Source: Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate

The Christianization of the colossal Roman Empire in the 4th century turned it into a worldwide stronghold of Christianity. In fact, almost the entire Christian world fit within the boundaries of the state, which included all the countries of the Mediterranean basin and went far beyond its borders, owning both the Black Sea and Britain. Being in fact so great, the empire, both before and after the victory of Christianity, theoretically claimed to be universal. Divine services remind us of this ancient doctrine. The words of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom: We also offer this verbal service about the universe to Thee - they mean the subject of prayer, not cosmic or geographical, but precisely political - “universe” was one of the official names of the empire. The beginning of Christianization coincided with the founding of a new capital on the Bosphorus.

The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine the Great, on the site of the ancient city of Byzantium, built the New, or Second Rome - Constantinople, which the Slavs later called Constantinople. In 330, the city was solemnly consecrated, and in the Greek Menaion there is a service on May 11 - in memory of the birthday, or renewal, of Constantinograd. Already after the death of the City of Constantine in 1453, in the West they began to call the power that had this City as the capital, Byzantium, according to the ancient name of the City. The “Byzantines” themselves never called themselves that: they called themselves Romans (this is how the Caucasian Greeks are still called) and their state - Roman. The posthumous renaming of it is doubly pejorative. The West denied her a Roman name and heritage, because they wanted to usurp both in the empire of Charlemagne, and later in the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation." And at the same time, the West, in whose history the Middle Ages were a dark time of barbarism, denied “Byzantium” an independent cultural meaning: for it, it was just a mediator for the transmission of the ancient heritage to the West. In fact, “Byzantium” (the West began to understand this only towards the end of the 19th century) created the greatest culture that grew on ancient soil (the Church, unlike sects and heresies, never rejected antiquity indiscriminately), absorbed some Eastern influences, spiritualized by the faith of Christ and brought wondrous spiritual fruits - theology, worship, art. The God-inspired creation of the Christian state, Christian society, Christian culture went against the elements of this world, all human infirmities and sins, and in severe opposition to external destructive forces.

In the 5th century, the migration of peoples led the empire to the first catastrophe: the German barbarians captured not only Rome (which many perceived as a sign of the end of the world), but the entire western part of the empire. The Roman power survived thanks to the strength of its eastern part.

In the VI century, under St. Justinian the Great, the empire regained Italy, Latin Africa, part of Spain. The victory over the barbarians was a victory for Orthodoxy, since the Germans were Arians.

In the 7th century, the empire survived the Persian conquest of Syria, Palestine and Egypt; the capital itself was under siege. Emperor Heraclius, with the exertion of all his strength, crushed the power of the Persians, returned to Jerusalem the Cross of the Lord, captured by them as a trophy, but turned out to be powerless before the new conqueror - the Arabs. In a short time, the lands that had just been returned from the Persians were lost. The ease of conquest is explained by the fact that the Monophysites in Egypt and Syria were burdened by the power of the Orthodox empire. In the 7th-8th centuries, the Arabs continued their conquests, and the capital itself was repeatedly under siege.

In the 7th century, the empire had another enemy: the Slavs crossed the Danube and occupied the entire Balkan Peninsula. The empire did not have enough military strength to withstand the dangers, but it had spiritual weapons at its disposal: those who were enemies were captivated into obedience and enriched with all the spiritual wealth of Christianity. Yesterday's conquerors adopted the Greek language, the language of the Church and culture, and became loyal subjects of the empire. However, the missionaries of Constantinople, the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, laid the foundation for the Slavic church culture, which became an exact reproduction of the Greek prototype. By the beginning of the 11th century, the empire had regained a lot: its lands included the Balkans from the Danube and the Drava, Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria, and southern Italy. But by the end of the same century, the Seljuks captured all her possessions in Asia.

By that time, the West had already destroyed church unity with the East. The ecclesiastical rupture of 1054 was preceded and predetermined by the political rupture of 800, when the Pope proclaimed Charlemagne Emperor of Rome. The pressure from the West was increasing. In order to receive assistance in repelling the Western danger, the Tsaregrad government was forced to conclude an agreement with the pioneer of capitalism - the Venetian Republic, according to which Venice received great privileges on the territory of the empire, to severe and lasting damage to the Byzantine economy and trade.

The loss of territories effectively turned the empire into a Greek state, but the ideology of Roman universalism remained intact. Almost every emperor resumed negotiations on a union with the Western Church, but since neither the rulers, nor the clergy, nor the people wanted to deviate from Orthodoxy, the negotiations always came to a standstill.

The Crusades created a new situation. On the one hand, they allowed the restoration of the power of the Orthodox power in western Asia Minor. On the other hand, the states created by the crusaders in Syria and Palestine were very hostile to the Greeks, who were portrayed as the main culprits for the failures of the crusaders, and the aggressiveness of the West against the Greeks grew.

The West - Venice and the crusaders - managed to crush the empire in 1204. Constantinople was burned and captured, and the conquerors wanted to divide the territory of the empire among themselves. The years of Latin dominion on the Bosporus (1204-1261) are the time of the systematic removal from the recent cultural capital of the world of all the shrines, riches and valuables that survived the first days of plunder. Much was simply barbarously destroyed. In 1453, the Turks had very little booty left. The year 1204 added the most important psychological factor to the religious reasons for the division: the West showed its face as an evil rapist and barbarian. Naturally, the victors tried to subjugate the Greek Church to the pope: a Latin patriarch sat in Hagia Sophia, and in the occupied lands (in some places, for several centuries: in Crete, in Cyprus), the Greeks were forced to live in the union regime. Fragments of the Orthodox empire remained on the periphery, and Nicaea in Asia Minor became its main center.

The first emperor from the Palaiologos dynasty, Michael VIII, returned Constantinople. After decades of Latin rule, it was a shadow of the former city. Palaces lay in ruins, churches lost all their decoration, miserable residential quarters were interspersed with wastelands, orchards and orchards.

The liberation of the capital increased the aggressiveness of the West. Michael did not find any other means to prevent the threat of the conquest of the empire by the Catholics, except to conclude an ecclesiastical union with Rome. Ultimately, it did nothing for him. The Western states gave up their aggressive intentions for a very short time, but among the subjects of Michael the union caused almost universal rejection, and the emperor, together with the Uniate Patriarch of Constantinople John Vekk, needed extensive repressions against the opponents of the union. Despite Michael's determination to assert the union by any means, Pope Martin IV excommunicated him from the Church for infidelity to the union! The union lasted eight years and died with Michael (1282).

Defending himself against the West, Michael VIII actively influenced European politics and had some military and diplomatic success. But in his activities, the empire has exhausted its last strength. After him, the decline of the Orthodox empire begins.

But, surprisingly, in a state of ever-expanding political, military, economic, social decline, the Eastern Empire not only did not wither spiritually, but, on the contrary, brought its most mature, beautiful and perfect fruits. Many faces, many written and artistic creations will remain unknown to us - their memory perished in the fire of conquest. Much remained and remains unknown simply because after the catastrophe there was no one to assess how this lost society lived. Only at the end of the 19th century did the world appreciate the external forms of its worldview - “Byzantine art”. Only in the middle of the 20th century did the Orthodox (and non-Orthodox) world begin to study the spiritual, mystical and theological pinnacle of Hesychasm. The critical edition of the chief teacher of hesychasm, St. Gregory Palamas, has not yet been completed. Tens of thousands of handwritten pages of his contemporaries still remain completely unpublished... The weaker the Roman power became, the more undeniable was its spiritual influence everywhere in the Orthodox world - in Russia of St. Alexis, in Serbia Stefan Dushan, in Bulgaria St. Euthymius ...

For centuries, the empire stood at the crossroads of the world, on the way from Europe to Asia and from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, spiritually nourishing both the Orthodox and even the non-Orthodox world and protecting the Christian world from Asian conquerors. Now her ministry was coming to an end. By 1300, the Turks had conquered her rather large and rich possessions in Asia Minor, except for a few cities that were captured during the 14th century. In the middle of this century, the Turks stepped into Europe. By the end of it, the Turks had already destroyed Bulgaria, dealt a mortal blow to Serbia on the Kosovo field (1389) and captured most of the European possessions of the empire, including the second city - Thessaloniki.

With the empire, of which only the capital, the distant Peloponnese and several islands remained, they were no longer considered. In Moscow, which has always been loyal and recognized the primacy of the Constantinople tsar (they prayed for him in Russian churches), Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich ordered to stop the commemoration of the emperor, saying: “We have a church, but no tsar.” In defense of the imperial ideology, Patriarch Anthony IV of Constantinople took the floor, writing to the Grand Duke: “I grieve, hearing some words spoken by your nobility about my most sovereign and holy autocrat and tsar. For they say that you prevent the metropolitan from commemorating the divine name of the tsar in diptychs, an absolutely unacceptable thing ... This is not good. The holy king has a great place in the Church; he is not like other princes and local rulers, for from the beginning the kings approved and determined piety throughout the universe, and the kings gathered ecumenical councils, and what concerns right dogmas and Christian living, what the divine and sacred canons say, they approved and legitimized to love and honor ... why they have great honor and a place in the Church. And although, by the permission of God, the tongues surrounded the region and the land of the king, but even now the king from the Church has the same consecration and the same rank and the same prayers, and he is anointed with great Peace and consecrated king and autocrat of the Romans, that is, all Christians, and in every place and by all patriarchs and metropolitans and bishops, the name of the king is commemorated, where only Christians are named, which none of the other rulers or local rulers has in any way, and has such power in comparison with all that the Latins themselves, who have no communion with our Church, also give him the same obedience as in ancient days, when they were one with us. Orthodox Christians owe him much more with this... It is impossible for Christians to have a Church and not have a tsar. For the kingdom and the Church have much unity and commonality, and their mutual separation is impossible. These are the only kings that are rejected by Christians – heretics… But my most powerful and holy autocrat, by the grace of God, is the most Orthodox and most faithful and intercessor of the Church, defensor and protector, and it is impossible for there to be a bishop who does not commemorate him. Hear also the supreme Apostle Peter, speaking in the first of the epistles: Fear God, honor the king (1 Pet. 2:17). He did not say: kings, so that no one would think that it is said about the so-called kings of individual nations, but: king, indicating that there is one universal (katholikos) king ... For if some other Christians appropriated the title of king, then all such ... illegal ... For what fathers, what councils, what canons speak of them? But about the natural king they cry out above and below, whose statutes and decrees and commands are loved and honored throughout the universe, whom Christians everywhere commemorate” 1 .

At that time, Manuel Palaiologos (1391-1425), one of the noblest sovereigns, reigned. Being a theologian and scientist by vocation, he spent his time in a humiliating and fruitless search for a way out of the stalemate of the empire. In 1390-1391, as a hostage in Asia Minor, he had frank conversations about faith with the Turks (who treated him with deep respect). From these discussions arose “26 dialogues with a certain Persian” (as the archaic literary manner required to call the Turks), and only a few dialogues are devoted to polemics with Islam, and most of them are a positive exposition of the Christian faith and morality. The work has been published only in a small part.

Manuel found solace in writing church hymns, sermons and theological treatises, but this did not shield him from the terrible reality. The Turks stepped into Europe far to the north and west from the encircled Constantinople, and it was just right for Europe to show reasonable selfishness by defending the Eastern Empire. Manuel traveled to the West, reached distant London, but nowhere received anything but sincere sympathy and vague promises. When all the possibilities were already exhausted, the news reached the emperor, who was in Paris, that the Providence of God had found an unexpected means: Timur inflicted a crushing defeat on the Turks (1402). The death of the empire was delayed for half a century. While the Turks were restoring their strength, the empire managed to free itself from the tribute that was paid to the Turks and return Thessalonica.

After the death of Manuel, the last generation of Palaiologos came to power. Under his son, John VIII, the situation became more and more formidable. In 1430, Thessalonica fell again - now for almost five centuries. The perilous danger forced the Greeks again (for the umpteenth time!) to negotiate a union with Rome. This time the union effort produced the most tangible results. And yet it can be argued that this time the union was doomed to failure in advance. The parties did not understand each other, representing two different worlds - both in the theological and in the church-political aspects. For Pope Eugene IV, the union was a means to restore and establish the shaken papal authority. For the Greeks, it was a tragic attempt to preserve everything as it was before - not only the empire, but also the Church with all her heritage of faith and ritual. Some of the Greeks naively hoped that at the Council of Florence there would be a “victory” of Orthodox Tradition over Latin innovations. It didn't happen, and it couldn't happen. But the real result was not a simple capitulation of the Greeks either. The main goal of the pope was not the subjugation of the Greeks, but the defeat of the opposition of the Western episcopate, which in large part rebelled against papal omnipotence and tried to subordinate the pope to the council. In the face of a formidable enemy in the West (many sovereigns stood behind the rebellious bishops), it was possible to make some compromises with the East. Indeed, the union signed on July 6, 1439 was of a compromise nature, and the question was “who will win” in its practical application. Thus, the union stipulated the “reservation of all rights and privileges” of the four Eastern patriarchs, but the pope tried to test the Greeks “for strength” and declared his readiness to appoint a new Patriarch of Constantinople. The emperor firmly objected that it was not the job of the pope to make such appointments. The Pope wanted St. Mark of Ephesus, a firm defender of Orthodoxy, who had not signed the union, to be handed over to him for trial and reprisal. Again followed a firm declaration that it was not the job of the pope to judge the Greek clerics, and Saint Mark returned to Constantinople in the imperial retinue.

The conclusion of the union in the form in which it was developed and signed was possible only because the Greeks did not have internal unity. The representative Greek delegation at the council - the emperor, Patriarch Joseph II (who died two days before the signing of the union and was buried after him, jointly by Greeks and Latins), a host of hierarchs (some of them represented three Eastern patriarchs) - showed a motley spectrum of views and moods. Here was the adamant warrior of Orthodoxy, St. Mark, and the hierarchs, who up to a time defended Orthodoxy, but later were shaken either by the skillful dialectic of the Latins, or by the rude and tangible pressure of strangers or their own, and “humanists”, more occupied with ancient philosophy than with Christian theology, and fanatical patriots ready to do anything to save the empire from Muslims.

The views and activities of each of those who signed the union are subject to a special study. But the circumstances are such that they do not allow to call together all of them and those who followed them "Catholics" or even "Uniates". John Eugenikus, brother of Saint Mark, calls John VIII a "Christ-loving king" even after he signed the union. A strictly anti-Catholic author, Archimandrite Ambrose (Pogodin), speaks not of falling away from Orthodoxy, but of “humiliation of the Orthodox Church” 2 .

For Orthodoxy, compromise is impossible. History says that this is not the way to overcome dissent, but the way to create new doctrines and new divisions. Far from actually uniting East and West, the union brought division and strife into the Eastern Church at a critical hour in its history. The people and the clergy could not accept the union. Under their influence, those who put them under the Bull of the Union began to renounce their signatures. Of the thirty-three clerics, only ten did not withdraw their signatures. One of them was Protosingel Gregory Mammi, who later became Patriarch of Constantinople and in 1451, under pressure from the Anti-Uniates, was forced to flee to Rome. Constantinople met the siege and fall without a patriarch.

At first, one could think that the political calculations of the supporters of the union were correct - the West moved on a crusade against the Turks. However, the time when the Turks would besiege Vienna was still far away, and the West as a whole was still indifferent to Byzantium. Those who were directly threatened by the Turks took part in the campaign: the Hungarians, as well as the Poles and Serbs. The crusaders entered Bulgaria, which had already belonged to the Turks for half a century, and were utterly defeated on November 10, 1444 near Varna.

On October 31, 1448, John VIII Palaiologos died, who did not dare to officially declare the union. The throne was occupied by his brother, Constantine XI Palaiologos Dragas, who signed with two family names - paternal and maternal. His mother, Elena Dragash, was a Serbian, the only Slav who became Empress of Constantinople. After the death of her husband, she became a monk with the name Ipomoni and was glorified as a saint (Comm. 29 May, the day of the fall of Constantinople). She was the last empress because she outlived her daughter-in-law empresses.

Constantine XI, born February 8, 1405, was the eldest surviving son of Manuel II. But his claim to the throne was not undeniable. In the Eastern Empire, there was no law of succession to the throne, and it was up to the reigning emperor to determine the heir. If he did not have time to do this, according to the custom that existed at that time, the Empress Mother decided the issue. Elena-Ipomoni blessed her fourth (there were six in total) son to ascend the throne. Konstantin was a man of noble soul, a stern and courageous warrior, a good military leader. We know little of his interests in science, literature and art, although the court at Mystra in the Peloponnese, where he stayed before he took the royal crown, was the center of the most subtle culture. Union remained the main problem. Church disputes in Constantinople reached such intensity that Constantine did not want to be crowned king by Patriarch Gregory III, who was not recognized by the anti-Uniates. The crown was brought to Mistra, and the coronation was performed on January 6, 1449 by the local metropolitan. In the summer of 1451, an imperial ambassador was sent to Rome, who, in particular, delivered to the pope a message from the “meeting” (synaxis) of bishops and other opponents of the union, who suggested that the pope cancel the decisions of the Council of Florence and take part in a new Ecumenical Council, this time in Constantinople. This is very revealing. The emperor, who officially adheres to the union, cooperates with its opponents, who, entering into his position, do not declare their “assembly” a cathedral (synod).

At the same time, the Orthodox, rejecting the concluded union, take a constructive position and are ready for new negotiations and discussions. However, not all Orthodox were so optimistic. The Pope did not want to hear about the revision of the union. His ambassador, Cardinal Isidore, arrived in Constantinople (a former metropolitan of the Russian Church, deposed by Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich for proclaiming a union and escaping from a Moscow prison). The Metropolitan Cardinal succeeded in getting him permission to commemorate the pope and proclaim the union bull at a solemn service in Hagia Sophia. This, of course, embittered the confrontation between opponents and supporters of the union. But even among the latter there was no unity: many hoped that if the City survived, then everything could be reconsidered.

In 1451, Mehmed II the Conqueror occupied the Sultan's throne - a capable ruler, an excellent military leader, a cunning politician, a monarch who loves science and art, but is extremely cruel and completely immoral. He immediately began to prepare for the capture of the City of St. Constantine. Having landed on the European coast of the Bosphorus, which still belonged to the empire, he began to destroy the Greek villages, capture the few cities remaining from the Greeks and build a fortress equipped with powerful cannons at the mouth of the Bosphorus. The exit to the Black Sea was blocked. The supply of grain to Constantinople could be stopped at any moment. The conqueror attached special importance to the fleet. More than a hundred warships were prepared for the siege of the City. The land army of the Sultan was at least 100 thousand. The Greeks even claimed that there were up to 400 thousand soldiers. The striking force of the Turkish army was the Janissary regiments. (Janissaries are the sons of Christian parents, who were taken from their families in infancy and raised in the spirit of Islamic fanaticism).

The Turkish army was well armed and had an important advantage in technology. The Hungarian cannon master Urban offered his services to the emperor, but, without agreeing on a salary, ran to the sultan and cast for him a cannon of an unprecedented caliber. During the siege, it exploded, but was immediately replaced with a new one. Even during the short weeks of the siege, at the request of the Sultan, the gunsmiths made technical improvements and cast many improved cannons. And those who defended the City had only weak, small-caliber guns.

When the Sultan arrived on April 5, 1453 under the walls of Constantinople, the City was already besieged both from the sea and from land. The inhabitants of the City have been preparing for a siege for a long time. Walls were repaired, fortress ditches were cleaned. Donations from monasteries, churches and private individuals were received for defense needs. The garrison was negligible: less than 5 thousand subjects of the empire and less than 2 thousand Western soldiers, primarily Italians. The besieged had about 25 ships. Despite the numerical superiority of the Turkish fleet, the besieged had some advantages at sea: the Greek and Italian sailors were much more experienced and courageous, and in addition, their ships were armed with "Greek fire", a combustible substance that could burn even in water and caused great fires.

According to Muslim law, if a city surrendered, its inhabitants were guaranteed the preservation of life, liberty and property. If the city was taken by storm, the inhabitants were exterminated or enslaved. Mehmed sent parliamentarians with an offer to surrender. The emperor, who was repeatedly offered by his close associates to leave the doomed city, was ready to remain at the head of his small army to the end. And although the inhabitants and defenders had different attitudes towards the prospects of the City and some preferred the power of the Turks to a close alliance with the West, almost everyone was ready to defend the City. Even for the monks there were fighting posts. On April 6, hostilities began.

Constantinople had, roughly speaking, a triangular shape. Surrounded by walls on all sides, it is washed by the Golden Horn from the north, by the Sea of ​​Marmara from the east and south, and the western fortifications passed by land. On this side, they were especially powerful: the ditch filled with water was 20 meters wide and 7 meters deep, above it - five-meter walls, then the second row of walls 10 meters high with 13-meter towers, and behind them there are still walls 12 meters high with 23- meter towers. The Sultan tried in every possible way to achieve decisive predominance at sea, but considered the assault on land fortifications to be the main goal. The powerful artillery preparation lasted for a week. Urban's big cannon fired seven times a day, in general, cannons of various calibers fired up to a hundred cannonballs a day through the city.

At night, the inhabitants, men and women, cleaned the filled ditches and hastily patched the gaps with boards and barrels of earth. On April 18, the Turks moved to storm the fortifications and were repulsed, losing many people. On April 20, the Turks were also defeated at sea. Four ships were approaching the City with weapons and provisions, which were very lacking in the City. They were met by many Turkish ships. Dozens of Turkish ships surrounded three Genoese and one imperial ship, trying to set them on fire and board them. The excellent training and discipline of the Christian sailors prevailed over the enemy, who had a huge numerical superiority. After many hours of battle, four victorious ships broke out of the encirclement and entered the Golden Horn, locked by an iron chain, which was held on wooden rafts and was attached at one end to the wall of Constantinople, and at the other - to the wall of the Genoese fortress of Galata on the opposite shore of the bay.

The Sultan was furious, but immediately invented a new move that greatly complicated the situation of the besieged. A road was built on uneven, elevated terrain, along which the Turks dragged many ships to the Golden Horn on wooden skids on special, immediately built wooden carts. This happened on April 22nd. A night attack on the Turkish ships in the Horn was secretly prepared, but the Turks knew about this in advance and were the first to start cannon fire. The ensuing naval battle again showed the superiority of the Christians, but the Turkish ships remained in the bay and threatened the City from this side. Cannons were installed on the rafts, which fired at the City from the side of the Horn.

At the beginning of May, the shortage of food became so palpable that the emperor again collected funds from churches and from individuals, bought up all the available food and arranged a distribution: each family received a modest but sufficient ration.

Again, the nobles offered Constantine to leave the City and rally the anti-Turkish coalition away from danger, in the hope of saving both the City and other Christian countries. He answered them: “The number of Caesars before me was former, great and glorious, having suffered so much and died for their fatherland; Am I not going to do this last pack? Neither, my lords, nor, but let me die here with you” 3 . On May 7 and 12, the Turks again stormed the city walls, which were increasingly destroyed by continuous cannonade. The Turks began to dig under the ground with the help of experienced miners. Until the very end, the besieged successfully dug counter-digs, burning wooden props, blowing up the Turkish passages and smoking out the Turks with smoke.

On May 23, a brigantine appeared on the horizon, pursued by Turkish ships. The inhabitants of the City began to hope that the squadron, which had long been expected from the West, had finally arrived. But when the ship safely passed the danger, it turned out that this was the same brigantine that twenty days ago had gone in search of allied ships; now she's back without finding anyone. The allies played a double game, not wanting to declare war on the sultan and at the same time counting on the strength of the city walls, greatly underestimating the unbending will of the 22-year-old sultan and the military advantages of his army. The emperor, thanking the Venetian sailors who were not afraid to break into the City to tell him this sad and important news, wept and said that from now on there were no earthly hopes left.

There were also unfavorable heavenly signs. May 24 The city was demoralized by a total lunar eclipse. The next morning, a religious procession began around the City with the image of Hodegetria, the Heavenly Patroness of the City of St. Constantine. Suddenly the holy icon fell off the stretcher. As soon as the course resumed, a thunderstorm began, hail and such a downpour that the children were carried away by the stream; the move had to be stopped. The next day the whole city was shrouded in thick fog. And at night, both the besieged and the Turks saw some mysterious light around the dome of Hagia Sophia.

The newly approached came to the emperor and demanded that he leave the City. He was in such a state that he fainted. Coming to his senses, he firmly said that he would die along with everyone else.

The Sultan offered a peaceful solution for the last time. Either the emperor undertakes to pay annually 100 thousand gold pieces (an amount completely unrealistic for him), or all the inhabitants are removed from the City, taking their movable property with them. Having received a refusal and having heard the assurances of military leaders and soldiers that they were ready to start an assault, Mehmed ordered to prepare the last attack. The soldiers were reminded that, according to the customs of Islam, the City will be given for three days to be plundered by the soldiers of Allah. The Sultan solemnly swore that the booty would be divided among them fairly.

On Monday, May 28, along the walls of the City there was a big religious procession, in which many shrines of the City were carried; move united Orthodox and Catholics. The emperor joined the march, and at the end of it he invited military leaders and nobles to his place. “You know well, brethren,” he said, “that we are all obliged to prefer life for the sake of one of four things: firstly, for our faith and piety, secondly, for our homeland, thirdly, for the king as the anointed Lord's and, fourthly, for relatives and friends ... how much more - for the sake of all these four. In an animated speech, the tsar urged to fight for a holy and just cause without sparing life and with the hope of victory: "Your remembrance and memory and glory and freedom may abide forever."

After a speech addressed to the Greeks, he appealed to the Venetians, "who had the City as a second homeland", and to the Genoese, to whom the City belonged "as well as to me", with calls for courageous opposition to the enemy. Then, addressing everyone together, he said: “I hope in God that we will be delivered from His proper righteous rebuke. Secondly, an adamant crown has been prepared for you in Heaven, and in the world there will be an eternal and worthy memory. With tears and groans, Constantine gave thanks to God. “All, as if with one mouth,” answered him, weeping: “We will die for the faith of Christ and for our fatherland!” 4 . The king went to Hagia Sophia, prayed, weeping, and partook of the Holy Mysteries. Many others followed his example. Returning to the palace, he asked everyone for forgiveness, and the hall resounded with lamentations. Then he went to the walls of the City to check the battle posts.

Many people gathered for prayer in Hagia Sophia. In one temple, the clergy prayed, until the last moment divided by religious struggle. S. Runciman, the author of a remarkable book about those days, exclaims with pathos: “It was the moment when the eastern and western Christian Churches really united in Constantinople” 5 . However, the irreconcilable opponents of Latinism and the union could pray separately, in the many churches that were at their disposal.

On the night of Tuesday, May 29 (it was the second day of Peter's post), at two o'clock, the assault began around the entire perimeter of the walls. The bashi-bazouks, irregular units, were the first to attack. Mehmed did not hope for their victory, but wanted to use them to wear down the besieged. To prevent panic behind the bashi-bazouks were “blocking detachments” of the military police, and behind them were the Janissaries. After two hours of intense fighting, the bashi-bazouks were allowed to withdraw. Immediately the second wave of attack began. A particularly dangerous situation was created in the most vulnerable part of the land wall, at the gates of St. Roman. Artillery fired up. The Turks met with a fierce rebuff. When they were about to collapse, the cannonball fired from Urban's cannon shattered the barrier erected in the gaps in the wall. Several hundred Turks rushed into the gap with triumphant cries. But detachments under the command of the emperor surrounded them and killed most of them; the rest were pushed back into the ditch. In other areas, the successes of the Turks were even less. The attackers retreated again. And now, when the defenders were already tired of the four-hour battle, the selected regiments of the Janissaries, the favorites of the conqueror, went on the attack. For a whole hour the Janissaries fought to no avail.

In the northwest of Constantinople was the palace district of Blachernae. Its fortifications formed part of the city walls. In these fortifications there was a well-concealed secret door called Kerkoporta. She was successfully used for sorties. The Turks found it and found that it was not locked. Fifty Turks burst through it. When they were discovered, they tried to surround the Turks who had broken through. But then another fateful event happened nearby. At dawn, one of the main leaders of the defense, the Genoese Giustiniani, was mortally wounded. Despite Constantine's request to remain at his post, Giustiniani ordered that he be carried away. The battle went beyond the outer wall. When the Genoese saw that their commander was being carried away through the gates of the inner wall, they rushed after him in a panic. The Greeks were left alone, repulsed several attacks by the Janissaries, but in the end they were thrown from the outer fortifications and killed. Without meeting resistance, the Turks climbed the inner wall and saw the Turkish flag on the tower above Kerkoport. The emperor, leaving Giustiniani, rushed to Kerkoporte, but nothing could be done there. Then Constantine returned to the gate through which Giustiniani was carried away, and tried to gather the Greeks around him. With him was his cousin Theophilus, a faithful companion John and the Spanish knight Francis. Four of them defended the gate and fell together on the field of honor. The emperor's head was brought to Mehmed; he ordered to put her on the forum, then she was embalmed and taken to the courts of the Muslim rulers. The body of Constantine, identified by shoes with double-headed eagles, was buried, and centuries later his unmarked grave was shown. Then she fell into oblivion.

The city fell. The bursting Turks first of all rushed to the gates, so that Turkish units would pour into the city from all sides. In many places the besieged found themselves surrounded on the walls they were defending. Some tried to break through to the ships and escape. Some staunchly resisted and were killed. Until noon, the Cretan sailors held out in the towers. Out of respect for their courage, the Turks allowed them to board ships and sail away. Metropolitan Isidore, who commanded one of the Latin detachments, having learned that the City had fallen, changed his clothes and tried to hide. The Turks killed the one to whom he gave the clothes, and he himself was captured, but remained unrecognized and was ransomed very soon. The Pope of Rome proclaimed him Patriarch of Constantinople in partibus infidelium. Isidore tried to organize a crusade against "the forerunner of the Antichrist and the son of Satan", but it was already over. A whole squadron of ships full of refugees left for the West. For the first hours, the Turkish fleet was inactive: the sailors, having abandoned their ships, rushed to rob the City. But then the Turkish ships nevertheless blocked the exit from the Golden Horn to the imperial and Italian ships remaining there.

The fate of the inhabitants was terrible. No one needed children, old people and cripples were killed on the spot. All others were enslaved. A huge crowd prayed, shutting themselves in Hagia Sophia. When the massive metal doors were broken and the Turks burst into the temple of Divine Wisdom, they took the captives bound in strings for a long time. When in the evening Mehmed entered the cathedral, he mercifully set free the Christians who had not yet been taken out of it, as well as the priests who had come out to him from the secret doors.

Sad was the fate of Christians, sad was the fate of Christian shrines. Icons and relics were destroyed, books were torn from their precious frames and burned. Inexplicably, only a few of the great multitude of churches survived. Either they were considered to have surrendered to the mercy of the winner, or they were taken under the protection of the Christian vassals of Mehmed who participated in the siege, or he himself ordered to preserve them, as he intended, having cleared the City of the population, to repopulate it and give a place in it also to the Orthodox .

Very soon the conqueror became concerned about the restoration of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. He nominated the monk Gennady Scholarius, who after the death of St. Mark of Ephesus, headed the Orthodox opposition to the union, as a candidate for the patriarchal throne. They began to look for Scholaria; it turned out that he was captured in Constantinople and sold into slavery in the then capital of the Sultan, Adrianople. In the new state system created by Mehmed, the metropolitan patriarch - and the defeated City soon became the new capital - received the position of "milet-bashi", "ethnarch", who led the Orthodox "people", that is, all the Orthodox of the Ottoman Empire, not only in the spiritual, but and secularly. But that's a completely different story.

A few years later, the last vestiges of the Eastern Empire ceased to exist. In 1460, the Turks took the Peloponnese, which was then called the Slavic name Morea. In 1461, the kingdom of Trebizond shared his fate.

A great culture has perished. The Turks allowed worship, but banned Christian schools. Not in the best position was the cultural tradition of Orthodoxy in Crete, Cyprus and other Greek islands that belonged to the Catholics. Numerous bearers of Greek culture, who fled to the West, were left with the fate of Catholicization and merging with the religiously dubious environment of the “Renaissance”.

But the Church did not perish, and the ever stronger Russia became the new world stronghold of Orthodoxy.

In the minds of the Greeks, Constantine Palaiologos was and remains the personification of valor, faith and fidelity 6 . In the Lives of the Saints published by the "old calendarists", that is, by definition, the most extreme anti-Catholics, there is an image of Constantine, though without a halo. In his hand he holds a scroll: The flow is dead, the faith is kept. And the Savior lowers a crown and a scroll on him with the words: Otherwise, the crown of righteousness is kept for you. 7 And in 1992, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece blessed the service of Saint Ipomoni “as in no way deviating from the dogmas and traditions of our Most Holy Church.” The service includes a troparion and other hymns to Constantine Palaiologos, the glorious martyr king.

Troparion 8, tone 5

Thou hast accepted the feat of honor from the Creator, valiant martyr, Light of Paleologos, Constantine, Byzantium to the extreme king, the same, now dwelling in the Lord, pray to Him, grant peace to everyone and subdue enemies under the nose of Orthodox people 8.

NOTES

1 Miklosich Fr., Müller Ios. Acta et diplomata graeca medii aevi sacra et profana. Vindobonae, 1862. V. II. P. 190-192.

2 Archimandrite Ambrose. St. Mark of Ephesus and the Union of Florence. Jordanville, 1963, pp. 310, 320.

3 The Tale of the Capture of Constantinople by the Turks // Monuments of Literature of Ancient Russia. Second half of the fifteenth century. M., 1982. S. 244.

565 years ago, April 5, 1453 Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror He pitched his camp tent on the European shore of the Bosphorus. The siege of the City began. That's right - with a capital letter. For the simple reason that Constantinople was the only one. The only true center of European civilization. His loss finally divided the course of history into “before” and “after”.

There was a strange attitude towards this most important episode. Say, and so everything went to the fact that Constantinople would be captured by the Turks. Their darkness and darkness, and in the City they only know how to pray and make religious processions. And in general, the time of Byzantium has already come to an end - it has become decrepit and possessed only a shadow of its former greatness.

Mehmed II Fatih. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

This, to put it mildly, does not correspond to reality. Even from a purely military point of view, the "doom" of Constantinople is a moot point. Beautiful songs about the invincible stern fighters of Islam and pampered Greeks who do not know from which end to take up the sword are nothing more than the fruit of unscrupulous propaganda.

In reality, the capture of the City cost Mehmed II a very, very big blood. And this despite the fact that he treated the preparation very responsibly.

So, Constantinople was isolated from the land side and from the Black Sea, where the sultan in the shortest possible time erected the Rumelihisar fortress, which had an unofficial, but very characteristic name - Bogaz-kesen. That is, "Cutting the Throat."

For the siege and assault, Mehmed prepared an army with a total number of up to 150 thousand people, which included directly assault detachments, sappers and artillery. In those days, artillery was considered strong if there was one gun per thousand soldiers, firing from 3 to 5 shots per day. The bombardment of Constantinople was carried out daily for 6 weeks. From 100 to 150 shots were fired per day, and the bombards of the Hungarian engineer Urban were used quite effectively. In particular, "Basilica", which threw stone balls weighing half a ton at a distance of up to 2 km. In a word, everything was prepared skillfully, it’s a sin to complain. A city with a population of 50,000 and an army of no more than 10,000 had to immediately fall at the feet of the Sultan.

commons.wikimedia.org

But didn't fall. If you draw up a schedule of battles from April 6 to May 29, it turns out that the Turks were defeated over and over again.

April 17-18- night attack of the Turks, a four-hour battle. The positions were held, the attack was repulsed without loss and with great damage to the Turks.

20 April three Venetian galleys with weapons and gold, as well as one Greek ship with grain, break into the besieged Constantinople. The commander of the Turkish fleet Baltoglu loses this battle outright. Sultan in a rage orders to flog him with whips.

May 7th The Turks, with the help of artillery, make a significant gap in the area of ​​​​the gates of St. Roman. The use of the Hungarian bombard "Basilica" is almost masterly. But they cannot develop success - the Greeks counterattack, the Turks flee.

16th of May. The Greeks are blowing up a Turkish tunnel under the walls of Constantinople. The captured Turks taken in the underground battle surrender all the other tunnels. They explode or fill with water.

commons.wikimedia.org

After all these clicks on the nose, the "invincible" Mehmed the Conqueror takes a timeout. His mood is depressed. Sultan's first adviser, Ali Pasha, says: “Regarding this, I foresaw from the very beginning how it would be, and often told you this, but you did not listen to me. And now again, if you like, it would be good to leave here, so that nothing worse happens to us.

However, on the night of May 28-29 seizure is scheduled. And at first he does not bring success to the Turks. Chosen assault squads are ready to waver. Some even run. However, behind them are reliable people. Chaushi and ravdukhs are the police and judicial ranks of the Ottomans. Which at this critical moment did not blunder: “They began to beat the retreating with iron sticks and whips so that they would not show their backs to the enemy. Who can describe the cries, wails and mournful groans of the beaten!

But this does not bring success either. The assault squads are still rolling back. In the only place where several hundred Turks managed to break into the city through gaps, they were simply surrounded and cut to the last man.

The latter is thrown into the scales. Here is what the sultan promises to his “invincible” army, which seems to be fervent believers and seems to be ready to fight in the name of the high ideals of Islam: “If we win, the salary that I pay will be doubled from today until the end of my life. And for three days the whole city will be yours. What loot there - gold utensils or clothes, or prisoners, there will be men and women, children and babies, you are free to dispose of their life and death, no one will require an answer from you. An appeal to animals, to baser instincts, is indeed a last resort. No ideals here and does not smell - only blood, violence, atrocity.

The last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire Constantine XI understood it very well. Evidence of this is his speech before the last assault on the City. “Those who come against us are like dumb animals. Let your shields, and swords, and spears be directed against them. Think in such a way that you hunt many wild pigs so that the enemies know that they are not dealing with dumb animals, like themselves, but with their masters and masters, with the descendants of Hellenes and Romans.

reproduction

The city was captured in the evening. The descendants of the Hellenes and Romans could not keep him. A brutal force took over, interrupting the correct course of history and wiping the last island of antiquity off the face of the earth, where a living European civilization was preserved until the last moment. The West will come to its values ​​again only after the Renaissance. Which would not be needed in the presence of Constantinople - the successor and heir of Greece and Rome.

The events of 1453 left an indelible impression in the memory of contemporaries. The fall of Byzantium was the main news for the peoples of Europe. For some, this caused sadness, for others - gloating. But they were not indifferent.

Whatever the reasons for the fall of Byzantium, this event had enormous consequences for many European and Asian countries. However, the reasons should be discussed in more detail.

Development of Byzantium after restoration

In 1261 there was a restoration. However, the state no longer claimed its former power. The ruler was Michael the Eighth Palaiologos. The possessions of his empire were limited to the following territories:

• northwestern part of Asia Minor;
• Thrace;
• Macedonia;
• part of the Morea;
• several islands in the Aegean.

After the sack and destruction of Constantinople, its importance as a trading center fell. All power was in the hands of the Venetians and Genoese. They were engaged in trade in the Aegean and Black Seas.

The restored Byzantium became a collection of provinces, which also broke up into separate districts. They lost economic and political ties with each other.

So, the feudal lords of Asia Minor began to arbitrarily conclude agreements with the Turkish emirs, the aristocrats fought for power with the ruling dynasty of the Palaiologos. It is not surprising that one of the reasons for the fall of Byzantium was feudal strife. They disorganized the political life of the state, weakened it.

The situation in the economic sphere was not the best. In later years there was a regression. It was expressed in a return to subsistence farming and labor rent. The population became impoverished and could not pay the former taxes. The bureaucracy remained the same.

If asked to name the reasons for the fall of Byzantium, one should also recall the aggravation of social relations within the country.

Wave of urban movements

Such factors as the decline of industry, the collapse of trade relations and navigation led to the aggravation of social relations. All this led to the impoverishment of the urban strata of the population. Many residents had no means of subsistence.

The reasons for the fall of Byzantium lie in the wave of violent urban movements that swept in the forties of the fourteenth century. They were especially bright in Adrianapolis, Heraclea, Thessalonica. The events in Thessalonica led to the temporary declaration of an independent republic. It was created according to the type of the Venetian states.

The reasons for the fall of Byzantium also lie in the reluctance of the major powers of Western Europe to support Constantinople. Emperor Manuel II addressed the governments of the Italian states, the kings of France and England personally, but at best they only promised him help.

Postponing doom

The Turks won victory after victory. In 1371 they proved themselves on the Maritsa River, in 1389 - in 1396 - near Nikopol. Not a single European state wanted to stand in the way of the strongest army.

In the 6th grade, the reason for the fall of Byzantium is the power of the Turkish army, which sent its forces against Constantinople. Indeed, Sultan Bayezid the First did not even try to hide his plans to capture Byzantium. Nevertheless, Manuel II had hope for the salvation of his state. He learned about it while in Paris. Hope was connected with the "Angora catastrophe". You should learn more about this.

The Turks faced a force that could resist them. We are talking about the invasion of Timur (in some sources, Tamerlane). He created a huge empire. In 1402, the army under his leadership moved to Asia Minor. The Turkish army was not inferior in size to the enemy army. Decisive was the betrayal of some emirs, who went over to the side of Timur.

At Angora, a battle took place, which ended in the complete defeat of the Turkish army. Sultan Bayezid fled from the battlefield, but was captured. He was kept in an iron cage until his death. Nevertheless, the Turkish state survived. Timur did not have a fleet and did not send his forces to Europe. In 1405, the ruler died, and his great empire began to disintegrate. But it is worth returning to Turkey.

The loss at Angora and the death of the Sultan led to a long struggle between Bayezid's sons for power. The Turkish state briefly abandoned plans to capture Byzantium. But in the twenties of the fifteenth century, the Turks got stronger. Sultan Murad II came to power, and the army was replenished with artillery.

Despite several attempts, he failed to take Constantinople, but in 1430 he captured Thessalonica. All its inhabitants became slaves.

Union of Florence

The reasons for the fall of Byzantium are directly related to the plans of the Turkish state. It surrounded the perishing empire in a dense ring. The possessions of the once powerful Byzantium were limited to the capital and the surrounding area.

The Byzantine government was constantly looking for help among the states of Catholic Europe. The emperors even agreed to subordinate the Greek Church to the power of the pope. This idea appealed to Rome. In 1439, the Council of Florence was held, at which it was decided to unite the eastern and western churches under papal authority.

The union was not supported by the Greek population. In history, the statement of the head of the Greek fleet, Luke Notara, has been preserved. He stated that he would prefer to see the Turkish turban in Constantinople, rather than All layers of the Greek population well remembered the attitude of the Western European feudal lords who ruled them during the Crusades and the existence of the Latin Empire.

A large amount of information contains the answer to the question "how many reasons for the fall of Byzantium"? Everyone can count them on their own by reading the entire material of the article.

New Crusade

European countries understood the danger that awaits them from the Turkish state. For this and a number of other reasons, they organized the Crusade. It took place in 1444. It was attended by Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, Germans, a separate part of the French knights.

The campaign was unsuccessful for the Europeans. They were defeated near Varna by powerful Turkish troops. After that, the fate of Constantinople was sealed.

Now it is worth highlighting the military reasons for the fall of Byzantium and listing them.

power imbalance

The ruler of Byzantium in the last days of its existence was Constantine the Eleventh. He had a rather weak military force at his disposal. Researchers believe that they consisted of ten thousand warriors. Most of them were mercenaries from the Genoese lands.

The ruler of the Turkish state was Sultan Mehmed II. In 1451 he succeeded Murad II. The Sultan had an army of two hundred thousand soldiers. About fifteen thousand were well-trained Janissaries.

No matter how many reasons for the fall of Byzantium may be named, the inequality of the parties is the main one.

Nevertheless, the city was not going to give up. The Turks had to show considerable ingenuity in order to achieve their goal and take possession of the last stronghold of the Eastern Roman Empire.

What is known about the rulers of the warring parties?

The last Constantine

The last ruler of Byzantium was born in 1405. His father was Manuel II, and his mother was the daughter of the Serbian prince Elena Dragash. Since the maternal family was quite noble, the son had the right to take the surname Dragash. And so he did. Konstantin's childhood passed in the capital.

In his mature years, he was involved in the administration of the province of Morea. For two years he ruled Constantinople during the absence of his elder brother. Contemporaries described him as a quick-tempered man who nevertheless possessed common sense. He knew how to convince others. He was quite an educated person, interested in military affairs.

Became emperor in 1449, after the death of John VIII. He was supported in the capital, but he was not crowned by the patriarch. Throughout his reign, the emperor prepared the capital for a possible siege. He also did not stop looking for allies in the fight against the Turks and made attempts to reconcile the Christians after the signing of the union. Thus it becomes clear how many reasons for the fall of Byzantium. In the 6th grade, the students are also explained what caused the tragic events.

The reason for the new war with Turkey was the demand of Constantine to increase the monetary contribution from Mehmed II for the fact that the Ottoman prince Urhan lives in the Byzantine capital. He could claim the Turkish throne, therefore he was a danger to Mehmed II. The Sultan did not comply with the requirements of Constantinople, and even refused to pay the fee, declaring war.

Constantine was unable to get help from Western European states. The military assistance of the pope turned out to be belated.

Before capturing the Byzantine capital, the sultan gave the emperor the opportunity to surrender, saving his life and maintaining power in Mistra. But Konstantin did not go for it. There is a legend that when the city fell, he tore off his insignia and rushed into battle along with ordinary warriors. The last one died in the battle. There is no exact information about what happened to the remains of the deceased. There are only a lot of assumptions on this issue.

Conqueror of Constantinople

The Ottoman Sultan was born in 1432. The father was Murad II, the mother was the Greek concubine Hyuma Hatun. After six years, he lived for a long time in the province of Manisa. Subsequently, he became its ruler. Mehmed tried several times to ascend the Turkish throne. He finally succeeded in doing so in 1451.

When the Sultan took serious measures to preserve the cultural values ​​of the capital. He established contact with representatives of Christian churches. After the fall of Constantinople, the Venetians and Genoese had to conclude non-aggression pacts with the Turkish state. The agreement also touched upon the issue of free trade.

After the subjugation of Byzantium, the Sultan took Serbia, Wallachia, Herzegovina, the strategic fortresses of Albania. His policies spread east and west. Until his death, the Sultan lived with thoughts of new conquests. Before his death, he intended to capture a new state, presumably Egypt. The cause of death is believed to be food poisoning or a chronic illness. It happened in 1481. His place was taken by his son Bayazid II, who continued his father's policy and strengthened the Ottoman Empire. Let us return to the events of 1453.

Siege of Constantinople

The article examined the reasons for the weakening and fall of Byzantium. Its existence ended in 1453.

Despite a significant superiority in military strength, the Turks besieged the city for two months. The fact is that Constantinople was helped by people, food and weapons from the outside. All this was transported across the sea. But Mehmed II came up with a plan that allowed him to blockade the city from the sea and land. What was the trick?

The Sultan ordered to place wooden decks on land and grease them with lard. On such a "road" the Turks were able to drag their ships to the Golden Horn harbor. The besieged took care that the enemy ships did not enter the harbor through the water. They blocked the way with huge chains. But the Greeks could not have known that the Turkish sultan would transport his fleet overland. This case is considered in detail along with the question of how many reasons for the fall of Byzantium in the history of the 6th grade.

city ​​invasion

Constantinople fell on May 29 of the same year, when its siege began. Emperor Constantine was killed along with most of the city's defenders. The capital of the former empire was plundered by the Turkish army.

It no longer mattered how many reasons for the fall of Byzantium (you can find such information yourself in the text of the paragraph). What mattered was that the inevitable had happened. New Rome fell a thousand years after the destruction of old Rome. Since that time, a regime of despotic oppression of the military-feudal order, as well as the most severe national oppression, has been established in South-Eastern Europe.

However, not all buildings were destroyed during the invasion of Turkish troops. The Sultan had plans for their use in the future.

Constantinople - Istanbul

He decided not to destroy the city, which his ancestors tried so hard to take possession of, completely. He made it the capital of his empire. That is why he gave the order not to destroy the city buildings.

Thanks to this, the most famous monument from the time of Justinian survived. This is the Hagia Sophia. The Sultan turned it into the main mosque, giving it a new name - "Aya Sufi". The city itself received a new name. Now it is known as Istanbul.

Who was the last emperor? What are the reasons for the fall of Byzantium? This information is present in the text of the paragraph of the school textbook. However, not everywhere is indicated what the new name of the city means. "Istanbul" came from a Greek expression that the Turks distorted when they took over the city. The besieged shouted "Is tin polin", which meant "In the city". The Turks thought that this was the name of the Byzantine capital.

Before returning once again to the question of what was the reason for the fall of Byzantium (briefly), it is worth considering all the consequences of the capture of Constantinople by the Turks.

Consequences of the conquest of Constantinople

The fall of Byzantium and its conquest by the Turks had a tremendous impact on many peoples of Europe.

With the capture of Constantinople, the Levantine trade went into oblivion. This happened due to a sharp deterioration in the terms of trade with the countries that the Turks captured. They began to collect large fees from European and Asian merchants. The sea routes themselves became dangerous. Turkish wars practically did not stop, which made it impossible to conduct trade in the Mediterranean. Subsequently, it was the unwillingness to visit Turkish possessions that pushed the merchants to look for new ways to the East and India.

Now it is clear how many reasons for the fall of Byzantium are called by historians. However, one should also pay attention to the consequences of the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks. Moreover, they also touched the Slavic peoples. The transformation of the Byzantine capital into the center of the Turkish state influenced political life in Central and Eastern Europe.

In the sixteenth century, Turkish aggression unfolded against the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Ukraine, Hungary. When in 1526 the Turkish army defeated the crusaders in the battle of Mohacs, it took possession of the main part of Hungary. Now Turkey has become a threat to the possessions of the Habsburgs. Such a danger from the outside contributed to the creation of the Austrian Empire from the many peoples who lived in the Middle Danube basin. The Habsburgs became the head of the new state.

The Turkish state also threatened the countries of Western Europe. By the sixteenth century it had grown to enormous proportions, including the entire North African coast. However, the Western European states had different attitudes towards the Turkish question. For example, France saw Turkey as a new ally against the Habsburg dynasty. A little later, England also sought to get closer to the Sultan, who wanted to capture the Middle Eastern market. One empire was replaced by another. Many states were forced to reckon with such a strong adversary, which the Ottoman Empire proved to be.

The main reasons for the fall of Byzantium

According to the school curriculum, the issue of the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire is considered in high school. Usually, at the end of a paragraph, the question is asked: what were the reasons for the fall of Byzantium? Briefly, in the 6th grade, it is supposed to designate them precisely from the text of the textbook, so the answer may differ slightly depending on the author of the manual.

However, there are four most common causes:

1. The Turks owned powerful artillery.
2. The conquerors had a fortress on the banks of the Bosporus, thanks to which they controlled the movement of ships through the strait.
3. Constantinople was surrounded by a two hundred thousandth army, which controlled both land and sea.
4. The invaders decided to storm the northern part of the city walls, which were less fortified than the rest.

In a short list, external reasons are named, which are primarily related to the military power of the Turkish state. However, in the article you can find many internal reasons that played a role in the fall of Byzantium.

The defeat of the crusaders at Varna was an irreparable blow to the entire anti-Turkish coalition of European peoples. Not only the leaders of the crusading militia fell on the battlefield - King Vladislav Jagiellon and Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini, almost all the soldiers of their army laid down their heads. The hopes of the European peoples to hold back the impetuous onslaught of the Turks and to oppose the Turkish army with a close-knit alliance of the monarchs of Europe and the papacy were buried forever. After the Battle of Varna, the anti-Turkish coalition actually disintegrated, and complete confusion reigned in the camp of the Sultan's opponents.

The Varna catastrophe put Byzantium, first of all, against which the main blow of the Turks was preparing, into a hopeless situation. The aged John VIII, dejected by the failure of the Union of Florence and internal turmoil, having said goodbye to the last hope for the help of the crusaders, was again forced to seek favors from the Sultan, trying to appease him with generous gifts. The defeat of Varna also had severe consequences for the Greeks of the Seas. The Morean despot Constantine, who sought to unite all of Greece to fight against the Turks, had no more time to develop and consolidate his successes. The bold attempts of Constantine to revive the Greek kingdom in the Morea and act as the heir to the agonizing empire immediately aroused suspicion, and then the revenge of the Turkish sultan, freed from the Western danger.

The 1446 campaign of Murad II to Greece ended in the complete defeat of the recalcitrant despot. After passing through Central Greece, the Turkish troops attacked and captured the long wall on the Isthma, and then invaded the Morea. The destructive stream of Turkish conquerors fell upon the flourishing cities of the Seas, which were devoted to merciless plunder. The inhabitants of the Peloponnese paid a heavy price for resisting the sultan: leaving the devastated land, the Turks took with them about 60 thousand captives. With great difficulty, Morea retained its temporary independence, paying a high tribute to the winner.

Intending to crush his opponents one by one, Murad II made peace with the defeated despot of the Seas Constantine and moved against one of his most dangerous enemies, Janos Hunyadi. In October 1448, the Hungarian and Turkish troops met again on the same Kosovo field, where the famous battle of 1389 took place. As then, the bloody battle ended in the complete victory of the Turks and the submission of Janos Hunyadi to the power of the Turkish Sultan. This victory led to the surrender of Serbia. The irreconcilable enemy of the Turks, the leader of the Albanians Skanderbeg, remained isolated, locked himself in his mountain strongholds and continued alone to wage a courageous and unequal struggle against the Ottoman troops, who, led by the Sultan, tried in vain to conquer Albania for several years in a row.

On October 31, 1448, John VIII died in Constantinople, crushed by the successes of his enemies and desperate to save his state.

He was succeeded by the despot of the Mores, Constantine, supported by his former enemy, and now a temporary ally, Murad II. The emperor's coronation took place on January 6, 1449 in Morea. Two months later, the new basileus solemnly arrived in Constantinople. Morea was divided between the emperor's brothers Demetrius and Thomas, who were constantly at war with each other and sought help from the Turks or Italians in the struggle for power.

The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos Dragash (1449-1453), was described by his contemporaries as a man of extraordinary energy and great personal courage. Rather a warrior than a politician, he concentrated all his efforts on preparing for a decisive battle with the Turks, which was approaching inevitably. Fatal events were hastened by the death of Sultan Murad II (February 1451). The decrepit Turkish ruler was replaced by a young, full of energy and seized by a passion for conquest, his son, Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481).

Mehmed II Fatih ("The Conqueror") was one of the most prominent rulers of the Ottoman state. He combined an unbending will and a shrewd mind with deceit, cruelty and unbridled lust for power. He was ready to use any means to achieve his goals. The son of one of the sultan's concubines, he was afraid for his power and after the death of his father, first of all, he eliminated possible contenders for the throne. He ordered the killing of his nine-month-old brother Amurat and several other relatives. The brutality of the new sultan was legendary. Contemporaries said that Mehmed II, wanting to find the thief of a melon from his garden, ordered to open the stomachs of 14 slaves. On another occasion, he cut off the head of a slave to show the convulsions of the neck muscles to the famous Italian artist Gentili Bellini, who painted a portrait of the Sultan.

Like Harun-ar-Rashid, disguised, he often wandered through the slums of the city, and grief was for the one who recognized the Sultan - imminent death awaited him.

At the same time, the new ruler of the Ottomans was quite educated, spoke several languages, apparently including Greek, studied mathematics, was fond of astronomy and especially philosophy, knew the works of Greek philosophers well, and, under the guidance of Byzantine scholars, commented on them. However, the main character trait of the new ruler was a passion for conquest. Having come to power, Mehmed II set as his immediate goal the destruction of the Roman Empire. The long-standing dream of the Ottoman rulers completely took possession of the proud soul of the young Sultan. Mehmed II sought not only to reunite the European and Asian possessions of the Turks, which were shared by the last stronghold of the Byzantines - Constantinople, he wanted to completely eliminate the remnants of the once great empire, and make the magnificent city of the Greeks the capital of his state.

To capture Constantinople, Mehmed II, however, first needed to strengthen his rear. To this end, he, like "a wolf hiding behind the skin of a lamb," concluded peace agreements with his neighbors in the West. Having secured himself from this side, the Sultan moved his troops to the East, where the Ottoman power was threatened by one of the feudal princelings of Asia Minor, the Emir of Karaman. The war with the Karaman emir occupied part of 1451 and the beginning of 1452. Based on his military superiority, Mehmed II defeated the ruler of Karaman, and then concluded a profitable peace treaty with him, freeing his hands for the war with Byzantium.

During this preparatory period for a decisive battle, Mehmed II, in order to lull the vigilance of the Greeks, kindly received the Byzantine ambassadors and even renewed an agreement beneficial for the empire with Constantine XI.

The signal for an open break between Mehmed II and the Byzantines was the construction by the Turks of a fortress on the European shore of the Bosphorus, in the immediate vicinity of Constantinople. This fortress (Rumeli-Hissar) was erected in an unusually short time: in March 1452, the Turks began to build it, and already in August of the same year, the construction of an impregnable fortress, equipped with artillery and a strong garrison, was completed. Somewhat earlier, on the Asian shore of the Bosporus, the Turks erected another fortress (Anatoli-Hissar). Thus, now they are firmly established on both banks of the Bosporus. The free relations of Constantinople with the Black Sea were interrupted, the delivery of grain to the city from the Black Sea regions could be stopped at any moment at the will of the Sultan. Soon the Turks began to collect from all the ships passing through the straits, a heavy duty and subject them to a thorough inspection. A decisive step towards establishing a blockade of Constantinople was taken
It was clear to the Byzantines that the struggle had entered its final phase. The terrible danger forced Emperor Constantine to begin urgent preparations for the defense of the capital - to repair the walls, which had collapsed in many places, to arm the defenders of the city, to store food. The flight of the nobles of Constantinople to the West took on the widest scale.

The Byzantine government did not stop, with the hope of desperation, crying out for help to the West. But the papal throne, as before, set the restoration and actual implementation of the church union as an indispensable condition for support. Contrary to the resistance of the Orthodox party in Constantinople, headed by the irreconcilable fanatic monk Gennadius (George Scholarius), Constantine XI began new negotiations with the Roman throne.

In November 1452, the legate of Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455), a Greek renegade who converted to Catholicism, Cardinal Isidore, an active conductor of papal policy, appeared in Constantinople to implement the union. The help that arrived from Italy along with the legate of the pope was negligible, nevertheless, the Byzantine government met Isidore with great honor. A new union agreement was signed. December 12, 1452 in the church of St. Sophia, Cardinal Isidore, as a sign of the conclusion of the union, solemnly celebrated a mass according to the Catholic rite.

The Orthodox Party raised the people of Constantinople to open action against the Uniates. Crowds of people, excited by fanatical monks, moved to the monastery of Pantokrator, where the head of the Orthodox party, Gennady, received the schema. Scholarius did not go out to the people, but nailed to the door of the cell a kind of manifesto of the most irreconcilable orthodox, in which he predicted the imminent death of Constantinople as a punishment for accepting union with the Catholic Church. Gennady's answer added fuel to the fire of popular indignation, and the crowd shouted: "We do not need the help of the Latins, nor unity with them!" - scattered around the city, threatening reprisals against the Uniates and Catholics. Although the popular excitement gradually subsided, the atmosphere of distrust and enmity between the orthodox and Latinophiles thickened even more in Constantinople on the eve of the siege by the Turkish troops.

The split within the ruling class of Byzantium had a detrimental effect on the fate of the empire. After the conclusion of the union, the Turkophiles raised their heads, seeking to use religious strife among the population of the capital. The head of the Turkophiles in the capital was the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine fleet, megaduka Luca Notara, who, according to contemporaries, being an enemy of the union, threw a catchphrase: "It is better to see a Turkish turban reigning in a city than a Latin tiara."
And this phrase of the megaduka became prophetic. The sacrifice made by the Byzantine government - the conclusion of the union, and this time was in vain. There were no forces in the West that really wanted to and could provide Byzantium with the necessary military assistance. Alphonse V - King of Aragon and Naples, who was the most powerful sovereign among the rulers of the Mediterranean countries, continued the policy of his predecessors - the Normans, Germans and French, who owned Southern Italy and Sicily. He sought to restore the Latin Empire in Constantinople and dreamed of an emperor's crown. In essence, plans were made in the West to seize the weakened Byzantium and there was a dispute about who would be its heir.

Only the Italian city-republics - Genoa and Venice, which had important trading posts in the empire, were vitally interested in saving Byzantium, but constant enmity prevented their coordinated actions against the Turks. Great energy was shown by the Genoese, who enjoyed the patronage of the last Palaiologos. Even before the start of the siege of Constantinople, to the great joy of its population, a military detachment of 700 Genoese arrived in the capital of Byzantium on two galleys under the command of the brave condottiere Giovanni Giustiniani, nicknamed Long (“Long”). This, at first, exhausted the real assistance of the West. The Venetian Signoria, not wanting to save its competitor, the Genoese, hesitated to send troops, and only later two warships arrived from Venice under the command of Morosini.

Meanwhile, the brothers of the last Byzantine emperor, the Morean despots Demetrius and Thomas, even in the face of mortal danger, did not stop their internecine strife and were late in sending help to Constantine IX. The Turks deliberately fomented the enmity of the despots of the Seas and achieved complete success in this. Thus, Constantinople was actually left face to face with the enemy, whose forces were many times superior to those of the defenders of the city.

The clouds over the capital of the empire quickly thickened. The winter of 1452/53 passed in military preparations on both sides. According to contemporaries, the idea of ​​conquering Constantinople haunted the Sultan. Even at night, he called to himself experienced people familiar with the location of the fortifications of Constantinople, drew maps of the city with them, carefully considering the plan for the future siege. He attached paramount importance to the creation of powerful artillery and his own Turkish fleet. By order of the Sultan, a huge workshop was created near Adrianople, where cannons were urgently cast. Not sparing funds for the preparation of artillery, Mehmed II lured away from the Byzantines the talented Hungarian foundry master Urban, who was dissatisfied with the fact that Constantine XI was unable to properly pay for his work. Urban managed to cast a cannon of unprecedented dimensions for the Turks, for the transportation of which to the walls of Constantinople it took 60 oxen and numerous servants.

At the beginning of March 1453, Mehmed II sent out an order throughout his state to recruit troops, and by the middle of the month, a large army, numbering about 150-200 thousand soldiers, had gathered under the banner of the Sultan. Preparing for an attack on Constantinople, Mehmed II captured the last cities that still remained under the rule of Constantine XI - Mesemvria, Anchialus, Visa.

In early April 1453, the sultan's advanced regiments, having devastated the suburbs of Constantinople, approached the walls of the ancient capital of the empire. Soon the whole army of the Turks surrounded the city from the land, and the Sultan spread his green banner at its walls. A Turkish squadron of 30 military and 330 cargo ships entered the Sea of ​​Marmara, and two weeks later Turkish ships arrived from the Black Sea (56 military and about 20 auxiliary ships). Under the walls of Constantinople, the Sultan held a review of his fleet, which in total numbered more than four hundred ships. The iron ring of the Turkish siege engulfed Constantinople both by land and by sea.

The disparity in the forces of the belligerents was striking. The Byzantine government could oppose the huge Turkish army and imposing fleet only with a handful of defenders of the city and a small number of Latin mercenaries. George Sphranzi, friend and secretary of Constantine XI, says that on behalf of the emperor, before the start of the siege of the city, he checked the lists of all the inhabitants of Constantinople who were able to bear arms. The results of the census were depressing: a total of 4,973 people were ready to defend the capital, in addition to foreign mercenaries, of which there were about 2 thousand people. In order not to increase panic among the civilian population of the huge city, the government conducted this census in deep secrecy.

In addition, Constantine XI had at his disposal a small fleet of Genoese and Venetian ships, several ships from the island of Crete, merchant ships from Spain and France, and a small number of Byzantine military triremes. In total, the fleet of the defenders of Constantinople, locked in the Golden Horn, consisted of no more than 25 ships. True, the warships of the Italians and the Byzantines had technical advantages over the Turkish ones, and above all - the famous "Greek fire" - a formidable weapon in naval battles. In addition, the Byzantine and Italian sailors were more experienced than the Turkish in the art of naval combat and retained the glory of the best sailors of that time. But the Turks had a huge technical superiority over the Byzantines on land: the artillery created by Mehmed II had no equal in Europe. According to the Byzantine historian of the XV century. Kritovula, "the guns decided everything." The outdated small guns that the besieged had at their disposal could not be compared with the powerful artillery of the Turks. The Byzantines pinned all their hopes on the fortifications of Constantinople, which more than once saved them from external enemies. However, even these fortifications had to be defended against the backdrop of the vast superiority of the Turks in the number of troops: according to Duka, there were up to 20 besiegers per defender of the city. Therefore, if it was difficult for Mehmed II to place his army in the narrow space between the Sea of ​​​​Marmara and the Golden Horn, then for the besieged it was a problem how to stretch a handful of defenders of the city along the entire line of fortifications.

The headquarters of Mehmed II and the center of the Turkish camp were located opposite the gates of St. Roman of Constantinople, a significant part of the artillery was concentrated here, including Urban's cannon. Another 14 batteries were placed along the entire line of land walls of the besieged city. The left wing of the Turkish army stretched from the headquarters of the Sultan to the Golden Horn, the right wing extended south to the Sea of ​​Marmara. On the right wing, contingents of Turkish troops were stationed, consisting of eastern tribes and arriving from the Asian possessions of the Turks. On the left wing were the troops of the European vassals of the Sultan, driven from Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece. The headquarters of Mehmed II was guarded by a select 15,000-strong guard of the Janissaries, and in the rear it was located the cavalry, which was supposed to cover the headquarters in case help to the besieged arrived from the West. One Turkish squadron anchored against the Acropolis, the other blockaded Galata to ensure the neutrality of the Genoese.

The Byzantine government most of all counted on the Italian mercenaries, so the Giustiniani detachment was placed in the center of defense, at the gates of St. Roman, just opposite the headquarters of Mehmed II. It was here that the Turks sent the main blow. Constantine XI, as it turned out, recklessly entrusted the general leadership of the defense of the city to the same Giustiniani. On the section of the walls between the gates of St. A detachment of three Greek brothers Paul, Anthony and Troilus fought steadfastly against Roman and the Poliandrovs, and further to the Golden Horn - mixed detachments of Byzantines and Latin mercenaries under the command of Theodore of Caristia, John the German, Jerome and Leonard of Genoa. On the left wing stood a detachment of Theophilus Palaiologos and Manuel of Genoa. The defense of the coast of the Golden Horn was entrusted, as well as the command of the entire fleet, to the megaduke Luke Notara, and the coast of the Sea of ​​​​Marmara, from where no attack by the Turks was expected, was left without defenders due to the lack of Byzantine troops. On April 7, the Turks opened fire on the city. A siege began, which lasted about two months. First, the Turks began to storm the walls that guarded the city from land, choosing the weakest places of defense. However, despite the huge superiority, the Turkish troops suffered setbacks for a long time. The continuous shelling of the city, with the imperfection of the shooting technique and the inexperience of the Turkish gunners, initially did not bring the desired results. Despite the partial destruction of individual fortifications, the besieged successfully repulsed the attacks of the Turks.

An eyewitness to the events, George Sfranzi, wrote: “It was surprising that, having no military experience, they (the Byzantines) won victories, because, meeting with the enemy, they courageously and nobly did what was beyond human strength.” The Turks repeatedly tried to fill up the moat that protected the land fortifications of the city, but the besieged at night cleared it with amazing speed. The defenders of Constantinople prevented the plan of the Turks to enter the city through a tunnel: they carried out an oncoming tunnel and blew up the positions of the Turks together with the Turkish soldiers. The defenders also managed to burn down a huge siege machine, which the Turks pushed to the city walls with great difficulty and heavy losses. In the first weeks of the siege, the defenders of Constantinople often made sorties out of the city and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Turks.

The Sultan was especially upset by his failures at sea. All attempts by Turkish ships to break into the Golden Horn, the entrance to which was blocked by a heavy iron chain, were unsuccessful. On April 20, the first major naval battle took place, which ended in a complete victory for the Byzantines and their allies. On this day, four Genoese and one Byzantine ship arrived from the island of Chios, carrying troops and food to the besieged city. Before entering the Golden Horn, this small squadron took on an unequal battle with the Turkish fleet, numbering about 150 ships. Neither the shelling from the guns, nor the clouds of Turkish arrows, of which there were so many that “it was impossible to immerse the oars in the water,” forced the sailors who hurried to the aid of Constantinople to retreat. Attempts by Turkish ships to board the enemy's high-speed ships also ended in failure.

Thanks to the military experience and skill of the Byzantine and Genoese sailors, the greater maneuverability and better armament of their ships, and especially thanks to the "Greek fire" that erupted on the ships of the Turks, the emperor's squadron won an unprecedented victory. The battle took place near the city, and the besieged followed its course with fear and hope. With no less excitement, Mehmed II himself watched what was happening, who, surrounded by his military leaders, drove up to the shore. Enraged by the failure of his fleet, the Sultan fell into such a rage that at the most critical moment of the battle he spurred his horse, threw himself into the sea and swam to the ships: the battle at that time took place a few tens of meters from the coast. The Turkish sailors, encouraged by the Sultan, again rushed to the attack, but were again repulsed. The Turks suffered huge losses, the ships of the Sultan set on fire by "Greek fire" burned in front of the jubilant Constantinople. According to information, perhaps somewhat exaggerated, the Turks lost dozens of ships and about 12 thousand sailors in this naval battle. Night ended the battle, the besieged quickly removed the chain that closed the entrance to the Golden Horn, and the small squadron safely entered the harbor. The sultan's anger was so great that he personally beat the head of the Turkish fleet, the renegade Bulgarian Palda-oglu, with a golden rod, dismissed him from his post, and gave all the property of the unfortunate naval commander to the Janissaries.
The brilliant victory in the naval battle gave new hopes to the souls of the defenders of the city, but did not change the course of events. Having failed, Mehmed II decided to bring his ships into the Golden Horn as soon as possible and subject the city to a tight siege not only from land, but also from the sea. To accomplish this difficult task, it was decided to drag the Turkish ships overland from the Bosphorus to the Golden Horn. The distance to be overcome was several kilometers. By order of the Sultan, on the night of April 22, the Turks built a wooden deck from the Gulf of St. Mouth to the banks of the Golden Horn. The flooring lay directly at the northern walls of Galata, but the Genoese in no way interfered with the preparations of the Turks. On this platform, thickly smeared with ox fat, Turkish biremes and triremes with unfurled sails were placed. To the loud sounds of trumpets and the singing of war songs, the Turks dragged their ships overland to the Golden Horn in one night.

Great was the surprise and horror of the inhabitants of Constantinople and its defenders, when the next day they saw 80 Turkish ships in the harbor of the Golden Horn. The Turks built a floating platform from the northern coast into the depths of the bay, on which they installed artillery, and began shelling both the ships of the Greeks and Italians who were in the harbor of the Golden Horn, and the northern wall of the city. This was a heavy blow to the besieged. I had to remove part of the troops from the western wall and transfer them to the north. The attempt of the Byzantines to burn the Turkish ships failed due to the betrayal of the Genoese of Galata, who warned the Sultan about the impending night attack. The daredevils, who secretly sailed to the Turkish ships, were captured and executed by the Turks. In response, Constantine XI put to death 260 captured Turkish soldiers and ordered the heads of those executed to be displayed on the walls of the city. The struggle on both sides became more and more fierce.

Soon, during the siege, there was a clear turning point in favor of the Turks. Thanks to the advice of the Hungarian ambassadors, the Turks achieved greater effect from the actions of their artillery and in many places destroyed the walls of Constantinople. The military difficulties of defense increased sharply, to which was added the growing shortage of food in the besieged city.

The situation in Constantinople was rapidly deteriorating not only due to the successes of the Turks, but also because of the lack of unity in the camp of its defenders. Constantine XI, although he showed personal courage during the siege, placed all his hopes for its successful outcome on the Italians. The policy of the government, oriented towards foreigners, caused discontent among the masses and unrest in the city. In addition, some representatives of the highest Byzantine aristocracy embarked on the path of treason. Nestor Iskander repeatedly speaks about the defeatist moods of the court nobility. He directly states that some close associates of Constantine XI, as well as the “patriarch” (apparently Isidore the Russian), together with the commander of the Genoese mercenary detachment, persistently advised the emperor to surrender the city. The highest officials of the state, Manuel Jagaris and Neophyte of Rhodes, withheld the money allocated by the government to strengthen the walls of Constantinople. Megaduka Luca Notara hid huge treasures during the siege, which he then handed over to the Sultan, wanting to buy life for himself and his family at such a price.

The highest Byzantine clergy also showed very little patriotism: they were extremely annoyed by the confiscation of church property for defense needs and openly expressed their dissatisfaction with the emperor. Some clerics did not hesitate to incite the people against the government at a critical moment of common danger. Troubles and unrest began among the Italians who were in Constantinople. The primordial rivals - the Venetians and the Genoese - often on the streets and walls of the city tied up armed bloody skirmishes. All this weakened the camp of the defenders of the city.

But especially great harm to the Byzantines was caused by the treachery of the Genoese of Galata. During the entire siege, they simultaneously helped both the Turks and the Greeks. “Coming out from behind the walls of Galata, they fearlessly went to the camp of the Turks and supplied the tyrant (Mehmed II) in abundance with everything necessary: ​​both oil for guns, and everything else that the Turks demanded. They secretly helped the Romans. With bitterness and irony, the historian Sfranzi writes about the betrayal of the Genoese of Galata: “He (the Sultan) made friends with the inhabitants of Galata, and they rejoiced at this - they, the unfortunate ones, do not know the fable about the peasant boy who, while cooking snails, said: “Oh, stupid creatures! Eat you all in turn!". The Genoese pretended to express their friendship to the Sultan, secretly hoping that he, like his ancestors, would not be able to take such a well-fortified city as Constantinople. The Sultan, according to Duka, in turn thought: “I will allow the snake to sleep until I slay the dragon, and then - one light blow to the head, and her eyes will darken. And so it happened."

Annoyed by the protracted siege, the Sultan began to prepare for a decisive assault on the city in the last days of May. Already on May 26, according to the story of Nestor Iskander, the Turks, “rolled the cannons and squeaked, and the tours, and the right hand, and the wooden castles, and other intrigues of wall-beating ..., they also brought many ships and katars across the sea, and began to beat hail from everywhere ". But in vain the Turks tried to take possession of the city (“... they need to climb the wall by force, and not giving them the Greeks, but sechaahusya with them firmly”). In these fatal days for Byzantium, the defenders of the city and the majority of its population showed great courage. “The people of Gradtsk,” writes Nestor Iskander, “entered on the walls from young to old, but I also have many wives and resist them in a strong strength.”

The general assault on the city was appointed by the Sultan on May 29th. Both sides spent the last two days before the assault in preparations: one for the attack, the other for the last defense. Mehmed II, in order to inspire his soldiers, promised them, in case of victory, to give the great city for three days to flow and plunder. Mullahs and dervishes promised those who fell in battle all the joys of a Muslim paradise and eternal glory. They fomented religious fanaticism and called for the extermination of "infidels".

On the night before the assault, innumerable fires were lit in the camp of the Turks and on their ships, located all the way from Galata to Scutari. The inhabitants of Constantinople looked with surprise from the walls at this spectacle, believing at first that a fire had broken out in the camp of the enemy. But soon, from the militant cliques and music rushing from the enemy camp, they realized that the Turks were preparing for the last attack. At this time, the Sultan traveled around his troops, promising the winners double salaries for the rest of their lives and innumerable booty. The warriors greeted their master with enthusiastic cries.

While the Turkish camp was so noisily preparing for the morning battle, deathly silence reigned in the besieged city on the last night before the attack. But the city did not sleep, it was also preparing for a deadly fight. Emperor Constantine XI with his entourage slowly traveled around the fortifications of his doomed capital, checking posts and instilling hope in the souls of the last defenders of Byzantium. The Constantinopolitans knew that many of them were destined to meet death tomorrow, they said goodbye to each other and to their loved ones.

In the early morning of May 29, 1453, when the stars began to fade and dawn broke, an avalanche of Turkish troops moved towards the city. The first onslaught of the Turks was repulsed, but the main army of the Turks moved behind the detachments of recruits sent by the Sultan to attack first, to the sound of trumpets and tympanums. The bloody battle continued for two hours. At first, the advantage was on the side of the besieged - Turkish triremes with stairs were thrown back from the walls of the city from the sea. “A great number of Hagarians,” writes Sphranzi, “were killed from the city by stone-throwing machines, and on the land sector ours took the enemy just as boldly. One could see a terrible sight - a dark cloud hid the sun and sky. It was ours who burned the enemies, throwing Greek fire at them from the walls. Everywhere there was a continuous roar of guns, screams and groans of the dying. The Turks fiercely rushed to the walls of the city. There was a moment when, it seemed, military happiness tipped the axis in favor of the Byzantines: the commanders of the Greek detachments Theophilus Paleologus and Demetrius Kantakuzin not only repelled the attack of the Turks, but made a successful sortie and in one place pushed the Turkish soldiers back from the walls of Constantinople. Inspired by this success, the besieged already dreamed of salvation.

The Turkish troops, indeed, suffered huge losses, and the soldiers were ready to turn back, “but the chaush and palace ravdukhs (police officials in the Turkish army) began to beat them with iron sticks and lashes so that they would not show their backs to the enemy. Who can describe the cries, wails and mournful groans of the beaten! Duka reports that the sultan himself, "standing behind the troops with an iron stick, drove his soldiers to the walls, where flattering with gracious words, where - threatening." According to Halkokondil, in the Turkish camp, the punishment for a timid warrior was immediate death. However, the forces were too unequal, and, while a handful of defenders were melting before our eyes, more and more detachments of the Turks arrived to the walls of Constantinople, like waves of a tide.

Information sources about how the Turks broke into Constantinople are contradictory. Sphranzi places a significant share of the blame on the Genoese commander of the land defense sector of the city, Giovanni Giustiniani. He, after being wounded, left the most important point of defense of the capital near the gates of St. Roman, where the main forces of the Turks were thrown. Despite the requests of the emperor himself, Giustiniani left the fortifications, boarded a ship and moved to Galata. The departure of the commander caused confusion, and then the flight of the Byzantine troops at the moment when the sultan threw his select Janissary guards into battle. One of them, named Hasan, a man of great stature and extraordinary strength, was the first to climb the wall of the Byzantine capital. His comrades followed him, they managed to capture the tower and hoist the Turkish banner on it.

The Latino-minded historian Duca describes these tragic events somewhat differently. In an effort to justify Giustiniani Long, he argues that the attack of the Turks was beaten off at the gates of St. Roman after his departure. The Turks, on the other hand, entered the city allegedly through a secret gate (Kerkoport) they accidentally discovered, captured the city walls in this area and attacked the besieged from the rear.

One way or another, the Turks broke into the besieged city. View of the Turkish banner fluttering on the tower of the gates of St. Roman, caused panic among the Italian mercenaries. However, even then the resistance of the Byzantines did not stop. Fierce fighting took place in the quarters adjacent to the harbor. “The people,” writes Nestor Iskander, “I don’t submit to the Turks along the streets and around the yard, but fight with them ... and other people and wives and children throw ceramides (tiles) on top of them and slabs and packs to light the roof ward wood-burners and throw fires at them, and I order dirty tricks on them.”

Constantine XI with a handful of brave men rushed into the thick of the battle and fought with the courage of despair. The emperor was looking for death in battle, not wanting to be captured by the Sultan. He died under the blows of Turkish scimitars. Mehmed II, wanting to see with his own eyes the death of the enemy, ordered his soldiers to find his corpse. He was searched for a long time among a pile of dead bodies and was found by purple boots with golden eagles, which were worn only by Byzantine emperors. The Sultan ordered to cut off the head of Constantine XI and put it on a high column in the center of the conquered city. The captives of Constantinople looked at this spectacle with horror.
Bursting into the city, the Turks killed the remnants of the Byzantine troops, and then began to exterminate everyone who met on their way, sparing neither the elderly, nor women, nor children. “In some places,” writes Sphranzi, “due to the multitude of corpses, the earth was completely invisible.” Throughout the city, continues this eyewitness of the events, himself captured by the Turks, the groans and cries of many people being killed and enslaved were carried. “There are weeping and lamentations in the dwellings, cries at the crossroads, tears in the temples, everywhere the groans of men and the wailing of women: the Turks seize, drag, enslave, separate and rape.”

Tragic scenes were also played out on the banks of the Golden Horn. Upon learning of the capture of the city by the Turks, the Italian and Greek fleets set sail and prepared to flee. Huge crowds of people gathered on the embankment, who, pushing and crushing each other, tried to get on the ships. Women and children with cries and tears begged the sailors to take them with them. But it was too late, the sailors frantically hurried to leave the harbor. Three days and three nights the robbery of the great city lasted. Everywhere, on the streets and in the houses, robbery and violence reigned. Especially many inhabitants of Constantinople were captured in the church of St. Sophia, where they fled, hoping for miraculous salvation within the walls of the revered shrine. But the miracle did not happen, and the Turks, having cut a handful of the defenders of the temple, broke into St. Sofia.

“Who will tell about the cries and cries of children,” writes Duka, “about the cries and tears of mothers, about the sobs of fathers, who will tell? Then a slave was tied with a mistress, a master with a slave, an archimandrite with a gatekeeper, tender youths with virgins ... and if they pushed them away by force, they were beaten ... If anyone resisted, they killed without mercy; each, taking his captive to a safe place, returned for prey a second and third time. According to Duka, the Turks “mercilessly killed the old people who were in the house and were unable to leave the dwelling due to illness or old age. Newly born babies were thrown into the streets.” The palaces and temples of Constantinople were plundered and partly burnt down, beautiful monuments of art were destroyed. The most valuable manuscripts perished in the flames or were trampled into the mud.

Most of the inhabitants of the ancient city were killed or captured. According to eyewitnesses, the Turks drove tens of thousands of captives from Constantinople and sold them in the slave markets. Only three days later, Mehmed II ordered to stop the robbery of the conquered city and solemnly entered Constantinople to the enthusiastic cries of his soldiers. According to legend, as a sign of victory over the "infidels", the Sultan rode a white horse into the church of St. Sophia, marveled at the extraordinary beauty of this magnificent building and ordered to turn it into a mosque. So on May 29, 1453, the once famous and richest city, the center of culture and art, Constantinople, fell under the blows of Turkish troops, and with its fall, the Byzantine Empire actually ceased to exist.

Poets of different nations mourned the death of the great city for a long time. The Armenian poet Abraham of Ancyra wrote sorrowfully about the fall of Constantinople in these verses:

The Turks took Byzantium.

We mourn bitterly

With a groan we shed tears

And we sigh mournfully

Pitying the city is great.

fellow believers,

Fathers and my beloved!

Compose a mournful lament

About what happened:

glorious Constantinople,

Former throne for kings,

How could you be crushed now

And trampled on by the unbelievers?!”

After the defeat of Byzantium, Turkey turned into one of the powerful powers of the medieval world, and Constantinople, captured by Mehmed II, became the capital of the Ottoman Empire - Istanbul.

For the Greek population, the Turkish conquest meant the establishment of a new oppression: the Greeks became politically disenfranchised, their religion persecuted. The arbitrariness of the conquerors was monstrous even for the battered empire of the Romans.

The Byzantines were robbed, their dwellings were destroyed, men, women, children were captured by the Ottomans. In the recently found archive of the Adrianople merchant Nicholas Isidore, several letters dating back to 1453 were found, which speak of the fate of the Greeks who fell into Turkish captivity. The clergy of Gallipoli asked Nicholas Isidore to redeem a certain John the Magister: the cruel Muslim who got John demanded two and a half thousand aspers for him (and certainly money in advance). Another letter was written by a man named Demetrius, whose family fell into the hands of some eunuch. Demetrius did not have the means to ransom his relatives; he could only send gifts to the eunuch in order to somehow propitiate him and improve the situation of his relatives.

Even the Turkophiles did not feel secure under Mehmed's rule. Their leader of the megaduk, Luca Notara, was first favored by the Turkish sultan: the winner visited Notara's house, talked with the sick wife of the megaduka, rewarded him with money and promised to transfer control of the plundered and burned Istanbul to him. The agreement, however, did not last long: Mehmed demanded that Notara send him his youngest son, the megaduka replied that he would rather die on the block than give the boy up for reproach. The massacre did not slow down: Notara was executed along with his eldest son and son-in-law, three heads were delivered to the Sultan, the bodies were thrown without burial.

Many Greeks emigrated - to Dubrovnik, Crete, Italy, Russia. Many of them played a great cultural role - they spread Hellenic education and Byzantine artistic traditions. Greek weavers were invited for French manufactories by Louis XI. But not all emigrants managed to settle in a foreign land: many were in need, lived on alms, earned their living by copying Greek books. Others returned to their homeland, where life was more dangerous, but it was easier to feed their families.

The same letters from the archive of Nicholas Isidore testify that the Greek merchants managed to establish relations with the winners: houses were built, trading companies were established, salt was traded. Nicholas Isidore ordered the clerk to bring him a pot of black caviar from under Mesemvria. There were Greek schools and Greek churches. The victors took care of the election of a new patriarch: he turned out to be George Scholarius (Gennadius), who fled from the besieged Constantinople, was taken prisoner by the Turks, was sold at the slave market in Adrianople and, apparently, taught at a school under the patronage of Nicholas Isidore. Mehmed invited him to Istanbul, surrounded him with honors, and on January 6, 1454, Gennady took the patriarchal throne. St. Sophia became a mosque - Gennady was given another church for service: first, St. Apostles, then Pammacarist. Gennady's consent to become patriarch meant that the head of the Eastern Church recognized the new order of things, the Orthodox clergy chose the path of cooperation with the conquerors. The Byzantine church, which after the Latin conquest in 1204 was one of the centers of resistance, now quickly resigned itself to the Muslim turban on the banks of the Bosporus. This position of the Greek Church, led by one of the most active anti-Uniates, doomed the agreement with the papacy to inevitable collapse: the Union of Florence was not respected, although the Greek clergy officially rejected it only at the Council of Constantinople in 1484.

After the fall of Constantinople, Turkish troops set about conquering the last parts of the Byzantine Empire. The Western powers still could not concentrate their efforts against the Muslims. The Italian trading republics (Genoa, Venice) preferred to keep a monopoly on the trade of the Levant at the cost of territorial losses. The heroic resistance of Albania, Serbia and Hungary, despite a number of successes, could not stop the onslaught of the Ottoman Empire. Using the military superiority of the Turks, skillfully playing on the contradictions of the local nobility, Mehmed gradually extended his power to the former possessions of Byzantium and the Latin states in the Aegean Sea.

Immediately after the defeat of Constantinople, Silimvria and Epivat, the last Byzantine fortresses in Thrace, stopped resisting. In 1455, taking advantage of the death of the ruler of Lesbos, Dorivo I Gattelusi, Mehmed achieved an increase in pressure, and on October 31, 1455, his troops occupied New Phoca, which belonged to Gattelusi: wealthy Genoese merchants who owned alum mines were captured and taken away on Turkish ships , the population is subject to a general tax, and one hundred beautiful young men and girls are presented as a gift to the Sultan.

Then came the turn of Enos, a large trading center near the mouth of the Maritsa. It belonged to another branch of the Gattelusi family. After the death of the ruler Enos Palamedes in 1455, a fierce struggle broke out in the city between two factions of the nobility, one of which decided to seek justice at the Sultan's court. At the same time, complaints were filed against the new ruler, Dorino II, by Turkish officials: he was accused, in particular, of selling salt to "infidels" to the disadvantage of Muslims.

Despite the unusual cold, Mehmed immediately moved his troops and fleet to Enos. Dorino II was in the court of his father on the island of Samothrace and did not even try to intervene in the course of events. The inhabitants of Enos surrendered the city without resistance. The Turkish fleet occupied the islands belonging to Dorino - Imvros (where the famous historian Kritovul became the governor of the Sultan) and Samothrace. Dorino tried to keep at least the island possessions, he sent a beautiful daughter and rich gifts to the Sultan, but all in vain. The islands were annexed to the Ottoman Empire, and Dorino himself was sent deep into Macedonia, to Zichna, from where, however, he managed to escape to Mytilene on Lesbos, without waiting for the reprisal of the Sultan.

In the history of the conquest of Enos, the tragic situation that developed in the middle of the 15th century was clearly expressed. in the Aegean Sea basin: on one side stood a cruel and energetic despot, who had huge material resources and a devoted army, on the other - scattered, small (albeit rich) states, weakened by mutual rivalry and internal strife.

However, at first the Turkish fleet was too weak to vigorously attack the island states. Mehmed had to resort to a diplomatic game: for example, he recognized Guillelmo II, the ruler of Naxos, as the Duke of the Archipelago and concluded an agreement with him, according to which Naxos was obliged to pay an annual tribute. Thus, one of the most powerful states of the Aegean Sea received guarantees and therefore looked indifferently at the fate of its neighbors. But the agreement was only a delay, and Naxos also had to recognize Turkish authority - in 1566

The Hospitallers, who owned Rhodes, behaved differently - they refused to pay tribute to the Turks. The Ottoman squadron sent against Rhodes in 1455 operated without much success. Later, in 1480, Mehmed attacked the possessions of the Order more decisively: the Turks landed on the island, laid siege to the fortress, built complex mechanisms, fired at the walls with cannons. On July 28, the general assault began. The 40,000-strong army, carrying sacks for booty and ropes for prisoners, rushed to the ramparts, knocked over the hospitallers and hoisted the Turkish banner. But at that moment, the Ottoman commander, Admiral Mesih Pasha, ordered an announcement that robbery was forbidden and that the colossal treasury of the Order was to belong to the Sultan. The effect was unexpected: the onslaught of the Turkish troops weakened, the besieged gathered their strength and repulsed the attack. The Turks lost 9,000 killed and 14,000 wounded and had to lift the siege. Only in 1522 did they take possession of Rhodes.

Under the constant threat of Turkish occupation, Chios also lived during these years, which belonged to a privileged Genoese company, the so-called Maone. After the fall of Kaffa, captured by the Turks in 1475, Chios remained the last stronghold of the Genoese in the East, and Genoa tried to keep it. Mehmed did not dare to attack directly, he tried to organize a coup on the island. The Sultan demanded the payment of tribute and the sending of Chios craftsmen to Gallipoli to build ships. Constant military alarms, a reduction in trade in the Levant, had a severe effect on Maona's position: her income was sharply reduced, there was a constant deficit in the treasury, the Chian coin could no longer compete with the Venetian. In 1566 Chios was occupied by the Turks.

Turkish operations against Lesbos ended much earlier. Having intervened in the civil strife of the Gattelusi family, Mehmed in 1462 sent a squadron to the island. The Turks plundered the country, turning the inhabitants into slavery. Whoever could run sought salvation outside the walls of Mitylene, but after a 27-day bombardment of the city, the ruler of Lesbos, Niccolo Gattelusi, surrendered and, crouching at the feet of Mehmed, assured the Sultan that he had been his faithful servant all his life. However, neither humility nor even the adoption of Islam saved Niccolo: he was taken to Istanbul, and then thrown into prison and strangled. Lesvos became Turkish, and attaching great importance to the victory, Mehmed solemnly celebrated the conquest of the island.

A few years later, in 1470, the Venetian colony of Negropont fell. By order of the Sultan, a pontoon bridge was built connecting Euboea with the mainland, and Turkish troops crossed over this bridge to the island. The Venetian fleet did not dare to intervene. Only one ship broke into the harbor of the besieged Negropont, but this was only a heroic suicide. With the help of traitors who pointed out weaknesses in the defense of the fortress, the Turks managed to enter the city, which was defended not only by soldiers, but also by women. Negropont was plundered, the inhabitants killed or enslaved. In 1479, Venice recognized the loss of Negropont and a number of other island possessions and fortresses on the coast.

If the mastery of the islands of the Aegean Sea dragged on until the middle of the 16th century, then the last remnants of the Byzantine Empire on the mainland - Morea and Trebizond - came under the rule of the Turks much sooner.

The news of the fall of Constantinople caused a panic in Morea, and both despots - Thomas and Demetrius Palaiologos - even planned to flee to the West, but then abandoned their plan and remained in Mistra. However, independence from the Sultan was no longer to be dreamed of: the political situation in Morea opened up constant opportunities for Mehmed to intervene.
As early as 1453, the country was engulfed in a feudal rebellion led by Manuel Kantakouzin, one of the descendants of Vasilev John VI Kantakouzin. He was supported by the Morean nobility and the Albanians who lived in the Peloponnese and constituted the most combat-ready element of the Greek army. Cantacuzenus negotiated with the Venetians and Genoese, but they limited themselves to long debates in the government and generous promises to the Greeks. Fearing the Sultan, both republics refused to interfere in the affairs of the Peloponnese.

The Palaiologians were powerless to cope with the rebellion and turned to the Turks for help. In October 1454, the troops of the governor of Thessaly, Turakhan-beg, defeated the Albanians and forced the rebels to recognize the sovereignty of the despots, but the Palaiologians also had to pay for the victory: they had to pay the sultan a colossal annual tribute - 12 thousand gold coins.

This dearly bought victory of the despots turned out to be essentially illusory: the feudal nobility of the Peloponnese turned over the head of the rulers of Mistra to Mehmed, and on December 26, 1454, a decree of the Sultan, drawn up in Greek, was signed in Istanbul, which granted the highest Morean aristocracy (listed by name) various privileges, which Mehmed swore to preserve both by the Koran and his saber, but the feudal lords of the Seas, instead of dependence on despots, recognized dependence on Istanbul. The disappearance of the most prominent feudal families of the Peloponnese weakened both the economic and military power of the Seas. It did not delay, but rather brought closer the conquest of the Peloponnese by the Turks.

Indeed, already at the end of 1457, the Sultan began to prepare for an expedition against the Seas. When he set out on his journey, the ambassadors of the Palaiologos hurried to meet him, carrying with them gold to pay tribute. Mehmed took the money, but did not stop the campaign: on May 15, 1458, Turkish troops entered the Peloponnese. Almost nowhere they met with resistance - only the defenders of Corinth, led by Matthew Asan, heroically resisted the Turks. The city suffered from a lack of food, the walls of the fortress were continuously shelled by artillery (the marble of ancient buildings served as nuclei), but Asan did not give up until he was forced to yield to the insistence of the Bishop of Corinth. On August 6, after several months of siege, Mehmed was given the keys to the city.

The surrender of Corinth ended the resistance. The despots accepted the demands of the Sultan and agreed to cede to the Turks the largest cities of the Peloponnese: Corinth, Patras, Kalavryta, Vostitsa. Only an insignificant part of the Morean state remained in their hands, for which they had to pay annually 3 thousand gold coins. In addition, Despot Demetrius undertook to send his daughter Elena, who was famous for her beauty, to Mehmed's harem.

Peace with the Turks did not last long. This time the initiative to break up belonged to the Greek side. In 1459, Despot Thomas rebelled, supported by part of the Peloponnesian nobility. On the contrary, Despot Demetrius was firmly pro-Turkish, and the anti-Turkish uprising turned into a civil war between the Greeks. Thomas occupied Kalavryta, cleared by the Turks, and captured the fortresses that belonged to Demetrius. Even at the time when the Turkish army invaded the Peloponnese, the Palaiologos brothers did not find ways to reconcile and continued to plunder each other's possessions. The Pope urged the Western European powers to help Thomas, but the matter did not progress beyond appeals and promises.

Meanwhile, Mehmed with a large army again entered the borders of the Seas. At the beginning of 1460, he was already in Corinth and demanded Demetrius to come to him. By this time, anti-Turkish sentiment had intensified so much that even Dimitri, obedient to the Sultan, did not dare to appear at Mehmed's headquarters and limited himself to the embassy and gifts. Then Mehmed sent troops to Mistra and occupied the capital of the Seas without resistance. Demetrius surrendered to the Turks. After the fall of Mistra, the Greek fortresses began to surrender one after another, and in June 1460 the desperate Thomas Palaiologos left the Peloponnese and fled to Corfu. Celebrating victory, Mehmed visited the Venetian possessions in the Peloponnese, where he was obsequiously received by subjects of the Republic of St. Mark. Only in some places resistance continued, especially stubborn in the fortress of Salmenic, located not far from Patras. Although the city was taken, the commandant of the fortress, Constantine Palaiologos Graitz, held out in the acropolis until July 1461, vainly begging the Italian rulers for help. His courage impressed the Turks: when Salmenic eventually surrendered, his defenders (contrary to Turkish customs) were given their freedom. The Ottoman vizier said that Graitz was the only real man he met in Morea.

The Morean state ceased to exist. Only the impregnable fortress of Monemvasia was not taken by the Turks. Thomas gave it to the Pope, who tried to keep the city with the help of Catalan corsairs, but in 1462 the Venetians established themselves there.

At the same time as the Morea, Trebizond also passed into the hands of the Turks. Trebizond Empire even in the XV century. gave travelers the impression of a wealthy country. All Europeans who passed through Trebizond unanimously admired its vineyards, which covered the hills, where vines curled on every tree. But the source of Trebizond's wealth was not so much winemaking as trade with the Black Sea, the Caucasus and Mesopotamia. Through the ports of the Empire of Trebizond, ships left for Kaffa, and ancient trade roads connected the country with Georgia, Armenia and the countries along the Euphrates.

The Venetians and Genoese tried to fortify themselves in Trebizond, but although they managed to build their castles near the capital, their position here was much less secure than in Galata and Pera. Numerous Armenian colony had its own - Monophysite - bishop here.

Feudal land tenure in the Empire of Trebizond continued in the XIV-XV centuries. strengthen. Major secular lords kept their fiefs from the emperor. One of the most influential, the Melissins. they had a fertile region of Hoarfrost with its vineyards and developed iron production; next to Hoarfrost lay the region of Voona, the lord of which Arsamir could put at the beginning of the 15th century. 10 thousand horsemen; the mountain routes to Armenia were controlled by the Kabasites, who levied tolls on all travelers and even Timur's ambassadors.

Until the middle of the XV century. Trebizond was practically not exposed to Turkish danger, except for an unsuccessful raid in 1442. The situation changed as soon as Mehmed came to power. In 1456, the Turkish army invaded Greek possessions, and Emperor John IV Comnenus managed to keep the throne only after he undertook to pay tribute to the Turks in 3,000 gold coins. However, the energetic adventurer John IV, who paved his way to the throne by killing his own father, did not think to lay down his arms. He tried to create a coalition against Mehmed, which was to include both the Georgian Christian princes and the Muslim Uzun Hassan, the khan of the "white sheep" horde, a Turkic tribe that occupied the Diyarbekir region in Mesopotamia. To seal the union, John IV married his daughter Theodora to Uzun Hasan, the fame of whose beauty thundered throughout the East. But in 1458, John IV, the inspirer of the coalition, died, leaving a four-year-old heir, Alexei, who was replaced by regent David, John's brother.

An attempt to achieve an alliance with the Western powers failed. It was at this time that the Franciscan Ludovico, an adventurer, acted at the papal court, posing as a traveler and assuring that the sovereigns of Ethiopia and India were just waiting to strike Mehmed, the persecutor of Christians, from the rear. The letters presented to Ludovico were read with enthusiasm in Rome and Venice, awards and titles rained down on the Franciscan - until it turned out that he was a deceiver. Ludovico himself fled, avoiding punishment, but his adventure further undermined the chances of the already unpopular idea in the West of interfering in Eastern affairs. Be that as it may, neither Rome nor other European states provided real assistance to Trebizond.

Meanwhile, regent David, relying on the support of Uzun Hasan, demanded a reduction in tribute from Mehmed. This was a de facto declaration of war. Turkish troops in 1461 moved to the Black Sea. Nobody knew the purpose of the trip. According to Mehmed, he would tear out and throw into the fire that hair in his own beard that guessed about his secret. First of all, the Turks captured Sinop, which was in alliance with Trebizond, without a fight. Then the Turkish troops headed for Erzurum, bypassing the territory of Trebizond - apparently, Mehmed was going to strike at the ally of the Komnenos Uzun Hasan, the Khan of the "white sheep" did not dare to go to war and asked for peace, the sultan generously agreed, preferring to beat the enemies one by one. Trebizond was left to its fate.

After brief negotiations between the Turkish vizier and protovestiarius George Amirutzi (later he was accused of treason), the city was surrendered on August 15, 1461. David Komnenos, his relatives and high nobles were sent by ship to Istanbul, the inhabitants of Trebizond were evicted or given into slavery to the winners. After some time, the Turks took possession of the last remnant of the empire - the mountainous region that belonged to the Cabasites. The voluntary surrender of David Komnenos did not save his life: like many noble captives of Mehmed, he was soon thrown into prison and executed in November 1463.

Scattered, left without active support from the West, paralyzed by fear of the might of the Turkish sultan, the last Greek and Latin states ceased to exist one by one. Only a few islands, once part of the Byzantine Empire, managed to maintain a miserable semi-independence until the middle of the 16th century.

Already during the accession of Mehmed II to the throne, it was clear to everyone that a capable monarch would rule the state. In Anatolia, the beylik of Karamanov remained his main rival, in Europe - the Byzantine emperor. Having embarked on state affairs, Mehmed II (later nicknamed the Fatih Conqueror for his numerous successful military campaigns) immediately put the task of capturing Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium, in the first place.

By order of Mehmed II, at the end of March 1452, on the opposite bank of the Bosphorus, in the narrowest part of the strait, the construction of the Rumelihisar fortress began. With the completion of the construction of this fortress, Constantinople could at any moment be cut off from the Black Sea, which meant the cessation of the supply of food from the Black Sea regions. After the construction of the fortress was completed, a strong garrison settled in it. Large caliber guns were mounted on the towers. Mehmed II gave the order to subject the ships passing through the Bosphorus to customs inspection, and to destroy the ships evading inspection and payment of duties with cannon fire. Soon a large Venetian ship was sunk, and its crew was executed for disobeying the search order. The Turks began to call this fortress "Bogaz kesen" (cutting the throat).

When in Constantinople they learned about the construction of the Rumelihisar fortress and assessed the possible consequences of this for Byzantium, the emperor sent ambassadors to the Sultan, declaring a protest against the construction of a fortress on lands that still formally belonged to Byzantium. But Mehmed did not even receive Constantine's ambassadors. When the work was already completed, the emperor again sent ambassadors to Mehmed, wanting at least to receive assurance that the fortress would not threaten Constantinople. The Sultan ordered the ambassadors to be thrown into prison, and Konstantin offered to surrender the city to him. In return, Mehmed offered Emperor Constantine the possession of Morea. Constantine categorically rejected the proposal to abandon the ancient capital, stating that he preferred death on the battlefield to such disgrace. After the completion of the construction of a new fortress, Mehmed's army approached Constantinople.

On April 5, 1453, the sultan himself arrived at the city walls with the last units, leading the army. The Sultan's army surrounded Constantinople along the entire line of its land defense lines. Half of the troops (about 50 thousand soldiers) came from European vassals of Mehmed II from Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece.

On the morning of April 6, the Sultan's parliamentarians conveyed to the defenders of Constantinople his message, in which Mehmed offered the Byzantines voluntary surrender, guaranteeing them the preservation of life and property. Otherwise, the Sultan did not promise mercy to any of the defenders of the city. The offer was rejected. Then the Turkic cannons thundered, which at that time had no equal in Europe. Although the artillery was constantly bombarding the fortress walls, the damage caused by it was very minor. Not only because of the strength of the walls of Constantinople, but also the inexperience of Mehmed's gunners made itself felt. Among other cannons there was a huge bombard cast by the Hungarian engineer Urban, which had powerful destructive power. As a result, by the end of the siege, they were still able to repair the cannon and make a successful shot from it, destroying the wall, from where they could break into the city.

The siege of the city continued for fifty days. The fall of Constantinople was hastened by the cunning resorted to by Mehmed. He ordered that part of his ships be delivered by land to the Golden Horn Bay, where heavy iron chains blocked the entrance to Turkish ships.

To drag the ships overland, a huge wooden deck was built. It was laid at the very walls of Galata. Over the course of one night, along this flooring, thickly greased, the Turks dragged 70 heavy ships on ropes to the northern shore of the Golden Horn and lowered them into the water of the bay.

In the morning, the defenders of the city saw a Turkic squadron in the waters of the Golden Horn. No one expected an attack from this side, the sea walls were the weakest part of the defense. The ships of the Byzantines, standing guard at the entrance to the bay, were also under threat.

The day before the last assault on the city, Mehmed suggested that the emperor either agree to an annual tribute of 100,000 gold Byzantines, or leave the city with all its inhabitants. In the latter case, they were promised no harm. At the council of the emperor, both proposals were rejected. The Byzantines would never have been able to collect such an incredibly large tribute, and the emperor and his entourage did not want to cede the city to the enemy without a fight.

At dawn on May 29, 1453, before the start of the decisive assault on Constantinople, the sultan (according to the Greek historian Duka, who witnessed these events) turned to his soldiers with the words that "he is not looking for any other prey, except for the buildings and walls of the city." After his speech, the command to attack was given. The deafening sounds of Turkic horns - suras, timpani and drums announced the beginning of the assault. By evening, the capital of Byzantium fell. Emperor Constantine was also killed in street battles, they simply did not recognize him, since he was dressed in ordinary military clothes. Mehmed II entered the conquered Constantinople three days after its capture, renamed the city Istanbul and moved his residence here.

Constantinople was twice on the verge of falling, and both times fate rescued it. The first time was when the Seljuk troops approached its walls at the end of the 11th century. And only the collapse of the Seljuk Empire and the beginning of the Crusades saved Constantinople.

For the second time at the beginning of the fifteenth century. The troops of the Great Timur defeated the army of Sultan Bayezid and thus again saved Constantinople from conquest.

For the third time, the fate of Constantinople was decided