On May 29, 1453, Constantinople fell under the blows of the Turks. The last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Palaeologus died heroically fighting in the ranks of the city's defenders. Constantinople became the capital of the Ottoman Empire, the seat of the Turkish sultans and received a new name - Istanbul. The period of the 1100-year history of the Christian Byzantine Empire is over. This victory provided the Ottomans with dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean basin, they received full control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. Constantinople-Istanbul remained the capital of the Ottoman Empire until its collapse in 1922. Today Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey.
It is clear that Constantinople by the time of the fall was already a fragment of the former greatness of the great empire, which owned the lands from North Africa and Italy to the Crimea and the Caucasus. The power of the Byzantine emperor extended only to Constantinople with the suburbs and part of the territory of Greece with the islands. The Byzantine state in the 13-15 centuries can be called an empire only conditionally. The last Byzantine rulers were actually vassals of the Ottoman Empire. However, Constantinople was the direct heir of the ancient world and was considered the "Second Rome". It was the capital of the Orthodox world, which opposed both the Islamic world and the Pope. The fall of Byzantium was an important milestone in the history of mankind. Especially "Byzantine lessons" are important for modern Russia.
Geopolitical situation by 1453. Ottoman conquests
The uniqueness of the position of the Byzantine Empire was that it was constantly subjected to military and political pressure from both the West and the East. In this respect, the history of Russia is similar to the history of the "Second Rome". In the east, Byzantium withstood numerous wars with the Arabs, the Seljuk Turks, although it lost most of its possessions. The West also posed a serious threat in light of the global political plans of Rome and the economic claims of Venice and Genoa. In addition, Byzantium has long pursued an aggressive policy towards the Slavic states in the Balkans. The exhausting wars with the Slavs also had a negative effect on the defenses of the empire. The expansion of Byzantium was replaced by heavy defeats from the Bulgarians and Serbs.
At the same time, the empire was undermined from within by the separatism of the provincial rulers, the elite egoism of the feudal lords, the confrontation between the “pro-Western” wing of the political and spiritual elite and the “patriots”. Supporters of a compromise with the West believed that it was necessary to accept union with Rome, which would allow it to withstand the struggle against the Muslim world. This more than once led to popular uprisings, the participants of which were the townspeople dissatisfied with the policy of the government, which patronized the Italian merchants, and the middle and lower clergy - protesting against the policy of rapprochement with Rome. Thus, from century to century, the empire confronted enemies in the West and East, and at the same time was split from within. The history of Byzantium was full of uprisings and civil strife.
In 1204, the Crusader army captured and plundered Constantinople. The empire collapsed into several states - the Latin Empire and the Achaean principality, created in the territories controlled by the crusaders, and the Nicene, Trebizond and Epirus empires, which remained under the control of the Greeks. In 1261, the Emperor of the Nicene Empire, Michael Palaeologus, made an alliance with Genoa and recaptured Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire was restored.
Ottomans. By this time, a new enemy arose in the east - the Ottoman Turks. In the XIII century, one of the Turkic tribes - the Kayy, under the leadership of Ertogrul-bey (1198-1281), driven from the nomads in the Turkmen steppes, moved to the West. Ertogrul-bey became a vassal of the Seljuk ruler of the Konya Sultanate Key-Kubad I (Aladdin Keykubad) and helped him in the fight against Byzantium. For this, the Sultan granted Ertogrulu a fief of land in the region of Bithynia between Angora and Bursa (without the cities themselves). The son of Prince Ertogrul, Osman (1258-1326), was able to sharply strengthen his position, since the rich Byzantine Empire in the West was exhausted by external wars and internal unrest, and the Muslim rulers in the East were weakened after the Mongol invasion. His army was replenished with refugees who fled from the Mongols and mercenaries from all over the Muslim world who sought to Ottoman to fight against the weakening Christian empire and use its wealth. The massive influx of Muslim and Turkic refugees led to a change in the demographic balance in the region not in favor of Christians. Thus, the massive migration of Muslims contributed to the fall of Byzantium and subsequently led to the emergence of a strong Muslim element in the Balkans.
In 1299, after the death of Aladdin, Osman assumed the title of "sultan" and refused to submit to the Konyan (Ruman) sultans. By the name of Osman, his subjects began to be called the Ottomans (Ottomans) or Ottoman Turks. Osman captured the Byzantine cities of Ephesus and Bursa. Often, Byzantine cities themselves surrendered to the mercy of the victors. Muslim warriors did not go to storm the powerful fortifications, but simply devastated the countryside, blocking all food supply routes. The cities were forced to capitulate, as there was no outside help. The Byzantines chose to leave the countryside of Anatolia and focus their efforts on strengthening the fleet. Most of the local population was quickly Islamized.
Bursa fell in 1326 and was turned into the capital of the Ottomans. From 1326 to 1359, Orhan ruled, he added an infantry corps to the strong Ottoman cavalry, began to create units of janissaries from the captured youths. Nicaea fell in 1331, and in 1331-1365 it was the capital of the Ottomans. In 1337 the Turks captured Nicomedia and renamed it Izmit. Izmit became the first shipyard and harbor for the nascent Turkish naval forces. In 1338, the Ottoman Turks reached the Bosphorus and were soon able to force it at the invitation of the Greeks themselves, who decided to use them in the civil war (1341-1347). Turkish troops came out on the side of the future emperor John VI Cantakuzin against the current emperor John V Palaeologus. In addition, John VI regularly used the Ottoman troops as mercenaries in the wars with the Serbs and Bulgarians. As a result, the Greeks themselves let the Ottomans into the Balkans, and the Turks were able to freely study the local political situation, learned about the roads, water sources, forces and weapons of the opponents. In 1352-1354. the Turks captured the Gallipoli Peninsula and began to conquer the Balkan Peninsula. In 1354, Orhan captured Ankara, which was under the rule of the Mongol rulers.
Sultan Murad I (1359-1389) captured Western Thrace in 1361, occupied Philippopolis, and soon Adrianople (the Turks named him Edirne), where he moved his capital in 1365. As a result, Constantinople was isolated from the areas that remained with him, and its capture was only a matter of time. Emperor John V Palaeologus was forced to sign an unequal treaty, according to which Byzantium freely renounced possessions in Thrace, pledged not to help the Serbs and Bulgarians in the fight against the Ottomans, and the Greeks had to support Murada in the fight against rivals in Asia Minor. In fact, Byzantium became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. In 1371, the Ottoman army defeated the allied army of the Prilepsk kingdom (one of the states created after the collapse of the Serbian state of Stefan Dušan) and the Serres despotism. Part of Macedonia was captured by the Turks, many local Bulgarian, Serbian and Greek feudal lords became vassals of the Ottoman Sultan. In 1385, Murad's army took Sofia, in 1386 - Nis, in 1389 - defeated the combined forces of the Serbian feudal lords and the Bosnian kingdom. Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.
Under Bayezid I (ruled 1389-1402), the Ottomans defeated a number of Muslim possessions in Anatolia and reached the shores of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. The Ottoman state became a maritime power. The Ottoman fleet began to operate in the Mediterranean. In 1390, Bayezid occupied Konya. The Ottomans gained access to the port of Sinop on the Black Sea and conquered most of Anatolia. In 1393, the Ottoman army captured the capital of Bulgaria - the city of Tarnovo. The Bulgarian Tsar Ioann-Shishman, who was already a vassal of the Ottomans under Murad, was killed. Bulgaria completely lost its independence and became a province of the Ottoman Empire. Wallachia was also subordinated. The Turks conquered most of Bosnia and set about conquering Albania and Greece.
Bayazid blocked Constantinople in 1391-1395. Forced the emperor Manuel II to make new concessions. He was distracted from the siege by the invasion of a large army of crusaders under the command of the Hungarian king Sigismund. But on September 25, 1396, in the Battle of Nikopol, the European knights who underestimated the enemy suffered a terrible defeat. Bayezid returned to Constantinople. "Spas" Constantinople great commander Timur. The Iron Lame demanded obedience from the Ottoman Sultan. Bayazid responded with an insult and challenged Timur to fight. Soon, a huge Turkic army invaded Asia Minor, but, without encountering serious resistance - the son of the Sultan, Suleiman, who did not have large military formations, went to Europe to his father, the Iron Lame moved troops to conquer Aleppo, Damascus and Baghdad. Bayezid clearly underestimated his opponent, poorly prepared for the battle. His mental faculties were undermined by a riotous lifestyle and drunkenness. On July 25, 1402, in the battle of Ankara, Bayezid's army was defeated, the main reasons for the defeat were the mistakes of the Sultan and the betrayal of the Anatolian beys and mercenary Tatars (it is interesting that the Slavic Serbs were the most staunch part of the Ottoman army). Bayazid was taken into shameful captivity, where he died. The Anatolian possessions of the Ottomans were devastated.
The defeat led to the temporary disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, which was accompanied by civil strife between the sons of Sultan Bayezid and peasant uprisings. Byzantium received a half-century reprieve. In the internecine struggle, the victory was won by Mehmed I (ruled 1413-1421). All Ottoman possessions were again united under the rule of one ruler. Mehmed, restoring the state, maintained peaceful relations with Byzantium. Moreover, the Greeks helped him in the fight against his brother Musa, ferrying Murad's troops from Anatolia to Thrace.
Murad II (ruled in 1421-1444 and 1446-1451) finally restored the power of the Ottoman state, suppressed the resistance of all claimants to the throne, the uprising of the feudal lords. In 1422 he laid siege to and tried to take Constantinople by storm, but without a powerful fleet and strong artillery, the offensive was unsuccessful. In 1430, the Ottomans captured the large city of Thessaloniki. The crusaders suffered two heavy defeats from the Ottomans - in the battle of Varna (1444), and in the battle on the Kosovo field (1448). The Ottomans conquered the Morea and seriously strengthened their power in the Balkans. Western rulers no longer made serious attempts to recapture the Balkan Peninsula from the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottomans were able to concentrate all efforts on the capture of Constantinople. The Byzantine state itself no longer posed a great military threat to the Ottomans, but the city had an advantageous military-strategic position. The Union of Christian States, relying on the Byzantine capital, could launch an operation to oust Muslims from the region. Venice and Genoa, which had economic interests in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, the Knights of the Johannes, Rome and Hungary, could enter against the Ottomans. Constantinople was now located practically in the middle of the Ottoman state, between the European and Asian possessions of the Turkish sultans. Sultan Mehmed II (ruled 1444-1446 and 1451-1481) decided to capture the city.
Possessions of the Byzantine Empire in 1453
Position of Byzantium
By the beginning of the 15th century, the Byzantine Empire had only a shadow of its former power. Only the huge Constantinople and its dilapidated, but powerful fortifications reminded in the past of greatness and splendor. The entire 14th century was a period of political setbacks. "King of the Serbs and Greeks" Stefan Dusan occupied Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, part of Thrace, there was a moment when the Serbs threatened Constantinople.
Internal divisions and elite ambitions have been constant sources of civil wars. In particular, Emperor John VI Cantacuzin, who ruled in 1347-1354, devoted almost all of his time to the struggle for the throne. First, he fought against the supporters of the young John V Palaeologus - the civil war of 1341-1347. In this war, John Cantakuzen relied on the Aydin emir Umur, then on the Ottoman emir Orhan. With the support of the Turks, he occupied Constantinople. During the civil war of 1352-1357. John VI and his eldest son Matthew fought against John V Palaeologus. Turkish troops, as well as Venice and Genoa, were again involved in civil strife. For help, the Ottomans had to give the entire treasury, church utensils and even money donated by Moscow Russia for the repair of St. Sophia Cathedral. The Venetians and Genoese were paid with trade privileges and lands. John of Cantacuzen was defeated. In addition to these disasters, a plague epidemic began in 1348, which claimed the lives of a third of the Byzantine population.
The Ottomans, taking advantage of the turmoil in Byzantium and in the Balkan states, crossed the straits at the end of the century came to the Danube. In 1368, Nissa (the country residence of the Byzantine emperors) submitted to Sultan Murad I, and the Turks were already under the walls of Constantinople. The city was surrounded by the possessions of the Ottomans.
In Constantinople itself, not only pretenders to the throne, but also supporters and opponents of the union with the Catholic Church, confronted each other. Back in 1274, at a church council convened in Lyons, a union was concluded with the Orthodox Church. The Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII agreed to a union in order to secure support from Western rulers and loans to wage wars. But his successor, Emperor Andronicus II, convened a council of the Eastern Church, which rejected this union. The supporters of the union with the Roman throne were mainly Byzantine politicians who sought help from the West in the fight against the Ottomans, or belonged to the intellectual elite. In this respect, Byzantine intellectuals are similar to the Russian intelligentsia, "sick of the West." The opponents of the union with the Western Church were the middle and lower clergy, the majority of the common people.
Emperor John V Palaeologus adopted the Latin faith in Rome. However, he did not receive help from the West against the Ottomans and was forced to become a tributary and vassal of the Sultan. Emperor John VIII Palaeologus (1425-1448) also believed that only the support of Rome would save Constantinople and tried to conclude a union with the Catholics as soon as possible. In 1437, he, together with the patriarch and a representative Greek delegation, arrived in Italy and stayed there for two years. Ferraro-Florentine Cathedral 1438-1445 took place successively in Ferrara, Florence and Rome. Eastern hierarchs, except for Metropolitan Mark of Ephesus, came to the conclusion that the Roman teaching is Orthodox. A union was concluded - the Florentine Union of 1439, and the Eastern churches were reunited with the Catholic Church. But the union was short-lived, soon it was rejected by most of the Eastern churches. And many Eastern hierarchs present at the Council began to openly deny their agreement with the Council or say that the decision was obtained through bribery and threats. Union was rejected by the majority of the clergy and people. The Pope organized a crusade in 1444, but it ended in complete failure.
External threat, internal turmoil took place against the backdrop of the economic decline of the empire. Constantinople at the end of the 14th century was an example of decline and destruction. The capture of Anatolia by the Ottomans deprived the empire of almost all agricultural land. Almost all trade passed into the hands of Italian merchants. The population of the Byzantine capital, which in the XII century numbered up to 1 million people (together with the suburbs), dropped to 100 thousand people and continued to fall - by the time the city was captured by the Ottomans, it had about 50 thousand people. The suburb on the Asian coast of the Bosphorus was occupied by the Ottomans. The suburb of Pera (Galata) on the other side of the Golden Horn became the possession of the Genoese. The Golden Horn was a narrow curved bay that flows into the Bosphorus at its junction with the Sea of Marmara. In the city itself, many neighborhoods were empty or half empty. In fact, Constantinople turned into several separate settlements, separated by abandoned quarters, ruins of buildings, overgrown parks, vegetable gardens and gardens. Many of these settlements even had their own separate fortifications. The most populous settlement quarters were located along the banks of the Golden Horn. The richest quarter at the Golden Horn belonged to the Venetians. Nearby were the streets where other immigrants from the West lived - Florentines, Anconians, Raguzians, Catalans, Jews, etc.
But the city still retained the remnants of its former wealth, was a major center of trade. Its marinas and markets were full of ships and people from Muslim, Western European and Slavic lands. Every year, pilgrims arrived in the city, many of whom were Russians. And most importantly, Constantinople was of great military and strategic importance.
