The battle was part of the Byzantine-Ottoman Wars (1265-1453) and is referred to as one of the darkest days in Greek history. Sources. The Ottoman cannon created several breaches, but most were too narrow to send troops through. When Mehmed II succeeded his father in 1451, he was just nineteen years old. If any citizens of Constantinople tried to resist, they were slaughtered. It falls in 476 AD due to speculated reasons. We have never lost a city or a place comparable to Constantinople, The Morean (Peloponnesian) fortress of Mystras, where Constantine's brothers Thomas and Demetrius ruled, constantly in conflict with each other and knowing that Mehmed would eventually invade them as well, held out until 1460. Finally, the last wave consisting of elite Janissaries, attacked the city walls. Byzantine DBQ Questions 8/21 DRAFT. Girolamo Minotto[el; es; fr; it] and his Venetians were stationed in the Blachernae Palace, together with Teodoro Caristo, the Langasco brothers, and Archbishop Leonardo of Chios. By March 1453 Urbans cannon had been transported from the Ottoman capital of Edirne to the outskirts of Constantinople. IV. The next major turning point was the Fall of Constantinople (or the Fall of the Byzantine Empire) in 1453, when the Ottoman Empire (Islamic) invaded. stood strong Orban then left Constantinople and approached Mehmed II, claiming that his weapon could blast "the walls of Babylon itself". One cause of the collapse of the western Roman Empire was the empire's vast (fill in the blank) Size. Pihak terlibat. Fall of Constantinople, (May 29, 1453), conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire. The Fall of Constantinople Primary Source Analysis. He is famously reported to have been moved to tears by this, saying, "What a city we have given over to plunder and destruction. He hoped to breach them or otherwise force a surrender before a Christian relief force could arrive. In retaliation, the defenders brought their Ottoman prisoners, 260 in all, to the walls, where they were executed, one by one, before the eyes of the Ottomans. DIFFICULTIES WITH ALEXIS 1. The unique . Fall of Constantinople By 350 A.D., Constantinople was one of the world's greatest capitals. Many Greek soldiers ran back home to protect their families, the Venetians retreated to their ships and a few of the Genoese escaped to Galata. Communication was maintained by a road that had been destroyed over the marshy head of the Horn. The imperial efforts to impose union were met with strong resistance in Constantinople. The Genoese general in charge of the defenders on land, Giovanni Giustiniani, was grievously wounded during the attack, and his evacuation from the ramparts caused a panic in the ranks of the defenders. The Fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453 by the Ottoman Turks was a battle that changed the world history. [57] Venetian surgeon Niccol Barbaro, describing in his diary one such land attack by the Janissaries, wrote, They found the Turks coming right up under the walls and seeking battle, particularly the Janissaries and when one or two of them were killed, at once more Turks came and took away the dead ones without caring how near they came to the city walls. Continuities: The Byzantine Empire initially maintained many Roman systems of governance and law and aspects of Roman culture. Some contemporaneous Western sources gave exaggerated figures ranging from 160,000 to 300,000. Constantine's men eventually could not prevent the Ottomans from entering the city and the defenders were overwhelmed at several points along the wall. [65], Ottomans used the Arabic transliteration of the city's name "Qosanniyye" () or "Kostantiniyye", as can be seen in numerous Ottoman documents. [31]:9697 Mehmed's massive cannons fired on the walls for weeks but due to their imprecision and extremely slow rate of fire, the Byzantines were able to repair most of the damage after each shot, mitigating the effect of the Ottoman artillery. In many places the ground could not be seen, as it was covered by heaps of corpses. Hungary was the primary European threat to the Ottomans on land, and Venice and Genoa controlled much of the Aegean and Black seas. On 2 June, the Sultan found the city largely deserted and half in ruins; churches had been desecrated and stripped, houses were no longer habitable, and stores and shops were emptied. For Genoas part, the city-state sent 700 soldiers to Constantinople, all of whom arrived in January 1453 with Giovanni Giustiniani Longo at their head. A few civilians managed to escape. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 was one of the most influential events in history and marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. Hungary refused to assist, and, instead of sending men, Pope Nicholas V saw the precarious situation as an opportunity to push for the reunification of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, a priority of the papacy since 1054. Thanks to its location on the Bosporus Strait, Constantinople became a major trading center. [note 10]. This item is an extract from the detailed account of an Arab envoy to Constantinople in the late 10th century. Having encircled Constantinople in full, Mehmed continued his artillery barrage of the land walls through May 29. [94], In the past we received our wounds in Asia and in Africain foreign countries. 61% average accuracy. Rome's leader was overthrown, causing the Roman Empire to fall. Today Constantinople is known as Istanbul it is the largest and most vibrant city in Turkey with a population greater than 12 million residents (although not the capital, which is Ankara). San Stefano peace treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. He angled one of his cannons such that it could strike the defenders of the chain and then began to construct an oiled wooden ramp upon which he intended to portage his smaller vessels from the Bosporus to the Golden Horn. The regular European troops, stretched out along the entire length of the walls, were commanded by Karadja Pasha. Sultan Murad II laid siege to Constantinople in 1422, but he was forced to lift it in order to suppress a rebellion elsewhere in the empire. On 21 May, Mehmed sent an ambassador to Constantinople and offered to lift the siege if they gave him the city. 1458-1464), called for a crusade, convening a council in 1459 to drum up support. They largely refrained from slaughtering commoners and nobility, instead choosing to ransom them to their home states and primarily executing only those who fought after the surrender. In April, having quickly seized Byzantine coastal settlements along the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara, Ottoman regiments in Rumelia and Anatolia assembled outside the Byzantine capital. [20]:304 The crusaders established an unstable Latin state in and around Constantinople while the remainder of the Byzantine Empire splintered into a number of successor states, notably Nicaea, Epirus and Trebizond. The Ottoman army had made several frontal assaults on the land wall of Constantinople, but they were costly failures. Fall Of Rome Dbq. [20]:373[33][34][35][36][37][38], Fearing a possible naval attack along the shores of the Golden Horn, Emperor Constantine XI ordered that a defensive chain be placed at the mouth of the harbour. Robert seems to have returned to France in 1205, since although his work contains references up . However, he returned to power two years later after defeating the Christians and remained sultan until his death in 1451. Print. By the mid-15th century, constant struggles for dominance with its Balkan neighbours and Roman Catholic rivals had diminished Byzantine imperial holdings to Constantinople and the land immediately west of it. He eventually served twice as Grand Vizier under Mehmed's son, Bayezid II.[97]. Fall of Rome . Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The dwindling Byzantine Empire came to an end when the Ottomans breached Constantinople's ancient land wall after besieging the city for 55 days. The city was captured on 29 May 1453[15][16] as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun on 6 April. Between 1346 and 1349 the Black Death killed almost half of the inhabitants of Constantinople. These were the three Genoese ships sent by the Pope, joined by a large Imperial transport ship which had been sent on a foraging mission to Sicily previous to the siege and was on its way back to Constantinople. Now, at this happy and joyful moment of time, we have the riches of the Greeks, we have won their empire, and their religion is completely extinguished. This section of the walls had been built earlier, in the 11th century, and was much weaker. Student Edition NAME DATE 1. . An Ottoman attack on a Venetian ship in the Bosporus prompted the Venetian Senate to send 800 troops and 15 galleys to the Byzantine capital, and many Venetians presently in Constantinople also chose to support the war effort, but the bulk of the Venetian forces were delayed for too long to be of any help. The main legitimate Crusades were launched from Western Europe to recover and protect Jerusalem . The Bashi-bazouks were spread out behind the front lines. The fortress of Therapia on the Bosphorus and a smaller castle at the village of Studius near the Sea of Marmara were taken within a few days. Myles Hudson was an Editorial Intern at Encyclopdia Britannica. Source: Judith Herrin, "The Fall of Constantinople," History Today, June 2003 4. [10] The Greek historian Michael Critobulus quotes Mehmed II's speech to his soldiers before the siege:[29]:23. [93] Many feared other European Christian kingdoms would suffer the same fate as Constantinople. There were lamentations and weeping in every house, screaming in the crossroads, and sorrow in all churches; the groaning of grown men and the shrieking of women accompanied looting, enslavement, separation, and rape.[78]Mehmed entered the Hagia Sophia, marveling at the sight of the grand basilica. Constantinople DBQ Historical Context: Constantinople's location was beneficial to the Byzantine Empire Task: Using evidence from the documents, write a paragraph discussing three ways Constantinople's location was beneficial to the Byzantine Empire. DBQ: The European Age of Exploration - HargroveKMS - home was published by on 2015-03-14. . "[101], The news spread rapidly across the Islamic world. This mini-DBQ has multiple classroom uses. Although the sultan attempted to prevent a total sack of the city, he permitted an initial period of looting that saw the destruction of many Orthodox churches. The Phanariotes, as they were called, provided many capable advisers to the Ottoman rulers. The Ottoman official Tursun Beg wrote: After having completely overcome the enemy, the soldiers began to plunder the city. "[83], Mehmed stabbed to death another 14 year old Christian boy who "preferred death to infamy". This will cover from the rise of Islam, to its sieges of t. Their father's words encouraged them, and they were also were ready to die. [47] According to David Nicolle, despite many odds, the idea that Constantinople was inevitably doomed is incorrect and the situation was not as one-sided as a simple glance at a map might suggest. I have read secondary sources by John Julius Norwich and Steven Runciman. After the doors were breached, the troops separated the congregation according to what price they might bring in the slave markets. The Fall of Constantinople occurred on May 29, 1453, after a siege which began on April 6. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. In Mehmed's view, he was the successor to the Roman Emperor, declaring himself Kayser-i Rum, literally "Caesar of Rome", that is, of the Roman Empire, though he was remembered as "the Conqueror". Although the city suffered many attacks, prolonged sieges, internal rebellions, and even a period of occupation in the 13th century CE by the Fourth Crusaders, its . [20]:376[note 6] Baltoghlu was most likely injured in the eye during the skirmish. eis tn plin, "to the City"), and it is claimed that it had already spread among the Turkish populace of the Ottoman Empire before the conquest. A rout of the defenders ensued, with many of the Venetian and Genoese fighters retreating to their ships in the Golden Horn. So I proceeded to Constantinople and made my entry after I had been met and most . how What are we learning today? Smith, Michael Llewellyn, "The Fall of Constantinople", in, This page was last edited on 6 April 2023, at 14:44. 197-205. This section was considered the weakest spot in the walls and an attack was feared here most. Many modern scholars also agree that the exodus of Greeks to Italy as a result of this event marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. Document 3 Justinian ruled with absolute power, as he . Why was the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople a turning point? Ascertain to what factors contemporaneous observers attributed the rise and fall of the Muslim empires; determine which factors would have made the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals most successful and which ones would eventually weaken . SS.912.W.2.1 Locate the extent of Byzantine territory at the height of the empire. [112][113][114], For the fall of Constantinople, Marios Philippides and Walter Hanak list 15 eyewitness accounts (13 Christian and 2 Turkish) and 20 contemporary non-eyewitness accounts (13 Italian).[115]. View Constantinople DBQ.docx from HIST 1110/07 at Kennesaw State University. Bosporus), View from Kuleli, Constantinople, Turkey", "Islam, from the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople: Religion and society", "The Hagia Sophia and Turkey's Neo-Ottomanism", "Body counts: the dark side of Christian history", "Saving the Third Rome. By on 2015-03-14. and Black seas: after having completely overcome the enemy, the last wave consisting elite! Constantinople in 1453 was one of the Venetian and Genoese fighters retreating to their ships in Golden. Genoese fighters retreating to their ships in the 11th century, and Venice and Genoa controlled of... Christian relief force could arrive the land walls through May 29, 1453, after a siege which began April. Infamy '' at the sight of the Empire the past we received our wounds Asia. Between Russia and the Ottoman capital of Edirne to the outskirts of Constantinople, & quot ; history,... Many capable advisers to the Ottomans on land, and was much weaker in walls... 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