. They were curious maneuvers. In neither attack was a single shot fired. The Turkish fleet swarmed up to the Christian ships, and just beyond range sheered off and retired. In Constantinople they were thought to be either maneuvers to unnerve the populace or training exercises. Another similar feint was made a few days later.
At dawn of the 18th the sentinels on the Mesoteichion were horrified to see standing before them a great wooden tower on wheels. It was a wooden framework of heavy beams protected by layers of bullock and camel hides. An interior stairway led up to a hinged platform controlled by pulleys and ropes twenty-five feet above the ground - the height of the city Is Outer Wall. This contraption stood on the very edge of the moat opposite the St. Romanus tower which had been largely destroyed. Much rubble had spilled into the moat from the shattered tower.
All that day the Turks labored to complete a causeway across the moat despite strenuous harassment by the defenders along the wall. By dusk the work was almost completed. The Turks had even edged their vehicle onto the causeway to test its solidity. This was a potent threat. Both Constantine and Giustiniani directed the countermeasures. That night volunteers from the city crept into the moat. They placed kegs of powder into the fill of tree trunks and bundles of twigs. When these exploded, everything burst into flames, including the wooden tower.
The next morning Mohammed stared in astonishment at the ashes of his vehicle, at the nearly cleared moat, and at the rebuilt tower of St. Romanus. He swore aloud, claimed he only believed it because he saw it with his own eyes. He said even the thirty-seven thousand prophets could never have convinced him the Christians had completed so much work in one night.
Mohammed built several more wooden towers, but none of them was a success. Eventually the towers that were not Destroyed were withdrawn from the siege. The Sultan also attempted at several sites to mine under the walls. Each of these projects was thwarted by Greek counter-mines. One mine might have succeeded. Its entrance was craftily concealed by one of the wooden towers. fortunately for the defenders, some Turkish miners captured in another mine were forced under torture to reveal the existence of the unknown mine, which was duly destroyed. Mining was another activity eventually abandoned. By now the defenders were weary beyond endurance. Food, powder, javelins, arrows and shot were all running out. Of the 7,000 defenders many had suffered wounds, although so far remarkably few had been killed. Only their successes kept aflame a flickering optimism, and even this was to be buffeted by bad tidings and evil Portents.
When men are weary and discourse their thoughts perversely wander through the mind's gloomiest caverns. The defenders recalled the ancient prophecies that Constantinople, founded by a Constantine, would fall during the reign of a Constantine. They remembered the earth tremors and the unusually severe storms that shook the city only a few months ago. Now the swift Venetian brigantine returned from its mission with the news that it had searched through the Aegean islands and sighted not a sail, not even a rumor, of a relief armada en route from the West. It now seemed that Constantinople could depend only on the aid of God.
There was another prophecy warning that the city would fall under a waxing moon. As though to presage this event, on the night of May 24th there was a full moon that was blotted out for three hours by an eclipse. The next day, in an appeal to the Mother of God, the holiest icon of the city was brought out of its church and carried on the shoulders of the supplicating faithful through the streets. The entire populace - even every man who could be spared from the walls - joined this solemn procession.
Suddenly the icon toppled off its stand. For several minutes the horrified believers seemed unable to restore it. Then as the dispirited procession continued a thunderstorm struck. Rain poured down so hard the streets became torrents ' Some children were swept away. The people were forced to flee to shelter. The next day the city was blanketed in fog - an unheard of phenomenon in. May - and that night an eerie illumination glowed over the great dome of the Church of the Holy Wisdom.
The strange luminescence was also seen from the Turkish camp where it caused consternation until the muezzins assured the troops this was a sign that the light of the True Faith would soon shine from that church.
Again the emperor's counselors implored him to flee the city. Constantine was so weary that during this discussion he fell asleep. But nothing would sway him - he would remain with his people to the end.
Neither was there satisfaction in the Turkish camp. After seven weeks of weary siege, Constantinople still stood free. Vizier Halil and his clique of influential ministers were already discussing the advisability of abandoning the siege. The Turks had received reliable reports that a relief fleet had sailed from Venice - the fleet was even rumored to be now only a few days' sail from the city. Besides that there was always the danger that the Hungarians would suddenly surge across the Danube to attack the besiegers in the rear. An Hungarian mission had already come to inform the Sultan the, their treaty of non-belligerence was no longer binding. Moreover the morale of the troops had never been poorer. It now began to seem that the only men in the camp still favoring a prolongation) of the Siege were the Sultan and his own close circle of advisers.
Mohammed's thoughts during those days can only be assumed, but there were certain salient facts that he must have mulled over. He was an unpopular, unproven leader who had already been criticized for his misjudgment and inability to maintain discipline. Could he afford a failure? What would be his fate if he had to face an army of 80,000 disgruntled men? The Ottomans would gain little by the fall of Constantinople, but Mohammed needed this victory to fortify his personal power.
On May 25th the Sultan initiated the course of action he had planned. He sent an envoy to the city offering once again to spare Constantinople if it surrendered. Constantine clutched at this straw and dispatched an emissary back to the Sultan to hear the terms, and when these were to hand he summoned his council. It was decided that the huge annual tribute Mohammed demanded was far in excess of what the city could pay. Some councilors urged Constantine to agree to gain time, but the majority felt that Mohammed would easily see through such a ruse. An alternative was for all the citizens to abandon the city with their possessions. This was unthinkable. Constantine sent back a compromise offer - he would surrender all his own personal possessions, except the city. The Sultan replied that the Greeks must choose between surrender, death, or conversion to Islam. Thus the negotiations broke down.
Having established his credentials as a reasonable, merciful man, the next day Mohammed summoned his own council to the red and gold tent. After the councilors heard how Mohammed had failed to end the siege by negotiation, Vizier Halil rose to his feet. He boldly demanded the siege be abandoned at once. He urged the Sultan to offer acceptable terms to the Greeks. He stressed the urgency of positive action before the West finally united and rose against the Ottomans. Halil's words won many nods of assent among the ministers. Mohammed listened with a mixed expression of anger and despair.
The next to speak was Zaganos Pasha, the commander of the divisions guarding Galata. He cast doubts on all of Halil’s assertions. There was no fleet coming from the West, the Hungarians were merely rattling their sabres. Even if a Venetian fleet came, this time the Turkish fleet would be victorious. Zaganos then launched into a peroration recalling the prophecies that foretold the doom of Constantinople; he compared the young Sultan to Alexander the Great; he spoke of the glory to be of the Ottoman Empire. Press on the attack, he urged. At this many generals leapt to their feet with snouts of agreement. Particularly vociferous was the commander of the Bashi-bazouks. Amid the nubbub Mohammed began to smile. This was what he wanted to hear. The loud demands for strong action drowned out the reasonable words of Halil and his supporters. And when Zaganos returned to the tent claiming the entire army was clamoring to be led over the walls, the Sultan announced he had made his decision. Constantinople would be taken by a massive assault.
The watchers on the walls soon realized the Turks had come to a decision. All that night in the light of torches the Sultan's troops labored to stockpile materials to fill the moat. On the 27th more guns were concentrated on the rickety stockades of the Mesoteichion. Three times that day Urban's great cannon knocked sections down, and three times they were rebuilt.
Also that day, Mohammed rode through the length and breadth of the camp to announce the great assault. He promised the city would be given to the troops for pillage and rapine for three days. All treasure seized would be fairly distributed to every man. All this was greeted with loud shouts of approval. In a few hours Mohammed raised the morale of his troops to joyous heights.
That night, the Turks worked like demons to fill the moat arc stockpile weapons along their forward lines. These labors were accompanied by the clamor of martial music. Throughout the bustling camp tens of thousands of torches blazed. To the weary watchers on the walls it was an awesome sight. They made no attempt to hinder the preparations. Many defenders knelt and prayed.
Suddenly at midnight all work ceased, the uproar dwindled away, the music stopped and the torches went out. Mohammed had proclaimed that this day should be a day of rest and religious observance in preparation for the assault.
The Sultan spent the 28th of May inspecting his troops and giving them final orders. Accompanied by his guards and entourage he rode to the port of the Double Columns to instruct his new admiral, Hamza Bey. His entire fleet must deploy from the boom to the furthest reach of the Marmora wall. At every possible point his men must attempt to breach the defenses without cease. Where this was not possible they must feint attacks to keep all defenders at their posts. Mohammed gave similar orders to his fleet in the Golden Horn. He made a last tour of the camp haranguing the men, then summoned his ministers and military leaders to his tent.
After reminding them of the riches to be gained and the exhaustion of the defenders, he exhorted his commanders to maintain a steel discipline in the ranks. The army would attack along the entire front of the land walls. The main attacks would be concentrated on the Blachernal, the Mesoteichion and the Third Military Gate.
Meanwhile in the city the day of respite - even the Turkish cannons stood silent - was devoted to religious processions and reconciliations. The Venetians and the Genoese put aside their mutual animosities, the frictions that had developed among the Greeks over small matters of strategy were settled by compromise, and the greatest schism of all - between the supporters and opponents of union with Rome - was reconciled with the celebration of the Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Wisdom. All that day the bells of the churchi3s tolled Constantine's darkest hour. Toward the end of the day Constantine met with his commanders and asked them to defend the city with courage and unbroken faith. They then made their devotions at the church and hurried back to their posts.
Once the troops had all taken their positions on the Outer Wall, the gates of the Inner Wall were closed and locked behind them. There was to be no retreat. In the Mesoteichion the relentless pounding of the Turkish cannons had completely leveled a section of the Outer Wall, and half a dozen towers, had helped to fill in the moat. Mohammed's troops had finished this work so that now the moat before this broken section was completely filled. Also destroyed in this sector were two towers of the Inner Wall. Here Giustiniani, who had moved his headquarters to this threatened sector early in the siege, prepared to withstand the Turkish onslaught with two thousand men. Under his direct command were the best of the Greeks and his own troops included four hundred Genoese cuirassiers with their glittering breastplates.
Their only protection was the jerrybuilt parapet of planks, tree trunks and branches, even crates filled with straw. All this was stuck together with ladders, earth and clay. As a protection against fire arrows, the wooden facings of the parapet were covered with hides. Atop of all this, forming crenellations, were barrels filled with earth.
At sunset the Turks erupted into action. The defenders watched impassively as the Turks completed the work of filling the moat and hauled their cannons forward to point-blank range. Shortly after 1 a.m. of May 29th, the Sultan Mohammed decided everything was ready. He ordered the assault. The signal was a fanfare of trumpets and a tattoo of drums. Along the four-mile front thousands of Turkish troops roared their battle cries and charged the walls. As the Christian soldiers braced themselves for the shock of the assault, the city's bells began to peal to warn the populace the attack had begun. Women and children, elderly men, nuns and invalids hurried to their parish churches to pray.
The honor of the first wave had been granted to the Bashi-bazouks. These numerous divisions were a hodgepodge of Turks, Slavs, Germans, Italians, Hungarians - even Greeks - who were more akin to mercenaries than regular troops. Their only pay was the booty they could seize. They provided their own weapons - an assortment of swords, spears, bows, slings, flails and a few arquebuses. For this night they had been provided with scaling ladders. A pale moon illuminated the frenzied scene.
The Bashi-bazouks were fearsome troops on the first pell mell charge, but they were easily discouraged if they were repulsed. Mohammed had prepared for this. Behind these irregulars he had lined up his military police. They were armed with whips and truncheons. Any man who filtered was to be beaten back to the attack. If any deserted through the police lines they would be confronted by ranks of Janissaries deployed behind the police. The Janissaries had strict orders regarding deserters - cut them down.
This attack had been launched along the entire land wall, but the main weight was concentrated on the Mesoteichion. Mohammed saw the pathway to victory here. The rest was a huge diversionary onslaught to weary the defenders.
The huge numbers of Bashi-bazouks, and their undisciplined eagerness to break into the city, was more of an impediment than a help. They crowded together so tightly at the base of the walls and stockades that they were barely able to discharge their arrows. The arrows hailed down on them from the walls rarely missed a target. Boulders hurled down onto the mass of struggling men often hit two or three. And as the Bashi-bazouks scaled their ladders to the parapets they encountered soldiers far better trained and armed. Guistiniani had seen to it that this time his men at the vulnerable Mesoteichion were provided with all the city's available culverins and muskets. These fire arms added to the carnage of the Bashi-bazouks.
This attack lasted for two hours. When the retreat was sounded, the defenders were grateful for the respite. There was not a man on the walls who was not now utterly exhausted. A few of their comrades moaned at their feet in pools of blood. In some sections there were no missile weapons left. Here the troops were reduced to reliance on their swords and shields.
So far Mohammed was satisfied. He knew his fleets had launched their attacks. The entire fourteen miles of the city's walls were in a state of alarums. He had not expected the Bashi-bazouks to break the defenses, but they had done their job. Men's arms could only hack and thrust so long.
The weary defenders on the walls had barely time to catch their breaths before the growing thunder of thousands of horses' hooves came from the darkness. The Christians made what hasty repairs they could and reformed their lines.
The second wave was composed entirely of divisions from Asia Minor, the regular cavalry militia. These men were distinctive by their uniforms and breastplates. They wheeled their mounts into long lines before the Mesoteichion and dismounted.
Suddenly Urban's cannon roared, followed immediately by the bark of the smaller guns. The salvo pounded into the defenses showering splinters and rocks, slamming down planks and enveloping the Christians in a choking dust. The trumpets and fifes blared and with roars and oaths the Turks raced forward.
They flung their ladders against the defenses and clambered up lunging and hacking at the defenders. These were pious Moslems every man believing that upon his death in battle he would be transported to the gardens of Paradise and the embrace of dusky virgins. There was not a man who did not lust for the treasures of the city, yet none feared to die.
With desperate determination the Christians hacked at the shadowy invaders in the dim light of the veiled moon. They toppled back the Turkish ladders, and where the attackers managed to mount to the top of their palisades they fought hand to hand.
Further south at the Third Military Gate the European divisions of the Ottomans were less effective. Here the walls were still largely intact. However, the pressure was intense enough to prevent the Christians from risking the movement of reinforcements to the Mesoteichion. In quiet places along the walls stealthy groups of Turks in the dark shadows cast by towers silently attempted to scale the walls to catch the defenders by surprise. Even where there was no fighting the Christians had to maintain a nerve-wracking vigilance.
Along the Marmora Sea walls the Turkish navy managed to land scattered parties among the shoals. These groups were easily beaten back to the boats by the monks and the Turks of Prince Orhan. The fleet in the Golden Horn made numerous clamorous feints against the walls but no serious attack was launched. The Turks made a determined effort against the Blachernal. Here, too, they were held off.
Shortly before dawn the main attack at the Mesoteichion began to waver. At this moment, however, Urban's cannon fired another shot over a section of the moat that had never been filled. The huge ball of stone slammed squarely into a section of wooden stockade and knocked it down. Immediately a detachment of several hundred Turks nearby rushed toward the gap with hoarse shouts of triumph. Luckily Constantine was on the scene. He personally led his Greeks against the Turks who were now rushing over the fallen palisade. Here was the bitterest and bloodiest battle of the long night. The Turks charged up to the ordered ranks of Christian shields. Then it was man to man, slashing and thrusting, steel clanging on steel. Before long the Turks were pushed back though the gap. But the Christians weren't satisfied. They were enraged. They continued to cave the Turks back until they were toppling into 'IC moat. Few Turks survived.
The Greeks paused briefly to shout derision at the fleeing remnants of their enemy, then they returned to the battlements and began to repair the damage. This was the psychological stroke that broke the attack. The general retreat was sounded and once again a silence descended on the battlefield. It was but another brief respite for the exhausted defenders. Mohammed now made the decisive gamble that would win or end the siege.
The Sultan, on his favorite mount and with an iron mace in his hand, placed himself at the head of his proud Janissaries. These 12,000 men were the finest infantry in Europe, perhaps in the world. The trumpets blared and the Janissaries advanced at the double. This time there was no wild rushing attack. As they advanced these superbly disciplined troops maintained perfect ranks.
Mohammed led them right to the edge of the most. As his men passed by he shouted encouragement and promises of rich rewards. He told them that the first man to reach the top of the wall would be given a province and made rich beyond his highest dreams.
The first rank of Janissaries halted just short of the walls and launched against the defenders a deadly hail of arrows and bullets. The second rank jogged through these men to the base of the walls. While some hacked at the planks with axes, others fixed ladders, and still others strained to pull the defenses down. The third rank charged up and began to scale the walls. Each ladder was placed with care and precision so it could not be easily toppled. The Christians fought back grimly while behind them church bells commenced a clamorous pealing to Heaven for a miracle to save Constantinople.
Meanwhile at the Blachernal one of those events occurred that can only be listed under Fortunes of War. At the point where the single wall of the suburb joined the triple land wall there was a small sally-port called the Kerkoporta. This had been left open and unguarded by a company of Christians who had sortied against the Turks' left flank. A Turkish soldier saw this and he and some fifty comrades rushed through the gate into a small courtyard. The only exit was up a narrow stairway to the battlements. The Christians outside soon realized what had happened and raced back through the gate, barred it behind them and began to fight the trapped Turks. This was a situation that could have been contained if another disaster had not occurred.
Just as the first faint glow of dawn began to lighten the furious scene at the Mesoteichion, Giustiniani was wounded. Historians differ about the details - a shot pierced his breastplate, or an arrow transfixed his gauntlet, or he suffered two heavy blows from a Turkish soldier. Whatever happened there is no doubt this brave, able and utterly exhausted soldier was wounded. It was the final blow that broke his spirit.
Bleeding profusely and in great pain, Giustiniani ordered his bodyguards to help him from the battle. Constantine rushed over and urged his commander not to desert his post. But Giustiniani pleaded he needed medical attention and finally the emperor gave him a key to a nearby gate of the inner Wall. Giustiniani's men opened the gate and carried him into the city. When the Genoese troops realized their commander was leaving, they panicked. Before the gate could be closed and locked behind Giustiniani the Genoese began to crowd through it. Only the Emperor and his Greeks remained at the ramparts.
From across the moat where he still sat upon his mount with mace in hand, Mohammed saw this confusion. To exploit the situation he immediately ordered a reserve orta of Janissaries into the fray. This detachment of some thirty men was commanded by a giant named Hassan.
With his sword in one hand and his small round shield on his arm, the giant ran forward at the head of his men, clambered up a ladder, and in a few moments had hacked his way to the top of the palisade - the first man to achieve this feet. There was a great roar of triumph from the Janissaries below - Hassan had won the coveted Sultan's prize. A dozen of Hassan's men managed to gain the ramparts with him. The Greeks counterattacked, finally managing to topple the giant over the wall. On the ground below Hassan groggily rose to one knee as half a dozen arrows thudded into his body. He fell back dead.
But Hassan had shown the Janissaries that strength and valor could win the day. They attacked the walls with renewed determination. The twelve companions of Hassan still held their ground above. Swiftly more and more Janissaries forced their way up to join them. In a short time the Greeks were outnumbered fifty to one. Stubbornly they gave ground.
Meanwhile Constantine had galloped to the Blachernal. Something there was seriously wrong. From the highest turret overlooking the city fluttered Turkish flags. The Turks trapped in the courtyard had fought their way up to the battlements. Now hundreds of Turks were streaming through the Kerkoporta.
Constantine galloped back for reinforcements, hoping to rally the Genoese. But by now his Greeks had been forced back almost to the still open gate through which Giustiniani had retired. Many panicked Greeks were crowding through the gate. At the same time Janissaries were scaling the face of the Inner Wall. Already some could be seen above on the battlements. They were waving their swords and shouting down to their companions outside, "The city is ours!"
The situation was hopeless. Constantine’s advisors begged him to save himself, but his only comment was, "I will stay with my men". Constantine resolutely tore his royal purple cloak from his shoulders, drew his sword and charged the fray at the gate. There, it must be presumed, he died like a common soldier.
It is believed that in that last fight, Constantine earned a great respect not only from his men, but from the Janissaries as well. Stories, after the battle, were told of the great Christian leader who did not run, but fought with his men and died bravely. It is said the Mohammed was so impressed with this, that only Constantine’s crown was removed from his body and he was given a proper burial. This was not a custom for the Turks, leaders and soldiers usually found themselves nailed to the walls of the city or beheaded and sitting on a tent pole.
With cries of triumph the Turks trampled over the piles of Greek dead and raced into the city. The news spread like wildfire. All hope and resistance by the defenders turned to desperate flight. All around the city they deserted the walls, and from the Golden Horn and-the Sea of Marmora the Turks gained the ramparts that had defied them for fifty-eight days. Below them the screams of terror of the vanquished echoed through the streets. They raced down to join the orgy of pillage and rapine. At first the Turks massacred every Christian they found- in all some four thousand civilians were slaughtered. But their blood-lust was soon sated-they realized their victims were more valuable as slaves.
Homes, stores, warehouses and public buildings were thoroughly ransacked. Everywhere banks of Turks hurried back and forth laden with all they could carry. What they could not take away they burned. Wanton destruction of buildings was limited, however, because these were the property of the Sultan. At the churches where most of the populace had taken refuge in a last appeal to be saved, they hacked down the doors with axes and milled through the crowds eagerly seeking out as their captives the young, the rich and the beautiful. Prize finds were often nearly torn apart by rival bands. Individuals considered useless were sometimes hacked to bits. Men were secured with cords, senators indiscriminately linked with their servants; women were bound with their own scarves and girdles. Altars were desecrated and relics gutted of their valuables and smashed. The captives were herded in coffees to the camp or the ships, goaded with blows to hurry for the Turks were anxious to return for more. In this manner some fifty thousand inhabitants were taken away.
Some pockets of resistance still held out. Most of the Turks of Prince Orhan fought to the death as the best alternative. The prince himself nearly escaped disguised as a Greek. When he was discovered he was decapitated on the spot. Bands of Venetians and Genoese troops fought their way to the Golden Horn. There they joined swarms of terrified civilian-. and clambered aboard snips. The way was clear. The Turkish sailors, fearful the army would seize all the plunder, had abandoned their own vessels and streamed into the city. A few hundred soldiers of Constantinople escaped by this means. Some five hundred others were captured, but the rest of the original seven thousand died in battle.
A small company of Cretan sailors held out in three towers near the entrance of the Golden Horn until early afternoon. They so won the admiration of the Turks that they were allowed to leave the city unharmed.
The Sultan Mohammed made his own triumphal entry into Constantinople that afternoon. The great domes and spires still stood unscathed, but by now the buildings were shorn of their wealth and beauty. The streets were abandoned.
Leading a procession of his guards, chief commanders and ministers, he toured the central portions of the city he had conquered. At the hippodrome he came across the twisted columns of the three serpents. In his eyes this was a talisman of the city. In a test of strength with the iron mace he still carried he shattered one of the huge jaws.
Then Mohammed proceeded to the great church of St. Sophia. Before entering he knelt down and poured a handful of earth over his turban as an act of atonement. Then he entered and paused under the dome where he admonished a Turkish soldier for trying to pry up a piece of marble pavement. He ordered a few Greeks and priests still held there to be freed. He gazed briefly at the cross torn down, at the altar swept bare and the frescoed walls of religious scenes whitewashed over. He had ordered this greatest Christian church of the East to be converted into a mosque.
He strode across the church and stepped up onto the altar where he stood briefly in symbolic silence. As the Sultan left the building a muezzin from one of the highest towers cried out across the city to Allah that the great Christian citadel had been vanquished.
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