Christian History Institute May 29, 1453 • Byzantium: "The Last Day of the World." ©2007

n 1422 the Turks failed to conquer Constantinople. The Christian city, all that was left of once mighty Byzantium, seemed impregnable. Through all its history, its triple wall had repelled attack. Only once had the city fallen, and then to treachery. Nearly one hundred emperors had sat on Constantinople's throne since Constantine dedicated the city in 311.

In 1453, Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottomans, cruel and patient, besieged the city. He erected a fortress across the strait from the city, brought up ships and his dreaded janissaries (captured Christians who had been trained into an effective fighting force). Mehmed also cast a cannon which could hurl 500 pound stones a mile. With this and other guns he lashed Constantinople. He did not know the city was down to 7,000 defenders.

Mehmed's artillery smashed the walls relentlessly, night and day, reducing the outer walls to rubble. The defenders bravely erected makeshift structures which held the Turks at bay. Unable to break through, the Turks murmured against Mehmed. He attempted to break the chain with which the Christian city kept his boats away. This failed. And so he built a slipway of greased planks 1400 yards from the Bosporus over steep Galata and dragged eighty small ships over it into the inner waterway of the Golden Horn. From there they attacked the city, but the defenders stalemated him again.

Despite their successes, morale was low in the city. The defenders felt God had deserted them. The infidel armies were overwhelming. It was just a matter of time until the besieged were overwhelmed by sheer attrition if nothing else. Mehmed carefully surveyed the walls. He brought all his firepower to bear against the most damaged points and arrayed his troops for greatest effectiveness with the janissaries facing the most damaged center. Around 1:30 am on this day, May 29, 1453, he ordered the assault.

The Christians fought with furious determination. Even the Janissaries could not smash them. The Turks were repulsed. But a gate left open allowed a few to break through. They were killed but left flags on the city wall. The outermost defenders, looking back, saw the Muslim flags and thought the city had been taken. They wavered. The Sultan noticed it and hurled his Janissaries at them. As dawn broke, the Christian line collapsed.

The Byzantine emperor died fighting as a common soldier. Other defenders fled to their houses to defend their families. The enraged Muslims murdered indiscriminately. Churches were looted and the sacramental chalices which had memorialized Christ's shed blood slaked Muslim throats. Christian women and boys were raped on the altars. The land where Paul and Barnabas preached salvation through Christ's death and resurrection now belonged entirely to Islam and, to celebrate its triumph, the Muslims tore down the cross above the Hagia Sophia and replaced it with a crescent. To Byzantium's few survivors, it seemed like the last day of the world.

Bibliography:

1. Pears, Edwin. Destruction of the Greek Empire and the Story of the Capture of Constantinople by the Turks. London: Longmans, Green, 1903.
2. Soisson, Pierre and Janine. Byzantium. Translator David Macrae. Minerva, 1977.
3. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.

Last updated April, 2007.