Akshemsettin on its motivation 1
starts to deploy into regimental formations (28 May) 1
on the eve of battle 1
the attack 1
festivities in the camp 1
Ottoman court 1
chilly atmosphere 2
Mehmet in 1, 2
technical mercenaries 1
two factions 1
Ottoman Empire
a multicultural creation 1
ten-year truce with Christians 1
uprising by Bey of Karaman 1
Constantinople as a threat to its security 1
comes fully into its own 1, 2
Ottoman fleet 1
defecting Byzantines help to build a fleet 2
caught and destroyed at Gallipoli (1416) 1
shipbuilding programme 1
brought to a Constantinople siege for the first time (1453) 1
approaches the city from the Dardanelles 1, 2
rows to the Double Columns 1
Mehmet’s objectives 1
confronts Genoese intruders 1, 2, 3, 4
ships moved overland to the Galata basin 1
failed Genoese attempt to burn Ottoman ships 1
floating of pontoon bridge 1
larger fleet encircles the city 1
forces open sea gates 1
Ottomans
emergence from the Turkmen (about 1280) 1
a caste of illiterate warriors 1
history subsequently reconstructed 1
styled as gazis 1
become sultans 1, 2
quick-witted, flexible and open 1
genetic inclusiveness 1
myth of the Savage Turk 1
identity 1
quick-learning 1
rapid assimilation of cannon technology 1
crescent moon symbol 1
Ovid 1
Pacific Ocean 1
Palaiologos family see House of Palaiologos
Pantocrator, monastery of the 1
papacy
dispute with the Orthodox Church 1, 2
Council of Florence 1
and citizens of Constantinople 1
parandaria (heavy transport barges) 1
partial eclipse 1, 2
Patras, siege of 1
Patriarchs 1
Paul the Silentiary 1
Pears, Sir Edward 1
Pechenegs 1
Pelekanos, Battle of (1329) 1
Peloponnese (Morea) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Pera see Galata
Persia 1
Persian Empire 1
Persians 1, 2
Petra quarter, Constantinople 1
Petrion 1
Phanar district, Constantinople 1
Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius 1
Pius II, Pope 1
Plataea, Battle of (479 BC) 1
Plateia, Constantinople 1
Plateia Gate 1
Plato 1, 2
priming powder 1
Princes’ Islands 1, 2
Prinkipo, Princes’ Islands 1
Procopius 1, 2, 3
prophecy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Provence 1
Psalms 1
Red Apple
location of 1
legends of 1, 2, 3, 4
the lure of 1, 2
intended to be the centre of Mehmet’s empire 1
and Rome 1
Red Apple Tree 1, 2
Red Sea 1
Reformation 1
Rhangabes (Greek commander) 1, 2, 3
Rhodes 1, 2, 3
siege of 1480 4
rifle men 1
Rizzo, Antonio 1, 2, 3, 4
Roman Empire 1, 2
Constantinople as the seat of the Roman Empire 3
Greek fire episode 1, 2
Romans: building techniques 1
Romanus Augustus Argyrus, Emperor 1
Romanus IV Diogenes, Emperor 1
Rome 1, 2, 3
Rum 1, 2, 3, 4
Rumeli Hisari (the Throat Cutter) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
built to secure control of the straits 7, 8
building of 1, 2
names for 1
custom toll 1, 2
fate of Rizzo and the Venetians 1, 2, 3
Runciman, Sir Stephen 1
Russia 1
Russian Orthodoxy 1, 2
Russians 1
Sa’d-ud-din 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Sagredo, Giovanni 1
St Demetrios church, Mistra 1
St Elmo’s fire 1
St George, military church of 1
St George, monastery of 1
St John the Baptist, Church of, Petra 1
St Mark
flag of 1, 2, 3
lion of 1, 2
St Mark’s, Venice 1, 2, 3
St Mary of Blachernae church, Constantinople 1
St Michael the Archangel, ruined church of 1, 2
St Romanus Gate, Constantinople 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
St Saviour church, Chora 1
St Sophia church, Constantinople 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
profaned and ransacked (1204) 13
dome collapses 1, 2
lack of coronation for Constantine XI 1
celebration of the union 1, 2
shunned by the Orthodox 1, 2, 3
Constantine gives thanks for a respite 1
strange light over the dome 1
procession gathers outside (28 May) 1
filled with people for final service of intercession 1
clergy’s prayers 1
the people seek sanctuary in 1, 2, 3
doors of 1, 2, 3, 4
crypt 1
soldiers attack 1, 2, 3
Mehmet visits 1
converted into a mosque (Aya Sofya) 1, 2
St Sophia church, Mistra 1
Saladin 1, 2, 3
saltpetre 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
sappers (Christian) 1
sappers (Ottoman) 1, 2, 3
Saracens 1, 2, 3, 4
Saruja 1
Saxon miners 1, 2, 3
scimitars 1, 2, 3, 4
Scots 1
Scutari, fall of (1338) 1
Scythians 1
Sea of Marmara 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
described 8, 9
Muslim ships destroyed in storm (718) 1
Venetian fleet sails up the Marmara (1203) 1
captives taken in raids on Ottoman coastal villages (1452 ) 1
Constantine’s fortified outposts 1
disguised ship searches for signs of a rescue fleet 1
fast currents 1, 2
survivors flee 1
Seljuks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Selymbria 1, 2
Serbian state 1
serpent column, temple of Apollo, Delphi 1, 2, 3
shamans 1
sharia law 1
Shihabettin Pasha 1, 2
Sicily 1
siege engines 1
siege guns 1, 2
siege towers 1, 2, 3
siege warfare 1, 2, 3, 4
Sinop 1, 2
sipahis (Ottoman cavalry) 1
Sivas, Anatolia 1
slave markets 1 Slavs 2
crack troops in the Ottoman army 3, 4, 5, 6
slingers 1, 2
slingshot 1
Smyrna (Izmir) 1, 2
Sodom and Gomorra 1
Soligo, Bartolamio 1
Spain: reconquest by the Catholic kings 1
Sphendone, Constantinople 1, 2
Sphrantzes, George 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
and the Lesser and Greater chronicles 12
Sphrantzes, Thamar 1
Steco, Andrea 1
Struma valley 1, 2
Studion, Constantinople 1, 2
Studius 1
Suez 1
Sufism 1, 2
Suleymaniye mosque, Constantinople 1
sulphur 1, 2
sultans
Orhan styles himself sultan 1
growing ambitions 1
no longer unlettered tribal chieftains 1
taste for the ceremonial apparatus of monarchy 1
fear of assassination 1
fratricidal struggle for power 1
male heirs sent to govern provinces 1
Sunnism 1, 2, 3
Syria 1, 2
Tafur, Pero 1
Tana fleet 1, 2
Taygetus mountains 1
Tenedos 1
Tetaldi, Giacomo 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Theodora, Empress 1
Theodore (brother of Constantine XI) 1
Theodore of Karystes 1
Theodosia, church of 1
Theodosius I, Emperor 1
Theodosius II, Emperor 1
Theodosius wall 1, 2
as a formidable defence 3
unbreached 1
flattened by earthquake in the fifth century 1, 2
rebuilt 1
described 1
three defensive layers 1, 2, 3
built by Anthemius 1
the heart of the system 1
the towers 1
the moat 1
series of gates 1
posterns 1
the Virgin’s protection 1
maintenance and repair 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
potentially vulnerable areas 1, 2, 3
effect of cannon fire 1, 2, 3, 4
nine substantial holes on the eve of battle 1
in modern times 1
Theophanes the Confessor 1
Theophilus Palaiologos 1, 2, 3
Therapia 1, 2
Thermopylae 1
Thessaloniki 1
Third Military Gate (Gate of the Reds),
Constantinople 1, 2
Thomas (brother of Constantine XI) 1, 2, 3
Thrace 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Timur 1
tin 1, 2, 3
Tokat, Anatolia 1
Tophane 1
Topkapi Palace, Constantinople 1, 2, 3
Torah, the 1
Tower of St Nicholas 1
Trabzon, Anatolia 1
trade routes 1, 2
Trapezuntios, George 1
Trebizond 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Trebizond, Emperor of 1
trebuchets 1, 2
Trevisano, Gabriel 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
triremes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Troy 1
True Cross 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Turahan Bey 1, 2
Turkey, creation of (1923) 1
Turkic Bulgars 1
Turkmen 1, 2
Turkocratia 1
Turks
‘faithless’ 1
emergence of 1, 2
homeland 1
booty as a raison d’etre 1
recruited into armies of the Caliph of Baghdad 1
restless, mobile and tribal 1
Sunni Seljuks as sultans in Baghdad 1
militant Islam 1
the image of the 1, 2
Tursun Bey 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Tutmose III, Pharaoh, column of 1, 2
typhus 1
ulemas 1
Urban II, Pope 1
Valens, aqueduct of 1
Valley of the Springs (Kasimpasha) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Van 1
Varna, Battle of (1444) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Vatican 1
Venetian Council of Twelve 1
Venetian fleet 1, 2, 3
Venetian Senate 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Venetians 1
Fourth Crusade 2, 3
crown jewels pawned to 1
rivalry with Genoese 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
peace renewed with Mehmet (1451) 1
Mehmet makes an example of them 1
growing concern in Venetian colony 1
spies 1, 2
soldiers 1, 2
galley crews 1, 2
and city gates 1
ship-killing gun developed 1
hard-nosed traders 1
Alviso Longo’s expedition 1
pope endebted to 1
galleys carried to Lake Garda 1
fleet seeks information about Ottoman naval intentions 1
plea of Minotto, the Venetian bailey 1
praised by Constantine 1
captured 1
harsh treatment of 1
war with Mehmet 1
Venice 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
bronze horses of Constantinople in 6, 7, 8
Greeks in 1
Vienna 1, 2
Vikings 1
Villehardouin, Geoffrey de 1
Virgin
icons of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
sacred relics 1
and the Theodosius wall 1
constant prayer to her during sieges 1, 2, 3, 4
Hodegetria 1, 2, 3
penitent procession hit by a storm 1
Vlachs 1
Vladislas, King of Hungary 1
Wallachia 1, 2
Western Christendom 1
Zaganos Pasha 1, 2
influences Mehmet 3
a forceful Christian renegade 1
and building of Rumeli Hasari 1
sent to build a roadway at top of Horn 1
a leading military commander 1
favours pursuing siege with more vigour 1
controls land behind Galata 1
bombards ships defending the Horn 1, 2
favours war 1
told to prepare army for battle 1
attack on end of land wall 1, 2
Acknowledgements
The idea for this book has been on the road for such a long time that the debts for its creation are many. The fact that it now exists is due most immediately to Andrew Lownie, my agent, Julian Loose at Faber and Bill Strachan at Hyperion for believing in the story, and then to the professional and enthusiastic teams at both publishers for making it happen.
For its deepest origins I am always grateful to Christopher Trillo, the champion of Istanbul, for persuading me to go there in 1973, and a small army of old friends who have advised along the way: Andrew Taylor, Elizabeth Manners and Stephen Scoffham for proposal and manuscript reading, Elizabeth Manners again for her cover photographs of the wall paintings from the monastery of Moldovita in Rumania, John Dyson for a huge amount of help in Istanbul sourcing books and for hospitality, Rita and Ron Morton for matching hospitality in Greece, Ron Morton and David Gordon-Macleod for taking me to Mount Athos to glimpse the living Byzantine tradition, Annamaria Ferro and Andy Kirby for translations, Oliver Poole for photographs, Athena Adams-Florou for scanning pictures, Dennis Naish for information on casting cannon, Martin Dow for advice on Arabic. To all these people I am very grateful. Last and always my deep thanks are to Jan, not only for proposal and manuscript reading, but also for surviving Turkish dog bites and the author year in, year out, with love.
I am also grateful to the following publishers for permission to reproduce substantial extracts included in this book. Material from The Tale of Constantinople by Nestor-Iskander, translated and annotated by Walter K. Hanak and Marios Philippides, courtesy Aristide D. Caratzas, Publisher (Melissa International Ltd); Material from Babinger, Franz: Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time (1978 Princeton University Press, reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.
Picture Credits
Illustrations in the plate section are reproduced by kind permission of the following: The British Library, London (1); Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul/ Giraudon/ www.bridgeman.co.uk (2); www.bridgeman.co.uk (3); The British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, No Pp, 1-19 (8); La Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (9); Musée des Augustins, Toulouse/ www.bridgeman.co.uk (10); Private Collection, Archives Charmet/ www.bridgeman.co.uk (11); National Gallery, London/ www.bridgeman.co.uk (12); Ruggero Vanni/Corbis (13)
Further praise for Constantinople:
‘Moving and convincing … Crowley gets you by
the throat, switching back and forth between the Ottoman and the Byzantine camps as he leads his story to a nail-biting close.’ Jason Goodwin, Literary Review
‘A powerful telling of an extraordinary story, presented with a clarity and a confidence that most academic historians would envy.’ Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph
‘More comprehensive and more leisurely than its immediate predecessor in English, Sir Steven Runciman’s The Fall of Constantinople … Roger Crowley’s Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453 tells an old story, but tells it well, with great flair and authority. A carefully paced, compelling and ultimately fair narrative, it is firmly grounded in the original Italian, Greek and (in lesser number) Ottoman accounts.’ Christine Woodhead, Times Literary Supplement
Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453 Page 38