BOSPHORUS

�~Of
Xyloporta
Gale Casks,"'''--/ THE SfEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE 1453:
II
GOLDEN HORN PERA
Caligaria Blacher nae
SEVEN CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS
Kerkoport a
PH A N A R;;-' ::::::::::'2:::
Pighi
Gate

Hagia Sophia
•

Gate ct Forum at
51 Rornanus
translated by
the Bull
• J. R. MELVILLE JONES

DF
\"
SEA of MARMORA

(" 4- '7
. 653
\
o
'" MILES
Golden Gate
CONSTANTINOPLE

Note: Only one location is given here for the Gate of St

Romanus. There were in fact two gates within a short distance
AMSTERDAM
of one another, each of which was at times given this name, and ADOLF M. HAKKERT - PUBLISHER
there is occasionally confusion among the sources because of 1972
this.

ROO108 65193
 CONTENTS

I.S.B.N.90-256-0626_1
INTRODUCTION V11

Tedaldi ..... I

Leonard of Chios II

Chalcocondylas
Ducas ..

Copyright 1972 by A. M. Hakker-t, Amsterdam, Netherlands Riccherio

All Righls reserved. No part oj this book may be reproduced or translated Delfin ..
in any form. by print. photoprint, microfilm or any other means without
written permission from the publisher LomeUino I3I
Appendix: Mehmet's Treaty with the Genoese I36

Printed in the Netherlands

v
 INTRODUCTION

It would be easy to exaggerate the importance which the fall of

Constantinople had in the history of the Western world. It has often
been demonstrated that many contemporary developments - the
revival of classical learning, the expansion of the Ottoman empire
and the westward exploration which led to European settlement of
the Americas - were in train long before. But even if the event
itself was only part of an inevitable process, it has always appeared
as a moment of great historical significance in the course of Western
civilisation.
For this reason, it is surprising that so few of the accounts of it
which survive have been translated into English, and these only so
lately. A version of Kritovonlos. History of lI1ckmed the Conqueror,
by C. T. Riggs, was published at Princeton in 1954 (now available
as a reprint from Greenwood Press, New York). In 1969 I published
an English translation of Nicolo Barbaro's Diary of the Siege of
Constantinople (New York, Exposition Press); this is the most
important of all the extant accounts, since it gives a chronological
framework into which most of the events of the siege can be fitted.
The present collection begins with the report made by the
tine Giacomo Tedaldi, of whom we know nothing more than
is said Qf him in t e tex. is account has no literary merit except
that of brevity and, p~haps, the sense of immediacy which it
conveys. Its virtues are that it provides valuable confirmation of
statements made by others, and that it is also the only source for
some pQint~inor impQrtanc~. Several versions survive, and iris
clear from a comparison of them, and from the internal evidence
which they provide, that none reproduces Tedaldi's own words. It
seems likely that when he arrived at Negropont with other survi-
vors, his story was taken down as he gave it and tben translated, or,
as I think more probable, written down in French in the first place,
as he narrated his experiences in Italian or in a mixture of both
languages; this explains why he is referred to in the third person,

vii
 ,
, ten books. covers the period 1298-1463. Because its theme is the rise
and why some of the names which he mentions appear in an un-
recognisable fonn. The document was later circulated in French and
in Latin, with the addition of character sketches of the Sultan and
reports of his future plans. • '
The manuscript from which this translation has been made is the
earliest surviving one (Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, ms. fro 6487,
if. I8-2I), which bears the date of December 3ISt 1453, and has the
added interest that it includes a.-..£ictyre of Constantinopl@ 'Nlaic.h
~ ~e po meR than one step awzey k9Rl a CQntem..,porarymap Qf
'the Sleg,e.
TJ.1e letter written by _Leonard of Chios. Latin arcbhishop of
M ene, to Po Nicholas V in Rome, is another eyewitness
account, which was finished by Augus I6th 1453. Written wbi3
recent events were fresh in the aythor's memory, it is one of the
mo:e. ~an~ §QllTce5 of infonnation about the military dis-
POSItionS af hCSlP.gerS .and besie~dJLeonard had been brought to
t against the good edition of Darke, Budapest I922), most of these
Constantinople to assist Isidore of Kiev, Cardinal of Russia, in
effecting the union of the Greek and Roman churches, and his
sympathies were all in this direction. As a result, his narrative is
punctuated by outbursts against those who opposed the union' and
he is inclined to underestimate the part played by the Greeks In the
defence of their city.
The text from which this translation has been made is that
~rinted in J.-P. Migue, Patrologia Graeca I59, cols 923-943. Inspec-
tion of the manuscript from which it was taken, Vatican ms. lat.
4I37, has enabled a few minor corrections to be made. The Italian
translation which appears in F. Sansovino, Historia Universale
ddl'Origine d Imperio de Turchi, Book III, pp. 304-313, has been
compared with the Latin text. It is clear that this is not an inde-
pendent versio~, ?ut a free. and sometimes hurried rendering, with
some small omrssions, particularly of matters which did not show
the Venetians in the best possible light.
The next account which appears in this collection is pot by lID'
eyewi~ness: ~aonicus Chalcocondylas (or Chalcondyles) was an
r
~benllW, and resident in the Peloponnese. His Turkish History, i-;
• The ~io~~ manu~~, of Tedaldi's account are discussed by M.L,-
~ Concasty, Lee Informations de Jacques Tedaldi sur Ie Siegeet 1a Prise
.de£onstantinople' in Byrafttion 1954,95-110.
./
\.
of the 9ttoman empire rather than the collapse of the Byzant~
~d, his narrative of the siege, which is contained in pages 201-214
of his eighth book, is~concerned with the overall Q2lUse pf events I
and with externals /ieperally, rather than with the theological
disputes and political intrigues of the Greeks in Constantinople
(although he alone preserves what may be a hint that Lucas Notaras
had closer contacts with Italy than was generally realised at the
time).
His language is deliberately classicising in style. We read. of
Byzantium, Dacia and the Hellenes; Cardinal Isidore comes from
Sarmatia; the prophet Mahomet is the 'hero' of the Turks; and
harmosts, prytanies and stades are mentioned from time to time.
The effect is at times like that of a good, but unadventurous, sixth-
form prose. In this translation (which has been made from the text
printed in Migne, Patrologia Graeca I59, cols 375-397 and checked
archaic terms have been avoided, since they have no historical
significance; similarly, his use of the word 'trireme' seems to have
no exact meaning as a nautical term, although in many other
contemporary writers (including some of those presented here), it
does seem to be used to describe one definite class of vessel.
The Byzantine History of Micha.ei Duc3& on the other hand, which
deals with the events of tAe siege iD Mapters xxxiii-xlii, is far nearer
in its language to current non-literary Greek. It would be an
exaggeration to call it demotic in vocabulary or syntax; the language,
even at this time, is closer to that of Thucydides than it is to that
of contemporary documents, for instance, the Greek versions of
Mehmet's treaties with the Genoese and Venetians, which make no
pretence of adopting classical forms. But although Ducas is writing
in an idiom which is some distance away from the demotic, he feels
no obligation to call things by any other names than those current
in his own time, so that there is a s,w;nkHpg of Italian, D,r1d® and
r Slay words among the rest;. and his relaxed use of the nominative
, absolute shows that he is not attempting to perpetuate the rules of
classical syntax.
,His aeeelifti is ell@ Qf tA@ loogest. but as a piece of historical
writing it is not one of the most yalnabJe, since it was ~om.I?O~
ix
.$lrne years <liter tee-siege, and most of the major events had already
Mehmet by Giacomo de Languschi, which he includes in his work. It
been described by others. In one respect, however, it is outstanding:
is surely by inadvertence that he has omitted any acknowledgem~nt
his ability to portray a character, and tq dramatise a sCillie, has
of Ubertino Pusculus of Brescia, from whose poem on Constantin-
made later writers rely on him perhaps even more than they them-
ople (Book IV, lines 148-96 and 205~26) the second and third of the
selves realised. His other great merit is that he gives some details
passages which appear here are taken. .
of the struggle between Unionists and Schismatics whkh. ...we.do.nof
Dolfin's own account of his sources has led to some confusion
find in any other writer. But with all his good points, it is hard to
among modern writers, who are inclined to state that he used ~t?er
forgive him for incorporating so much of Jeremiah's lament over
eyewitness reports. This is not so; his only sources (with the addition
Jerusalem into his text without alteration, in imitation of Nicetas
of Pusculus) are the ones which he himself mentions. The passage
Choniates. The translation has been made from the edition by
which has given rise to misunderstandings is his statement about
Greeu (Bucarest I958).
the superiority of first-hand to second-hand evidence; and this
The account which follows that of Ducas in this collection is
comes directly from the second paragraph of Leonard of Chios.
something of a mystery. It appears, under the name of one ~
The last document presented here is a letter written by the
foro Riccherio, in a work published in 1568 in Venice which has
former Podesta of the Genoese colony at Pera, ~ the opposite.side
~lready been ~ mentioned in connection with Leonard of Chios.
of the Golden Horn, in which th~i deseRhes the fall Qf th~
Sansovino's Historia Universale. There is no indication of the origin
Y.fr1' britlfly to his bI\lthet. ,!::omellino had been in.vited to conti~ue
of Riccherio's account, which appears on pp. 315-318 of Book III,
at the expiry of his term of office, and had found himself responsible
and no manuscript appears to have survived. Nothing in the
for doing what he could to ensure the safety of his fellow-citizens.
narrative, however, suggests that it is not what it claims to be, so
His letter, written in extraordinarily bad Latin, suggests that he
we may consider it as a brief and brisk account of the major events
felt that the actions of the Genoese demanded some defence. It has
of the siege,.by one who was himself present at it, giving some further
been translated from the text printed in Notices et Extraits des mss.
details of interest, ~ut not of any major impor~
de la Biblictkeque dtt Roi Xl, 1827, pp. 75-59.
The remaining Italian account, by Zorzj Dolfin, is the least
As an appendage to Lomellino's letter, a translation is printed
,Prigjaal Qf a~y, and for this reason Qnly·;xcerpts from it have been
here of the Greek text of Mehmet's treaty with the Genoese, made
given here. It occurs in his Cronaca. a history of Venice up to 1478,
after the fall of the two cities. This has been made from the improved
which like Sansovino's Historia Universale contains excerpts from a
text of the manuscript in the British Museum (Egerton Collection
number of original documents. The sections dealing with the siege
no. 2817) printed by E. Dalleggio d'Alessio, 'Le Texte grec du
of Constantinople, together with a fev v paragraphs dealing with
Traite Conclu par les Cenois de Galata avec Mehmet II 1e Ier Juin
contemporary events at Rome and Venice, were published by
1453' in Hellenika XI, 1939, II5-124·
G. M. Thomas in Sitzwngsberichte dcr konigl. beyer, Akademie der
One most important source of evidence will not be found here,
Wissensc1lajten 1868, pp. 1-41, and it is this text which has been
namely the excerpts from the Chronicow of George Phra~tzes .(more
used for the purpose of preparing a translation here.
correctly Sphrantzes) which deal with the events of this penod. A
Most of DaHin's narrative is a...uproduction, sometimes a little
translation of these, with extensive commentary, is being prepared
inaccurate, of the letter of Leonard of Chios, and has therefore been
for publication by Dr M. G. Carroll - to whom lowe the elucidation
omitted. A single paragraph, the last of those printed in this
of many points of difficulty which arose in the preparation of the
selection, me Phili f Rimini's short account (preserved in
present collection - which would make any translation which might
Venice, Biblioteca Marciana mss. classe latini X , 250), which
be included in this work redundant.
Dolfin also mentions in his prelude to the description of the Sultan .'
It would be too much to hope that no error or misunderstanding
x
xi
exists in the pages which follow; when one is moving between one
language and another, Nemesis* is always lying in wait. It would
have been an advantage too, at times, to have had better texts to
work from; thc Byzantine historians in general would benefit from
the application of even a small part of the energy and expertise
which arc still being applied, with decreasing returns, to the texts
of Aeschylus or Cicero. But the need for English versions of docu-
ments such as these, which are available only in other languages,
particularly ancient ones, is so great that we must do as much as
possible with the material as it stands. Chi non fa, non sbaglia. A few
possible improvements to the texts have been suggested in footnotes.
It would not have been possible to complete this work without
the assistance provided by the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, the
Biblioteca Marciana, Venice, the Vatican library and the inter- GIACOMO TEDALDI
library loan facilities of the Reid Library, University of Western
Australia. I should like also to express my gratitude to the Nuffield
Foundation for providing support during the period when work on
this project was begun, and the Myer Foundation for assisting me to
visit libraries overseas when the final revision was in progress.

Dalkeith, Western. Australia

July I972

.. It was this Nemesis which inspired me, in the translation of Barbaro

previously mentioned, to assume that 'el galina' was a Venetian nickname
(The Hen') for Antonio Filamati. It is, in fact, the name of a Cretan ship-
master, Yalinas.

Xl!
Here follows the manner of th~ captnI:e of the noble city of Constan-
tinople by the Turkish Sultan on the twenty-eighth (sic) day of
May I453.
On the fourth day of April in this same year, the Turks moved
close to Constantinople, and on the following day, the fifth, their
army took up its position before the city.
At the siege there were altogether two hundred thousand men, of
whom perhaps sixty thousand were fighting men, thirty to forty
thousand of them being mounted. * A quarter of them were equipped
with coats of mail or leather jackets. Of the others, many were
armed after the fashion of France, some after the fashion of Hungary
and others again had helmets of iron, and Turkish bows and cross-
bows. The rest of the soldiers were without equipment, except that
they had shields and scimitars, which are a kind of Turkish sword.
The rest of the two hundred thousand were thieves and plunderers,
hawkers, workmen and others who followed the army.
At the siege there were several large cannon and a large number
of culverins and other equipment for hurling projectiles. Among the
rest there was a very large metal cannon, cast in one piece, which
threw a stone of eleven spans and three fingers in circumference,
weighing nineteen hundred pounds. The others threw shot of eight,
ten or twelve hundred pounds. Each day the cannon were fired
between a hundred and a hundred and twenty times, and the siege
lasted for fifty-five days. It has been calculated that they used a
thousand pounds of gunpowder each day, so that in fifty-five days
they used fifty-five thousand pounds weight of powder; its hould be
remembered, too, that besides the cannon, there were also ten
thousand culverins.
The Turkish fleet, within and without the harbour, consisted of
between sixteen and eighteen tall galleys, sixty to eighty galliots
of from eighteen to twenty benches of oars each, and sixteen to
twenty smaller vessels suitable for carrying horses, of a sort called
palendins, and a number of other small craft of various kinds.
After the siege had begun, and was being carried on by land,

• Other mss. invert the proportions. and give one hundred and forty
thousand as the number of fighting men. But sixty thousand seems much
more likely.

3
lagan Pasha, the Sultan's vizier, a renegade Christian from Albania,
the one who was most feared and had the most voice and authority
among his entourage, had between sixty and eighty ships, galleys
and other armed vessels, carried from the sea for two to three miles
overland into the bay of M a1tdragui, in the harbour between the
two cities. This was the only way the Turkish fleet could get into
the harbour, because the Christian arrny was near, and they had
built a bridge of ships at the entrance to the harbour, to go from
Constantinople to Pera, to bring aid when needed. The captain of
the Turkish fleet was called Albitangole. Four Genoese ships broke
past him, and the Sultan appointed another captain. Now the
besieged city was closed off by sea as well as by land.
Constantinople is very strong, of a triangular form. The land
walls are six thousand paces in length, the walls facing the sea five,
and those facing the harbour and the Bosphorus six again. The land
walls are very thick and high, with barbicans and battlements above
them, and false walls and ditches running along outside them. The
principal walls are twenty to twenty-two brasses in height, three and
in some places six brasses thick and in a few places eight. The false
walls outside are built up to a height of twenty to twenty-two
brasses, and are three brasses thick. The ditches are thirty-five
brasses wide and fifteen brasses deep. The brasse contains at the
most about three and a half palms by the Avignon standard.
In the city there were altogether 30,000 to 35,000 men under
arms, and six to seven thousand fighting men, making 42,000 at the
most.
In the harbour, to defend the chain, there were thirty Christian
neis and nine galleys, that is, two light galleys, three Venetian
merchant galleys, three belonging to the Emperor and one to
Messire Giovanni Giustiniani Longo, a Cenoese in the service of the
Emperor of Greece.
Constantinople being thus besieged by land and sea, and so
roughly battered without and within by arrows, by cannon and by
other weapons, defended itself for fifty-four days. During this time
there were several notable events. It seemed to the Christians that
it would be easy to burn the Turkish fleet. The captain of the galley
of Trebizond boarded a light galley for this purpose, with several
others who were assigned to this task. But their galley was sunk by
4
a shot from a Turkish cannon, and the crew was drowned, except
for a few who were captured. By the Sultan's orders these were
fixed by the fundament upon sharp stakes, which pierced them to
the top of their heads. The stakes were planted, and they were left
to die in full view of the guards on the walls.
On the landward side lagan Pasha, a renegade Christian from
Albania who had risen to a position of great importance, had among
the men who were besieging the city a number who were accustomed
to mining gold and silver. He made them tunnel in fourteen places
under the walls to make them collapse, beginning his tunnels a long
way off. The Christians for their part dug counter-mines, and
listened, and located them time and time again. They suffocated the
Turks in their mines with smoke, or sometimes with foul and evil-
smelling odours. In some places they drowned them with a flood
of water, and often found themselves fighting them hand to hand.
This same lagan Pasha made a wooden castle so great, so strong
and so high, that it overtopped the wall and towered above it.
He had a bridge made, on barrels, a thousand brasses long and
seven brasses wide, to cross the waters of the harbour as far as the
foot of the wall. He also made and set up a number of wooden
structures, behind which they could shelter without being wounded,
and light ladders of wood, to scale the walls.
Every day there were fierce skirmishes in which there were
casualties on both sides. But for everyone of the defenders who was
killed, there died a hundred of their Turkish assailants outside the
city.
At the siege by the Turks there were many Christians, of Greece
and other nations. Although they were subjects of the Sultan, he had
not compelled them to resign their Christian faith, and they could
worship and pray as they wished.
Furthermore, there were some captains and others who were
opposed to lagan because he oppressed them. These men advised
the defenders by letters which they shot into the city, and in every
other way possible, of everything that was done by the besiegers
and by the Sultan's council. Among other things, the Christians
were informed that the Sultan, with his barons, princes, nobles and
counsellors, had held council for four consecutive days. During this
time there was one of his captains named Halil Pasha who advised
5
him to raise the siege, giving him these reasons for doing so; 'You
have done your duty, you have given them a number of fierce
battles, and every day great numbers of your men are killed. You
see how strongly the city is defended, and how impossible it is to
storm it; in fact, the more men you send to attack it, the more are
left lying there, and those who manage to scale the wall are beaten
back and killed. Your ancestors never got as far as this, or even
expected to. It is to your great glory and honour that you have done
so much, and this should satisfy you, withouty our wishing to destroy
the whole of your forces in this way.'
So much was said, that the Sultan was considering raising the
siege, and before withdrawing, setting up some columns, to be a
monument for ever of what he had achieved, more than any ot his
a.ncestors had ever undertaken, and to warn every Turk from that
time onwards not to approach Constantinople.
But Zagan Pasha, the renegade Christian from Albania was
enti~ely ?f the opposite opinion, and said to the Sultan, app~aling
to hISpride and adventurous spirit, 'You have proved yourself the
stronger. You have razed to the ground a great part of the city
walls, and we shall break down the rest. Give us the chance of
making one short sharp general assault, and if we fail, we shall
afterwards do whatever you think best.'
He spoke so well, that the Sultan was confirmed in his adventurous
policy, and agreed. The defenders were kept informed of all that
had happened, and advised to be brave for only two or three days
longer, because it seemed certain that after the attack had been
made, the Turks would retreat and not return.
After the Sultan had decided to make this further assault, he
gave orders three days before the attack that there should be a
solemn fast through the whole of his camp to honour and show
reverence f~r the great God of Heaven, whom they worship alone.
So he and hIS men fasted for three consecutive days, eating nothing
througho~t the day, but only at night time, under penalty of death.
And by rught they made lights with candles and wood, which were
left to bum on land and on the water, so that it seemed that sea
and la.nd were on fire, with a great deal of noise from drums and
other Instruments (they have hardly any trumpets).
Such was the position: the Sultan intended to attack, and was
6 7
determined to win, and the defenders for their part were equally
determined to fight back. The Turks began their assault gradually
on the evening of the twenty-eighth of May, the Sultan's forces being
arranged as follows.
First Bigliardi. the senior general in charge of the army of Turkey,
with twenty thousand men, went to the gate of Pighi, where the
great tower was.
Halil Pasha, the Sultan's vizier and the Christians' friend, and
Zagan Pasha, also a vizier of the Sultan, * with almost a third part
of the army of the besiegers, came to the gate of Saint Romanus,
about a thousand paces from Pighi.
Elbigllabee. general in charge of the Greek section of the Sultan's
army, was placed by Caligaria, near the Emperor's palace, where the
greatest number of mines had been dug, about two thousand paces
from Saint Romanus.
Zagan Pasha, an Albanian and renegade Christian, was over the
water before Pera with a force of renegade Christians; for many of
this country gave up their faith.
The assault began, and the defenders gave a good account of
themselves at all points. The Gate of Saint Romanus was the most
vulnerable place, and the wall here was weakest, since the Turks had
previously broken down a great part of it. The cannon had been
placed there, and they had razed a tower and the upper half of the
wall for a distance of at least two hundred brasses. There were also
so many culverins and arrows being fired, that it was impossible to
see the sky. Meanwhile, the defenders were plugging the cavities in
the wall, filling the two hundred brasses which had been destroyed
with barrels and earth and other materials, and resisting the attack
to the best of their ability.
Messire Giovanni Giustiniani Longo was at this point, a Genoese
in the service of the Emperor, who conducted himself most valiantly
there. The whole city had confidence in him and in his bravery. Now
in this place, to make his last effort, the Sultan approached with
two companies of ten thousand men specially chosen to protect
his person, and many others with the wooden castle, bridges,
• This must be an error: Zagan is mentioned later in another place, and
Ishak was in the area named here.
r
ladders and other equipment. They began to fill the ditch, and
throw bridges and ladders across, and to scale the walls.
There Guistiniani was wounded by a culverin, and he left to seek
the attention of a surgeon. Before doing so, he entrusted the guard-
ing of his post to two Genoese gentlemen. All this time, the Turks
were scaling the wall more and more, and at this, the soldiers who
were guarding it inside, seeing them already inside the wall in such
great numbers, and Giustiniani going away, believed that he was
fleeing, so they abandoned their posts and fled too. By these means
the Turks entered Constantinople at dawn on the twenty-ninth of
May, putting to death at the point of the sword anyone whom they
found offering resistance to them.
Pera had not been attacked, and the majority of its inhabitants
were in Constantinople to defend it. Those who were in Pera who
had not removed any of their property, decided to offer the k;ys of
the city to the Sultan, and recommend themselves to him, taking
him as their lord and protector, speaking in Italian, and by offering
him the city, which still contained six hundred men, to throw them-
selves on his mercy. However, a large number of men and women
there boarded a Oenoese neJ to make their escape; and it seemed to
Jacques (the narrator) that a neighbouring neJfull of women from
Pera was captured by the Turks.
The Emperor of Constantinople was killed. Some say that his
head was cut off, and others that he died in the press at the gate;
both stories may very well be true.
The great Venetian galleys for the voyage to Romania and Tre-
bizond stayed there until midday, waiting to see if they could rescue
any Christians. Four hundred reached them, among whom was this
Jacques Daldi (sic), who had been at his post on the wall some
distance from the point at which the Turks entered. Two hours
later, when it was known that they had entered the city, he reached
the ha~bour, threw off his clothes, and swam to the galleys, which
took him on board; he preferred the risk of being drowned to that
of awaiting the fury of the Turks.
The Turks sank a Genoese neJ of eight hundred botte, with a cargo
w~rth eighty thousand ducats, and captured altogether between
thirteen and sixteen ships, three of about six hundred boue each
and the rest of two, three or four hundred botte. The Turkish fleet
8
was made up of two hundred and forty vessels altogether, neJs and
galleys and galiottes, with a number of smaller boats.
If the Venetian expedition led by Messire Giacomo Loredan had
arrived at Constantinople even one day before the city was captured,
there is no doubt that they would have been saved. The expedition
consisted of nine Venetian galleys and twenty ships altogether; but
they did not arrive in time, only reaching Negropont the day
after the galleys of the fugitives reached it. This arrival was a
pitiful thing, with their lamentations and the story of their losses.
In this galley there came from Constantinople eight Venetian citizens,
and thirty-four nobles stayed there, together with about forty
others, who were caught by the Turks in the act of removing their
armour in order to escape by swimming, following the example of
Jacques Daldi. May God grant them aid. *
Those who have spoken with the Sultan, who have seen him in
action and are informed about his position and the extent of his
power, have said that he is twenty-three or twenty-four years of age.
More cruel than Nero, he delights in shedding blood. He is full of
courage, eager to conquer the whole world, and to rule greater
empires than any of those who came before him, whose histories he
has read to him daily. He makes inquiries concerning the position of
Venice, how far it is from the mainland, and how it may be reached
by sea or by land. And he considers that it would be no difficult
matter to build a bridge from Megara (Zara) to Venice, to make a
way along which his soldiers could pass. Megara is a town of Aquileia
on the coast, Venice being about five thousand paces distant across
the sea. In the same way he inquires about the position of Rome, and
about the Duke of Milan and his power. In fact, he talks of nothing
but this war.
He says that he will make Constantinople his capital, his plan
being to build fine ships there, which he can certainly do; and then,
he believes, there will be no one who will not surrender to him,
either at sea or on land, rather than do battle with his forces; for
now he has captured Constantinople, the strongest city in Europe,
so strong that no one would have thought that any army, however
'" Tedajdi's narrative seems to end at this point. The rest will be a later
addition, for circulation in Europe.
9
large, could possibly overcome it; and not only are his soldiers able,
hardy and courageous, but they care nothing for their lives.
Given on the last day of the month of December in the year of our
Lord 1453· This present document written by me Jean Columbi, and
brought from Constantinople by the hand of Jean Blanc.

Signed: J. Columbi

Here begins the history of the loss and captivity

oj the city of Constantinople, written to His
Holiness Pope Nicholas by Leonard of Cbios,
professor of theology and Archbishop of Myti-
lene.

IO
II
 Pe~~aps my grief, most blessed Father, should prevent me from
wntmg; and perhaps, when I was assailed by Turkish swords, it
would have been better for me to die than to live. But there is some
virtue in hearing tales of misfortune, if those who are cast down
may rise up again, just as those whom we tell of the death of their
loved one~ at the hands of their enemies are roused by their sorrow
to more VIgOroUSthoughts of revenge. So in spite of my misery and
my tears, I shall tell the story of the tremendous perils and the loss
of Constantinople, which I observed at close quarters with my own
eyes.
I have no doubt, most blessed Father, that there have been many
before me~ who have related the course of events to your Holiness,
but th,ere ISadvantage in having a multitude of accounts; and since
the evidence of an eye-witness is always more reliable than hearsay,
I shall tell what I know, and bear trustworthy witness to what I
have seen.
When the most reverend Father, the Cardinal of Sabina appoint
ed. as legate called me f
for the nation of the Greeks ,rom C·hilOS In
't- 0
.
~ISservlc~, I went with the intention of doing my duty, and defend-
mg the faith of the .holy Roman Church with all the e m~ow~ f h' h
I was capable. I tned to understand the customs and the nature of
the. Greeks, and t? grasp from the arguments and the statements of
their h?ly theologians what was their desire; what propositions, what
reasomng, ~vhat conclusions might hold them back from a true
understanding, or draw them towards a due obeditence. I soon
.
realised that except for the learned Argyropulus, Theophilus Palae-
ologus ~nd a few monks and lay theologians, almost all the Greeks
were seized by an excessive partiality; and that there was none who
coul~ be moved by zeal for the Faith or for his own salvation to be
the first to express contempt for their obstinate opinions.
The result was,. that their consciousness of the truth urged them
to accept the article of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the
Son; but on the other hand, their swollen pride held th b kf
believi h . emacrom
e . evmg t at Latins might have a better understanding of the
Faith .than Gre~ks, But since neither their reasoning nor the
a~thon;y of their church, nor the various opinions of Scholarius,
ISIdore or Neophytus could stand against the faith of the R
*NtthC' oman
o e ardinal of Russia,but the future Patriarch of Constantinople.
I2
Church, it was arranged by the industry and probity of the afore-
mentioned Cardinal that the Holy Union should be confirmed, with
the agreement (if it was not feigned) of the Emperor and his Senate,
and celebrated on the second day before the Ides of December, the
holy day of the Bishop Spiridion.
As soon as this was over, a storm from Troy arose, and swallowed
up the city of Constantinople, Galata and the adjoining towns,
bringing to pass the words of Isaiah (54, II), '0 thou afflicted, tossed
with tempest, and not comforted.' I too was smitten by that
tempest, captured and, as a punishment for my sins, bound and
beaten by the Turks, although I was not worthy to be crucified
with Christ my Saviour.
I remember, most blessed Father, that when I first wrote to your
Sanctity in the gravest terms about making the Union with the
Greeks, I said among other things, 'Because of the attack by the
Turks which we expect will take place in the near future, we are
poised between hope and despair.' Hope in the help which we
expected from you gave us confidence, fear of the stubbornness of
the Greeks made us despair. Alas! what hope could there be for a
people hardened by the depth of their iniquity, for a body which had
remained for so many years cut off from its Head, without any
spiritual life? How could they be anything but desperate and
rejected by God, when they remained at such a distance from the
Roman Church, and engaged in so many dissimulations, in so many
lies, and kept themselves so firmly separated? Even now that they
are in captivity, and driven from their city, their churches, their
treasures and their homes, they try to blame the Latins for their
offences, saying 'Because we made the Union, and paid attention to
the Pontiff of Rome, we deserve to suffer the displeasure of God.'
Was there ever such pertinacity? If this is indeed an evil thing,
you must also condemn Saint Basil, Saint Athanasius, Saint
Cyrillus and the other early Fathers whom you hold in great
esteem, because they believed in one holy and undivided Faith,
held in common with the Church of Rome, the mistress of all
Christians. These things did not happen because you made the
Union, but because you made it falsely, and not in the spirit of
truth. It is for this reason that God is rightly angry; for this reason,
as a just punishment, you have been led into the hands of your
I3
 enemies. Have you not broken your promise concerning the Union,
which was made in writing and confirmed by a holy oath at the
Synod of Florence? Have you not refused obedience, and concealed
the meaning of the decree? And did not the messengers of God, 0 ye
Greeks, continually foretell your destruction, while you, like the
adder, wickedly stopped up your ears, and refused to obey the Holy
Catholic Church, the Mother of the Faithful? Weep for your
sorrows; but blame your own selves, and do not condemn others,
or seek to cast the blame upon them.
It is the way of the stubborn, to reject the holy messengers of
God; as Zedekiah and the rest of the Jews who were taken to
Babylon scorned Jeremiah, when he foretold their destruction and
captivity. Troy would still be standing today, if Father Priam had
paid heed to Cassandra; the same could be said of the Hebrews if
they ha~ listened to their prophets, or the Romans to their Sybil,
or you, If you had but listened a little while ago to the Apostolic
messengers. So it is no wonder, that a tempest should have gathered
force. to punish such an offence, just as those whom the Holy Spirit
had mstructed had been prophesying for many years .
.Let us leave on one side the execration pronounced against the
WIcked Greeks by the blessed Father Nicholas the First in his bull
Urgentis in senium saeculi corrwptela; in fact, the arrangement of th~
do:ument which was once hidden in Constantinople and is now, after
being r:vealed by a mysterious sign, in the monastery of Saint
~eorge In Mangana, and is ascribed to Leo the Wise, shows that the
city ,,:,ould be lost. This, most blessed Father, is divided into squares
ShOWIngt?e emperors and their order of succession, making it clear
that the lme would end with this last Constantine. The document
al~o.gives a full list of the patriarchs. Its composer, illuminated by a
spmt of prophecy, included as many squares, in which the emperors
\~ere to be represented, as there were to be emperors from Constan-
tine the .Great, :he founder of the city, until its last captivity. With
the passing of time every space was filled, until, as it is asserted, the
last ~quare was. left empty, the one in which the ruler in whose reign
the CIty has penshed would have been placed, if he had been crowned.
Our own Morsenus* had also predicted many centuries before
" Tomaso Morosini, Latin Archbishop of Constantinople 1204-11.
'4
that a spear-bearing race would come against Constantinople, and
capture its celebrated harbour, and that the Greek race would be
exterminated. There is also an oracle of our Erythraea which fore-
tells the loss of Constantinople, to those who can read it. Again, the
abbot Joachim in my opinion gives warning of the loss of Constanti-
nople in his Papalieta, when he says, 'Woe to you, built on seven
hills, with your hands lopped off, as if destitute of help.' The Greek
for 'built on seven hills' is bt1"&.AOCPO~.
Why then do they condemn the Latins? Why do they inveigh
against us when we speak the truth, and when so many clear
prophecies bear witness against them? It was not the making of the
Union, but the pretence of making it, that brought the city to doom
and destruction; from which we know that the Divine wrath has
ripened, and come upon us in these days.
God therefore, roused to anger, sent Mehmet, the all-powerful
Sultan of the Turks, a young man bold, ambitious and full of a wild
enthusiasm, the mortal enemy of the Christians. On the fifth of
April he encamped in full view of Constantinople, with more than
three hundred thousand fighting men spread around the city. The
greater proportion of his troops was mounted, although they fought
on foot for the most part. Among them were the brave foot-soldiers
who formed his bodyguard, originally Christians or the sons of
Christians, who had renounced their faith. They are called ]anis-
saries, and form a corps like the Myrmidons of Macedon, about
fifteen thousand strong.
On the third day, when the area surrounding the city was under
his control, he moved innumerable engines of war up to the ditch
which surrounded the walls, together with pieces of lattice-work
made out of branches and slips of trees, to protect his soldiers. This
was the beginning of our downfall; our proper course would have
been to have repelled them while they were still at a distance, with
missiles and with cannon fire, but a number of them escaped our
notice, and were allowed to approach to within a short distance. A
Scipio, a Hannibal, or any of our modem generals would have been
amazed at the discipline which they showed in arranging their
weapons, and the promptness and evidence of forward planning
which their manoeuvres showed.
But tell me, pray, who were truly responsible for this encirclement
'S
of the city? Who but traitors from the Christian side taught the
Turks their work? I can bear witness, that Greeks, Latins, Germans,
Hungarians, Bohemians and others from all the kingdoms of
Christendom were to be found among the Turks, and followed their
faith and their works; and it was these, completely forgetting the
Christian religion, who overthrew Constantinople. Oh, the wicked-
ness of denying Christ in this manner! 0 accomplices of Antichrist,
condemned to the flames of Gehenna! Now is your time! It would
be hard to imagine any penalties greater than those which you will
pay!
They then placed a terrible cannon (an even larger one, which had
burst, could barely be moved by a hundred and fifty yoke of oxen)
near that part of the single wall, called Caligaria, which was not
protected by ditches or a breastwork. It fired a stone which measured
eleven of my palms in circumference. With this they battered the
wall, and although it was extremely thick and strong, it nevertheless
gave way under the onslaught of this terrible machine.
The bursting of the larger cannon continued to annoy the Sultan,
and to soothe his vexation he ordered another, much larger even
than the first, to be cast. It was never completed by its maker,
thanks to the efforts, as it was said, of our friend the vizier Halil.
But with the other smaller pieces they pounded away at the walls
on all sides. With hand guns and swivel guns, cross-bows, slings and
arrows, they attacked the walls and killed their defenders by day
and by night, causing great destruction.
The enemy thought that the small numbers of the Christians
would prevent them from defending the city satisfactorily when they
were overcome by weariness after continuous fighting; and to our
shame, they found no opposition at this first encounter. But as the
days passed, we learned from experience, and prepared cannon to
use against them. These, however, could not be fired very often,
because of the shortage of powder and shot. When they were avail-
able, their position did not at first allow them to do any damage to
the enemy, who were protected by fences and trenches; and the
largest cannon had to remain silent, for fear of damage to our own
\~alls by the vibration. But on occasion they were fired against the
tight-packed enemy, with great destruction of men and of the
shelters which protected them, and every shot did damage, since
,6
the enemy could not avoid it. In this way many Turks died, wounded
by cannon and gunfire. There were casualties too on our own side,
after the occasional skirmish outside the ramparts, which led to
losses on both sides. But the bravery of our recruits gave them
success more often in combat, when they made a sortie.
To our misfortune, however, there now arrived Giovanni Longo
of Genoa, one of the Giustiniani family, with two large ships
belonging to him, and about four hundred men, as a soldier of
fortune. He was taken into the pay of the Emperor, and put in
charge of the military side of the defence. He made it clear at once
to the enemy that the city was being vigorously defended, and paid
great attention to the repairing of the walls which had been damag-
ed, so that he seemed to be mocking the Sultan's efforts: whenever
the weight of a. huge stone brought down the walls, he, nothing
daunted, repaired them with faggots and earth and barrels piled
together.
Because of this the Sultan, feeling that he was being ridiculed,
decided to continue battering the walls with his cannon; but he paid
even more attention to stealing into the city through subterranean
tunnels. He ordered the chief miners whom he had brought from
Novo Brad to be sent for. They brought along props and tools, and
carried out their orders with skill and care, attempting by tunnels
to dig underneath the foundations and penetrate the wall of the city
at a great number of points. But when they had succeeded in the
remarkable feat of tunnelling in silence beneath the ditch and the
stockade, their activities were detected by the wisdom and energy
of John Grant the German, * a most gifted soldier and skilled in all
the arts of war, whom Giovanni Giustiniani the leader of the de-
fenders had brought along as an officer; and when this had been
confirmed by the reports of those who had been sent to investigate
the matter, everyone was greatly disturbed. The Greeks, who
claimed that since the present Sultan's ancestor Bayezit and his
father Murat had been unsuccessful in their earlier attempts to get
into the city by tunnelling, Mehmet also would be unable to do so,
were proved wrong by the evidence of what had happened. So the
tunnels were detected by our counter-mining, and did not harm the
" A Scot in fact; but recently arrived from Germany.
'7
city. Great disquiet, however, was caused by the discovery that the
ground had been dug cut from beneath the foundations of onc tower,
which was now supported on wooden props covered with pitch. But
after the enemy had been driven out of the tunnel with fire and
sulphur, and the space had been filled in, greater confidence was
felt.
After this they constructed wooden towers by the ramparts, filled
with earth and covered with ox hides, from which they secretly cast
soil and rubbish of all sorts into the foss to make their crossing
easier. They also had large stocks of hurdles made of branches and
withes, long battering-rams and wheeled ladders. and carts with
breastworks on top of them, such as even the Romans would
hardly have constructed when besieging the Carthagiuians.
Since their great cannon had not succeeded in demolishing the
walls by Caligaria because of the energy with which repairs had
been carried out, it was moved to another place by the Bactatinean
Tower, near the Gate of Saint Rornanus. There it hurled its shot
weighing, it is estimated, twelve hundred pounds, all day long,
which ~hook the target to its foundations and finally destroyed it.
The rums of the tower filled the foss to the top, and it was clear that
a way had been opened for the enemy to break in. If repairs had not
been effected with great haste, as had happened when the wall was
broken down at Caligaria, they would certainly have been able to
force their way into the city. When the Sultan saw how the defences
~vhi~hhad been demolished had now been built up again, he said,
It IS not the Greeks, but the Franks, who arc responsible for the
strength of their resistance. Nothing will discourage them neither
a hai~of arr?ws, nor the cannon, the wooden towers and the ~ontinu-
ous siege Without remission.'
.The inhabitants of the city of Galata or Pera had been behaving
WIth great prudence, for fear that the Sultan might build a fort on
the ~r~pontis. Now, however, they were anxious to give help by
providing weapons and men, but still only in secret so that the
enemy
th ' who was keeni
cepIng up the pretence of being at'. peace With
h em,:hould not hear about it; because if he had done so, they would
thisf .een prevented from giving aid to the Greeks. So for a while
IS eigned truce aid ed the! . I am not mistaken an open
err city. But If
war from the first ,ra th er th an this
. pretence of peace, would
' have
18
been of more benefit to the people of Pera. For then the Sultan
would not have built the fortress which was the cause of their
destruction, nor would he afterwards have made war upon them so
terribly. You Genoese, now you are tamed - but I shall be silent,
and hold my peace, leaving it to others to pass judgement on my
people. Where are those noble Genoese of days gone by, who
founded Galata girded with the sword, like those who rebuilt
Jerusalem? They poured out their blood and their money, but you
in your greed were so unwilling to lose money or blood, that you
insanely handed over that precious jewel to the Turks - if indeed it
can be said that it was yours any longer to hand over.
Meanwhile (to continue my narrative), those on our side were
beginning to lose their confidence in the arrival of help. No relief was
being sent by the Genoese or the Venetians, by whom (and I say
this with all due respect) help should have been sent. No help could
be expected from any other source, except only God; and those who
considered in their wisdom the slowness of His actions were mysti-
fied, since faithlessness, irreligion and other offences might have
been expected to stir Him to anger more quickly. See, most blessed
Father, how just and how worthy this judgement was! The Greeks
celebrated the Union in words, but denied it in fact. Some of their
leaders, whose blood now waters the earth, spilt by enemy swords,
said, 'Let the High Pontiff be given the honour of being commemo-
rated in the service, but let the decree of the Synod of Florence be
not read.' Why this, hypocrite? 'In order,' they replied, 'that the
section of the decree which claims that the Holy Spirit proceeds
from the Son as well as the Father may be blotted out.' Again why,
hypocrite? 'So that the Greeks may not appear to be in error, if it is
said that the Holy Spirit proceeds from two sources.' Why again,
pray, hypocrite? 'To prevent the glory from accruing to the one
who desires to win it all, by virtue of his office.' Scholarius on
the one hand, and Notaras on the other, intended at some time to
present themselves before the Apostolic Presence, claiming that they
alone had understood the matter, and should be praised as the leading
figures in making the Union; for many were secretly tortured with
jealousy of the Papal legate.
Therefore I said, 'Will Your Majesty suffer this, that their self-
ish ambition should divide the Church, that for the sake of this the
19
anger of God should be kindled, to burn more and more furiously?
Why are these stubborn spirits not removed from our midst?' The
Emperor appeared to agree, and went through the form of appointing
bishops as judges to put a stop to the activities of Scholarius,
Isidore, Neophytus and their companions. Indeed, if he had only
shaken off his timidity, he would have punished their deceitful
pretence of faith; for he who spurns God and seeks to please man
will surely be confounded. If only they had been repressed, as they
should have been, they would not have spread this pestilential
infection. But I do not know whether the Emperor or the judges are
to be condemned, seeing that they could only threaten, and the rod
of correction was lacking.
The siege continued to rage, and the city was cut off by a fleet
of two hundred and fifty vessels which the enemy had gathered
from various places on the coasts of Asia, Thrace and the Black Sea.
Among these were six triremes and ten biremes; seventy of the
remainder were galleys with one oar to a bench; there were also many
smaller vessels of different kinds, filled with archers for the sake
of the impression that this would make. But the harbour was closed
by a chain, along: which were stationed ships well armed and
equipped with rams, seven belonging to the Genoese and three to
the Cretans, so they were not able to enter it, but anchored by the
shore of the Propontis less than a hundred stades away. And since
they did not dare to approach, they furrowed the sea at a distance,
carrying timber and other useful equipment to their camp.
At this stage, when the Sultan's artillery had broken down the
walls in three places, he decided, being prompted by the recollec-
tions of a Christian traitor, to get his ships into the harbour by
going over the hill. This harbour, most blessed Father, is very long
and narrow. The eastern end was protected by the chain and the
ships. whi.ch were tied up to it, so that the enemy had no hope of
entering It at that point. Therefore, in order to restrict and more
completely surround the city, he ordered a level road to be con-
structed, and seventy biremes to be dragged from the hill by main
force over.greased rollers for seventy stades; and after struggling to
the summit, they were moved easily down to the shore of the harbour.
I believe that the man who showed the Turks this ingenious trick
learned it from the example set by the Venetians at Lake Garda.
20
We were very frightened at this, and made plans to destroy them
with fire or shot, but we were unsuccessful, and these ships did us
very great harm. They were protected on all sides, and because we
had now lost control of the harbour, it was necessary to take soldiers
from other positions to man the walls facing the water.
Then the Sultan. not content with this brilliant stroke, conceived
another which terrified us even more. He built a bridge about
thirty stades in length from the opposite shore, which went straight
across this arm of the sea. It was made of wine barrels tied together,
with a superstructure of planks joined to them, which would allow
the army to cross over as far as the wall of the city by Phanari. In
this way he imitated the might of Xerxes when he led his army from
Asia to Thrace over the Bosphorus. So there was only this space
across the middle, where the chain and the ships were, to protect
us from their having an entrance and free passage for their ships.
Meanwhile, there came from Chios to help us three Gcnoese ships,
carrying arms, soldiers and food. They brought with them a ship
belonging to the Emperor, which had come from Sicily loaded with
grain. When the enemy fleet, which was lying in wait near the city,
saw them approaching the harbour, they began to beat their drums
and blow their trumpets in a frenzy, and moved towards them as we
watched, making as if to attack the Emperor's ship.
The Sultan was watching the course of events from a vantage
point on the hill of Pera. The air was filled with the shouts of the
combatants. The larger triremes made straight for our ships, aiming
for the Emperor's vessel, while the rest of the convoy tried to protect
it. Battle was joined; they fired their cannon, they shot their
arrows and fought like demons. On the other side our ships, with
Maurizio Cataneo as the captain in charge, fought back, and the
masters of the other Genoese ships, Domenico de Novara and
Battista Feliciano, carried on the battle with spirit. The catapults
threw their terrible missiles, and from the high decks of the ships
a shower of projectiles fell upon the close-packed Turkish vessels.
The Emperor's ship defended itself nobly under the control of its
captain Phlatanelas: the cannon roared, the air was filled with loud
cries and the snapping of the oars of the galleys, while one Turk
after another fell wounded. The Sultan from his position on the hill
cursed as he watched his fleet being destroyed, rode his horse into
21
the sea and tore his garments in his fury. The heathen lamented,
and their whole army was in distress.
After this, the fighting continued even more fiercely, and the
Turks were overwhelmed with such a shower of weapons and stones,
and so many of them were killed, that they gave up the battle, and
were not able even to reach the shore again. From the accounts
given by our spies and their deserters we learned that nearly ten
thousand had died, some by the sword, others from arrows or
gunfire, or afterwards from their wounds, and their whole army was
in mourning. The triremes and the biremes which took part in the
attack numbered about two hundred.
Now that the Sultan's efforts had been confounded, it began to be
seen that his forces were not as powerful as they seemed, since so
many of his triremes had been unable to capture even a single ship.
That night, thanks be to God, the ships entered the harbour safely
with much rejoicing, not a man on board having been killed, al-
though a few were wounded. The Sultan, on the other hand, was
furiously angry with the admiral in charge of his fleet, and although
in response to the prayers of his officers he spared the man's life,
yet he ordered him to be deprived of his rank and all his property.
Filled with rage, he then attacked our ships from the hill of
Galata on the eastern side of the harbour, intending either to sink
them with cannon fire, or drive them from their positions by the
chain. The cannon from the western bank were brought as well, and
all. their maker's ingenuity was exercised in an attempt to hit the
ShIpS.The people of Pera were told that since, as they themselves
had told him, the ships belonged to privateers and had been hired
by the Emperor, they were enemy vessels, and the Sultan intended
to attack them. !he maker of cannon, who had not been paid
enough. by our SIde, and had therefore joined the Turks, did
everything that he could to sink the ships; and as fate would have it,
one shot came \~ith a reverberating crash from the top of the hill,
and sank ~ certain captain's ship at a single stroke, perhaps because
of some SIn of his. * The vessel sank to the bottom at once laden
with its cargo, which was a disaster for us. The others hugged the
wall of Galata after this, to avoid the risk of being sunk in the same
• Delfin adds the captain's name, Bernaba,
22
way. It was surely by the will of God after this, that although almost
a hundred and fifty cannon balls were fired, and many houses in
Galata were damaged by them, only one person was killed, a woman
of good character, who was standing in the midst of a group of
about thirty.
There were also in the harbour three Venetian merchant triremes,
and two light galleys intended for their protection. The Emperor
had persuaded them by the offer of a large amount of gold to stay
for up to six months to protect the city. The help which they had
given the Greeks had been offered secretly, because they were
keeping up an appearance of being at peace with the Turks. For
some time, however, there had been signs that they were preparing
to escape, because they had been loading their goods and their
possessions on board. Now they were forbidden by the Emperor
to load any of the remainder, because of the bad effect that this
would have on the spirits of the rest in the city, and they were
ordered to unload what they had already taken on board. This was
the cause of indignant complaints on the part of the Venetians. who
felt that they were being shamefully deprived of their freedom of
action, and of the privileges which had been given them as an honour
due to their city. But after their fury had cooled, the matter was
left to them to decide; and then they promised most earnestly that
they would protect the city until the war was over.
After this, however, a quarrel sprang up between the Venetians
and the Genoese of Galata, each reproaching the other side with
the intention of escaping. 'It would remove suspicion,' the Venetians
asserted, 'if you were to put the rudders and sails from your ships
in a safe place in Constantinople.' The Genoese replied angrily,
'And if, with the Emperor's knowledge, and for the safety of the
Greeks, which is linked with ours, we are taking care to maintain a
pretence of being at peace with the Turks, that is no reason for us
ever to commit the crime of deserting Pera, the fairest city in the
world, together with our wives and our children and our treasures,
which we are preparing to defend to the last drop of our blood. We
shall not put our noble city, an ornament to Genoa, into your
power; and we shall keep the rudders and sails of our ships in our
own charge, and no one else's. It cannot be said that we have been
given leave to escape, if we keep our own property in our own
23
hands.' After this they both became calmer, and the Venetians did
as they wished with their triremes.
Since our situation was now becoming more serious, we began to
consider setting fire to the enemy ships which had penetrated into
the harbour. So secretly one day before dawn, two merchant ships
which had been assigned to this task by our commander Giovanni
Giustiniani, together with several biremes, approached the opposite
shore ready to cast fire into the enemy vessels. The plan was for
the ships to move first, when the order had been given, and let the
covered boats (of the kind called barboUe) and the biremes follow
on; in this way the ships, which were padded with sacks full of wool,
would receive the first shots from the enemy's guns.
But Giacomo Coco of Venice, who was in command of an imperial
bireme manned by sailors from the Venetian triremes, was so eager
to win glory and honour, that he let his vessel go at full speed past
the ship which was, according to the instructions which had been
given, going ahead of them. No sooner had he done this than be was
observed by the enemy, as our evil fate would have it, 'and his craft
was struck amidships by a cannon ball. The waters closed over the
bireme. with all its crew. Most blessed Father, what a catastrophe
was this, that Neptune's fury should swallow them all in a single
moment! Indeed, our plans had been laid bare previously and
exposed to the Turks, so that they were able to strike the first blow.
But what shall I say, most blessed Father? Whom may I accuse?
I must remain silent.
. This sa.d turn of events filled us with grief, and the ships returned
IIl.confuslOn to the place from which they had set out. Some of the
sailors who had been thrown into the water managed to swim to
shore, and were captured by the enemy, whose wicked ruler the next
day ordered them to be beheaded before our very eyes. Roused to
~nger ~y.this, our men took the Turkish prisoners whom they had
III cap~lVlty, and slaughtered them cruelly on the walls in full view
of .their fellows . In thisI way th e war was made more savage by a
mixture of impiety and cruelty.
After
. this the Sulta n p re t en d e d th at h e was willing
" " to make peace.
Spies brought back the false news that he repented of his actions,
and had only entered th " rest, Genoese, Venetians and those who had come secretly to help
upon e campaign because he had been
provoked by the H '.
unganans: and he sent an embassy to negotiate
terms. But it became clear that his protestations were not sincere,
when he refused to demolish the castle which he had built on the
Propontis, or to restore the areas which he had laid waste. We were
even more doubtful, because of the impossibility of trusting the
Sultan, who had never held to any oath or treaty; why should our
savage and treacherous enemy now be seeking an armistice? After
making inquiries, I found that it was their custom, before engaging
in a general battle, to give their opponents the opportunity of
coming to terms. Provided that this had been done, they could be
confident that their god favoured them, and was not angry with
them for making war. So knowing that this was but trickery on his
part, we committed our safety to God, counting our days in bitter-
ness of heart, and making a show of placating Him by repentance,
litanies and sacrifices, incense and prayer; and we proclaimed that
our soldiers should fast, so that the One God should deign to fight
on our side. But of what benefit are prayers raised up to God, if
they are not from the heart; if the hands are defiled, and the hearts
themselves are impious and without faith? Our iniquities had
separated us from God, and our Sabbaths, our Kalends, our incense
and our sacrifices were turned to abomination; so instead of the
kindly God for whom we had hoped, we found an avenger of our
SIllS.
Our numbers were small indeed, and the greater part of the
Greeks were men of peace, using their shields and spears, their bows
and swords, according to the light of nature rather than with any
skill. The majority had helmets, and body armour of metal or
leather, and fought with swords and spears. Those who were skilled
in the use of bow or cross-bow were not enough to man all the
ramparts, and had to do the best they could, according to their
knowledge and ability. The Turks were brave and came to fight at
close quarters, so that many of them died. But what if a hundred
fell in a day, when their casualties, however large in number, were
at once replaced by many more? If one of our own men, on the
other hand, was killed, we wept as if we had lost a hundred, particu-
larly if he had been of a stout heart.
The Greeks numbered at the most six thousand fighting men. The
from Pera, were hardly as many as three thousand. Of what account
[
could we be, swallowed up by the lion's mouth, the ant in the mouth
of the bear? What avails one against a thousand? In fact, our forces
were scarcely enough to defend the circuit of the city, which was
surrounded and besieged by land and sea, a distance of eigh teen
thousand paces.
Again, what traitors were among the Greeks, what greedy be-
trayers of their country! Their needy Emperor begged them again
and again to lend him money to pay his soldiers, but they swore that
they had none, because the poverty of the times had exhausted
their resources. Yet their enemies later found wealth enough among
them. Nevertheless, a few did of their own free will make an
offering. The Cardinal, indeed, made the greatest efforts to help
where he could, particularly in strengthening the towers and the
walL
The Emperor in his perplexity did not know what he should do
about this situation. He sought the counsel of his ministers, who
advised that the citizens should not be molested because of the
difficulty of the times, but that they should resort to the sacred
utensils. He therefore gave orders that the consecrated vessels of
the Lord should be taken from the churches and melted down as
we read that the Romans also did in time of necessity, and that from
them coins should be struck and given to the soldiers, the sappers
and the builders, who selfishly cared so little for the public welfare
that they were refusing to go to their work unless they were first
paid.
In this critical state of affairs, it was clear to the Emperor that
when he had disposed his forces to the best of his ability upon the
ramparts, only the outer wall and the foss of the city could be
properly protected. So it was with little confidence in the small
numb~r of .his troops that he faced the battle, and he placed all his
hopes m GIOvanni Giustiniani his commander. All would have been
well indeed, if the fates had been favourable to us
The Emperor took up his position by that part of the walls of
Sal~t Romanus which had been repaired, where the battle was
ragmg more fiercely, Giustiniani being placed near him with three
hundred o.f his fellow soldiers from Genoa, their equipment bright
and g~e~mmg,together with a picked force of the most active Greeks.
Maurizio Cataneo, a noble of Genoa, was in charge of the section
26
between the Pighi (that is, Fountain) Gate and the Golden Gate,
with two hundred crossbowmen, including a few Greeks, opposite
a wooden fortress covered with ox hides, and fought with distinction.
The brothers Paolo, Troilo and Antonio de Bochiardi bore the brunt
of the battle bravely at the Miliandron. a point at which the city
was in grave danger, at their own expense and providing their own
equipment, exercising the greatest vigilance by night and by day,
with their fearful guns and cross-bows. With such spirit did they
repulse attacks from the enemy's infantry and cavalry, that they
seemed to be equal in strength to Horatius Cocles himself. Nothing
frightened them, not the walls collapsing under the fire which was
directed against them, nor the multitude of engines of war which the
enemy possessed, and they have assured for themselves a lasting
fame.
Theodorus Charistinus. an aged but vigorous Greek, most skilled
with the bow, the Greek Theophilus Palaeologus, of noble lineage
and deep scholarship, both Catholics. with the German engineer
John, saw to the repairs and defence of the damaged portions of
Caligaria. Contarini, the most notable of the Venetians, was in
charge of the Golden Gate and the adjacent towers as far as the sea,
and discharged his duty manfully against the enemy. The rest of the
Greeks were distributed along the battlements to strengthen the
defenders on the landward and seaward sides. The defence of the
Imperial Palace was entrusted to Girolamo Minoto, the Venetian
Bailo.
The Cardinal, whose counsel was always available, protected the
quarter of Saint Demetrius facing the sea, and the Catalan consul
was assigned to the tower before the Hippodrome. On the Eastern
shore, Lucas Notaras was ready to bring help where needed, to
protect the harbour or any part of the waterfront. Girolamo Italiano
and Leonard de Langasco of Genoa, with many allies, were watching
over the Xyloporta and the towers called Aveniades. which had
been repaired at the expense of the Cardinal.
The priests and monks were spread along the walls, keeping
watch for the sake of their country's safety. Gabriel Trivisan, a
Venetian noble and captain of the light galleys, defended most
heartily the stretch from the tower of Phanari to the Imperial Gate,
27
r I

with four hundred excellent men of Venice. * Andrea Diede, captain and were compelled to go seeking work to earn it. When I reproached
of the great galleys, was so afraid for the triremes, rather than the them with their absence, saying that they were putting not only
harb~u:, that he was given the task of guarding them with the themselves but the whole of Christendom in danger, they answered,
remammg troops. The sound of trumpets and cries of defiance from 'How can I think of the army, when my family is in want?' and the
the armed ships challenged the enemy to battle. Demetrius Canta- greatest efforts were necessary before they would return to guard
cU,zenus the father-in-law and Nicolo Gudclli the son-in-law of the walls.
Nicephorus Palaeologus were kept with him in reserve in charge Because of this, the enemy were able to take advantage of our
o~ a number of soldiers who could move quickly to any point in the reduced numbers, and with the greatest audacity they used hooks
CIty. to drag down the barrels which we had placed on top of the walls
where they had been broken down. There were also times when,
. The soldiers
'. ' their capt ams
. an d th e more reeen t levies. were
dlsp~sed ~nthis way, and now that it was clear that a general attack to our shame, they used nets to drag back a huge stone, which had
was immmenr , we settled ourse . lves fallen into the ditch after their great cannon had hurled it against
yes to0 awa! . More than once we
await it.
found the . Greeks ' who \vere a [raid the walls, and fired it again. Where were our guardians then, where
rar , eavmg their. posts on the excuse
I·
f
o attending to thei r fre ldss or our wandering soldiers, where were our own cannon balls, to drive
or v! .
vines, or seeking relaxation. Some
them away, or at least keep them from acting in this manner? An
even those wh.oappeared to be reliable, claimed that their families
evil omen indeed; and what, J. asked, will happen when their army
needed attention: others blamed the fact that they had no money,
like the raging Tigris rushes upon us?
After this, the order was given that bread should be distributed
* The translationprinted b
theprinted t t 'L a ove represents the sentence which appears in equally among the dependants of the soldiers, so that they should
ex s a conard's lett Tl V -
two sentencesas follows: er. ie atrcan manuscript, however, has not have the excuse for leaving their posts that they needed to take
care of them, and so that the people should not have to fear star-
gabrieltrivisano supn'
bl' e ~um gaIearum (prejectus omitted) vation even marc than the sword, as a result of the activities of
no I ~svenetus cordatissi p . .
cum quad' . .me aorta ehlntgo usque ad turrim [anarii some, drinkers of human blood, who either hid food or raised the
rtngenhs venetts egre ., d
ad basili '. gttS ceertabat.a turi uero janarii usque price of it. But it was the lack of organisation, rather than this
t lseam idest tmperi I pl·or am Lodooicue et Antonius bembi
f ralre o .' '. a em
v magm egregttque .. .. particular wickedness, which caused our suffering. The Emperor
vivacissim d ,f( antmt Vln cum centum quinquaginta venetis
C cJjcnsabant. lacked firmness, and those who neglected to obey his orders were
We may render this 'G b . I , ... neither chastised nor put to death. So each one followed his own
and a nobl tv" a ne 1nvrsan, captain of the light galleys inclinations, and they soothed the Emperor's anger with flatteries
to the t eo ., eruce ' fought
_ most heartily from the ChinigoGate
ower
Thearea bet a Phanari with four 1iundred fine Venetian soldiers. in their usual way. That good man, so wickedly mocked by his own
weenthe
Gate, wasstouu d f towerof Pha nart. and tleBa.'nhca,orlmpenal,
1 '- . subjects, preferred to pretend that he did not see the wrongs that
Y
brave and n hl heended by Lodovicoand Antonio Bembo, two were being done.
soldiers.' a e rathers, Wlith a hundred and fifty Venetian
Meanwhile Giovanni Giustiniani our commander, the guardian
It. Iooksas·fB - whosetran . . of all our fortunes, realised from the proclamations made in the
I ZOVIUS, Turkish camp that battle would soon be joined, and speedily set
basis of our printed t t scriptionof the Vatican manuscript is the
DaIfIll, who inclUdesLex s, made
,_ an error here. But oddly enough, ZorzI. about repairing the walls where they had been damaged by gunfire.
weII as the other list beonards
d hst of the commanders and their stations as
He asked the Megadux Lucas Notaras for the cannon which belonged
the same omission W. ' aseth on Pusculus' W h·lCh lS
. printed here, also made
lli ' ~m ~~lli' - to the city, so that he could use them against the enemy. In reply he
ere are seVeral)or wasth USlllg a different manuscript (of which
Bembabrothersfrom histor~~SomereasOnfor blotting out the names of the received a haughty refusal. 'Now who will stop me,' Giustiniani

,8 29

\
 J
cried, 'from running you through with my sword?' Notaras was
outraged at this insult, particularly since it had been levelled at him
by a Latin, and from this moment onwards was even more remiss in
providing supplies with which to carryon the fighting; and the rest
of the Greeks were full of animosity towards the Latins, because the
glory of saving the city had been given to them. Giustiniani. how-
ever, set about restoring the walls and the ranks of the defenders,
with the assistance of Giovanni and Maurizio Cataneo at the head
of their soldiers, Giovanni de Careto, Paolo Bochiardo, Giovanni de
Fomaris, Tommaso de Salvaticl, Lodovisi Gattilusi, Giovanni
Illyrico and a number of Greeks who had been pressed into service.
:r he Sultan look:d on these preparations with admiration, saying,
Ho,:" II'shoul~ ~Ike to have this noble captain Giustiniani in my
service! He did indeed try to bribe him with gifts and a large sum of
money, but was unable to make any impression upon him.
Thetaskofprotectingthe foss and the outer wall was a heavy one
for us. I had always advised against this, and recommended that we
should put our trust in the lofty inner walls, and not leave them.
Although these were damaged by weather or neglect, and not
defende~ b'y proper battlements, they could have been repaired at
the beginning when plans were being made for the war, and they
should have been so repaired and guarded; if they had not been
deserted, they would have provided a safe defence for the city.
No:v what can I say? Shall I blame the Emperor, whom I always
held in the greatest honour and respect, and whose good faith
towards the Roman Church I perceived, except for the times when
he wa~ overcome by timidity? Or should I rather blame those whose
duty It was to repair th e for tifi
mea tiIOns.) Oh, you whose souls are
shurel~damned, Manuel Jagarus, formerly so poor, and Neophytus
t .e hieromonk of Rhode s.! I sh au II( ca II you robbers, not protectors
a f the CIty! Money was put' . the natural strength of its position, its abundant supply of all
,. In your charge as If you were your
coofU,nhtr~s,gn,"',dianbs, and entrusted to you as if it were the property
e 111 es a e ut you t " .
' spen 1; It should have been expended
upon th e wa IIs but it f d . . before him in the past, and what was worse, all the kings and princes
th t herr» oun Its way into YOur hands. The first of
esc rcac erous slaves recel d
florins and th I t eive a sum of almost twenty thousand
ey
a I-ar for the T k' eSrleft a treasure of seventy thousand hidden in
ur s. uch was the . hi . .
because of the nIt I way In W ich the city perished.
eg ec s town by these robbers.
3°
But since the Greeks stand convicted of folly in all their works,
it is no wonder that this famous monument, such a remarkable
undertaking of their holy emperors, this protection for the whole,
city, should become the prey of brigands. And when at last they
decided to repair it, two things were lacking, time and money. They
might have gained both of them, if they had looked ahead to the
war which was coming; but their native folly and procrastination
prevented them from doing so. For this reason they placed all their
hope in the ditches and the outer wall, and once these had been
lost, they were confined to the high wall which they had abandoned,
and left without facilities. How much more prudent were the He-
brews, who after losing one wall moved back to the second and then
to the third, and so resisted the siege of Vespasian and Titus for four
years!
Meanwhile spies had brought news from the enemy camp that a
number of ships and galleys had been sent from Italy to bring aid,
and that John Hunyadi, commonly called Blanc, at the head of a
Hungarian force, was approaching the Danube with the intention of
attacking the Turks. There was great excitement and much argu-
ment among them at these tidings. 'Why,' they said, 'is our army
being endangered by such delays? We shall never succeed against
such fortifications.' And so they began to shout against their Sultan.
For in spite of their numbers, in spite of the unceasing supply of
missiles with which they had battered the city in preparation for an
assault, they were nevertheless timid, lacking in spirit and by no
means confident of victory. This was because Halil Pasha, the
Sultan's chief vizier, whose word carried great weight because of
his wisdom and his experience of warfare, and who was welt disposed
towards Christians, had always advised the Sultan to leave Con-
stantinople alone. He said that it could not be captured because of
necessities, and the fact that it was defended by Latins as well as
by Greeks. It had withstood assaults by his father and his ancestors
of Christendom would be quickly provoked by any attack to come
to its aid. 'Let your subjects enjoy peace,' he said, 'and do not make
enemies of the Genoese and their neighbours the Venetians, who
have always acted for your benefit, and draw upon yourself at the
31
i
1
same time the anger of the other Christian nations. Your power is
already very great, and you arc more likely to increase it in time of
peace than by making war. The end of war is always uncertain;
but adversity attends it more often than prosperity.'
Zagan, who was younger, and the Sultan's second vizier, an enemy
to the Christians and also jealous of Halil's position, pointed out the
enormous extent of his master's power, which no one could with-
stand, and therefore advised an assault upon the Greeks, whose
resources were so limited. Their own forces would easily be able to
raze the walls with cannon fire, while the Greeks on the other hand
lacked the advantage of large numbers, and were already weakened
and wearied by daily toil. They would easily be overcome, and could
expect no aid from Italy; Halil should not try to change the Sultan's
mind with that argument, which was false. The Genoesc were
divided among themselves, the Venetians were being attacked by
the Duke of Milan, and neither would send help.
Turahan, general in charge of the armies of Thrace, did not dare
to support Halil's proposal, so he also encouraged the Sultan to
follow an aggressive policy. The Chief Eunuch, who was the third
vizier, supported him. The junior generals therefore cried out to the
Sultan. 'Who is trying to take away our native valour, and fill us
with fear? Our unconquered Prince should make great plans, and
attem~: great things, and bear himself magnificently, whatever the
;vent. Zagan, when he saw that the majority was on his side, added,
~et u~ attack, my Lord; with the help of the heavenly powers, you
will wm great glory by your victory.' The Sultan, excited by these
words, replied. 'Yes, let us try our fortunes. Has my power become
tess than that of Alexander of Macedon, who with a smaller force
ma~e the whole world obey him? Did my father, my grandfather
or hIS father before him bring such an army and such engines of war
to bear upo.n the city? Choose the day of battle, Zagan, and put
yo.ur ~orces In order. Set a guard around Pera, to prevent them from
bringing help to au r enermes,
. an d let all the preparations
. stretch out His hand for the sake of His followers in this dreadful
for batt Ie
be made promptly.'
. As soon as Halil the chief vizier realised that the advice of his
rival Zag~n had found favour with the Sultan and that the assault
was certam to take pi h . . ' . strength.
ace, e sent information secretly by hIS most
trusted messengers t a a dvi h The Emperor then called together his senate and his ministers,
VIse t e Emperor of all that had passed,
and to urge him not to be frightened by the follies of an intoxicated
youth. They were not to be afraid of an enemy who should himself
have been fearful, or feel disquiet at the sight of a mob of unskilled
soldiers; their guards should be ever watchful, and they should be
prepared at all times to give battle. It was, of course, no novelty
for messages to be carried from Hatil to the Emperor.
In the Sultan's camp it was now proclaimed that for the three
days preceding Tuesday the twenty-ninth of May they should light
bright fires and call upon their god, fasting the whole day long and
preparing themselves for battle, to make a general assault upon the
Christians. The heralds cried at the top of their voices that it was
their ruler's will that the city should be given to the soldiers for three
days to sack. The Sultan swore by their immortal god, by the four
thousand prophets, by Mahomet, by the soul of his father and by
the sword with which he was girded, that his warriors would be
granted the right to sack everything, to take everyone, male or
female, and all property or treasure which was in the city; and that
under no circumstances would he break this oath.
Oh! if you had heard their voices raised to heaven, crying
'Illala, Illala, Mahomet Russolalla!' which means, 'God is, and will
be for ever, and Mahomet is his servant,' you would have been
struck dumb with amazement. And it was done as he had ordered:
for three days they kept fires burning to their god, and fasted by
day, touching no food until nightfall. Greeting and celebrating with
one another, they saluted each other with kisses, as if they were
certain of going to the shades below when the day of battle came.
We for our part were amazed at such religious fervour, and begged
God with copious tears to be well disposed towards us. We carried
the sacred images in a remorseful procession around the ramparts
and through the city, and with crowds of men and women following
bare-footed, we begged with penitent hearts that the Lord should
not let His inheritance be overthrown, and that He should deign to
battle, since God alone and no other could now aid the Christians in
the struggle. And so, after placing all our hope in God, we were
comforted, and awaited the appointed day of battle with renewed
33
(
his officers and his soldiers, and spoke to them as follows. 'Men of
noble birth, leaders in warfare and fellow-soldiers. Now that we see
the day of battle approaching, I have decided to bring you together
in this place to make it clear to you that you must stand together
even more firmly. You have battled gloriously against the enemies
of Christ at all times, and now your home, your city famed through
all the world, which these evil heathen Turks have besieged for two
and fifty days, is committed to your brave spirits alone to preserve
it. Do not be afraid because the walls have been broken down by the
force of the enemy's fire; your strength lies in the protection of God,
and you must use it by turning the power of your arms and the force
of your weapons against your enemies. I know that their untrained
mob of soldiers will begin as usual with loud cries and volleys of
arrows from afar. These will not harm your bodies, which I see are
well armoured, but will fall upon the walls, on our breastplates and
all our shields. So do not follow the example of the Roman cavalry,
when they were fighting against the Carthaginians, and allowed
themselves to be terrified by the horrid sight of their elephants;
you must not be dismayed or put to flight in this battle by their
cries, but you should rather be filled with courage to resist even
more strongly. It is only animals who fly from animals; you are
men, full of valour, and will meet these beasts as men should. Drive
your spears and your swords into them as if they were wild boars,
an? let them ~now that they will be fighting, not against other
animals, but with men, who are their masters.'
'You knO\~ that our faithless and treacherous enemy has disturbed
our peace without cause. He has broken his oath and the treaty
agreed between us. He has massacred our husbandmen at harvest
time, and laid waste our estates. He has built a fortress on the
Propontis, to swallow up the Christians as it were and has surround-
ed Galata, fe~gning peace all the while. Now he is threatening to
ca~ture the CIty .of.Constantine the Great, your home, the place to
which every Chnshan fugitive turned for aid, and the guardian of
~ll Greece; and he swears that he will turn the holy shrines of God
into horse-stalls.'
'My
. nobles : my . brother s, my sons, t h e eternal reputation
. of
Chnstendom IS 1Uyour h an d s now to defend. You brave Genoese,
renowned for your victories without number, who have always
34
protected this city, your mother, in so many battles fought with the
Turks, now show your strength and your spirit manfully against
them. Men of Venice, you have shown your ability times without
number, your swords have shed Turkish blood in the past, and in
our own time, under Loredan the most excellent captain of our
fleet, you have sent many heathen ships and souls to the bottom
of the sea. You have adorned this city as if it were your own with
fine and noble men; now let your lofty spirits be exalted in prepara-
tion for the contest. Finally, my fellow-soldiers, show obedience to
your superiors in all things, and know that this is the day of your
glory; if but a drop of your blood is shed, you will earn for yourselves
a martyr's crown and glory everlasting.'
When he had finished speaking, all the Christians gathered there
swore that they would stand firm. Then the Emperor replied, 'Be
ready then to show your mettle tomorrow; and with God's help we
may hope to gain the victory.'
The Greeks, who up to this point had been timidly shrinking from
the fight, were comforted and encouraged. They put their private
affairs on one side, and promptly joined together to prepare for the
coming battle on which their safety depended. The guarding of the
walls was divided among the different leaders, captains, tribunes,
centurions and decurions, and all through the night which preceded
the battle they kept watch intently by the foss, after closing the
gates of the city so that no one could go back inside. They could
hear siege equipment being got ready, wheeled towers being moved
up and scaling ladders being brought forward to the ramparts.
The Turkish fleet was placed so that it covered the harbour and the
seaward side of the city, and their bridge was brought over to the
city side of the harbour. All their equipment was ready in every
particular, and placed during the night in the charge of their weaker
and less effective soldiers, so that when daylight came their best
troops were fresh.
The attack began; and we put up a fierce resistance, beating them
back with gunfire and shots from our cross-bows, the losses being
about equal on each side. As drawn struggled through the darkness,
we began to gain the advantage. The stars faded, and Lucifer
heralded the rising of Phoebus, while trumpets rang out loudly on
both sides, and drums sounded. Meanwhile their cries of 'Illala,
35
I
Illala,' rose high, even above the other sounds, as a challenge to
battle, and their army in a tightly packed mass continued to press
against us. We replied with a shower of deadly missiles, and by
discharging our weapons into the midst of their throng. The firm-
ness of the resistance shown by the Christians caused their ranks to
break, yet their cries rose to the heights, and their flags were un-
furled still more eagerly. One could only marvel at the brutes:
their army was being annihilated, and yet they dared to approach
the foss again and again. The Turks fell beneath a shower of stones
which killed many of them, but trampling on their fellows, they
kept trying to climb the wall where it was damaged. We repelled
them with all our force, although many on our side were now
wounded, and shrank tram turther fighting. But our commander
Giustiniani still stood in his place, and the rest of our officers still
manned their own sections of the battlements.
'Aha!' cried the Emperor. 'My brave soldiers, the enemy's attack
is growing weaker, and the crown of victory is securely in our grasp.
God is on our side; fight on!'
At this moment, such was the city's misfortune, Giovanni Giust-
iniani was struck by an arrow in the armpit. Like a boy unused to
war, he trembled at the sight of his own blood, and feared for his life.
In order not to dishearten his soldiers, who did not yet know that he
had been wounded, he left the ranks with the intention of seeking a
physician in secret. And if he had appointed a substitute to take his
place, the city would not have been lost.
The battle was still raging furiously, when the Emperor noticed
that Giustinlani was missing, and went in great distress to see
where he had gone. When our soldiers saw that they were without a
leader, they began to retreat from their positions. At this point the
fury of the Turkish attack increased, while our own troops were
filled with dread; they were all anxiously longing to hear, from their
position of danger, what had happened. But by an oversight on the
part of their officers, who should have kept them informed, at each
stage of the battle, of the reverses and successes which had occurred
this was not done. ' The Emperor was caught up among these, fell and rose again, then
Our soldiers therefore began to feel weariness overcoming them,
and retreated for a moment under the pressure of the enemy's
attack from the Bachaturean wall, which they had repaired. When
the Turks saw this, they decided that it was possible to cross on the
level because the ruins of the wall had filled the ditch. 'To the
attack!' they cried, and in an urgent throng they climbed the wall
in one rush. Fixing their flags upon it, they shouted cries of victory,
attacked us with their swords, and did their utmost to destroy us or
force us to surrender.
When the unhappy Emperor saw that his commander-in-chief
had given up the fight, he cried, 'Ah, woe is me! Is the city then
lost? Stay, captain, I beg you; your flight will encourage others to
do the same. Your wound is not mortal; bear the pain and stay at
your post like a man, as you promised to do.' But Giustiniani,
forgetting where his glory and his salvation lay, now showed a
cowardice so great that it can be compared only to the high mettle
that he had displayed before this time. If he had any manhood in
him, he should not have retreated, as long as he could bear the pain
of his wound; and at the very least, he should have appointed
another to take his place.
Because of this, the morale of our soldiers was weakened, and they
followed their captain as he fled, hoping to save themselves. 'Give
the key of the gate,' Oiustiniani cried, 'to my followers,' and as soon
as it was unlocked they were packed together in a mass in their
efforts to get through it. When the gate had been opened their
captain fled to Pera, and after sailing to Chios died ingloriously,
either as a result of his wound, or from shame.
The Emperor then, seeking to avoid capture, cried, 'Which of my
brave young soldiers will run me through now with my own sword,
in God's name, so that his sovereign may not be handed over to our
crafty foes?' At this moment Theophilus Palaeologus, a Catholic,
said, 'Now that the city is lost, I cannot continue to live.' For a
while he survived, battling against the press of Turks, and was then
cleft in two by an axe. In the same way Giovanni Schiavo the
Illyrian, fighting like another Hercules, killed many of them before
an enemy sword brought his life to a close. Many of the defenders
were crushed to death after this, as they tried to reach the gate.
fell once more; and in this throng the ruler of their country lost his
life. In these circumstances about eight hundred men on our side
perished, trampling one another down in the approach to the gate.
37
 ~hen the T.urks overran the rest of the outer wall, from the top of
which they aimed stones at any of us who were within range. One
detachment which had climbed over it came at us, all shouting
together, and forced us to withdraw. Hearing the noise of flight, and
seeing the fugitives, Paolo and Troilo Bochiardi. Latin citizens of
Constantinople, with a few vigorous Greeks and Latins mounted on
horses, drove straight at the enemy ,who, thinking that theirnumbers
\V,cregreater than they really were, turned to retreat. Paolo spurred
hIS horse at the Turks, drove his spear through one of them, and
sent t~e others running back. But then, because they were in danger
of being overwhelmed by stones fired from above he cried to
Troilo, 'Alas, the city is lost! Now we are lost also, if the enemy can
surround us.' Then he received a blow on the head and was rescued
streaming with blood, and escaped to Galata with his brother.
Imagine our amazement at such an astonishing turn of events!
The orb of Phoebus had not yet shown half of itself over the horizon,
and.the w~ole city was in the hands of the pagans, for them to sack.
Th:lf soldiers ran eagerly through it, putting to the sword all who
resisted, slaughtering the aged and the feeble-minded the lepers
and the infirm, while they spared those of the rest who surrendered
to them
.":"": The h ea th en In I e 1s entered Sancta Sophia, the wonderful
infid
shrine of the Holy Wisdom, which not even the temple of Solomon
could
. equal ' and sh owe d no respect for the sacred altars or holy
~~ages, but destroyed them, and gouged the eyes from the saints.
e~ b.r0ke and scattered their holy relics too, and then their
sacnleglOus hands reac h e d out for the sacred vessels of God and
~hey stuffed their pouches with gold and silver taken from the' holy
Images
h and from th e sacre d vessels. Screams and cries rose to the
eavens, and everyone of both sexes and all the precious metal and
property of all kiInd S 111
' the CIty,
. were' subject to their pillage. WIth
,
axes theye brok open our store-chests, and dug in the earth in their.
searc h for valuabl es, W hiICh they found, both new and old, in such
bundance that
aAll that h ' no.c1itvy im t hi s age could show the like for wealth,
ad been hidden away now passed into their hands. a yOIl
G ree kS,W hom we .1' d i
whi h . pi re III your wretchedness because of the poverty
whoICh you feigned .IN' ow at last there came to light that wealth
l~t you re~used to offer to your country!
er rangmg through the city for three days, the Turks left it
38
to their Sultan, All the valuables and other booty were taken to
their camp, and as many as sixty thousand Christians who had been
captured. The crosses which had been placed on the roofs or the
walls of churches were torn down and trampled. Women were raped,
virgins deflowered and youths forced to take part in shameful
obscenities. The nuns left behind, even those who were obviously
such, were disgraced with foul debaucheries. a Lord, how Thy anger
against us now appeared, how mercilessly Thy face was turned from
Thy faithful! What shall I say? Shall I be silent, or shall I tell of the
insults cast at our Saviour and at the images of the Saints? Pardon
me, a Lord, if I speak of this abominable crime. What confusion
awaits the Christians, if they are slow to avenge the injuries done
to Christ their God! They cast the consecrated images of God's
saints upon the ground, and then over them satisfied not only their
'
drunkenness but their lust as well. After this they paraded the
Crucifix in mocking procession through their camp, beating drums
before it, crucifying the Christ again with spitting and blasphemies
and curses. They placed the Turkish cap which they call a zarcnuia
upon His head, and jeeringly cried, 'This is the God of the Christi-
ans!' Oh. the patience of God! Well mayest Thou seem angry,
blessed ]esu, at having to suffer undeservedly such injuries for our
sakes a second time!
Now that victory was theirs, the Turks made merry and kept
riotous holiday. It happened now that the Sultan in his state of
intoxication desired to mix some human blood with the juice of the
grape. He therefore called to him Lucas Notaras and the other
Greek nobles, attacking them for not having persuaded the Emperor
to sue for peace or to surrender the city. Notaras, who had made up
his mind to win Mehmet's favour, did his best to cast the blame
upon the citizens of Pera and the Venetians, who by providing arms
and soldiers and skilled advice had stiffened the Emperor's resist-
ance; and of his own free will this wretch, who had always lusted
after glory, with his falsehoods and attempts at schism, tried to
escape by the same means, and made accusations against Halil
Pasha, the wisest and most senior of the Turkish viziers. He said
that Halil was extremely well disposed towards the Greeks, had
often sent letters to the Emperor, had dissuaded him from making
peace, and had persuaded him to stand firm. To prove this, he
39
presented the Sultan with the letters which had been preserved. intention of penetrating as far as the Adriatic, and reaching Rome,
This roused Mehmet to a fury, and his first thought, which God Be moved therefore again, most blessed Father, by your Faith and
alone restrained him from putting into practice, was that the city the seat of Peter; by the seamless garment of Christ, the sponge and
of Pera, which had just fallen into his hands, should be demolished the sword which have been lost; by the shattered relics of the
and its inhabitants put to the sword. He then ordered that Halil Saints, the sacred shrines overthrown, and the churches of God
should be bound and imprisoned, and deprived of all his wealth profaned with ordure.
and property; and after this, gave instructions that he was to be Another calamity followed upon the loss of Constantinople. When
removed to Adrianople, and deprived of his life. The whole army the inhabitants of Pera saw that the city had fallen, they made
mourned his death most bitterly. frantic attempts to escape. Those of them who did not manage to
Notaras, however, did not escape punishment for his malice. His board their ships before the Turkish vessels reached their side of the
two eldest sons had been killed earlier in the fighting, and another, harbour were captured; mothers were taken and their children left,
who had not yet reached manhood, was set aside to serve the Sultan's or the reverse, as the case might be; and many were overcome by the
pleasures. This third son was put to death before his father's eyes, sea, and drowned in it. Jewels were scattered about, and they
and then he, together with other nobles, was killed. preyed on one another without pity. It is true, indeed, that 'the
.Mehmet also ordered the Venetian Bailo and his son, together wicked flee, though none pursue.' What can I say next, a Podesta
WIth other selected nobles of Venice, to be put to the sword, and of Pera, to describe the wickedness and the folly of the inhabitants
also the Catalan consul and his two sons. He would certainly also of your city? A terror-stricken embassy was sent from Pera to the
have had Catarin Contarini, a fine gentleman, and six other Venetian Sultan to offer him the keys of the gates. He received this evidence
nobles, put to death against all good faith, since they had already of their lack of power with pleasure, and accepted them as his
been ransomed, if they had not bought their lives with seven allies, or rather slaves. A Turkish governor was appointed, and all
thousand pieces of gold. the property of those who had escaped was annexed to his treasury.
Wh en thei
err drunken celebrations were over the Turkish army He ordered the towers and wall of the city to be overthrown, and
was dismissed, and they returned to their own country taking their they obeyed, subjecting themselves to his orders for the sake of
Greek captives, many of whom were never to see their homes again. their own safety, and neglecting the instructions which they had
o wretch ed an d Ptitif1 ul Greeks ! You debarred the La tins from having had from Genoa. They also allowed the tower to be completely
demolished , which took its name from the cross of Christ on its
contact with your rei'igion, , an d f rom worshipping
' , at your altars;
now you have yielded these same altars up to profane and polluted highest point.
heathen. You scorned t o b e unite ited in" One Faith: now as a punish-
' So those who were once free and lived in peace are now slaves,
ment for your sin , Yau are yourse Ives scattered . and cannot Jom ,, repenting their errors. Nor can they ever be relieved from this
together again. ' condition, unless by your agency as our Pope; and in the assurance
Think on this , rnast bi essed F ather VIcar ' that God will inspire you to retaliation, we make this request and
of Christ on earth
whose concern it is to a come as suppliants before you.
venge e mjunes done to our Lord and to'
the intnrt
H'IS f art
' hf
ul servants Ltd' '. compasslOn move you to take pity . Given at Chios, the roth day of August 1453·
'. . e rvme
on
.
your ChnstIan sub'jec t s. Y au k'now the CIrcumstances and It ' IS '
III your power to act: at Yd" .'.
,our no every Christian pnnce will soon
be rea dy to avenge th .. .
if e mjunes done to his fellow Christians. And
1 you do not do so h ul
h as reached such hei ht sod
' you know that the Sultan's arrogance
th ' ,
g s, at he IS not ashamed to boast of hIS

4° 41
 : i'
LAONICUS CHALCOCONDYLAS
Turkish History Book VIII, 201-214
The following summer, Mehmet son of Murat prepared a great
quantity of lime in Asia, and set about building a fortress called
Laemocopia (,Cut-Throat') on the European side of the Bosphorus
by the Propontis, where the crossing from Asia is narrowest. Here
he gathered all his workmen from Asia and Europe, divided the
fortress into sections which were assigned to the individual officers
and commanders, and built it. He did this in order to protect his
route over to Asia, in case the Westerners should come in their
ships and bar his passage, while inspiring a revolution against him
in Asia. He also intended that it should be of assistance to him in
his siege of Constantinople.
Three towers were built, greater than any others known to us,
two of them being placed along the shore, as a base for defence
against any attack by sea. The whole construction was massive,
and the towers were roofed with lead; the walls were twenty-two
feet in thickness, and the towers even stronger, being thirty feet
thick. After three months, when the building of it was completed,
he overran the territory of Constantinople, and declared war on the
city.
The following winter he sent Turahan to the Peloponnese, to
carry on warfare with the Greek Emperor's brothers. He took as
much of the army of Thessaly and Europe as was at Pherae and
under the command of the general of Europe, and campaigned
against the Pe1oponnese, taking his sons with him, and the rulers
of the cities of Thessaly and Macedonia. In his campaign he reached
the interior of the country, the area called Arcadia in ancient times,
and after pressing on through Tegea and Mantinea, went as far as
the neighbourhood of Ithome and Messenia. For a number of days
he plundered their cattle there, and then subdued Neopolichne.
After this, he laid siege to Sideropolichne, but could not capture it,
!
and so withdrew his army and began to follow the high road back.
At this stage his younger son Achmat was captured by Asen the
brother of the wife of the ruler of the Peloponnese, who laid in
ambush for him in the neighbourhood of Mycenae, near which he
was bound to pass on his return journey. Until he was returned, he
was taken to Sparta, to the ruler of the Peloponnese, and kept under
guard.
The following year, at the beginning of spring, Mehmet son of
Murat began his attack upon Constantinople. He had previously
decided to do this as soon as he had built the fortress of Laemocopia
by the Propontis. And while that part was still gripped by winter,
he sent instructions everywhere in Asia and Europe, that ships were
to be built near the coast, and he had cargo vessels and fighting
ships prepared. He also had cannon made, greater than any which
had previously been known.
When he felt that the time had come for him to begin his attack,
he first of all sent Saruja, his general in Europe, to take his European
army and transport the cannon, particularly the largest one, and the
rest of his siege equipment, to Constantinople. This largest cannon
was of such a size that it was drawn by seventy yoke of oxen, and
about two thousand men. On the approach of Saruja, the country
folk in the neighbourhood of Constantinople took refuge in their
strongholds, and he began by starving them out or capturing them
by superior force, after which the male captives were put to death.
Then he advanced further, and overran the whole area around the
city.
Shortly afterwards, the Sultan himself approached, and placed
his forces so that they extended from one sea to another. The whole
of his Asian army was arranged on his right, as far as the gate
called Golden, and on his left, up to the gate called Wooden, were
his European troops. In the centre the Sultan himself took up his
position, with the janissaries and the troops of his own household.
Zagan, the Sultan's father-in-law, was positioned on the opposite
side above the city of Galata. It is said that at this time there were
about four hundred thousand men in his army, while in his camp
there would have been twice as many beasts of burden. These are,
of course, usually found in greater numbers than men in military
encampments, to carry supplies and food to the horses and men.
43
if
Sea by carriers specially assigned to this task. The Sultan's cannon-
But only these people, of any whom we know, not only make certain
master was called Orban, a Dacian by birth, who had previously
of their supplies, when campaigning, by taking enough camels and
mules with them to meet their needs, but also use them as a source been with the Greeks, but had left them because he did not have
of enjoyment, each one being eager to show the finest mules or enough to live on. He presented himself before the Sultan, who hired
horses or camels. him for a large sum, and set about making cannon for him.
They were fired in the following manner. First of all the two
SO?1laft~rthe arrival of the Sultan his fleet appeared, consisting
of thirty tnremes and about two hundred smaller vessels. When the
Greeks saw that the Sultan's fleet was coming against them they
smaller cannon wnich stood beside the large one fired their shot,
which weighed half a talent. These missiles caused some preliminary
damage to the walls. Then they fired the largest cannon. with shot
I. -
s~retched an iron chain across the water from the city on the other
weighing over three talents, which broke down a large section of the
SIde to the wall of Constantinople, near what is called the Acropolis.
wall, the shot being carried with such devilish force and irresistible
Th~n they stationed by this chain the ships which they had there,
impetus that it caused irreparable damage. It is said that the report
which had come to bring reinforcements or for the sake of trade. In
of it was so loud that the ground was shaken for a distance of forty
this way they hoped to prevent the Sultan's fleet from cnterine the
stades round about it. Both the outer and the inner walls were struck
harb~ur of ~onstantinople, which stretches inwards by the side of
~he city for eighty stades, and for a hundred and fifty stades further
by cannon shot. The largest cannon was fired seven times a day, ! v

with one shot while it was still dark, as a signal of the coming dawn
inland. The walls alo~g this section of the city were not very strong,
when it would begin firing again. So at the very beginning of the
and there were no swift currents to make difficulties for ships sailing
siege the Greeks had to contend with the panic caused by this
along them. But on the landward side the city had two walls one
very larg.eand worthy of note, the other smalle~, and built outside it frightening method of attack.
The janlssaries and the rest of the army, in their white and red
?ver!ookmg the foss, the latter being built in stone, and a plethron
m WIdth. * caps, prepared shelters, and carried them from their camp to the wall
and the foss of the city. They then dug trenches outside the foss, and
The Emperor debated with the Greeks, and decided to meet the
made openings in the earth which was thrown up. through which
atta:k at ~he outer wall, which overlooked the foss, following the
they could fire their cannon at the Greeks, and shoot arrows at them
tactics which they had previonsly used against Murat when he had
without exposing themselves, and without suffering any other
~esieged th.e city. Meanwhile, the Sultan had promptly placed his
trouble at their hands; for it was not possible to hit them there. The
s~ege machines and other equipment in various places around the
Sultan also had tunnels driven underground leading towards the
City, and was proceeding to batter the walls with shot from his two
wall. His miners made four towers with all their superstructure
great cannon. One of these was placed opposite the Emperor's
stand in the air on props, with the intention of throwing in fire at
palace, an.d the other opposite the gate called Romanus, where
these points. But still their mines did not succeed, for when the
Mehmet himself had taken up his position. There were also many
Greeks realised that the enemy was digging tunnels, they too began
smaller cannon which fired at the Greeks from all quarters. Each
to dig, until they reached the Sultan's miners and drove them out.
of the two largest cannon fired shot of over two talents (i.e. over
The Turks also made a wooden tower of great size, and a large
one hundred pounds) in weight. These stone shot were black in
number of ladders in it leading to the top, with the idea that by
colour, and were transported to his camp, it is said, from the Black
using these they might make a successful attempt on the walls.
Such were the preparations made on land by the Sultan for the
"n't ~othl'Ple.thron.' and "stade' seem here to be about half the length of these attack on the city. And since he was unable to penetrate the harbour
Ism c assical times' the '. I
100 feet and a furlong.. y were ongma ly equivalent approximately to by sea and attack the city in this way from all sides, he hit upon the

45
44
plan of dragging the ships up past the camp of Zagan Pasha, and first they blamed the gunner, accusing him of having been bribed
running them down into the harbour. In this way he dragged part by the Sultan, and would have put him to death, but since there
of his fleet over the hill, with sails hoisted and oars moving, until was no clear proof that he deserved this fate, they set him free. As
they slid down to the harbour beach. He transported some seventy to the wall which had been damaged by the Sultan's cannon, they
vessels in this manner, of thirty or fifty oars, all ready to set sail in repaired it with great speed at night, making a barrier with ladders
the harbour the very next day; while near the water his gunners and wooden barrels.
stood by their cannon, to repel any attempt to prevent them from Meanwhile, news was brought to the Sultan that two transport
being launched. vessels were sailing from the Aegean up to Constantinople with
When the Greeks saw the ships all in readiness along the shore of grain, a large one belonging to the Genoese, and the other belonging
the harbour, they decided to man the vessels which were available to the Emperor of the Greeks. When he heard this, he quickly mann-
to them, and attack them, to burn them if possible. But the Turks ed his triremes and other vessels, and sent them against the ap-
saw them coming, and fired their cannon, hitting two of their thirty- proaching ships, which were already close at hand, and were being
oared vessels, which sank immediately, drowning those of their carried by a fair wind towards the city. These vessels and the
crews who could not swim. Those who swam to the shore on the triremes put to sea and advanced upon the Christian ships, attacking
other hand, were captured by the Turks who led them at daybreak the Greek one first; and they would soon have captured her if the
to the city gates and put them to death. There were some Turkish Genoese ship had not changed course and come to lend help,
captives whom the Greeks were keeping in chains, and these they attacking the triremes furiously. The Sultan was on the beach at
dragged to the battlements, and slew them in full view of the this time, shouting orders to his sailors, and riding into the water
enemy, thus evening the score as far as prisoners were concerned. on his horse. In this way the ships escaped and sailed into the har-
The Turkish ships which had been dragged across to the harbour bour.
now took to the wa 1er WIith no one to prevent them from attacking ' In this battle the Sultan's admiral Baltoglu was wounded in the
.
the CIty. At this tinne t 00, t h e Sultan made a bndge ' ' eye by his own side, as he afterwards affirmed to the Sultan,
across to the city
from the poi t . swearing that if he had not been wounded, he would have captured
. . n opposrte called Ceramaria, using pairs of barrels
joined securely t one anot h er, so that the army could cross over the ships. And in this way he escaped being put to death, while the
a
f rom Zagan Pash ' . rest of those whom the Sultan held in suspicion were taken and put
. a s camp to the city. As a result of these happenings
Constantlnople \ bi , in prison to await execution.
Th .. vas now su ject to attack from every direction.
Now that the walls had been sufficiently damaged to allow the
1 e pOSItion of the Gree kss III i t Iie city
' was serious because of the
arge area which it covere d , the I circuit
. . of the walls being
.' approxl- [anissaries to attack and enter the city, Mehmet ordered fires to be
ma 1eIy one hund d d lit throughout his camp, making these and other customary pre-
time: re an eleven stades, the largest of any city of our
parations with the intention of making an assault on the next day
. . and because th e d ef en ders h ad to cover so many different
ime;
pOSItIons the eri but one. He then announced to the army that they would be allowed
F ' P nmeter was far from being safely guarded.
to sack the city and take slaves.
wallort~n9tfut
db r y d ays t h e Turkish' cannon battered the outer
The following story is also told. When the wall had been broken
an rought do . .'
supe 1 wn a great part of It, four towers WIth all then down by the cannon, the son of Scender the ruler of Sinope. Ismail
rs ructure and d
its tow A'. cause some damage to the great inner wall and by name, brought to the Greeks an offer of peace in these tenus:
ers. t first th G k I
and fi d h . e ree s a so set their cannon on the walls, 'Men of Greece, your fate is indeed balanced on a razor's edge. Why
re s at weigh' al
But thi h mg a tent and a half at the Sultan's cannon. then do you not send an ambassador to discuss peace with the
s s ook the II .
enemy Al . wa s, and did more damage to them than to the Sultan? If you will entrust this matter to me, I shall arrange for
. so, then largest cannon b urst when It ' was first
"A fired. t
47
him to offer you terms. I need have no fear that you will fail to
reward the man who does this for you. Otherwise, your city will be
enslaved, your wives and your children will be sent into slavery, and
you yourselves will perish utterly. Send a reliable man as soon as
possible, so that I may bring him into the presence of the Sultan
and make peace for you.'
He found the Greeks receptive to his words, and they decided to
send an ambassador to sound out the Sultan's intentions with regard
to them, so that they could then decide what it would be in their best
interests to do.
The man whom they sent to explore the Sultan's attitude was not
of high rank. When, under Ismail's guidance, he came into the
presence of the Sultan, Mehmet demanded a payment of one
hundred thousand bezants each year; or, if this was not possible,
they could abandon the city, taking their possessions with them, and
go wherever each one of them wished. When this was related to the
Geeks, they deliberated, and then decided to continue their resist-
ance, in spite of the danger, rather than leave the city and sail away
without putting up a fight.
In my opinion, the Sultan put forward this proposal as a means of
testing the state of mind of the Greeks. After the failure of the mines
which had been dug, he was eager to find out what the Greeks
thought of their situation, and how secure their position was. The
Greeks, however, replied in the terms which I have outlined.
When the Sultan had completed his preparations for the assault,
he called together his janissaries and said to them. 'My janissaries,
my c~ildren, you have shown your bravery wherever I have
campaignej Now it is through you that the city will be captured.
Do you remember that when I asked you you said that it could be
taken, if I would break down the walls for you? Then, as I went
among you, I would inquire if enough of the wall had been breached
for your purpose, and as much as you asked for was overthrown at
yo?-r request. Now, since it is time to make the assault, I will add
this. You h~ve always had the finest of reputations with my ances-
tors and WIth me; so help me now to win this empire. You know
how many governorships are at my disposal in Asia and in Europe.
Of these I will g.rve th e f··
Illest to the first to pass the stocka d e.
And I shall pay him the honours which he deserves, and I shall
requite him with a position of wealth, and make him happy among
the men of our generation. But if I see any man lurking in the tents
and not fighting at the wall, he will not be able to escape a lingering
death, not even if he takes wings and flies among the birds of the air.
Prepare therefore for the battle, which will bring you fame and
wealth. The city holds slaves of great value for you, and women and
children, and enormous stores of treasure.'
After he had spoken, the captains and commanders to whom he
had previously shown the walls, and inquired whether it was
possible to storm the city, told him that he could attack, because
conditions were now suitable; and they told him to be confident,
since they could storm the city without delay. They then asked him
to grant them a favour, by handing over the men whom he had
arrested because they were suspected of having wounded his admiral
in the eye. He agreed to this, and set them free, to please his
j anissaries.
Now that he had decided to make the assault, he sent a message
to his army to say that it would take place early the next day, and
promised that those who distinguished themselves would be re-
warded, and those who did not fight would be punished with death.
Their priests, called Zychides, went around the camp, reminding the
soldiers of the belief which they held with regard to death, that their
prophet promised good fortune to those who died in battle, and of
other such doctrines of theirs.
Meanwhile the Greeks stationed a Genoese, who had come to their
aid with a large ship and three hundred soldiers, at the point where
the Sultan and his janissaries were about to make their attack. Near
him the Emperor also stood with his own contingent, ready to meet
the attack. Cardinal Isidore of Russia, who has been mentioned
earlier, was also among the Greeks at this time and joined in their
resistance, being there for the purpose of making a synod, and
reconciling the Greeks with the Archbishop of Rome. This had
actually happened a short while previously, and the Greeks had at
this late stage become reconciled with the Romans.
When the next day came, the day of battle, the Sultan carried out
his plan to attack, the cymbals began to sound, and the pipers and
trumpeters joined in giving the signal for the assault. The barbarians
attacked the city on all sides, and fought fiercely wherever they
49
attacked. The Greeks defended the harbour wall with vigour and
drove the Turks back, beheading some of them, who attempted to
scale the walls with ladders. But in the sector where the Sultan was
directing the assault, and the [anissaries were attacking, the Genoese
soldiers were driven back by the force of their onslaught. Giustiniani
himself was wounded in the arm by a shot from a cannon, and some
of his men were also wounded, and left their positions. The Turks
followed up their advantage, and attacked and slew them. Meanwhile
Giustiniani was withdrawing, with his soldiers following and the
janissaries pressing hard upon them. Then the Emperor of the
Greeks, when he saw them leaving their position and giving up the
fight, ran to the place and asked Giustiniani where he was going.
'By the way which God has shown to the Turks,' was the reply.
The Emperor turned to Cantacuzenus and the small band of men
around him and said, 'Then let us at any rate attack these barbari-
ans.' The brave Cantacuzenus was killed, and the Emperor Con-
stantine was driven back, until after being forced to retreat he was
followed and given a wound in the shoulder which killed him.
When the rest of the Greeks saw the janissaries running to the
great wall, and firing arrows and stones at them from above, while
Giustiniani and his men were fleeing, they too turned to run as soon
as the janissaries attacked them, each one of them hurling himself
forward in his eagerness to get inside the wall and escape the enemy.
When they reached the gate called Romanus they got in each
other's way and fell down, and fresh arrivals fell upon those who
were trying their hardest to get through, so that they made a great
mound of living men by the gate which prevented anyone from
having passage. A great many of them died in this undistinguished
manner, and because they were so eager to get ahead of one another,
they ended by making a spectacle of themselves in this way, while
the gates were jammed by the bodies of the Greeks who had made
their way to them. The janissaries who had crossed the great wall
(a large part of which had collapsed under the fire of the cannon)
bu.rst into the city at that point, and ravaged it, each one of them
going wherever it suited him.
As soon as the news spread that the city had been captured, many
of the Greeks fled at once in the direction of the harbour towards
the Venetian and Genoese ships. A great number hurled themselves
5°
in disorder into small boats, and were drowned when they sank.
And as usually happens at such a time of confusion, each man
rushed for safety without any kind of discipline.
Most of these escaped the Turks. But the gatekeepers of the city
made a most unfortunate decision. When they saw the Greeks
heading for the ships and fleeing to them in search of safety, they
thought that if they shut the gates, the Greeks would turn and fight
again. A prophecy had been current, that the enemy would reach
a part of the city called the Place of the Bull in their attack, and
then the defenders would be forced to turn, and fight back, and
would drive the enemy out, and keep the city for themselves. It
was, I think, for this reason that they threw the keys outside from
the top of the wall. *
The great crowd of men and women, which was growing bigger all
the time as more arrived, then made for the largest church in the
city, which was called the Church of the Holy Wisdom, and there
they gathered together, men, women and children. But before very
long they were captured by the Turks without making any resistance
and many of the men who were inside the Church were put to death.
Of the rest of the Greeks, some wandered about the city in confusion,
and were soon killed or captured, while others showed their mettle
and fought to the death for their country, to prevent their wives and
children from becoming slaves. Theophilus of the family of the
Palaeologi died in this way, seeking death bravely in battle, and
Metochites of the same family, together with his sons, died fighting.
Many of the Greek nobles in the Emperor's entourage also died
there, because they did not want to see their country passing into
slavery.
The whole city was filled with men killing or being killed, fleeing
or pursuing. The fate of Notaras, the Emperor's chief minister, and
of Orehan, the grandson of Suleiman, was as follows, according to
the Greek account. When they realised that the city had been
captured, they ran toone of the towers, with the intention of making
their plans for escape. When they reached it, Orchan put on the rags
of a monk, and threw himself down from the tower, perishing in this
* This passage refers to the gates on the other side of the city, by the
Golden Horn.
5'

manner. But Notaras, his sons and his companions, were caught
among the crowds of captives. . disaster which had overtaken Constantinople, and no one there
Meanwhile the janissaries quickly filled the Sultan's camp with
the wives and children of the noblest of the Greeks, and brought such
treasures with them that they were loaded with wealth. The Turkish
camp was thronged with men and women calling for one another,
and children as well, overcome by the catastrophe. Great quantities
of gold and silver were also brought there from the city, there were
precious stones in abundance, and the place was full of costly gar-
ments of all kinds. In fact, the camp in one day was so enriched by
noble captives, treasure and every other sort of wealth, that many
of the janissaries did not know what to do with the opulence which
surrounded them. As a result, some men became rich by buying
jewels for next to nothing, because the janissaries did not know
their true value: sometimes they even exchanged gold for bronze.
At this time Isidore the Cardinal of Sabina was also captured,
and after being taken to Galata was sold, and then boarded a ship
and escaped to the Pcloponnese. If the Sultan had recognised him
as Cardinal Isidore, he would certainly have put him to death, and
not let him escape; but the thought never occurred to him, since he
thought that he was dead. Then one of the janissaries brought the
head of the Emperor of the Greeks to the Sultan, and was rewarded
with gifts and the governorship of a province. But none of the
janissaries was able to say in what manner he had met his death.
He died by the gate with many of his men, like any commoner,
after having reigned for three years and three months.
Many Venetian nobles were also captured, who had been carrying
on trade there, and a number of others who happened to be in the
harbour with their triremes, and had been detained by the Greeks as
auxiliaries. The Venetian Bailo was brought before the Sultan and
put to death; the rest, however, were later released.
While this was happening, almost everyone, including the crews
of the Sultan's ships, was concentrating on plunder. So the Venetian
galleys set sail and passed through the Hellespont, and arrived at
Euboea on the third day with very few men on board. The Greeks
had made them land the greater part of their crews to take part in
the defence of the city, stationing them on the battlements, and so
they were captured, and many of them died.
, ,
When the galleys reached Euboea they brought news of the
was able to decide what was their best course, since they assumed
that they too would soon be in danger. Almost all the islanders of
the Aegean began to take flight; and the leaders of the Greeks,
and those who were in the Peloponnese, overcome by the cata-
strophe, made for the sea. This shortly afterwards inspired the
Albanians who lived there to revolt.
After the Sultan had occupied Constantinople, he ordered Zagan
his father-in-law to man his galleys and go to the city of Galata
opposite, to prevent them from setting sail in their ships. The chief
magistrate of the city had feared, when he saw Constantinople
captured by the Sultan, that he might attack them next, and
enslave their city as he had done with Constantinople; so taking the
keys of the city he went to the Sultan and delivered it into his hands,
saying that he and the rest of the citizens entrusted themselves to
him, and would obey his every command in the future. It was after
this that Zagan was sent to take over the city, and prevent anyone
from boarding the ships. But when the people of Galata saw the
galleys heading towards their city, they all made a rush for the
ships. The Turks, however, held them back, and killed a few to
discourage the others.
When Zagan reached the city he entered it, put everything in
order there, and appointed a governor on behalf of the Sultan, who
thus became master of two cities in a single day, in the one case by
conquest, and by surrender in the other. He then ordered the
inhabitants to raze the walls on the landward side. This was done
so that if ships came from Italy, they should not plan to revolt,
seeing that the land walls were no longer standing, and if the Sultan
found himself making war again, he could enter the city and seize
it. The more important prisoners among the Greeks who had sur-
vived were also taken to Galata and released. The Sultan himself
paid the ransom of Notaras, the Emperor's chief minister, and of
his wife and children, and after discussing with him the help which
was being awaited from Italy, showed him every mark of respect,
and passed a considerable amount of time with him.
Those Greeks who had been set at liberty gathered in the city of
Constantinople and set about freeing their friends and relatives.
53
But after a little while they were put to death by the Sultan in the
following manner. It came to his ears that Notaras had a son twelve
years of age, and he sent one of his stewards to demand the boy.
When the father was given this message by the steward, he took
offence and was angry, saying, 'This is not to be borne, that the
Sultan should take my children, when I have done nothing at the
present time for which I might be blamed, and he has pardoned my
mistakes in the past by ransoming me. If he treats me in this way,
why does he not order me to hand them over at once to a shameful
death?' These were his words, and he refused to send the lad, and
denied that he was guilty of any wrongdoing. The steward was
shocked at these words, and advised him not to speak or act in this
way towards the Sultan, because he would surely be put to death;
but he took no notice.
After the steward had returned, and the Sultan had heard the
message from the Greek side, he ordered that Notaras and his
children and associates should be taken and executed. When those
who had been assigned to this task came to Notaras, he begged
them to kill his children first, and do away with him afterwards.
His children were frightened of being put to death, and begged
their father to give the executioners the money which they had in
Italy, and so procure their safety. But he paid no attention, and
bade them meet their fate with courage. So they were killed first,
and afterwards he offered himself to be put to death.
When the Sultan had disposed of Notaras and his family, he
ordered the rest of the Greeks who had been set free and were in
Constantinople to be led out and killed also. And so they died a
death without glory. The motive which led the Sultan to commit
these murders was provided by a Greek who had arrived there, with
whose daughter the Sultan had had an affair. He was infatuated
with the woman, showing favour to her relatives, being quite
overcome with passion, and it is said that it was in obedience to her
father's request that he had the Greeks put to death. Such was the
fate of the Greeks of Constantinople.
Th'IS was surely the most grievous
, catastrophe known to history,
and the complete destruction of the Greeks matches the Fall of
Troy, a capture of Troy by the barbarians, as it were. So the
Romans think that this disaster overtook the Greeks as a recompense
for the sack of Troy long ago.
54
Such were the events which took place up to this point. Then
Mehmet arrested Halil son of Brairneus, his vizier; he had wanted
to dispose of him earlier, but was afraid, because his own position
was not yet secure, and he had postponed his arrest. Now he had
him bound, and sent him on a cart to Adrianople to be imprisoned.
Soon afterwards he took his property, and all the gold and silver
which he had. Halil had amassed a great amount of wealth, and
was outstanding for his riches, far above the rest of the Sultan's
household. This happened because Zagan the Sultan's father-in-law
stood high in his favour. Zagan's daughter had been betrothed to
Mahmoud son of Michael; but when Zagan and his master had paid
him a visit, the Sultan had seen her and been smitten 'with passion
for her. So he married her himself, leaving Zagan to betroth another
of his daughters to Mahmoud.
Halil, then, was put to death with his followers Yakoub and
Mehmet, and when the Sultan seized his treasures he took more than
a hundred and twenty thousand pieces of gold. Most of Halil's
household and relations then took to wearing black, as a sign of
mourning for a good man. And when this came to the ears of the
Sultan, he issued an order, that anyone who wore black on the
following day would appear before the Sultan at once. As a result,
no one in the whole city appeared wearing clothes of this sort.
Mehmet had shown signs previously of not being well disposed
towards his vizier, by the extremely hostile attitude which he
adopted. The following story is told, a prophetic one in many
respects. He once came across a vixen tied up at the door of his
palace, and asked her, 'Poor creature, why do you suffer so? Pay
some money to our vizier Halil, and you will soon be free.' The story
reached Halil himself, and he decided to make a pilgrimage to the
tomb of Mahomet, which would take him out of the country and
allow the Sultan's anger to cool. But the latter deceived him by
showing great generosity towards him; when he saw that he was
disturbed by the rumour, he sent him money, and told him not to
be frightened, and not to believe malicious gossip, but to be at ease.
Halil was deceived, and sent a reply, 'My Lord, it lies with yOIl
whether we are to grieve or rejoice. If you command us to mourn,
then we must do so, and if to rejoice, then we must be glad, and
feel no fear.' But he died, as we have described.
55
I!
I

MICHAEL DUCAS
Byzantine History, chapters 33-42
CHAPTER 33
The Emperor John had suffered for many years from gout, and on
his return from Italy he was afflicted with many other cares and
sorrows, partly because of the disorder which existed in the churches,
and also because of the loss of his empress. The disease now over-
came him, and in a few days he was dead, the last to hold the title
of Emperor of the Greeks.
Constantine was then called, and brought to Constantinople. He
sent a delegation to Murat, honoured him with gifts, and established
peaceful relations with him, removing from between them all previ-
ous causes of contention.
Murat, who was anxious to see his son married, now brought a
bride from the nobility on the borders of Armenia. The girl was the
daughter of Turgatir, a chieftain of the Turcoman people who dwelt
b.eyond Cappadocia. The Sultan had agreed to this alliance, not
SImply because he had found in Turgatir a man as wealthy and
powerful as himself, but because he lived between the Turco-
P~rsians and Caraman, and could at any time make an alliance
WIth Murat's son who ruled in Amasia, and oppose attacks from
Caraman on the one side and Caraiusuf on the other. The marriage
would ~e a bond between them, and he would get help and assistance
from him when he needed it. Therefore he sent one of his viziers
called Saruja to lead the bride from her father's house with the
greatest pomp and honour, taking many valuables and a dowry
of many talents.
. ":'~en her new father-in-law Murat learned that she was in the
VICIll1tyo~ the strai:s of Gallipoli, he despatched his chief ministers
from Adnanople, WIth a well~equipped escort, who met them and
led them back to their master's palace. The Sultan received the
bride with the greatest good will, and set about celebrating the
wedding. He sent invitations to all the magistrates and nobles
beneath him, Turk and Christian alike, and they all came to cele-
brate the marriage feast with many gifts. The festivities began in
September and finished in December.
When the marriage was completed, Murat gave generous presents
to all her father's servants who had come with the bride, and
loading them with every kindness, sent them back to their homes.
He then sent his newly-married son and his bride to rule over Asia
Minor and Lydia. In mid-January Mehrnet went to Magnesia, and
was still there on the fifth of February, when one of the express
couriers, who travel as swiftly as an eagle, arrived and put into his
hands a letter with the seals intact. He opened and read it, and thus
learned of the death of his father.
The message had been sent by Halil and the other viziers. In it
Halil described the death of Mehmet's father, and indicated that he
should not delay after reading it, but that he should mount his horse
and double back to Thrace as swiftly as if it were a winged Pegasus
that bore him, before the news of the Sultan's passing was heard by
the surrounding nations.
Mehmet did so; in that very hour he leaped on to one of his
Arabian racehorses, saying nothing to his nobles, except, 'Who
loves me, follow!' He left immediately, preceded by his janissaries,
foot soldiers armed with bows, swift of foot and able to fight with
either hand, all like giants in stature. In two days he travelled from
Magnesia, crossed the Hellespont and halted in the Chersonese.
For two further days he delayed in Gallipoli, to assemble those who
were following him, and also sent a courier to Adrianople, to an-
nounce that he had crossed over to the Chersonese. The news
spread, and was repeated everywhere, that the new Sultan was at
Callipcli, which was a precaution against an outbreak of restiveness
on the part of the common people; it was almost a habit with them
to start a revolution when there was a change of ruler. For this
reason the death of a Sultan is often concealed, and this is done
particularly when the one who is to succeed is not available at the
place where the dead Sultan is.
After this he left Gallipoli, and large crowds of people began to
57
flock together to pay their respects to him. As he drew near to the
plain before Adrianople, the whole array of his nobles, his viziers,
satraps, governors and other officials, the priests and teachers of
his heathen religion, men distinguished in the arts and sciences and
a large crowd of the common people, came out to meet him. When
this throng, which stretched for a mile in length, came within sight
of their Sultan, they all dismounted, and went the rest of the way
to him on foot. The prince and his retinue remained mounted. When
they had all progressed about half a mile, with not a sound heard
from the lips of anyone, they stood together and gave vent to their
tears with a great cry of grief. Then the prince and his followers
dismounted and did likewise, filling the air with cries of sorrow.
Great mourning and lamentation were to be seen on both sides that
day. The principal men of rank approached, crowded close to one
another, and with outstretched hands paid homage to the prince.
Then they mounted their horses and entered the city close to the
palace gate; and when the Sultan himself entered, everyone returned
to his own home.
On the following day a grand audience took place according to
custom, a particularly large one since their ruler was so young and
had only recently come into power, and he took his place on his
father's throne - which would not have happened except through
the will of God, because of our sins. The satraps and viziers of his
father, Halil and Ishak Pasha, stood before him at a distance. His
own viziers, the eunuch Siachin and Ibrahim, stood close to him as
custom demanded.
Then Mehmet asked Siachin his chief vizier, 'Why do my father's
viziers stand far off? Summon them here, and bid Halil take up his
accustomed position. Let Ishak and the other rulers of the East go to
Prusa to entomb my father's body. Then let him have the responsi-
bility of my eastern dominions.' Hearing this, they rushed at once
in the accustomed manner to kiss his hand. Halil remained as vizier,
and Ishak, taking the corpse of the dead Sultan with a large en-
tourage and great pomp, departed to Prusa and placed him in the
tomb which he had built, distributing great sums of money to the
poor during the course of the rites.
. Murat's death was not preceded by any protracted or painful
Illness; he was punished much less than his father, and it was
58
~ttended by much less suffering and sickness. I regard this as God's
Judgement on the man for his good will towards his fellow men and
his sympathetic disposition towards the poor. He kept unbroken and
se~ure to the e~d the agreements to which he had sworn, not only
with those of hIS own race and heathen religion, but also with the
Ch~istians. ~f e~er any Christians went against a pact and perjured
~heIr oat~, It did not escape the ineluctable eye of· God, and they
Justly paid the penalty at the hands of His avenger; this wrath,
however, was not of long duration, for the barbarian did not
continue to pursue them after he had won a victory. Nor did he ,1
thirst after the complete obliteration of any nation, but when a
conquered people sent embassies to discuss terms of peace, they
received his willing attention, and he sent their emissaries back with
a truce. He hated warfare and loved peace. So the Father of Peace
gave him in return an end which was attended by peace, not by the
sword.
Murat was sick for only four days. He had left the palace with a
few young men and crossed over to an island made by the river
dividing itself into two near the city, leaving a broad expanse,
where the goodness of the soil produces abundant food and green
pasture for countless animals. There sheep graze, with mules and the
blood horses of the Sultan, and there also are splendid villas for
relaxation and pleasure, warm or cool according to the time of year,
and everything else required for enjoyment.
He determined to spend a few days there on his own with a small
number of retainers, to refresh and rest his mind from the strain of
the marriage which had taken place. On crossing over, he passed a
day in revelry more sustained than he was used to, and on the
morrow he commanded that he should be borne to the palace,
saying that his head and the rest of his body felt numb and heavy.
He went to bed and was ill for three days, and then died on the
second of February in the year of the world 6958 (A.D. 1450).
It is related that one night, after the wedding and before he went
to the island, this dream came to him. A man of fearful appearance
stood before him and took his hand, which caused him to be over-
come with terror. Now Murat wore on the thumb of his right hand
a golden ring, and this the apparition took and thrust on to his
forefinger, then taking it from his forefinger he put it on his middle
59
 - _"=:z:z:z _
,1

finger, then on to the next finger, and after this he put it on the ha~'e him renew and confirm by oath the promises and agreements
little finger. Then, taking it off Murat's little finger, he disappeared WhIChhad been made with his father; and also to ask for his daughter
and restore her to her home.
with it.
The Sultan awoke from his sleep and summoned his seers and . AI?these. things Mehmet did, not from a desire to rule in peace and
I~ fne~dshlp, but to preserve his leadership and buy time; you will
told them of the vision. Some of them decided that the ring was the
Iind him ready enough otherwise to act unjustly when it suits him.
monarchy, and of the fingers, the first was himself and the others
In this and other matters he put on sheep's clothing, as it were,
were those of his line who would occupy the throne after him.
although he was a wolf by nature even before his birth. So he receiv-
Others decided secretly and in silence that the thumb was his life
ed the embassy kindly, exchanged sworn promises with them and
span, and the confiscation of the ring symbolised his loss of power.
let them depart in peace. He sent his stepmother back to her father
The putting on and taking off from the other four fingers they
with a grea: show of honour, loading her with generous gifts and
construed as the number of years of rule that would be given to
estates outside the borders of Serbia, to supply her with everything
Mehmet's successor, and then the Sultanate would be at an end.
necessary for her welfare and livelihood.
But let us return to our narrative and see what this fierce and
The wretched Greeks then living in Constantinople, and their
bloodthirsty tyrant Mehmet consumed and destroyed and abolished
ruler Constantine, also learned of the change of leader, and similarly
in the course of his own reign. When he had sent his father's body
sent emissaries to express their condolences and congratulate
to be buried at Prusa, he began to investigate the royal treasuries
Mehmet on his accession to power. What irony there was in this:
and the wealth which he had inherited. Finding an enormous store
the sheep sent their compliments to the wolf, the sparrows to the
of objects in gold and silver, precious stones and many talents in
snake, the dying, with their last gasp, to Death! And he, the
coin, more than it was possible to count, he returned it all to the
Antichrist before Antichrist, the destroyer of Christ my shepherd,
treasury and sealed it with his own seal. He also found an eight
the enemy of the Cross and of those who trust in the One who was
month old son of his father's, born in a legitimate marriage to the
fixed upon it, his face wreathed in friendship, like a true disciple of
daughter of Spentiar ruler of Sinope; Mehmet himself had been born
that Satan who once took the form of a serpent, received their
to a slave girl. The child's mother (and his own stepmother) obtained
embassy, and wrote out new treaties. He swore by the god of their
an audience with him in the palace to present her condolences, and
false prophet, and by the prophet whose name he bore, by his
at the same time he sent one of his officers named Ali son of
heathen books and by his angels and archangels, that he was their
Evrenez, his principal janitor at that time, to the house of the
friend, and would remain for the whole of his life a friend and ally
woman and had the child strangled.
of the city and its ruler Constantine, together with all the country
On the following day he put Ali himself to death and married the
around it and its dependencies. He would also maintain as long as
child's mother against her will to Ishak, his father's servant. He
he lived the relationship and the good will which had existed between
wanted to marry his other stepmother, the daughter of George the his father and the Emperor John in the past, and the despot
Despot of Serbia, a pious Christian woman, to another of his Constantine in recent years. In addition to these fine promises, he
servants, but because he was afraid that her father would rouse up endowed the empire of the Greeks with the sum of three hundred
the Hungarians to make 'war against him, and since his supremacy thousand aspri each year, from the revenues of the lands around
was not yet established and there was still a possibility of unrest in the river Strymon. They, poor wretches, begged for this, for food
his ~ingdom, he was not able to do as he wanted. The Despot, and for the other expenses of maintaining Orchan, the descendant
heanng that his son-in-law had died, and that Mehmet had succeed-
of Othman mentioned above.
ed to the throne , imm e di a t e 1y sent representatives
' to express h'IS Then, after entering into this apparently close friendship with
sympathy, and to console with him upon the loss of his parent; to
61
60
him, they took their leave rejoicing, as did also those from Wallachia
and Bulgaria. And those who lived in the islands, Mytilene, Rhodes
and the Genoese of Galata, came from all quarters with gifts,
abasing themselves before this very flesh-eating devil, and after
receiving what seemed to be firm assurances, withdrew once more.
CHAPTER 34
Then this villain, thinking that everything had been satisfactorily
arranged, since he had achieved an apparent state of peace between
himself and all the Christians, and had secured a three-year treaty
with Hunyadi, the regent of Hungary, in person, marched against
Caraman. His pretext was, that he was now an acknowledged friend
of the Christians, and they were preserving the peace and keeping
faith with him, even though they were of another race and a different
religion; but although Caraman was Moslem and followed the faith
of Mahomet, it never at any time stopped stirring up wars and
unrest in times of crisis. Mehmet thought this problem over and
came to a decision, and what he decided was done. He had previously
been informed that Caraman, hearing of the death of Murat, had
overrun its borders and seized three fortresses and a considerable
amount of territory. Murat had not inherited the land and castles
from his forbears, but had wrested it by force a little time before
from the rulers of Caraman, as has been related earlier in this
history.
So Mehmet, who was as much of a brigand as his father had been,
fou~d a plausible excuse in the recent wrong which had been done
t~ him, an~ marched out against them with a strong force to recover
his. possessions. He crossed the narrows with his Western army, and
waited at Prusa for the Eastern command to join him; then he
move~ on to Cotyaeum. From there he proceeded to Salutaris in
Phrygia, called Carasari by the Turks, which is close to the borders
of Caraman.
When the people of Caraman heard of his approach, they sent
a~bassadors from among their nobility to beg pardon for their
mistakes, and to offer the return of the forts they had taken. The
Sultan then granted them his pardon for the following reason. The
62
Greeks had taken counsel together, and foolishly decided to take
the useless step of sending an embassy to him, saying that Constan-
tine was now Emperor. In fact, he had not yet been crowned, nor
would he be, for reasons stated above; but nevertheless they referred
to him as 'Emperor of the Greeks'.
They saw the viziers first, as usual, and gave their message,
which was that the 'Emperor of the Greeks' had not yet received
the customary annual sum of three hundred thousand aspri.
'Furthermore, Orchan. who is also a descendant of Othman, like
your ruler Mehmet. is now a man in the prime of life. Every day
crowds of people come to pay their respects to him, saluting him
as their Lord and Master. He would be only too pleased to live up
to his rank and bestow presents upon them, but he has nothing to
give. Therefore he petitions the Emperor, who is ill equipped to
supply him with what he asks for. So we have two suggestions to
offer: either that you should double the allowance, or that we should
let Orchan go. There is no reason why we should provide for the
children of Othman; they should be supported by their own people's
funds. It is enough for us to guard him, and prevent him from
leaving the city.'
Halil Pasha listened to this, and a great deal more besides. He
was well disposed towards the Greeks for two reasons. The first was
that he was by nature a kind and generous man, and the other was
that he was a taker of bribes. If someone came to talk with him,
carrying gold, and letting it absorb his whole attention like a mirror,
he could without fear say anything, however offensive. So when he
had heard what the Emperor and Senate had to say to the Sultan
Mehmet, he replied to their emissaries as follows.
'You ignorant and foolish Greeks! I have been aware for a long
time of your villainous tricks. You must change your ways. The
previous Sultan had a gentle nature, was genuinely friendly to all
and most conscientious in his dealings. But our present Sultan
Mehmet is not the kind of man you think he is, and if Constantinople
escapes from his grasp - and I know the boldness and wild impetu-
osity of which his nature is capable - then I shall know indeed that
God is still overlooking your plots and wicked plans. You fools!
Yesterday we concluded a sworn treaty, and still have it in our
hands; the ink is scarcely dry. Why have you crossed Anatolia and

come into Phrygia with the intention of frightening us, with a dis-
play of the usual bogeys which you have contrived against us?
We are not children without intelligence or power. If you can do
anything to oppose us, do it. If you want to have Orchan as ruler of
Thrace, do so. If you want the Hungarians to cross the Danube, let
them do so. If you want to invade and conquer us - a thing you lost
the chance of doing long ago - why not do it? You must realise that
you can aspire to none of these things; on the contrary, whatever
you think of as yours, we shall snatch from your grasp. However, I
shall inform my master of these matters, and whatever is his will,
may it come to pass.'
When Mehmet heard their message he was filled with anger, and
for a while hesitated, then came to terms with Caraman. He had
previously intended to destroy them completely, but now he said
to himself, 'While I am in the East, the Emperor of the Greeks may
call together the rest of the Christians and attack me, and he may
set Orchan free; with their help, he may win the eastern part of my
empire, and the western part will fall to the Greeks.' With these
and similar thoughts in his mind, he welcomed the ambassadors of
Caraman with every appearance of pleasure, and by a combination
of threats and blandishments, using whichever he thought appropri-
ate, he made a sworn treaty of peace with them, and sent them
horne in a most friendly fashion.
To the Emperor's ambassadors he replied, 'In a little while I shall
be at Adrianople; and when I am there, you shall tell me all the
things which your Emperor and his city need, and I shall be ready
to give you whatever you require.' And after flattering them with
further gracious promises of this sort, he let them go.
Some days later he crossed the straits and came to Adrianople.
where he at once despatched one of his slaves to the Strymon area,
and stopped payment of the grant which had previously been
conceded to the Emperor. He also expelled the officials and settlers
there, who had so far enjoyed only a year's residence in the neigh-
bourhood. After this he began another operation which did the
Greeks enormous harm. At the beginning of winter he sent com-
mands and messages to each of his provinces in the West and in the
East, ordering a thousand building craftsmen to be supplied, and
labourers to match, and lime-burners' , in short , all the labour and
1
mat.erials were to be ready in the spring to build a castle by the
straits of the Bosphorus above Constantinople. The Greeks heard this
bitter news, and those in Constantinople and over all Asia and
Thrace, and the Christians in the islands, were full of sorrow and
parched with fear, and they could say nothing but, 'Now the end of
the city is near. Now the signal is sounding for the end of our
nation, now is the time of Antichrist. What shall we do and what
will be our fate? 0 Lord, let our lives be taken from us: before the
ey~s of Thy servants can see the destruction of the city; let not
Thine enenues say, a Lord, "Where are the Saints who keep watch
over it ?"
Not only those who dwelt in Constantinople, but all the Christians
living in different parts of Anatolia, those in the islands and those
in the West, also met the news with the same tears and weeping.
Meanwhile Mehmet at the beginning of spring brought together his
craftsmen and labourers from all parts.
The Emperor now sent ambassadors to Adrianople, not to ask
what Mehmet intended, nor with the object of doubling his revenues,
but to say as follows: 'It is now more than a hundred years since
your ancestor Murat son of Orchan captured Adrianople. From that
time to this, because of the treaties which were made, none of his
descendants, before you, has thought of building a fortress, or even
so much as a single hut, in the neighbourhood of the city. And if at
any time there appeared to be some reason for making war, and both
of us were preparing to do so, then a conference was held and a
peaceful reconciliation was achieved. When your grandfather
Mehmet wished to build a fortress on the Anatolian side of the
straits, he asked permission of the Emperor Manuel, and begged
for a long time, as a son to a father, that he might be allowed to do
this. So Manuel formally agreed to the project of building a fortress
on the Anatolian side, even though the whole of Anatolia had been
in the possession of the Turks for many generations. But now, in
spite of the good relationship which exists between us, we can see
quite clearly that you intend to deny the Franks access to the
Pontic Sea, and to starve our city and to deny to it the revenues
which come from the business transacted there.'
'Change your plans, we beseech you, and we shall be good friends
to you, as we were to that noble ruler your father; and if you also

wish us to pay a tribute, we shall pay it.'
Mehmet answered, 'I am taking nothing from your city. Outside
its fortifications, it has no territory and no jurisdiction. If it is my
wish to have a castle built on the Bosphorus, there is no one to pre-
vent me. The whole country is in my power. I hold the forts on the
Anatolian side of the straits, and Turks are inhabiting them, and the
untenanted land on the western side is mine, since the Greeks are
too insecure to be able to live there.'
'You must have forgotten the difficulties caused to my father, and
the dangerous situation in which he was placed, when your Emperor
formed an alliance with the Hungarians. They attacked us by land,
while the galleys of the Franks penetrated to the Hellespont, and
closed the passage at Oallipoli, preventing my father from crossing.
He therefore moved higher up, to a point ncar the Bosphorus, where
the fortress built by his father was, and with the help of God crossed
over there in small boats. The Emperor's ships were keeping watch
in an attempt to prevent him from crossing there, and at the time,
still a boy, I was at Adrianople waiting for the Hungarians to come.
Meanwhile they were ravaging the country around Varna, the
Emperor was delighted, the Moslem race was full of anxiety, and the
Gabours rejoiced.'
'After running many risks, my father crossed the Bosphorus, and
swore that he would build another fortress on the western side,
opposite the one which is on the Anatolian shore. He did not
succeed in doing this, but with God's help, I am about to do so.
Why are you trying to prevent me? Can I not do as I wish in my
own dominions? Go, tell your Emperor that this ruler is not like his
predecessors. What they were powerless to achieve, is within his
grasp and easy of accomplishment for him; and he is both willing
and eager to do what they would not even attempt. And if any more
embassies come to speak on this subject, they may be certain of
losing their heads.'
When the Emperor's ambassadors heard the Sultan's reply, so full
of wrath and angry pride, they returned to Constantinople and
reported everything to their master. Then those in the city were
filled with fear and anguish, and whenever they met together they
began to say, 'This is he that will attack our city and subdue it, and
enslave us within it, and trample on the objects of our faith, destroy
66
--
our noble temples and cast out into the streets and the crossroads
the relics of the Saints and Martyrs. Alas! What shall we do ? Where
shall we find refuge?' With these and similar lamentations they
wept and bemoaned their fate.
It was now spring, and the end of March had come. Lime had been
made ready after great numbers of kilns had been constructed in
hidden places, * and was being brought daily, with timber from
Nicomedia and Pontic Heraclela, and stone from Anatolia. In
accord~nce with the Sultan's orders all his governors of provinces in
Allatoh~ and the West had already brought the workmen whom they
ha~ levied. Mehmet then left Adrianople, and arrived at the place
which was to be designated for the foundations of the fortress.
Choosi~g a ridge below the place called Scsthenium (or Phonea by
the ancients}, he commanded that the foundations should be laid out
in the form of a triangle, and his instructions were soon carried out.
He ordered the fortress, which was placed opposite the one which
his grandfather had built, to be called Pas-Chesen, which when
translated signifies Cut-Throat.
The building of the fortress was organised in the following way.
He assigned to Halil Pasha one of the corners facing seaward, with
instructions to build a tower there of great strength and solidity, a
castle in itself. Zagan was given the task of building another, also
of a great size, in the other corner, which looked towards the land.
The third corner was left to Saritzia, and these three towers, each
strong enough to be a castle, were built at their expense. The Sultan
himself was responsible for the connecting walls and the rest of the
fortress, and great numbers of workmen might be seen flocking
together from all parts of the country, with the Cadhis or judges,
since the death penalty had previously been proclaimed for disobe-
dience. He measured the work out, a cubit to each mason, of whom
there were a thousand, each with two assistants, on the outer side
of the wall, and the same number of masons and labourers on the
inside. A multitude too numerous to count brought stones, lime and
baked bricks; and at times even men of high rank lent a hand to
pass lime or stones, under the fierce gaze of their ruler.
• It is possible that the name of a place lies hidden here, the Greek being
Ell~cna.<puyrQlr;;_ But Gibbon's 'Cataphrygia' will not do,
 The materials were transported from the farther shore, and also
from the Byzantine side, from the ruins of monuments which had
once been of importance. Among these, a number of columns were
brought from the remains of the church of the Archangel M!chael.
This aroused the religious zeal of the inhabitants of Contantmople,
and an expedition set out to stop the Turks; but they were taken and
put to the scimitar.
The Emperor saw that the Sultan's plans were succeeding, and
tried another approach. He sent a delegation to ask for a guard, to
protect the Greeks who worked in the fields near the city from
having their crops damaged by the Turks, since the harvest was
near. He also sent him a variety of gifts and daily presents of food
and drink, having no option but to continue treating this savage
serpent in accordance with the usual formulae of honour. Mehmet
then sent some of his janissaries with the commission that they were
to watch over and observe those who had suffered damage; but he
also instructed them that they were not in any way to hinder the
Turks who came into the pastures of the Greeks from feeding their
animals, mules and horses, or any other beasts of burden which were
being used in the building of the fortress, but that these were to be
allowed to roam unchecked. 'And when,' he said, 'the Greeks are
angry and attack the Turks, then you will join the Turks in fighting
them.'
It was at this time that the son of Spentiar, the brother~in-Iaw of
Murat and Mehmet's uncle by marriage, who has previously been
mentioned, came from Adramyteum leading a body of men, in
obedience to the general decree, with the intention of adding his
assistance to that provided by the general levy for the building of
the fortress. As he came to the tower called Epibata, they let the
horses and the baggage animals loose, to forage among the crops of
the Greeks, destroying the wheat and the rest of the harvest. One
of the Greeks saw the damage which had been done, and the ruined
crops in his fields, and ran to chase the horses from his land. A
Turkish horseman quickly stopped him with a blow. A relative of
the farmer who had been struck ran up, and then another, while
more Turkish soldiers came to oppose them. In the struggle which
resulted, several were slain on both sides. Early the next morning
Kagia Bey, for that was his name, went to the Sultan, saluted him
68
in the customary manner, and reported everything that had happen-
ed at Epibata. Mehmet did not call for any other version of the
story, or look for any other explanation, but told Kagia Bey to take
his soldiers and go at once to put the inhabitants of that neighbour-
hood to the sword. This was done: the Turks made a surprise attack
at dawn, as the farmers were going out to reap the crops, and fell
upon them, killing about forty of them. This was the beginning of
hostilities, and of the destruction of the Greeks.
When the Emperor heard what had happened, he shut the gates of
the city, and had all the Turks who were inside it bound and im-
prisoned. But three days later he set them free. What else could he
have done? There were among the Turks who were found there
several eunuchs from Mehmet's court who said, when they were
brought before the Emperor, 'If Your Majesty will set us free before
the sun sets in the west, you will have earned our gratitude. But if
you keep us until after sunset, and we do not appear before our
master, you will not be doing us a favour by releasing us afterwards,
but only assuring us of death. Have pity on us, and release us now;
or if not, order our heads to be struck off. It will be better for us to
meet death at your hands, rather than from the Destroyer of the
World.'
When the Emperor heard this, his pity was aroused, and he set
them free at once. Then he sent delegates to the Sultan with the
following message. 'Since you have chosen war, and since I cannot
change your mind by reminding you of the oaths you have sworn,
or by remaining in submissiveness, do as you wish. I shall seek refuge
in the will of God, and if it is His desire to give the city into your
hands, who call oppose Him? And if He causes peace to blossom in
your heart, I shall accept this gladly. In these circumstances, take
back your treaties and your oaths. I shall keep the gates of my city
closed from this time onwards, and I shall defend the people within
it to the best of my ability. And do you continue to lord it over your
oppressed subjects, until the One Just Judge gives His righteous
verdict between you and me.' When his barbarous enemy heard this
message, he made no attempt to excuse himself, but instantly
ordered war to be declared.
During the previous six months the Emperor, seeing what was
likely to happen, had been paying attention to the defences of the
69

city, and bringing the inhabitants of the rural areas nearby inside
the walls, together with the freshly-reaped wheat and any grain
that had been threshed. Mehmet had by now completed the fortress
to his satisfaction, making the walls and the towers thirty feet thick,
and the whole of it high enough to suit his purpose. On the tower
built by Halil Pasha he placed cannon which fired shot of more than
six hundred pounds in weight, and he put Feruz Aga, one of his most
trusted servants, in charge of the fortifications, giving him the
following instructions: 'No ship is to sail from the Hellespont into
the Pontic Sea, or from the Pontic Sea into the Hellespont, whatever
nation owns it, whether they are of Genoa, of Venice, of Caffa. of
Trebizond, of Amisus or Sinopc or even one of my own vessels, and
whether it is a cargo vessel, a trireme or a birerne, a barge or a cutter,
unless it first lowers its sails and pays toll; and only then may it go
on its way. Any ship which disobeys, and does not follow these
instructions, is to be sunk by cannon fire.' After giving him further
orders in the same boastful manner, and assigning four hundred men
as a guard for the fortress, Mehmet returned to Adrianople. The
whole project had been completed in four months, and the second
year of his reign (the year 9691 from the creation of the world) was
running its course.
CHAPTER 35
The end of summer and the early days of autumn found Mehmet in
his palace, unable to close his eyes in slumber. Night and day his
thoughts were fixed on the city; how could he capture it, how could
he become master of it ? It had happened that while he was engaged
in the building of his fortress, there came from Constantinople a
craftsman who had great skill in the casting of cannon, a Hungarian.
He had come to the city some time previously, and made his abilities
known to the Emperor's ministers. They brought him into the
presence of the Emperor, and he was granted a pension, but this was
far below what was due to his qualifications, and in fact they did not
even pay over this paltry pittance to him. Because of this he became
desperate, and one day left Constantinople and went over to the
Turks. The Sultan welcomed him with open arms, treated him
7°
= - ."""'"
honourably and provided him with food and clothing; and then he
gave him an allowance so generous, that a quarter of the sum would
have sufficed to keep him in Constantinople.
. Mehmet as~ed him if he was able to cast a cannon large enough to
~Irea. shot WhI:h would make an impression on the walls of the city,
111 spite of their strength and thickness. He replied, 'If you wish, 1
can cast a cannon as large as the shot which is being shown to me
now. I know what the walls of the city are like. The shot from my
cannon could reduce them, and even the walls of Babylon itself. I
can see to every detail of making them; but I do not know what the
range will be, and I will give no guarantee of this.'
'Build me the cannon,' the Sultan replied, 'and I myself will
concern myself with the range of it.' So they started to collect
bronze, and the craftsman began to make the moulds for his work.
The operation of casting was completed within three months, and
the result was a monstrosity of the most fearful and extraordinary
kind.
It was during this period that a large Venetian merchant ship,
commanded by a certain Rizzo, came from the Bosphorus towards
the fortress at Pas-Chesen and did not lower its sails. The garrison
of the fortress fired a huge stone which went right through it, and
as it foundered, the captain with thirty of his crew got off in a boat
and reached the shore. They were captured by the Turks, who bound
their hands and necks with chains, and took them all chained to-
gether to the Sultan, who was at that time at Didymoteichum. He
ordered all the soldiers to be decapitated, the captain to be executed
by being impaled through the breech upon a stake, and their bodies
to be cast out without burial. This I saw for myself, when I was in
that neighbourhood a few days later.
In January he left Didymoteichum for Adrienople. where he saw
to the preparation of the equipment for his campaign, and decided
to test the cannon which the Hungarian had made. It was carefully
set in position before the main gateway leading into the palace which
he had built that year, the ball was fitted into it, and its ration of
powder weighed out. It was planned to fire it the next morning, and
public announcements were made throughout Adrianople, to advise
everyone of the loud and thunderous noise which it would make, so
that no one would be struck dumb by hearing the noise unexpectedly
7"

or any pregnant women miscarry. In the morning the gunpowder
was lit, there was a great rush of hot air, and the shot was driven
forth, leaving the cannon with a loud explosion which filled the air
with clouds of smoke. The sound was heard a hundred stades away,
r and the shot travelled a thousand paces from the point of firing,
making a hole six feet deep at the point where it landed; so great is
the power of the combination of substances which propels the shot.
One thought was in Mehmet's mind, and there was one thing of
which he dreamed, night and day, waking and sleeping, in his palace
or abroad - the means by which he might win Constantinople. Often
when evening came he would take only two companions, and go
riding or on foot all round Adrianople dressed as a soldier and
listening to what was said about him. If one of the common people
took it into his head that this was the Sultan, and decided to address
him with titles of honour in the usual way, Mehmet would himself
instantly deal him a mortal wound, showing no compunction or pity;
just as one might take pleasure in crushing a flea, this villain, who
should himself by rights have been put to death, delighted in killing
with his own hands.
One night, about the hour of the second watch, he sent some of his
guards to bring Halil Pasha to him. They went to his house, and
gave the news to his eunuchs, who went to their master's chamber
and told him that the Sultan required his presence. He trembled and
gave himself up for lost, and departed after embracing his wife and
children, taking with him a golden bowl full of gold coins. For the
reason which I have already mentioned, his heart was always full of
fear.
Halil reached the Sultan's bedchamber and found him sitting there
fully dressed. He fell to his knees and placed the bowl of coins
before him, but Mehmet said, 'What is this, Lala?' (a term equiva-
lent to 'Father' or 'Teacher'). Halil answered, 'My Lord, it is the
custom, that when the Sultan summons one of his minitsers at an
unusual hour, that man should not come empty-handed into his
presence. I have therefore brought you this as a gift, although it is
no; my own property, but yours, that I am offering to you.'
. I have no need of your wealth,' the Sultan replied. 'Indeed, I will
give you more than you already have. But there is one thing that
I want. Give me Constantinople.'
72
l
. When he heard this, Halil was filled with fear. He had always done
hIS best to protect the Greeks, and they treated him as their right
hand, keeping his own right hand filled with gifts. In fact, he was
commonly referred to by the name of 'Gabour Ortaghi', which
means companion, or friend, of infidels. He replied to his master,
'My Lord, God, who has already given into your hands the greater
part of the territory of the Greeks, will also give the city into your
hands. I am sure that it will not escape you, with God's help and
your own might. I and all the rest of your slaves will strive together,
not only with our wealth, but with our bodies and our blood, and of
this you need have not the slightest doubt.' With these words he
placated his savage master for the time being. Mehmet then said to
him, 'Do you see this pillow? The whole night through I have
dragged it from one side of the bed to the other and back again,
I have lain wide awake and sleep will not come to my eyes. I tell
you, do not be deceived by gold and silver into departing from the
answer which you have just given me. We shall remain steadfast in
our fight against the Greeks, and trusting in the will of God and the
Prophet, we shall win the city.' With these and other encouraging
expressions .combined with a number of reminders of a sort to make
the heart quail and freeze the blood, he bade Halil go in peace.
He passed every night in the same wakeful state at this time,
thinking of ways of attacking Constantinople. He would take paper
and ink, and make sketches of the fortifications, then show those
who were acquainted with the defences where and how their siege
engines should be brought forward, how the fortifications were
arranged and the ditches, and the approaches to the foss and the
walls against which ladders might be placed. In this way he made
all his plans by night, and then each morning gave orders for his
crafty and cunning schemes to be set in motion.
CHAPTER 36
To return to the situation in Constantinople, let us consider the
state of mind of the defenders, who were thinking of ways of keeping
their city out of the hands of this Nebuchadnezzar. The Emperor had
previously sent an appeal for help to Rome, expressing his willing-
73

ness to join together in a union, as it had been agreed at Florence;
agreeing also that the name of the Pope should be mentioned in
services in the Great Church, and that the patriarch Grcgorius
should return to his throne. He requested too that a Papal delega-
tion should be sent, to lay to rest the implacable enmity caused by
schism. The Pope sent the Polish Cardinal Isidore, formerly Arch-
bishop of Russia, a man of wisdom and understanding, brought up
in the dogmas of Orthodoxy, a Greek by birth, who had shown
himself a worthy father of the Church at the Council of Florence,
as has been previously related. He travelled on a large Genoese
merchant vessel, which stayed long enough at Chios for the mer-
chants on board to do their business, disembarking the goods which
they had brought with them, and taking on board what they needed.
They were also waiting for another ship, which was to sail with them
as far as Caffa. The Cardinal already had about fifty Italians with
him, and hired a number of other Latins from Chios. When the ship
for which they were waiting appeared, they left Chios and sailed
for Constantinople, reaching its harbour in November of the year
of the world 6961 (A.D. 1452).
The Emperor received them graciously and paid them due honour,
after which they settled to a discussion of the Union. They found
the Emperor in favour of it, as were the principal lay members of
the Church. But the majority of the priests and monks, the abbots,
archimandrites and nuns, were against it. The majority, did I say?
My mention of the nuns compels me to alter my words and make
this clear, that not a single one of them consented; and the Emperor
himself only pretended to agree. Nevertheless, those who were
giving an impression of supporting the Union. the priests and
deacons among the clergy and the Emperor with the Senate, met in
the Great Church to celebrate the Divine Eucharist and offer pray-
ers to God with sincere hearts together in unity.
Meanwhile those who supported schism made their way to the cell
of Gennadius. formerly Georgius Scholarius, in the monastery of the
Pantocrator, and said to him, 'What shall we do now?' He remained
shut up, but took a paper and wrote his opinion on it, an opinion
which made clear what his advice would be. It read as follows: '0
miserable Greeks, why have you strayed, and removed yourselves
from the hope of God? By putting your trust in the strength of the
74
l
Franks, you have lost your religion, as well as the city within which
it is about to be destroyed. Have mercy upon me, a Lord! In Thy
presence I call on Thee to witness that I am guiltless of any such
error. 0 miserable citizens, realise what you are doing. You are not
only condemning yourselves to a slavery which is certain to come
upon you, but you are losing the faith which your fathers handed
down to you, and agreeing to impiety. Woe upon you, when you are
judged!'
He wrote this, and more in the same vein, and pinned it to the
door of his cell, keeping himself shut up inside it while the paper was
read. Then the nuns, holy virgins who visibly surpassed the rest in
their acceptance of the principles of Orthodoxy, in accordance with
their own sentiments and the teachings of Gennadius. joined with
the abbots and confessors and other priests and the common people,
to cry down the accursed thing, and condemn to excommunication
those who had favoured the decision reached by the Synod, and
those who still favoured it, or should do so in the future. A mob of
the common people left the monastery building for the taverns;
then, with bowls full of unmixed wine in their hands, they called
down curses on the Unionists, drank in honour of the image of the
Mother of God, and invited Her to be the defender and protector of
the city against Mehmet at this time, as she had been once against
Chorsroes, Chagan and the Arabs. * 'We need neither aid nor Union
from the Latins,' they cried. 'Let the Azymite form of worship be
far from us.'
Those Christians who had gathered together in the Great Church
held a long service of intercession to God, and then listened to an
address from Cardinal Isidore, after which they gave their consent
to the Union. They also reached an agreement, that when the
Turkish siege was over and peace had returned, a committee of their
more notable dignitaries should be appointed to examine the terms
of the Union, and make any revisions which might appear to be
necessary. At this same ceremony of reconciliation, it was also
agreed that there should be a joint Eucharist in the Great Church,
celebrated by Italians and Greeks together, and commemorating in
* Grecu suggests, perhaps correctly, that the correct reading here is
'A~&pw\l.not 'A~&:~'')\I,
and that the reference is to the attacks of the Avars.
75
the sacred records the names of Pope Nicholas and the absent to the tradition of the Eastern Church; saying that the sacraments
patriarch Gregory. This solemn liturgy was performed on the twelfth had been polluted and were no longer Christian, shrinking from the
day of the month of December in the year 6~61 (A'.D. 1452). ~ut benediction of the priests and calling their churches heathen places
there were many who did not accept the gift WhICh w~s. be~ng of sacrifice, while on the morrow these same people were about to
offered to them, and considered that this service of reunification fall into the hands of the barbarians, to be defiled and polluted,
body and soul alike! With my own eyes I saw one nun, who had
was no better than an abominable heathen sacrifice.
been instructed in the holy Scriptures of the Church, not only
The Cardinal was exploring the hearts of the Greeks and assessing
eating flesh, and wearing barbarian dress, but even sacrificing to the
their intentions, and he realised that this was only a ruse, and that
false prophet, and confessing her impiety without shame.
they were trying to deceive him. But he was of the same race as they,
But what was it that made me leap forward five months in my
and was eager to help the city, although without exerting ~imself
narrative? We shall reach this point soon enough, and then the
to any great extent. What happened was enough to provide an
grievous story will be told.
excuse for Papal inactivity, although the greater part of the re-
The Emperor now sent some of his officials to the islands, and into
sponsibility was ascribed to God, who disposes of all things in what-
other areas still under the control of the Christians, to buy grain,
ever way is most fitting.
vegetables and other foodstuffs, in expectation of the Sultan's
But the people of Constantinople, a rough mob opposed to ever~-
arrival with the coming spring. There were four large merchant
thing of the better sort, that root of arrogance, that branch of vam
ships collecting necessities of all kinds in the island of Chios, grain,
opinion, that flower of haughty pride, the dregs of the ~reek
wine, oil, figs, carobs, barley and all sorts of other crops, while
people, so ready to despise the rest of mankind though so d~sp?cable
waiting for another ship to arrive from the Peloponnese. When
themselves, considered everything that had been done as If It had
this had come, the five of them set sail for Constantinople, with a
not happened at all. So those who supported the Union said, when
great number of stout fighting men and plenty of armour and
they associated with the Schismatics, 'Leave the matter alone, an~
equipment on board.
see whether God will remove this enemy who is attacking us, this
All the people in the islands were distressed and anxious for the
serpent who is boasting that he will swallow the city completely.
city. Some believed that it would be overcome, and captured by the
Then you will see whether we are united with the Azymites.'
barbarians; but others felt that Mehmet's father and grandfather
When they said this, the wretches did not consider the result that
had both wanted to win it, but had laboured in vain, and that this
would follow; after so many oaths had been sworn for the sake of
attempt would meet the same fate.
unity and agreement among Christians, or at any rate their Churches,
after the council which took place at Lyons in the time of the first
Palaeologus, or the council which was held at Florence in the time
CHAPTER 37
of the last emperor of the Palaeologi, and now, in terms which could
not be dismissed, at this present celebration of the divine and
January passed, and at the beginning of February the Sul.tan
sacred mysteries, in the name of the Holy Trinity; after all this, the ordered his great cannon to be transported to Constantinople. Thirty
only result would be that they would blot out all memory of them- wagons were joined together, and sixty oxen, picked for strength,
selves, and of their city, from the earth.
drew it behind them. Beside the cannon there marched two hundred
You wretches, why were your hearts filled with these empty men on the one side and on the other, pulling it along and keeping
thoughts? Behold the priests, the monks, the nuns and sacristans it straight and making sure that it did not slide from its course.
who would not partake of the Immaculate Body and Blood at the Fifty carpenters went ahead, and two hundred labourers with
hands of Greeks who were administering the sacraments according
77

them, to build wooden bridges over any irregularities in the surface
of the road. It took the months of February and March to bring
it to a point five thousand paces from the city.
Meanwhile Karaja Bey had been sent with a force to attack the
fortified towns of Pontus, namely Mesembria, Anchialus, Byzus and
the rest, and to annex them. He also captured the fortress of Saint
Stephen near Selymbria after a struggle, and put all those inside it
to death. The rest of the fortresses and the soldiers in them capitu-
lated. Those who surrendered escaped unharmed, while those who
resisted were beheaded. Selymbria itself, however, continued to put
up a fierce resistance.
After the equipment had been brought up to the position where
they had been ordered to place it, the task of guarding it was given
to Karaja Bey. He also began overrunning the neighbourhood of
Constantinople with his troops, and preventing the Greeks from
going beyond the city gates. Three detachments of his troops from
Mysia and Paphlagonia had also spent the whole winter keeping
watch on the city, to prevent the Greeks from coming out and
attacking the Turks. The forces arrayed against them had now
reached a considerable size, and the Greeks could not make sorties.
But by sea they made expeditions with their biremes and triremes
as far as Cyzicus, ravaging the Turkish seaboard and taking many
prisoners, some of whom they put to death, while others were taken
to Constantinople and sold.
While they were engaged in these preliminary skirmishes, spring
came, and the days of the Lenten fast began to be numbered. The
discord in the Church did not decrease, and in addition an unusual
kind of dispute might have been observed among those who were
entrusted with hearing confessions. Christians who came to them
to confess their sins found themselves being asked if they had
communicated together with those who had been excommunicated,
or heard Mass said by any Unionist priest. This attracted a heavy
penalty and a severe penance, and those who had duly submitted
~o their penance, and were considered worthy once more to receive
In communion the Body and Blood of our Lord were forbidden to
appro.ach Unionist priests under the threat of' punishment. Such
me~, It was declared, were not true priests at all, and the sacraments
which they offered were not genuine. If the others were called to a
---=- -~=-=--,=- 1
burial or a funeral service, and a Unionist priest was present, at once
they would cast off their vestments and make their escape, as if
from a fire.
The Great Church was held by them to be the home of devils and
a place of pagan sacrifice. No tapers burned there; the lanterns held
no oil. All was darkness, and no one was willing to dispel it. The holy
shrine appeared to be deserted, as if symbolising the desolation
which would soon overtake its former population as a punishment
for their iniquities. Meanwhile Gennadius continued to issue
admonitions from his cell, and to call down curses on those who
favoured the Union.
At a later time, I happened to meet a lady of noble birth who had
been taken prisoner when the city fell. She told me, that on the Holy
Wednesday after Easter she was in labour, and sending for her
spiritual adviser, Jacob by name, she made her confession. He then
urged her to take communion. She asked the old man if there was
anything to prevent her from receiving it at the hands of the priest
who served in her household chapel. This priest had joined the
Unionists on one occasion only, in the Great Church on the twelfth
of December, and even then he had not fully participated in the
joint Mass; he had been left out of the ceremony, with others who
were late in arriving, and had done nothing but stand in the church,
wearing his priestly robes.
The lady's confessor replied to her question, 'It is permissible,
and God will allow you to do this. The man is still a priest and a
minister of the Church. You may take communion from him as
safely as from anyone else.' She, however, frightened by such an
uncompromising defence of the old man (for she was on the side of
the Schismatics), sent for another confessor named Neophytus, and
told him of this answer to her problem. This Neophytus felt free to
speak boldly, since he was a confessor to the Palace and the families
of the great, and he forbade her, saying, 'It is not allowed. If you
were to take communion from his hands, it would be only bread
and wine that you would be eating.'
o Christ my King, how great is Thy forbeara~ce! What blind~ess,
what ignorance! If the priest had been a Latin. your folly might
have been thought reasonable, even if irrational; for then he would
have offered prayers to God in the Latin tongue, the bread would
79
have been unleavened and the water cold, and other charges might
have been made which an Orthodox Christian would not dare to
mention, nor could he even whisper them in relation to such a
celebration of the Holy Mysteries without deserving to be stoned.
But what fault can you find with them when they are performed in
your own tongue, and with the prayers which you and the rest of the
Eastern priests use? 0 vain Pharisee, what is left for you to say,
except to claim that you are pure and free from defilement, and set
apart from other Christians? Perhaps, however, I could say with
greater truth, that you are the one who has really excommunicated
himself.
So this noblewoman, hesitating between the two different com-
mands, was unable to reach any decision, and did not take communi-
on on that day. The same night, she gave birth to a child without
having received absolution. And if she had died after this, her spirit
would not have been marked with the sign of the Holy Ghost, and
Neophytus, and the evil spirit which dwelt in him, would have been
guilty of this.
Now let us return to the main stream of our narrative, and see how
the raging flood will overwhelm and swallow up the Ark which had,
as it were, banished its helmsman Noah, and looked askance at the
holy doves of peace, considering them unholy if they came from the
hands of the impure. At the beginning of March the Sultan sent
messengers and heralds to every governor in his empire, commanding
each one to come with an army to attack the city. The armies which
were registered as due or tributary to him came together from all
directions; and who could count the infinite number of those who
joined without being conscripted? All who heard the news came
running to join in the attack, even those so young that they could
barely walk, and those who could hardly move from age. Meanwhile,
the inhabitants of the city prayed to God that the attack should not
come during Holy Week, because they had heard that the Sultan
himself was already riding in their direction.
On the Friday of the week after Easter this Nebuchadnezear
arrived before the gates of Jerusalem, and pitched his tents in front
of the Charisius Gate behind the hill there. His whole army extended
from the Xyloporta, which is near the palace, to the Golden Gate to
the south, and from the Xyloporta to Cosmedium, and from the
80
southern end as far as the vineyards extended on the level; these
had been previously laid waste by Karaja Bey. On the sixth of
April, on the Friday after Easter, they dug a trench around the
city.
Ever since the day when the Union had taken place in the Great
Church, the citizens of Constantinople had avoided it, as if it were a
Jewish synagogue. There were no offerings, no sacrifices, no incense.
If one of the priests celebrated Mass on a feast day, the worshippers
would stay until the moment of the Offering, and then all departed,
men and women, nuns and priests alike. In fact, they treated the
ChUTChas if it were a heathen altar, and the sacrifice as if it were
made to Apollo.
For this reason Isaiah says (XXIX, 14-15 and XXX, I), speaking
as if from the mouth of God, 'Therefore behold, I will proceed to do
a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and
a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the
understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto them
that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works
are in the dark, and they say, "Who seeth us?" and "Who knoweth
us ?'"
'Woe to the rebellious children,' saith the Lord, 'that take counsel,
but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit,
that they may add to sin.'
Meanwhile, Gennadius continued to preach and write tracts
against the Unionists, weaving syllogisms and contrary propositions
against the most wise and blessed Thomas Aquinas and his writings,
and against Demetrius Cydones, proving them to be heretics. As his
accomplice and ally, he had the first of the Emperor's ministers, the
Megadux. When the Greeks saw the enormous Turkish army,
Notaras went so far as to say, speaking more against his own city
than against the Latins, that he would rather see a Turkish turban
reigning triumphant over the city than a cardinal's hat. The
citizens in their despair had been saying, 'If only Constantinople had
been handed over to the Latins, who at least offer prayers to Christ
and the Virgin, and we had not been cast out, to fall into the hands
of the heathen!' It was on this occasion that the Megadux made this
remark. But against him there are the words of Isaiah, as they were
spoken to Hezekiah (XXXIX, 5-7): 'Hear the word of the Lord of
81

Hosts. Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and
that which thy fathers have laid up in store against this day, shall
be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And of
thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall
they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king
of Babylon.'
CHAPTER 38
The Emperor Constantine was now making plans for defence with
the Genoese of Galata, as much as lay within their power; they were
convinced that if Constantinople fell, their own town would also be
laid waste. They had previously written to Genoa asking for aid,
and had received the reply that a ship was already on its way with
five hundred soldiers to help them. The Venetian merchant galleys
were at this time returning from Lake Maeotis, the river Tanais and
Trebizond, and the Emperor and the Venetians resident in the city
did not allow them to sail on to Venice, but kept them to help the
city.
There was also a man called Giovanni Longo of the Giustiniani
family, who came from Venice with two large ships and a great deal
of fine military equipment, bringing with him a force of Genoese
soldiers, all young, well-armed and eager for battle. This Giovanni
was a most capable person, and well versed in military strategy and
battle tactics. The Emperor welcomed him, made him an allowance
for the upkeep of his soldiers, showed him favours and honoured him
with the rank of Commander-in-Chief. Giustiniani then undertook
the defence of that section of the walls nearest to the palace, since
it had been noted that the Sultan was placing his cannon at that
point, together with the rest of his siege equipment. The Emperor
also issued a gold bull giving Giustiniani the island of Lemnos, if
Mehmet was driven back, and forced to retreat without succeeding
in his vaunted aim of winning the city. After that, Giustiniani's
Latin troops fought like heroes, sallying forth from the gates, and
standing on the outer fortifications, and sometimes descending into
the foss; and upon occasion the defenders even sprang out of the foss,
and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Turks, who some-
times escaped and were sometimes captured.
82
I
But this brought no advantage to the Greeks. It may be said
without exaggeration that there was only one of them for every
twenty Turks. 'What good could it do them, if they made sorties in
this way? So a decision was reached, that they should fight only
from the ramparts of the walls, using cross-bows or long bows, or
with guns which fired, with the help of powder, five or ten bullets
at a time, each about the size of a Pontic walnut, and having a great
power of penetration. If one of these hit an armed man, it would go
right through his shield and his body, and go on to hit anyone else
who happened to be in the way, and even a third, until the force
of the powder had diminished; so one shot might hit two or three
men. The Turks too learned of this, and in the end made even greater
use of them.
April was by now two thirds over, and there had been nothing
more than minor skirmishes. Meanwhile the Sultan's forces were in-
creasing, with conscripted men and volunteers, to an extent im-
possible to estimate accurately. Those who went to reconnoitre said
that there were more than four hundred thousand of them.
Before Mehmet himself arrived, and while he was still at Adrian-
ople. the Genoesc of Galata sent an embassy to him, pointing out
that their friendship towards him was unimpaired, and offering to
renew their earlier treaties with him. His reply was, that he was
their friend, and that nothing would induce him to depart from his
affection towards them, provided that they were not found to be
offering help to the city; and they promised that they would not do
this. One of the two was deceived, as the outcome of events made
clear; the Gencese thought that since the city had been besieged in
the past by Mehmet's forbears, who had had to retreat without any
success, it might be expected that the same would happen on this
occasion, and in order to show their good will towards the citizens
of Constantinople, they sent a number of their own men to bring
help. They thought that the Sultan's protestation of friendship was
not to be relied upon, and secretly did what might have been expect-
ed of them, and sent aid to the city. Meanwhile. Mehmet was saying
to himself, 'I shall leave the little snake in peace until I have slain
the dragon; then one light blow will put an end to this one too;' and
this is in fact what happened.
At this time the Turkish fleet arrived, consisting of triremes,
biremes and light vessels to the number of three hundred. The
harbour of the city was closed off by a chain, which stretched from
the gate called Horaia across to Galata. The Greek ships lay in line
within it, keeping watch over the chain and the harbour.
The five ships already mentioned, one belonging to the Emperor
and carrying grain from the Peloponnese, the other four hired from
Genoa by the Emperor, had been held at Chios all through March
because of various matters which needed attention. When April
came, and they wanted to set sail, the north wind prevented them.
Because of this, the defenders of Constantinople and the members of
the expedition were both full of despondency; but the north wind
dropped and a southerly began to blow, and they left the harbour of
Chios. The wind was light on the first day, but increased in strength
on the second, and the ships were carried onward at a good speed.
Their arrival was eagerly awaited in the city, even thought it might
not bring them any advantage.
When the convoy came in sight the Sultan like a raging dragon
rushed to his fleet, giving orders that one of two things must happen:
the ships must either be captured, or prevented from entering the
harbour. The Turkish fleet left its moorings and took up its station
a little way off the harbour which is outside the Golden Gate,
waiting for the convoy. The ships meanwhile kept a straight course
with the intention of reaching the acropolis of Megademetrius, from
which they could enter the Golden Horn, and at this point the enemy
fleet attacked them. The sea had now become calm, because the
wind had dropped, and a strange sight could be seen. The three
hundred vessels of the Turkish fleet, and the five large ships of the
convoy, covered the sea completely, so that it might have been dry
land; and missiles flew so thickly that the oars had difficulty in
finding the water. Those who were on board a ship were like winged
eagles above, sending their arrows down on those below, and firing
their guns, so that the Turks lost a large number of men.
The Sultan's vanity led him to ride headlong into the sea on his
horse, as if he wished to cleave the waves, and sail on horseback to his
fleet, so angry was he with his sailors; his soldiers on land, too, felt
as he did. Then the wind blew, the sails sprang to life, and they
drove through the enemy vessels, leaving them behind, and headed
in the direction of the city. If the whole of the Turkish fleet had
been in front of them, these five ships could then have sunk all three
hundred of them. Mehmet, however, who had no knowledge of naval
warfare, was reduced to shouting orders. But his admiral paid no
attention, since it was impossible to obey his commands.
The Sultan then, in a rage, ordered his fleet to withdraw to the
Double Columns, and the admiral to be brought before him. This
was done, and he was hurled to the ground and held stretched out
by four men, while his master with his own hands beat him, giving
him a hundred strokes with a rod, the head of which contained five
hundred pounds weight * of pure gold. Mehmet himself had had it
made to play with, as an experiment. The man was called Palda, of
Bulgarian descent, and was the son of a Bulgarian chief. He had
previously been a slave, had abjured his country's religion, and had
been in service in the household of Mehmet's father. Four years
earlier he had led an expedition to Lesbos, and had taken a great
number of prisoners, but had incurred the ill-will of those who had
taken part in this act of piracy, because he kept their share of the
booty from them. So when they saw him being beaten and lying
beneath their tyrant's displeasure, one of the Azabs took a stone
and crashed it down on the side of his head, striking out one of his
eyes.
The convoy had now reached the harbour, and the defenders
loosened the chain to let them inside. Mehmet saw that there were
now eight large ships and twenty smaller ones there, counting the
Imperial galleys and those of the Venetians, with a great number of
other smaller craft , and realised that he could not win the harbour
in this way. He therefore devised the following daring scheme, an
excellent one as it turned out. He ordered a way to be constructed
over the ravines behind Pera, from a point below the Double
Columns on the east , to the other side of Galata, the part near the
beach of the Golden Horn opposite Cosmedium.
After making the road as level as possible, he put his biremes on
rollers, unfurled their sails, and ordered them to be hauled overland
from the Bosphorus to the Golden Horn. His commands were obeyed;
• The Greek text gives 'five hundred pounds', which is impossible, bu t
hard to correct. If it is not simply an outrageous hyperbole, we may choose
between five pounds and five hundred drachmas, which would weigh between
four and five pounds.
8S
they were dragged along, with a lookout in the bows and another
man sitting at the tiller, while a third took charge of the sails and
shook them. Drums and trumpets sounded, striking up a nautical
alr.
Sailing in this way with a fair wind over the ravines and streams
on dry land, they eventually reached the water again. Eighty
biremes altogether were transported in this way, the rest remaining
where they were. Who has ever seen such a thing before, or even
heard of it? Xerxes indeed made a bridge over the sea, and his
army passed over it as if on dry land. But this new Alexander,
surely, it is to be hoped, the last of his kind, made the land into an
ocean, and drew his ships over the peaks of the mountains as if they
were the crests of the waves. And in this he surpassed Xerxes, who
crossed the Hellespont but had to turn back after being defeated
by the Athenians: Mehmet crossed the land as if it were the sea,
and then overwhelmed the Greeks, the ornament of the world, and
captured the Queen of Cities.
Such were the events on sea; on land, the Turks brought their
great cannon to a position where it faced the wall, near the Gate of
Saint Romanus. Its maker had two smaller cannon stationed by the
side of it, firing shot of fifty pounds weight, and he used them to
check his aim. When he wanted to fire the great cannon, he first
marked the target and fired a smaller one at it then aimed skilfully
and hurled a stone from the great cannon at the same place. When
the first shot struck, and the defenders heard the crash of it, they
were struck dumb, and began to raise the cry, 'Lord have mercy
upon us!' At this time the image of the Holy Virgin was in the
palace, this being Holy Week, and from then onwards, prayers were
made to it frequently in the monastery of Chora, where the ikon
stayed until the capture of the city. Then was fulfilled the prophecy
of God, made through Jeremiah, which said (VI, 20-23), 'To what
purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba and the sweet cane
from a fa: ~ountry? Your burnt offerings are 'not acceptable, nor
your sacrifices sweet unto me. Therefore thus saith the Lord,
"Beh 0_ld .a people cometh from the north country
'. anda great natIOn
shUb·
a '
e raised from the sides of the earth. They shall lay hold on
bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy: their voice
roareth like the sea', an d th ey nid e upon horses, set III
"5
array a men
86
for war against thee, 0 Daughter of Zion.'''
How, you may ask, did the craftsman who design cd this cannon
which did so much damage prevent it from bursting? We have seen
how the cannon were fired; and after the firing, if care had not been
taken to cover this one with thick mats of felt, it would have shatte-
redt at once like glass. Even after these precautions, it would still
have split after two, or at the most three firings, as air found its
way into the innermost depths of the metal. What then did its maker
do? When the shot had been fired, and the cannon was still sizzling
with the heat of the sulphur and saltpetre, he quickly drenched it
with oil, and the parts of it into which air had entered were filled
with this; so the cold had no effect, being moderated by the warmth
of the oil, and it withstood the explosions easily, until it had played
its part in the destruction of the city. Even after this, it survived,
and helped the Sultan to carry out his plans of conquest.
As the shot from the cannon shook and battered at the walls, they
were intending to keep all aiming at the same spot, when an ambas-
sador of John Hunyadi who was there laughed at this way of shoot-
ing. 'If you really want to knock the walls down easily,' he said, 'aim
to hit another part of the wall five or six fathoms away from your
first shot, and then fire at this in the same way. When you have hit
the two outer points fair and square, then fire a third shot so that
the three points of impact form a triangle, and then you will see a
wall like this one come tumbling down.' This was clearly good
advice, and the designer of the cannon followed it successfully.
What, you may ask, made the Hungarian give the Sultan such
advice? I shall tell you. In this year the Holy Roman Emperor,
who had been crowned by Pope Nicholas, had removed Hunyadi
from his position as regent of Hungary, and installed Ladislas as
king. * Hunyadi had made a treaty of peace with Mehmet for a
period of three years, eighteen months of which had now elapsed.
He proceeded to send this message to the Sultan: 'I have handed
over the kingdom to my master, and henceforward I can no longer
keep the oath which I have sworn. Here is the treaty which you
• This sentence is translated from the Italian version of Ducas, which in
this case appears to have preserved the correct text. Surviving Greek manu-
scripts contain a confused sentence in which the king of Hungary becomes
Emperor of the Romans.
gave me; give me back the copy which you have, and you may act
as you wish towards the king of Hungary.' It was for this reason that
the ambassador had come.
As to the advice which he, being a Christian, should not have
given, I shall write what I have heard. It is said that after he had
been defeated for the third time (at Kossovo), as has already been
related, Hunyadi fled. As he drew near to home in a state of distress
after his failure, he fell in with a prophet, and told him about the
disaster, bemoaning the fact that fortune had left the Greeks, and
was smiling on the infidels. The old man answered, 'My son, you
should know that until destruction has visited the Greeks, fortune
will never smile upon the Christians. The city must be destroyed by
the Turks, and only then will the misfortunes of the Christians come
to an end.' With this ill-omened prophecy sounding in his ears,
Hunyadi's messenger was eager to see the city fall without delay,
and it was for this reason that he gave advice on the best manner in
which to bring down the wall.
Two sections of wall with a tower in the middle collapsed, and the
tower by the gate of Saint Romanus was also left lying on the
ground, so that besiegers and besieged were left looking at one an-
other. But Glustiniani and all his men fought bravely, together with
the soldiers from the palace, and a large group of armed men from
Galata, who had come to show their friendship towards the defend-
ers. These men used to leave their town and go to the Turkish camp,
without being afraid, and supplied the Sultan with the necessities
which he required, oil for his cannon, and anything else which
seemed to be needed. But they would secretly cross over by night
to the Greeks, and fight on their side all the next day; then on the
following night, others would change places with them in the city,
and they would appear in their homes and in the Turkish camp, to
deceive the enemy.
The Venetians who occupied the sector from the Imperial Gate to
Cynegum also fought with the Greeks against the Turks. The
Megadux with five hundred armed men had a general roving
commission about the city, encouraging the defenders wherever he
appeared, inspecting the guards and looking for any soldiers who
had not been assigned to a post. This routine was followed every
day, although the demon of destruction, our enemy, had not yet
88
begUl.l to attac~ with all his strength, because he was waiting for
the time established by the inquiries of his soothsayers.
As the Emperor surveyed the gap in the fortifications, he felt
certain that the ruins were an evil omen of what was to happen to
the city and to himself. Since the time of the first emperor, the most
holy. Constantine, during so many wars against the Scythians, the
Persians and the Arabs, * not a single stone of even a pound's
weight had ever fallen from the walls. But now that he saw the
quality and the enormous size of their army, the power of their fleet
and the way now lying open before them, his heart sank.
He sent an embassy to the Sultan, begging him to fix a yearly
tribute, even if it was greater than they could pay, and make any
other demands he liked, if only he would withdraw, and leave them
to enjoy the blessings of peace. Mehmet's answer was as follows: 'It
is impossible for me to withdraw. Either I shall capture the city, or
the city shall capture me, alive or dead. If you are willing to leave
it, I shall allow you to live at peace in the Peloponnese, and I shall
give your brothers other provinces to rule over, and we shall be
friends. But if you prevent me from entering in peace, and I have
to fight my way in, I shall put you and all your nobles to the sword,
and I shall give all the rest of your people to my soldiers, to be their
slaves; and for myself I shall keep only the city.'
The Emperor could not even consider these suggestions. It was
quite impossible to take the city which belonged to the Greeks and
give it to the Turks. If this were done, where could they go? What
place could the Greeks dwell in, what Christian city, where they
would not be spat upon, and held in loathing and contempt?
Indeed, even the Turks and the Hebrews would scorn them.
At this time Giustiniani was considering a night attack, to burn
the ships of the enemy. A trireme was prepared, manned by a picked
crew of Italians, and loaded with equipment in readiness for the
operation. But the Genoese of Galata heard what was happening
and informed the Turks, who kept watch all night with their guns
trained in readiness to meet the attack of the Latins. They, not
knowing that the infidels had had news from Galata of their plans,
• As in the case noted earlier, it is possible that the correct reading is
'Avars', not 'Arabs'.
89
got under way about midnight, and their trireme silently approached
the Turkish vessels. But the Turks had been keeping watch all
night, and fired their cannon, and a shot went off in the direction of
the trireme. It struck it with a great crash, and sent it to the bottom
with its crew. This caused much fear and anguish among the Latins,
and Oiustiniani himself was greatly disheartened; the men who had
been drowned, more than a hundred and fifty of them, were all from
his own ship, active and warlike lads.
The Turks were filled with optimism by this turn of events, and
all gave a great shout of victory, those on board their ships joining
the others in their camp on land, and raising such a clamour to the
skies that the ground was shaking over the whole of the area, and
those in the city and in Galata groaned with fear. When daylight
came, the Turks continued fighting, full of joy and high spirits, and
as a sign of the confidence which the destruction of the galley had
inspired in them, they loaded their cannon with another large shot.
There was a ship anchored near the entrance of the harbour by
Galata, carrying a cargo of merchandise of all kinds. It was prepar-
ing to set sail for Italy, and both the ship and its cargo belonged to
the merchants of Galata. The Turks fired their cannon, and the shot
went right through the middle of the ship, and in a moment the
shattered hull had sunk to the bottom. This present was a recompen-
se for the pure and unalloyed friendship which the people of Galata
so clearly felt towards the Turks.
The very same day an embassy went to the Turkish officers in
charge, loudly complaining, 'We are your friends; we have shown
our friendship by telling you that the trireme was going to be sent
against you, and if you had not had this information from us, all
your labour in dragging your eighty vessels overland into the har-
bour would have gone for nothing, and they would have been burned
to ashes by the Greeks. Now you have repaid us handsomely for our
efforts on your behalf by causing us to suffer this great loss l'
The Turkish viziers replied, 'Vie did not know that the ship was
yours, and it was only because we were sure that the opposite was
the case, that we acted as we did. Have confidence, and wish us
success in our attempts to capture the city. In fact, the time for
this is drawing near; and then we shall make up this, and any other
loss which we have caused you.' After hearing these honeyed \, -rds
9°
the emb.ass~ departed. The poor wretches did not realise that they
and their city would soon be treated in exactly the same way as
Constan tinople.
The Sultan now prepared a bridge stretching from Galata in the
direction of Cynegum. It was constructed as follows. By his orders
m.ore than a thousand wine casks were collected and bound together
With cords to give a width equal to the length of two casks, making
one row, and then another row like the first. Then the two rows were
joined and fitted together and beams nailed from one to the other
and planking laid on top. The bridge was eventually made wide
enough for five footsoldiers to cross it side by side without difficulty.
CHAPTER 39
Now that everything had been prepared to his satisfaction, Mehmet
s:nt a messenger into the city tothe Emperor, saying, 'Our prepara-
tions for battle are now complete. The time has come to do what we
have been eager to do for so long, and we leave it to God to decide
whether we shall succeeded in our aim. What have you to say now?
Are you willing to leave the city with your ministers, who may take
their property with them, and leave the citizens, who are to incur
no punishment from either of us? Or would you rather maintain
your resistance, and lose both your life and your possessions, you
and those about you, while your people are taken prisoner and
scattered over all the earth?'
The Emperor, together with his ministers, answered as follows,
'If you are willing to live together with us in peace as your fathers
did, to God be the praise. Your ancestors looked upon mine as their
parents, and paid them equal honour, and treated this city as if it
were their own home. In times of unrest, all those who came within
its walls were saved, and none who stood against it survived for
long.'
'Keep the fortresses and the land that you have unjustly snatched
from us, as if you deserved them. Fix a yearly tribute, as much as
we can pay you, and go in peace. How can you be sure, although
you are so confident of gaining a victory, that you yourself will not
be vanquished? The city is not mine to give you, nor has anyone
who lives in it the right to do so. We are all determined to choose
death rather than surrender, and we shall not hesitate to give our
lives in this cause.'
When Mehmet heard this message, he gave up all hope of tricking
the city into accepting terms of peace. He ordered an announcement
to be made throughout his army, fixing a day for a general assault,
and swore that he asked for nothing for himself, except the buildings
and walls of the city; all the rest, the booty and the captives, would
be theirs.
This announcement was received with great joy. When evening
came, he sent heralds around the whole of the camp, and commanded
that in every tent bright lights should burn, and that fires should be
kindled; and when the lights were lit, they were all to shout and
raise the foul cries which show their heathen nature. The result was
a scene which was most remarkable to see, or even to hear of. The
light of their fires, covering land and sea, shone more brightly than
the sun through the city and over Galata, and on the ships there and
the vessels beyond Scutari. The surface of the water glittered as if
lit by the flash of a thunderbolt. Oh, if only it had been a thunder-
bolt, and if it could not only have shed light upon the city, but
consumed it with its flames as well!
The Greeks at first thought that a fire had broken out in the camp
of the besiegers, and they ran to the gap in the wall. But when they
saw them dancing and heard their merry shouting, they realised
what was about to happen, and began sorrowfully to pray to God,
saying, 'Lord, spare us from Thy just anger, and redeem us from the
hands of the enemy.' The people of the city were terrified almost to
death by the very sight and sound of what was happening, gasping
for fear and scarcely able to breathe. But Giustiniani continued to
exert himself all through the night, ordering all the brushwood in
t~e city to be brought to plug the gap in the wall, and having another
ditch dug on the inside to protect the part where it had been de-
stroyed '. The Greeks now saw that the way was clear for the enemy
to pass 111 and out, while they themselves could not go outside the
gate and fight them in the outer enclosure, because the collapse of
the walls had left them unprotected.
There were some of the older men who knew of a side entrance
which for many years had been securely blocked up, giving access
92
below ground level to the lower part of the palace. They told the
Emperor of this, and by his command it was opened up. Then,
protected by the walls which were still sound, they made a sortie
from this, and fought the Turks in the outer enclosure; the name of
this hidden gate had originally been the Kerkoporta.
The Sultan began to engage his forces in this general assault on
the Sunday; and when evening came, he continued to press the'
Greeks throughout the night. This Sunday was the day of All Saints,
the twenty-seventh of May. When dawn came the next day, Mehmet
continued his attack with less vigour until the ninth hour, and after
this he moved his army from the palace to the Chryse Gate, and his
eighty ships from the Xyloporta to the Plataia Gate, and the rest
of his fleet which had been achored at the Double Columns was
spread in a curve from the Horaia Gate, past the acropolis of
Megademetrius and the Little Gate by the Monastery of the
Hodegetria: and going down from the Great Palace past the har-
bour, they surrounded the city as far as Vlanga. Each of them was
fitted out with a ladder the height of the walls, and every other sort
of equipment necessary for the assault.
When the sun had set, their battle cries sounded, and at the
second hour of the night the Sultan himself rode out, with a great
array of troops. He chose to fight in front of the breach in the walls,
with a contingent of brave young warriors, chosen from among his
own faithful slaves the janissaries, and there were more than ten
thousand of them, fighting with the courage of lions on his behalf.
Behind them and on each side there 'were more than a hundred
thousand mounted men; by the lower part of the city, as far as the
Chryse Gate, more than a thousand others, and from the point
where the Sultan was to the end of the palace sector, another fifty
thousand; while the number on the ships and on the bridge was
beyond computation.
The defenders too had been assigned to different areas. The
Emperor and Giustiniani were by the breach in the walls, in the
enclosure outside the inner wall, having about three thousand
Greeks and Latins with them, and the Megadux was in the palace
with five hundred men. On the sea walls and the ramparts from the
Xyloporta to the Horaia Gate were more than five hundred archers
and crossbowmen.ln every tower along the circuit from the Horaia
93
I
Gate to the Chryse Gate there was stationed ono archer, crossbow-
man or slinger. They spent the whole night keeping watch, without
daring to sleep, while the Turks and their leader took up their
positions beneath the walls, carrying an enormous number of ladders
which they had made. The Sultan rode behind his troops, driving
his archers on towards the walls with an iron staff, using flattery
at one moment and threats at another, while the defenders put up
as stout a resistance as they were able. Meanwhile the brave
Oiustiniani stayed there with his men and the Emperor, who had
now put on his armour, and they fought back strongly with the
forces at their disposal.
And now, as fortune was beginning to smile upon the Turks, God
snatched from the middle of the ranks of the Greeks that mighty
man of war, that leader of heroic stature. He was struck by a shot
in the back of the arm above the elbow, while it was still dark. His
iron cuirass, too, was pierced, which had seemed as if it was made
like the armour of Achilles, and he was unable to keep his place
because of the shock. He cried to the Emperor, 'Stand fast, while I
go to my ship, and when I have found a surgeon to attend to me,
I shall soon return.' This was the hour when the words of Jeremiah
(XXI, 3~7)were to be fulfilled, when he said to the Jews, 'Thus
shall ye say to Zedekiah; thus saith the Lord God of Israel. Behold,
I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, where-
with ye fight against the King of Babylon and against the Chaldae-
ans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them
into the midst of this city. And I myself will fight against you with
an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in
fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite the inhabitants of this
city, man and beast; they shall die of a great pestilence and I shall
not spare them, neither shall I have pity on them.'
. T~e E~per~r saw Oiustiniani withdrawing. and he and those
fIg~tmg WIth him were frightened, since they were already hard put
to It to hold their own. The Turks had been working their way
gr~dually towards the walls, protecting themselves with their
shlel~s and p~tting scaling ladders in place. But they had gained
nothing by this, because the slingers from above kept them off with
ston~s, and they were thwarted in their attempt. The Emperor and
all hIS Greek troops were concentrated at that point against the
94
enemy, and all their energies were directed towards one purpose,
to prevent the Turks from entering through the breach in the wall.
But God, who willed it otherwise, brought the enemy in by another
way without their knowledge. The Turks saw that the gate which
has been previously mentioned was left open,and about fifty of the
Sultan's janissaries leaped inside it, and then made their way up to
the top of the walls, breathing fire and slaying all those who
opposed them, until they dashed against the slingers on the ram-
parts. What happened then was a sight to make one shudder. Some
of the Greeks and Latins who were preventing the enemy from
bringing their ladders up to the walls were cut down by the janis-
saries. Others covered their eyes and hurled themselves from the
walls, and life did not remain long in their broken bodies. Then the
Turks were able to set up their scaling ladders without opposition,
and swarm up them like eagles in flight.
The Greeks who were with the Emperor did not know what had
happened, because the point at which the Turks had entered was
some distance away, and because their attention was fully engaged
by their immediate opponents. There were twenty Turkish soldiers
for every Greek, and each of the defenders was far less likely to be
trained in arms than any of his adversaries. It was in this direction,
therefore, that all their thoughts and attention were turned. Then
suddenly they noticed missiles falling on them from above and
killing some of them, and looking up, they saw the Turks on the
wall.
Their immediate reaction was to turn and flee into the city. But
they could not all pass through the gate called Charisius, being in a
tightly-packed throng, and those who were stronger succeeded in
making their way forward by trampling over their weaker brethren.
The Sultan's soldiers saw that the Greeks were retreating, and with
one universal shout they streamed forward, trampling to death those
who were unfortunate enough to be in their way. When they came
to the gate, they could not pass through it, because it was blocked
by the bodies of those who had fallen or fainted there. So most of
them entered the city by clambering over the ruined walls, cutting
down any who stood in their way.
The Emperor now gave up all hope. He stood holding his sword
and shield, and cried hopefully, 'Is there no Christian who will cut
95

off my head?' But all had deserted him. One of the Turks gave him
a blow in the face. He struck back, and received another blow. Then
another Turk behind gave him a mortal wound, and he fell to the
ground. They did not know that he was the Emperor, but thought
him a common soldier, so after killing him, they left him.
The Turks lost only three men at this moment of entering the
city. It was the first hour of the day, and the sun had not yet risen.
When they had entered, and spread out in various directions
from the Charisius Gate to the palace, they put to death anyone
they saw, even fugitives. They killed about two thousand soldiers in
their fear, because they had always calculated that there would be
at least fifty thousand fighting men in the city. So they killed these
two thousand men; but if they had known that the whole army of
the defenders had never exceeded eight thousand, they would never
have put even a single one to death. They are a people always
greedy for money, and even if one of them had the murderer of his
father in his hands, he would sell him for gold; much more readily,
then, would they sell one who had done them no harm, but only the
reverse. When the war was over, I met many of them who said to
me, 'We were frightened by those whom we had previously met, and
so we killed those whom we saw first. But if we had known how
few men there were in the city, we would have sold them all like
cattle.'
The Azabs of the Sultan's household, who are also called janissa-
ries, ran either to the palace or to the monastery of the Great
Prodromos, the one called Petra, and the monastery of Chora, in
which the ikon of the most holy Mother of God was kept at that
time. What tongue, what lips now can tell of the things which that
image suffered for your sins? These infidels were so eager to rush
on after further booty, that one of the heathen took an axe to it,
and with further assistance from his filthy hands, broke it into four
pieces. Each of them then cast lots, and took his own piece with any
ornament which was attached to it, and on they went, after snatch-
ing any other valuables belonging to the monastery which they
could find. Then they broke into the house of the Protostrator, and
opened the treasures which had been stored away so long in ancient
times. They woke the young women of noble birth from their
slumber; for the twenty-ninth of May was now beginning, and early
,
morning sleep was still resting sweetly on the eyes of young men and
maidens as they enjoyed their rest to the full, just as they had done
with confidence the day before and the day before that.
A dense crowd of Turks was now pressing onward at a run, which
brought them to the Great Church, and there on both sides it was
possible to see a stratagem being put into operation. * Early that
morning, just as dawn was breaking, and the defenders were fleeing
after the Turks had broken in, some of the Greeks were far ahead of
the rest, striving to reach their homes and protect their wives and
children. As they were passing through the area by the Forum of the
Bull, and approaching the pillar of the Holy Cross, covered in blood,
some of the women asked them what had happened. When they
heard the dreadful news being cried aloud, 'The enemy are within
the walls of the city, and are killing the Greeks,' at first they did
not believe it, and paid no attention except to insult them for saying
what could only bring bad luck. But then along came another
soldier, and another after him, all bloodstained, and they realised
that the cup of the divine wrath was now approaching their lips.
Then all of them, men and women, monks and nuns, ran towards
the Great Church, fathers and mothers carrying their infants in
their arms, and leaving their houses to anyone who wished to enter
them. The way to the church could now be seen packed with people.
What, we may wonder, was the reason which led them all to flee
to the Great Church? Long ago they had heard from certain false
prophets that the city would fall to the Turks, and that they would
enter it with their soldiers, and that the Greeks would fall beneath
their swords until they reached the column of Constantine the Great.
After this, an angel would descend bearing a sword, and would hand
over the empire, together with this sword, to a nameless man who
would be found standing by this column, a poor and common man,
and would say to him, 'Take this sword, and avenge the people of
the Lord.' Then the Turks would be beaten back, and the Greeks
would follow them and smite them, driving them from the city,
and from the West, and from the East as far as the borders of Persia,
to a place called Monodendrion.
• Le., both Turks and Christians were heading for Hagia Sophia, for
different reasons.
97
 A number of people, believing that this was now about to happen,
began running, and advised the rest to follow them. In so doing, the
Greeks were putting into practice an idea which had occurred to
them long before. 'If we put the Column of the Cross behind us,'
they said, 'we shall escape the wrath which is coming.' This was the
reason why in their flight they went on and entered the Great
Church. In no more than an hour the huge building was full of men
and women, too many to count, on the floor, and in the galleries and
vestibules, filling every corner. The doors were closed, and they
stood there, hoping to be saved. You miserable Greeks, you wretches,
who yesterday and the day before called this church an infidel
cavern, an altar of the heathen! Not a single one of you would enter
it then, in case of pollution, because services were conducted within
by those who had embraced the Union of the Church. But now,
because of the wrath which was coming upon you, you fled to it as
if it was your only hope of salvation.
And yet, even when God's just anger was overtaking you, your
hearts were not inclined towards peace. Even in such circumstances,
if an angel had come down from heaven, making this offer to you:
'If you accept the Union, and the peaceful settlement of the Church,
I shall drive your enemies from the city' - even then, you would
not have consented. Or if you had, it would have been only a feigned
agreement; you know this in your hearts, you who only a few days
before were saying, 'Better to fall into the hands of the Turks than
into those of the Franks!'
Meanwhile the Turks ran riot, killing and taking prisoners, until
they reached the church. The first hour of the day was not yet past.
They found the doors closed, but made short work of them with
their axes, and when they had broken them down, they stepped
inside with drawn swords. When they saw the enormous number of
people packed together, each one began tying up a prisoner for
himself, since no one resisted them, or gave any better account of
himself than a sheep. Who could tell of all the nightmares that
followed? Who could describe the screams and cries of the children,
the loud weeping of their mothers or the groans of their fathers?
One Turk would look for the captive who seemed the wealthiest, a
second would prefer a pretty face among the nuns, and then a third,
more powerful, would snatch his prize from him and truss her up.
98
Curling locks, a shoulder or a breast laid bare or an outflung arm,
might all serve to attract attention to a captive, who would then be
snatched and dragged aside. A servant would be bound together
with her mistress, a master with the slave whom he had bought, an
archimandrite with his verger. Young men reared in luxury were
trussed up with maidens whom the sun had not looked upon, maidens
whom even their fathers had scarcely seen, and dragged away; and
if they tried to resist, they were driven onward with blows. Each
rapacious Turk was eager to lead his captive to a safe place, and
then return to secure a second and a third prize. The plunderers,
the avengers sent by God, worked with force and speed, and in one
hour everyone there had been tied up, the men with cords and the
women with their headcloths. Then long chains of captives could be
seen leaving the church and its shrines, being herded along like
cattle or flocks of sheep, weeping and wailing, with no one to show
pity for them.
As for the Great Church itself, how can I describe its fate, what
can I say of it? My tongue cleaves to my throat, I cannot draw
breath, my mouth is sealed. The savages began directly to break up
the sacred images, stripping them of their decorations and ornaments,
and tearing the furnishings from the Holy Table. They broke some
of the vases which held the lamps, and took the rest away; and in a
moment they had snatched up from their resting places all the
previous and sacred vessels made of gold or silver or any other
valuable material. The church was left bare and deserted, with
nothing remaining in it.
Then were fulfilled in the new Zion the words which God spoke
through the prophet Amos, saying (III, 14-15; V, 21-23; VIII, 2-6
Go o-re), 'Thus saith the Lord the God of hosts, "I shall visit the
altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall
to the ground. And I will smite the winter house with the summer
house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses
shall have an end," saith the Lord. "I hate, I despite your feast days,
and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer me
burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them.
Take thou away from me the noise of my songs; for I will not hear
the melody of thy viols." Then said the Lord unto me, "The end is
come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any
99
more. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day,"
saith the Lord God. Hear this, 0 ye that swallow up the needy,
even to make the poor of the land to fail, saying, "When will the
new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that
we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small and the shekel
great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the
poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes ?" "In that day:'
saith the Lord God, "1 will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I
will darken the earth in the clear day. And I will turn your feasts
into mourning, and all your songs into lamentations."
This dreadful day on which the city was captured happened to be
the festival and holy day on which the holy martyr Saint Theodosia
was commemorated. The whole community was represented at this
celebration, and there were many, both men and women, who had
passed the night, from evening onwards, at the tomb of the saint.
When dawn came, they were proceeding to make their act of wor-
ship, men and women together, carrying tapers and incense, and
arrayed in their finest clothing and ornaments, when most of them
were trapped by the Turks. How could they have guessed that the
Divine wrath would sweep over so much of the city so quickly?
Only those who saw it can fully understand what happened over
such a large area.
The threat to the city had spread like a fire, as we have said,
from the Charisius Gate, the Gate of Saint Romanus and the palace.
But the resistance offered by the ships and the harbour fortifications
prevented the Turks from raising their ladders to the walls there.
Here the Greeks were the stronger, and kept on repelling them with
stones a~d other weapons until the third hour of the day. But then
~he.rearnve~ a number of the soldiers who had been gathering booty
inside the CIty, and when they saw the Greeks still fighting off the
enemy outside, they raised as loud a cry as they were able, and
rushed to attack the walls from within. When the Greeks saw that
the Turks were inside the city, they cried out in grief, 'Alas! Alas!'
and threw the:nselves from the walls; it was clear that they had no
chance of putting up any further resistance there. When the Turkish
~ailors saw their fellows appearing inside the city, they realised that
It ha~ b:en captured, and quickly raised their ladders and put some
men inside. Then the gates were broken down and they all rushed in.
100
The Megadux saw the Turks coming from the place where he was
stationed, overlooking the Royal Gate, and fled to his house accom-
panied by a few others. They lost contact with one another, and
some were captured before they could reach the house. Others who
reached home found their children, wives and property gone, and
before they even had a chance to show their grief by weeping, they
found their hands were bound behind them. Others came to their
houses just as their wives and children were actually being dragged
away and tied up, and they were bound too, together with their
nearest and dearest. As for the older men and women who were
unable, through age or sickness, to leave their homes, they were
slain without mercy; and new-born babes were thrown into the
streets. The Megadux found his daughters and his sons, and his wife
who was sick, shut up in the upper part of the house and resisting the
attempts of the Turks to enter. He and those who had followed him
were taken prisoner, but the Sultan sent a detachment to take
charge of him and of his family, giving the Turks who had surround-
ed the house a sum of money large enough for it to be clear that he
had bought them, and had not broken his promise to his soldiers.
Then Notaras and all his family were kept under guard.
Every man in the Turkish army now rushed into the city, even
the cooks and those who tended the animals, and began to plunder
it and carry away their booty. Giovanni Giustiniani, whom ,:e left
going on board his ship, to seek attention for the wound WhICh~e
had received, had no sooner reached the harbour than some of. his
own men came running to tell him that the Tur~s had ~roken mto
the city, and the Emperor had been killed. This was bitter news,
and when he heard it, he told his trumpeters to sound the recall.for
his soldiers and sailors. The rest of the ships also began prepanng
to set sail, many of them leaving their officers behind as prisoners.
Then there was a most pitiful display along. the .harbour w~s.
Men an d women, nuns and priests ' were all weepmg bitterly,.. beating
their breasts and begging to be taken on board the ShIpS. But t.hls
°
was impossr ObI e, a nee it had been decreed that they
. should drmk
from the cup filled with the wrath of the Lord. A~~ It could not have
b een d one, even 1Of those on the ships had been WIllingto
. try. Indeed,
.
if the Sultan's fleet had not been occupied in ravagmg the CIty and
searc h mg f or b 00ty , not a single one of them would have got away.
o
IOI
 But the Turks had all left their ships and gone into Constantinople,
so the Latins were able to leave the harbour without hindrance.
The Sultan ground his teeth in rage, but had to put up with this
loss, since there was nothing that could be done about it.
In Galata they saw the terrible catastrophe which had taken
place, and with their wives and children they ran to the water's
edge, looking for boats. Whenever they found one, they got into it
and made their way out to board the ships, leaving their houses and
their property behind. Many of them were forced to throw their
valuables into the water, and suffered other great losses. One of the
Sultan's chief officers, called Zagan, who stood in high favour with
Mehmet because he had spoken strongly in favour of the attack,
shouted out to them, 'Do not run away.' He swore an oath to them
by his master's head, saying, 'Do not be afraid; you are dear to the
Sultan ".No man shall harm your city, and the treaties which you
made with the Emperor shall be renewed even more strongly with
us. You would do best to believe this, in case you should cause our
master's anger to rise against you.'
With such words Zagan tried to prevent the Franks of Galata
from leaving; but those who were able to escape did so. Then those
who were left, after some consultation, took the keys of the city
and, together with their Podesta, went with the intention of pros-
trating themselves before the Sultan. They did this and handed him
the keys, which he received graciously, and sent them away with
pleasant words and a kindly expression.
Only five of the larger ships could raise their sails, and the rest
were unable to get away; a number of ships were left behind and
their crews m.anaged. to reach the other vessels and escape' with
them. The S.hIpSwhich escaped finally reached safety, although
many of their crews were left behind as captives. As they left the
harbour. there wa~ a ,:ind blowing from the north, and they sailed
along with all their sail, drawing, bewailing the fate of the city with
t~ars an.d sighs, as did the merchant galleys of the Venetians.
Meanwhile the Turkish sailors were rounding up the men and
women who were outside the city walls where they had been left
deserted, and taking them on board their own ships, while the rest
of the people from the city were herded towards the enemy's
camp.
102
CHAPTER 40
All this took place between the first and the eighth hour of the day.
After this the Sultan entered the city with his viziers and other
officers, showing no signs whatsoever of fear or doubt. His own
personal bodyguard of janissaries marched before and behind him,
breathing fire, all of them better archers than Apollo, each a new
Hercules, and anyone of them ready at any time to take on ten
opponents. When he came to the Great Church he dismounted,
entered it and stood marvelling at the sight. Finding one of the
Turks engaged in breaking up the marble floor, he asked him what he
meant by damaging the building. 'It is for the Faith,' was the
answer. Mehmet stretched out his hand and struck the Turk with
his sword, saying, 'Be satisfied with the booty and the captives;
the buildings of the city belong to me.' The Sultan had by now
begun to regret the agreement which he had entered into, when he
saw the wealth which was pouring out of the city, and the enormous
number of captives. The Turkish soldier was dragged out of the way,
and cast out of the church half dead.
Mehmet then gave instructions to one of his own abominable
priests, who at his masters' bidding went up into the pulpit, and
recited their detestable prayers. Then this son of iniquity, this
forerunner of Antichrist, mounted upon the Holy Table to utter
forth his own prayers. What a calamity this was, what a monstrous
portent! What a sight this was to see, what a disaster! A heathen
Turk actually approached the holy altar, where the relics of the
saints and martyrs lay, and stood upon it! Where now was the Lamb
of God where was the Son and the Word of the Father, who had
been sacrificed on that very altar, and eaten, yet not consumed?
Truly, we were reckoned as false, and our service counted for
nothing among the nations on account of our sins. Th.e temple built
in the name of the Wisdom of the Divine Word, which was called
the shrine of the Holy Trinity, the Great Church and the New Zio~,
is today a place of heathen sacrifice and the house of Mohammed 111
name and in fact. Just is Thy judgement, 0 Lord!
Leaving the building - for it could no longer be called a church -
Mehmet inquired after the Megadux, and had him brought before
him. When he had come, and done obeisance to him, the Sultan said,
1°3
 "It was a fine thing that you did, by not surrendering the city. See
now what the penalty is, how great the destruction, and how many
of your people are in slavery as a result.' The Megadux answered,
'My Lord, there was nothing else that I could have done; not even
the Emperor had the power to hand over the city to you. Besides,
there were those on your side who were encouraging the Emperor
by writing to him, telling him not to fear, because you would not
prevail against us.'
The Sultan took this as a reference to Halil Pasha, against whom
he was already nursing his wrath. Then, because the Emperor had
been mentioned, he asked if he had escaped with the ships. The
Megadux answered that he did not know; he himself had been at the
Royal Gate when the Turks got into the city by the Charisius Gate
and came upon the Emperor. At this point two men left the ranks,
and one of them cried out to the Sultan, 'My Lord, I killed him;
and then I was carried onward in the rush of men seeking booty,
and left him lying dead.' The other man claimed that he was the one
who had struck the first blow. The Sultan then sent them both to
bring back the head. So they ran to find the body, cut off its head
and brought it to their leader. Mehmet then said to the Megadux,
'Tell me the truth. Is this the head of your Emperor?' Notaras
inspected it, and replied, 'My Lord, it is.' Others also saw the head
andid~ntifiedit. Then they nailed it to the column in the Augusteum,
where It stayed until evening. After this the skin was stripped from
t~e skull and stuffed with bran, and it was sent as a symbol of
VIctory to the governors of Persia and Arabia and elsewhere in the
Turkish empire. ' prostrated himself before him. They enter~d the palace, ~nd fo~nd
.There is an?ther story, that the Megadux was discovered together
WIth Crehan III the tower which formed part of the Phrantzes fort.
Th:y su~rendered there, seeing that it was impossible to continue
their ~esIstance to the Turkish attack. Many men of noble birth
and high degree were there with the Megadux, and there was a
mon~, from whom Crehan begged his robes, in exchange for his own
clothing. He lowered himself from an arrow-slit to the ground out-
side the city, but was caught by the Turks from the ships, bound,
and cast on board one of their vessels with the rest of the prisoners.
There he was joined by the others from the tower who had surrende-
red themselves. Then one of the Greek prisoners, who wished to
I04
secure his own freedom, said to the captain of the vessel, 'If you set
me free today, I can make you a present of Orchan and the Megadux
together.' When he heard this, the captain promised to free him,
and he at once pointed out Orchan in his monk's clothing. When the
captain learned who his prisoner really was, he had him beheaded,
and took Orchan's head and the live Megadux to the Sultan, who
was at Cosmedium.
Mehmet gave the captain a generous reward, and sent him away.
Then he told the Megadux to be seated, and spoke sympathetically
to him, ordering that a call should be put out in the camp and on
board the ships for his wife and children. Within a short while they
were reunited with Notaras, and Mehmet made them a present of a
thousand aspri each, and sent them off to their home.
He then spoke at length with the Megadux, offering him words of
comfort and reassurance, and saying, 'I intend to put this city into
your hands, as sale governor in charge of it. Have no fear; I shall
make you even more important than you were in the time of t~e
Emperor.' Notaras thanked him, kissed his hand and re~urned t? hIS
own home but not before Mehmet had obtained from him a written
list of all the officials of high birth and rank in the Emperor's palace.
These were collected from their places of imprisonment on board the
ships and in the Turkish camp, and bought from their captors at the
rate of one thousand aspri a head. .
The following morning, after that first dreadful da~ which saw
the obliteration of our race, Mehmet again entered the city ~d went
to the palace of the Megadux, who came out to meet him and
the wife of Notaras sick in her bed. Then this wolf III sheep s clothing
approached the invalid, and said to her, 'Be of good cheer, mother,
and do not grieve at what has happened. God's will be done. I have
even more to gtve " you t h an you h av,e lost so make haste to ..recover
your health.' Then, after the sons of the Megadux had paid their
respects to him and thanked him, he went out and made a general
"
mspec tiIOn 0 f th e ClIty. It was deserted . Not a man, not . a beast was
found in it, there was no sound, not even the cry of a b.nd, and only
a f ew T ur k s rmg ieht b e seen.
en who had been too weak.' to seize any booty
'I
f or t h emse Ives. J.' any a 1them indeed had been killed by
.. their fellow
soldi ers, as one t ne " d t a drag another's plunder from him. When this
105
 •
happened, the stronger seized what he could, and the weaker lay
still, felled by a mortal blow.
On the day after the capture of Constantinople, the thirtieth of
May, they entered it again, and collected anything which they had
previously left behind. The Sultan then made a tour of the city, and
followed this by settling down to enjoy a drinking party in the
surroundings of the palace. 'When he was filled with wine and far
gone in drunkenness. he sent for his Chief Eunuch, and commanded
him to go to the palace of the Megadux with the following message,
'My master bids you send your younger son to his banquet.' The lad
was fourteen years old, and handsome. When his father heard the
message, he changed colour, and was paralysed with the shock; then
he replied to the eunuch, 'Our religion forbids me to hand over my
son with my own hands to be defiled by him. It would be better for
me if he were to send an executioner, to take my head from me.'
The Chief Eunuch advised him to hand over his son, so that he
might avoid exciting the Sultan's anger. But Notaras refused, saying,
'If you want to take him by force, take him and go. But I shall never
hand him over of my own free will.'
The eunuch returned to his master, and told him all that the
Megadux had said, and how he had refused to hand over the boy.
Mehmet was enraged at this, and cried, 'Take the executioner with
you, and bring the boy back; and let the Megadux and his sons be
led here by the executioner.' They went on their errand, and when
the Megadux heard the news, he embraced his children and his wife,
and went with the executioner, accompanied by his son and his
son-in-law Cantacuzenus. The Chief Eunuch took charge of the boy
himself, and went and showed him to his master, leaving the others
at the palace gate, and giving the executioner instructions to behead
them with his sword.
The executioner took them a short distance down from the palace,
and told them of the sentence of death which had been passed upon
them. When Notaras' son heard that they were to be killed, he wept.
But his father stood firm, and inspired the lads to show their courage
saying, 'Children, you know that yesterday in one brief moment of
time we lost everything, our inexhaustible wealth and the splendid
reputation which we had in this great city, and, as a result, through-
out the Christian world. Now the only thing left to us is life itself.
106
This will not continue for ever, since in the end we are bound to die.
And how will we die then? Deprived of the property which once we
possessed, of our reputation, our honour and our power, scorned and
despised by all, sinking ever deeper into misery until death comes to
release us. Where is our Emperor? He was killed yesterday. Where
is my stepfather and your father, the Grand Domestic? Where is
Theophilus Palaeologus, and the Protostrator with his two sons?
Were they not killed yesterday in the fighting? If only we had died
with them! But now the hour is ripe; let us no longer continue to
follow the paths of error. Who knows, if we delay, what poisonous
darts the Devil has waiting, to smite us with? Now the way is clear
before us; in the name of the One who died for us, and rose again,
let us too give up our lives, in order that we may together with Him
enjoy the blessings which He has to offer.'
With these words he reassured the boys, and they were ready to
meet their end. Then he said to the guard, 'Take the lads first; and
do as you have been commanded.' The executioner obeyed him and
beheaded the boys, while the Megadux stood by crying, 'I thank
Thee, Lord,' and '0 Lord, Thou art just.' Then he said to the guard,
'Give me a moment, my brother, to go in and pray.' There was a
church near by and he entered it and prayed, while the executioner
waited. Then he came out of the door of the church, where the bodies
of his children were still quivering, and after he had once more given
praise to God, his head was cut off.
The executioner took their heads and went back and showed them
to that savage beast his master, as he made merry; the ~odies ~'ere
left there unburied, after they had been robbed of their clothing.
Mehmet also sent the executioner to put to death all the nobles and
high officials of the palace whom he had bou.ght from their captors,
while from their wives and children the fairest women and most
handsome youths were selected, and handed over into. the custody
of the Chief Eunuch. The rest of the prisoners were put in the charge
of others to be looked after until they reached Adrianople, that
second Babylon. The whole surviving population o~ the city was now
to be found in the Turkish camp, while Constantmople herself lay
deserted and naked, lifeless and silent, stripped of her former glory.
'°7
 4
CHAPTER 4'
o City, City, chief of all cities! 0 City, City, placed at the centre of
the world's four corners, the glory of the Christian faith and
destruction of the barbarians! 0 City, City, that second Paradise
planted in the West, that garden in which so many trees have
flourished, loaded with spiritual fruit! Where are your beauties now,
a ~~radise? Where is that strength which the grace of the Holy
Spirit enabled you to give to mind and body? Where are the bodies
of the Apostles of our Lord, laid to rest so long ago in this Paradise
which blossomed eternally, among which were the Purple Cloak,
the Spear, the Sponge and the Reed, which allowed us when we
venerated them to believe that we saw Him raised upon the Cross?
Where are the relics of the Saints, where are the remains of Con-
stantine the Great and the emperors who followed him? The streets
and the entrances to the buildings, the cross-roads, the fields and the
vineyards, were choked with the relics of the saints, with the bodies
of men of high and low degree, of holy monks and nuns. Oh bitter
loss! The. bodies of Y?ur servants, a Lord, were cast out to be a prey
for the birds of the au, the flesh of Your saints was scattered about
the new Zion for wild beasts to gnaw at, and there was none to bury
them.
Alas.f?r the church, that heaven upon earth, that celestial place
of sacrifice, that sacred and holy precinct, that glory of all other
churches! Alas for the sacred books, the oracles of the Lord, the
Laws, New and Old and the tablets written upon by the finger
of God! Alas for the Gospel spoken from God's own mouth the
theological truths enunciated by angels who had assumed human
forms, the teachings of men inspired by the Holy Spirit and the
precepts of heroes half divine!
Alas for the state, the people, the army once so boundless now
gone for ever, like a ship in full sea overwhelmed by a mighty wave!
Alas fo~ the houses and palaces of every kind, and the sacred walls
of ~he city! Today I will call upon all of them, and mourn for them
as.If they too had been alive, following the example of Jeremiah in
this doleful tragedy.
How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! How is she
loB
become as a widow! She that was great among the nations, and
princes among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She
weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; among all
her lovers she hath none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt
treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. She hath gone
into captivity in Asia because of affliction and because of great ser-
vitude; she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest; all her
persecutors overtook her between the straits.
The ways of the city do mourn, because none come to the solemn
feasts; all her gates are desolate; her priests sigh, her virgins are
afflicted, and she is in bitterness. Her adversaries are the chief, her
enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of
her transgressions; her children are gone into captivity before the
enemy. And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed;
her princes are like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone
without strength before the pursuer. Her enemies saw her and mock-
ed at her captivity.
Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore is she tossed about,
her enemy hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things;
for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom
Thou didst command that they should not enter into Thy congrega-
tion. All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their
pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul. See, 0 Lord and consider;
consider and see, all ye that pass by; is there any sorrow like unto
my sorrow? He who hath searched me out diligently hath sent fire
from above into my bones, and brought it down against me; He hath
spread a net for my feet, He hath turned me back, He hath made me
desolate and faint all the day. The Lord hath trodden under foot all
my mighty men in the midst of me; He hath called an assembly
against me to crush my young men; the Lord hath trodden the
virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press.
For these things I weep; my children are desolate, because .the
enemy prevailed. The Lord is righteous; for I have rebelled against
His commandment; hear, I pray you, all people and beh?l~ my
sorrow; my virgins and my young men are gon~ into captivity. I
called for my lovers, but they deceived me; my pnests and my elders
gave up the ghost in the city.
Hear my sighing; the Lord was as an enemy, He hath taken away
109

His tabernacle, as if it were of a garden. He hath destroyed His
places of assembly. He hath caused His solemn feasts and sabbaths
to be forgotten, and hath despised in the indignation of His anger
the king and the priest. The Lord hath cast off His altar, He hath
abhorred His sanctuary, He hath given up into the hands of His
enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise of war in the
house of the Lord, like the psalm sung by the Levites in the day of
a solemn feast.
Behold, 0 Lord, and consider, to whom Thou hast done this; the
young suckling children have been slain; shall they slay the priest
and the prophet in the sanctuary of the Lord? The young and the
old lie on the ground in the streets; my virgins and young men are
taken into captivity, the Lord hath accomplished His fury; He hath
poured out His fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in the city, and
it hath devoured the foundations thereof.
Remember, a Lord, what is come upon us; consider, and behold
our reproach. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to
aliens. We have become orphans, as it were without a father, and
our mothers as widows; we are pursued, we labour and have no rest.
Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their
iniquities. Servants have ruled over us; there is none that doth
deliver us out of their hand. Our skin was aged, and black like an
oven, drawn back over the face from the starvation which came upon
us. They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under
the wood. The elders have ceased from the gate, and the young men
from their rnusick. The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is
turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our head; woe unto
us, that we have sinned! For this our heart is faint; for these things
our eyes are dim, because of the new Zion, which is desolate, the
faxes walk upon it. Thou, a Lord, remainest for ever; Thy throne
is from generation to generation.
Wherefore dost Thou forget us in anger, and forsake us for so
long a time? Turn us unto Thee, a Lord, and we shall be turned; our
days shall be renewed as of old. Thou wast rejected, and didst reject
us; Thou wast very wrath against us.
These were the lamentations and the plaints raised by jeremiah,
when jerusalem was captured in ancient times; and I believe that the
Holy Spirit revealed to him the truth about the New Jerusalem also.
IIQ
,
But what tongue would have the power of describing in words the
calamity which overtook the city, the awful captivity and the bitter
migration which came to pass, not from jerusalem to Babylon or
Assyria, but from Constantinople to Syria, Egypt, Armenia, Persia,
Arabia, to parts of Italy and to Asia Minor and the rest of the
Turkish empire? And how was it done? A husband might find
himself in Paphlagonia, his wife in Egypt and their children in
different places, their former language replaced by a new one, their
religion by irreligion and their sacred books by heathen writings.
Shudder, a Sun and you, a Earth! Weep for our people, altogether
deserted by their most just God, because of their transgressions!
We are not worthy to raise our eyes to heaven; let us rather cast
them down, and turn our faces to the earth and cry, 'Thou art just,
a Lord, and just is Thy judgement. "Vehave sinned, we have broken
Thy law, we have done wrong in the sight of all peoples. In every-
thing that Thou hast brought upon us, Thou hast delivered a
judgement that is just and true. Only now, a Lord we beg, spare us
further suffering.'
CHAPTER 42
Three days after the capture of the city Mehmet dismissed ~is
fleet allowing each vessel to return to its home port so loaded WIth
booty that it could hardly float. What were the spoils that th:y
won? Rich clothing and vessels of silver and gold, bronze and tm,
books without number and prisoners, priest and lay, monks and
nuns. Every space in the ships was full of plunder, and in the
Turkish camp every tent was crammed with prisoners an~ every
kind of booty of the sorts already mentione~. Then th~re ~lght be
seen m in th id t c f the barbarians one With a patriarch
tne nnost .. s robe,,
another with some prelate's golden chain around his waist, u~mg It
to drag his dogs along, and others again using cloths embroidered
in gold with the Lamb of God as saddleblankets. ~thers w~re
" " " ti from the sacred dishes, which
sitting down and making merry, ea mg. d
were placed before them filled with the fruits of the earth, an
"
drinking ""
unmixed wme f rom th e sacred vessels. They
. loaded on to
" h" h th Y could find far too many
waggons all the manuscripts w IC e '
III

to be counted, and these were scattered all over Europe and Asia.
For a single bezant ten books at a time were sold, of Aristotle and
Plato, of theology and on every other subject. As for the Gospels
with their rich illuminations, they tore out the gold and silver, then
sold them or threw them away. Icons were without exception given
to the flames; and as the fires died down, they roasted their meat
upon them and ate it.
On the fifth day after the capture of the city the Sultan entered
Galata. His first act was to order a census to be taken of its inhab-
itants, and in the course of this it was discovered that many houses
were closed up, because the Latins had escaped in their ships.
Mehmet then ordered their houses to be opened, and a complete
register of their property to be made, saying, 'If they return within
the space of three months, let them have what is theirs; but if they
do not return, it will belong to me.' He also ordered his army and
the inhabitants of the neighbourhood around the city to overthrow
and bring to the ground the walls of Galata, and remove them, which
was done. After they had razed the walls which faced the land, they
left standing those which looked on to the harbour. Then he kept
lime-workers busy through the whole of August, preparing lime to
rebuild the broken walls of Constantinople. He personally attended
to the conscription of five thousand families from his dominions in
the East and in the West; they were to transfer themselves with all
their members to Constantinople, under pain of death, by the end
of September. One of his servants called Suleirnan was appointed as
governor. He then turned the Great Church into a heathen shrine
for his god and his Mahomet, and left the others stripped bare, after
which he began to make preparations for his victorious return to
Adrianople, bringing booty too great to be measured, and captives
too numerous to be counted.
It was the eighteenth of June when he left the city, taking with
him on horseback or in carriages all the female prisoners of noble
birth and their daughters. The wife of the Megadux died on the
journey, near a place called Mesene, and was buried there, a women
noted for her piety and charity towards the poor, prudent in her
behaviour and free from any frailties of spirit.
After he had entered Adrianople with a triumphal procession of
the most spectacular kind, there came flocking to his presence all the
II2
,
rulers and chiefs of the Christians, from near and far, bringing him
greetings. What must they have felt in their hearts and their inner-
most thoughts, as their mouths and their lips formed such messages!
But nevertheless, although it was by no will of theirs, they bowed
before him and brought him gifts, fearing lest the same fate might
overtake them. The Sultan sat in state, arrogant and overbearing
because of the pride which he felt after his capture of Constantinople,
and the Christian leaders stood trembling, waiting for him to reveal
what was to happen to them.
He began with the Serbian ambassador, fixing a tribute of twelve
thousand bezants to be paid each year to the Turkish treasury. The
Despots of the Peloponnese were rated at ten thousand, and ordered
to bring him gifts and do obeisance to him each year. For the govern-
ment of Chios he fixed upon the sum of six thousand bezants each
year, and for Mytilene three thousand, while from Trebizond and
the other cities of the Black Sea he demanded that they should pay
taxes, and send him an embassy to do obeisance to him each year,
bringing gifts. In the very first year, in the month of August, an
embassy came from the Despot of Serbia and paid the due amount,
and also performed an act of great piety in Adrianople. Acting under
instructions from the Despot George, they ransomed nuns, both
young and old, until a hundred of them had been set free; and all
the noble personages of high birth who had been taken prisoner
hastened to appeal to Serbia, and were given money to buy their
freedom as an act of piety by the ruler and his qucen.
Autumn was now over, and the year 6962 had already begun its
course. Mehmet spent the winter at home, making plans for an
attack upon the Despot in the spring, with the intention of bringing
the whole of Serbia under his control. The Despot had in fact been
daily expecting this particular piece of bad news, and was waiting
for the Sultan's greed to lead him into some act of aggression; his
long life had given him a wide experience, and he had already
suffered much at his hands, as has been related earlier.
Mehmet now made clear what pretext he had chosen for this new
outrage, by declaring, 'The country of Serbia, over which you are
now ruling, is not yours, nor have you any right of succession to it.
It belongs to Stefan son of Lazar, and by consequence to me.
Depart at once from within its boundaries. I am ready to give you
II3

a part of the realm of your father Vuk and the city of Sofia; but
otherwise, I shall attack you.'
He sent this message by one of his most trusted servants, who was
instructed to present.himself once more before his master within the
space of twenty-five days, and inform him of the answer; if he failed
to do this, his head would be sundered from his body, and he would
be cast out to feed the beasts of the forest. The Sultan's delegate
journeyed to Serbia, but found that the Despot was at that moment
absent on the other side of the Danube; his chief ministers, however,
assured him that their ruler would return that very day, or the day
following. Meanwhile they set about preparing their fortifications,
and laying in stocks of necessities of all kinds. When the envoy
realised that he was being tricked, he was in terror at the thought
of the penalty for overstaying his time: more than thirty days had
now passed. Meanwhile the Sultan, filled with rage, had left Adrian-
ople and moved to Philippopolis with the whole of his army. His
servant met him there, and told him of the Despot's flight into
Hungary, and of the way in which he had been deceived by his
ministers, and prevented from leaving. The Sultan had intended to
put him to death, and would have done so, if the envoy had not sent
a message before the appointed day, explaining the reason for his
delay, and the manoeuvres of the Serbians, and telling him of the
Despot's flight.
The Hungarians had now crossed the Danube, and laid waste the
country around Ternovo. After this, they came to grips with the
Turks, found themselves the victors, and retired across the river
once more with a great deal of booty. The Sultan advanced from
Philippopolis to Sofia, and there left his main army behind, together
with the viziers of his court, while he led a force of twenty thousand
foot soldiers into Serbia. But he could not find his opponent, because
the Despot had by now been in Hungary for some time, together
with all his family and the ministers of his court. Before departing,
he had fortified all the strongholds in his country, and urged his
people not to be afraid, and not to surrender themselves; in a little
while he would come to their aid with a powerful army.
Mchmet. on the other hand, advanced as far as Smedrovo. He was
eager to capture it, because of its nearness to the Danube, and
because it commanded the route taken by those who intended to
•
pass into Hungary. But he met with no success, and had to retire.
He then attacked one of their fortresses, which resisted him success-
fully; but the people who lived outside it, in the villages and the
surrounding countryside, had fortified another area around it, and
were defending themselves there. Although the fortress itself was
secure, the same could not be said of the outer defences, and the
Sultan induced their defenders to surrender, by swearing an oath,
which he immediately broke by committing to slavery all those
whom he captured there. Meanwhile, the central fortress itself was
not given up.
He returned to Sofia, then left it for Adrianople, taking the booty
which he had WOIl, and there distributed half of it among his viziers
and the officers who had taken part in the expedition with him.
Then, taking his half of the captives, amounting to four thousand
men and women, he sent them to settle in the villages around
Constantinople, 'where he transferred himself shortly afterwards.
While he was at Philippopolis he had ordered the broken walls of
Constantinople to be built up again, and on his arrival he found that
this had been undertaken and the work had been satisfactorily
completed. He then entered the city, and measured out in the
middle of it a space of eight stades or a little more, ordering an
enclosure to be marked out, and a palace to be built within it. The
enclosure was made, and the building was roofed entirely with
f' sheets of lead taken from the monasteries, which remained empty
of monks; in fact, the monastery of the Pantocrator had been taken
over by fullers and shoemakers, who worked in its church. The
monastery of Mangana was occupied by dervishes, and the others
by Turks with their wives and families.
I should not be writing of the events which followed the fall of the
city. It is hardly proper for me to record the triumphs and achieve-
ments of a heathen tyrant, the ruthless enemy who has destroyed
our nation. But what follows will explain my reason for doing so.
When I was only a lad, I heard it said by certain venerable old
men, that the Ottoman empire and the dynasty of the Palaeologi
would come to an end at about the same time. Othman began to
rule at about the same date as Michael Palaeologus succeeded to the
throne, Michael being a little earlier, and Othman only becoming
ruler in the time of his son Andronicus Palaeologus, although he had
"S
1
 $

committed some unofficial acts of brigandage before. For this

reason it was to be expected that the city and its emperors would
come to an end first; and then it would be the turn of the descen-
dants of Othman.
Michael had once asked an oracle whether his son would succeed to
the throne after his death; his conscience reproved him for having
seized power unlawfully after blinding the legitimate heir, which
had led to countless curses being showered upon his head, and upon
his descendants. The oracle in reply gave the meaningless word
'AMAu,n', which was interpreted as follows: 'As many emperors
of your line will rule, as there are letters in this word of no meaning.
Then the power will pass from the city and from your descendants.' *
So now we who have reached this last period of time, and have
seen the fearful and ominous fate which threatens our nation, are CRISTOFORO RICCHERIO
left dreaming of the liberation which is to come to us. With fervent
prayers we address ourselves to God, whose way it is to punish us The capture of Constantinople in the year 1453 on
and then to heal our wounds, and in the expectation that the the twenty-ninth day of May
prophecies of the prudent sages of the past will lead to our deliver-
ance, we continue to record the acts of our tyrannous enemy which
followed this threat to our existence .

• The emperors between Michael I and the last Constantine were named
Andronicus, Michael, Andronicus, Iohannes, Manuel, Iohannes.

II6 "7
 Mehmet was a great men, and endowed with remarkable intelligence.
After the death of his father Murat, he began to rule over his empire,
and to plan great deeds. He was not satisfied with what his ancestors
had left him, and not content with the glory which his family had
previously won. The thought came to him, therefore, of undertaking
a venture which would bring him far greater honour than all the
noble deeds of his ancestors; and with this in mind, he turned his
attention towards the city of Constantinople.
The reasons which led him to make this decision were as follovvs.
He felt that it was dishonest to call himself Emperor of Greece, and
that the title was empty and foolish, unless he was master of
Constantinople, which was the seat of empire. It also occurred to
hi~ that this undertaking would give him immortal fame among the
nations of the world, and that if he could become master of such a
notable city when he was scarcely more than a boy, the whole
world would learn to fear his might. Finally, the idea pleased him
all th.e more, because the attempts made by his ancestors to besiege
the CIty had ended in their unsuccessful withdrawal with some loss
of reputation for them. ' on the side which faces Pera, and is washed by the sea, he had a
After brooding Upon his plans in secret, he shared them with a few
of his ~ost intimate counsellors. And feigning other reasons, so as
not to gIve the rulers of Europe warning of his intentions, he brought
together a g~ea~ number of craftsmen with remarkable speed, and
set about bUlld~nga fortress at the Thracian end of the Bosphorus.
only a sho.rt distance from the city of Constantinople. This was
coo:pleted rn a .v:ry short time, and he then gave it a strong garrison,
artrlle~y,. provisions and everything else necessary to keep it in
commission. After this, taking no account of the ceremonies observ-
ed by his predecessors when they declared war on their neighbours,
he ?ro~e the sacred o~ths which he had previously made to preserve
anlllvlOlable peace WIth the Christians, like a man who subordinates
everything else, .however .good it may be, to his ravenous appetite;
and he moved hIS troops 111 one swift manoeuvre as far as Constan-
ople. The surrounding countryside was soon under his control and
then he drew up his army before the city, and began to attack it
from the seaward side as well.
Th: Greek Emperor and his senior ministers had already taken
note In advance of Mehmet's preparations. They were full of fear,
IIB
and as if they lacked the spirit to resist such a powerful opponent,
they had sent ambassadors well in advance throughout Europe, to
inform the Pope, the Emperor and all the other Christian princes and
kings, of the calamity that was about to fall on Greece, and at the
same time of the perils that awaited the rest of Christendom, asking
them for help and succour in this emergency.
At this point Mehmet had gathered together a great army with
remarkable speed from all parts of his empire, had cut his enemies
off by sea and by land, and had brought before the walls of Con-
stantinople a very large number of pieces of artillery, so he felt sure
that his undertaking would be successful. In order to press home his
advantage over the defenders by an attack from an unexpected
quarter, he also began to pay a great deal of attention to the digging
of tunnels. His next concern was to make it easier for his soldiers
to defend themselves against their enemies, and to give them the
advantage of a high position from which to attack, or raise their
ladders against the walls to capture the city; he therefore had a
wide ditch and a considerable rampart dug all round the city, and
bridge constructed most skilfully. This was two thousand paces in
length, bearing a number of towers well supplied with weapons,
which could be directed against the city from the top of them. This
frightful contraption was used to harass the defenders day and night,
giving them no chance to rest. But their morale was high, and they
were ready to endure any punishment rather than fall into the hands
of their cruel enemies, so they bore every danger bravely and nobly.
Finally, however, Mehmet considered that he had brought down
enough of the wall for his soldiers to be able to enter the city and
sack it. Giving himself credit for the victory, although it was not
yet his, he ordered his heralds to make an announcement through
the whole of his camp the following day, which was the t wenty-
seventh of May in the year of Our Lord 1453, and the thirty-third
year of Charles, King of France: everyone was to stand in readiness,
and the city would be theirs to pillage if they took it on the third
day following.
When the army heard this, they all fell to rejoicing, and each one
made his preparations as necessary. And not as single one of their
soldiers ate any food by day, so great was their discipline, but they
II9
 all worked together to provide the things which would be needed
for the assault. When night came, however, and the stars began to
gleam, they set about eating and drinking, and began to be merry
and to invite one another to share in their festivities. A great part of
the night was spent in such activities, and then, when they were
forced to separate for the sake of resting a little, they embraced one
another with kisses, as if they would never meet again.
On the other side, we Christians had heard of Mehmet's instruc-
tions, and seen the preparations made by the enemy. Our priests
began a procession with the whole people, women as well as men,
both great and small alike, carrying the relics of the Saints and the
image of Christ and the Holy Virgin Mary. They visited all the
churches, weeping and praying for divine aid with hymns and pray-
ers and fasting. When evening came, however, and we had restored
ourselves to some extent with a frugal meal, we all moved to the
positions which had been given to us to defend.
The walls were very high and strong, but they were broken and in
disrepair at some points; and the bastions and towers were dilapi-
dated and fallen because of the laziness and negligence of the Greeks.
The hopes of the defenders were pinned upon the outer walls,
because their bastions were strong and in good enough repair for
it to seem likely that they would be able to resist the attacks of the
enemy. Here, as on the inner walls, many soldiers were stationed
to repulse the enemy when they decided to attack.
Constantinople is triangular in shape. The two sides which face
the water are protected against attacks from the sea by walls. The
side which looks towards the land is bounded not only by the inner
and outer walls, but also by a ditch of considerable width and depth.
The barbarians, eager for booty, began their attack when the
signal was given before dawn. The defenders heard them and
prepared to defend themselves, firing stones and arrows from above
and driving the Turks back with all their might. The darkness of the
night hindered the enemy greatly, because they got in one another's
way, and we were able to kill with stones those who got clear and
came forward to fight. But as day approached and it became possible
to see, Mehmet himself joined his soldiers at the walls. Calling his
commanders to him, he gave orders that Pera and Constantinople
should be attacked at the same time, so that the Greeks and the
I20
Latins might be prevented from helping each other. He assigned to
each of them a section of the walls, near which each was to wait with
his soldiers and be ready to vie with the rest in bravery, to win a
glorious name. He then arranged for everyone to attack at the same
moment, and had wooden castles brought beneath the walls, to raise
them to the same height as their opponents, and allow them to fight
more easily and with a better spirit.
He then gave those of his soldiers who were waiting in readiness
the signal to bring down part of the battlements and towers of the
walls, so that the Greeks should be kept too busy to see what was
going on outside; and he kept the battle going without any pause,
urging on his men with the sound of trumpets, horns and drums.
The Turks covered themselves with their shields, leaned their
ladders against the walls, and climbed to the top of them with
furious bravery. The Greeks who were opposing them hurled down
rocks as they climbed, and sulphur with fire and anything else
which came to hand, doing everything in their power to keep them
back.
Many men on each side met a miserable end, and there was
nothing to be seen but dead and dying, when the attack began to
slacken. At this moment, Mehmet noticed that his soldiers were
losing their eagerness for the fight. He ran among them immediately,
calling one and another by name, and restored their morale. Then,
with a combination of prayers and threats, he brought them to the
point where they began to fight again with even greater eagerness
than they had shown in the beginning. They were determined to
reach the top of the wall, and did everything possible to achieve
their objective. And although the defenders gave a good account of
themselves and killed a great number of them, fresh troops came
rushing onwards continually to take the place of those who had
died. It was Mehmet's policy to keep on sending fresh troops into
the battle, his intention being to give the Greeks no chance to rest;
they would then be easily overcome, when they were exhausted by
continuous fighting.
There was one thing which had made the Turks less confident,
and had sapped their will to win. A certain Giovanni Giustiniani of
Genoa a noble and a man of wealth and reputation in his own
country, happened to be in Constantinople at the time of the siege.
I2I
 He did not consider his position to be different from that of the rest
of the people in the city, and he felt that he too should play his part
in defending Constantinople, so he joined in the fighting with the rest
of them. His bravery, his strength and his sagacity were so great,
that everyone admitted that it was he who had saved the city up to
this point, and honoured him greatly for it.
It now happened that while he was fighting in the front rank of
those who were holding back the Turks, he was most unfortunately
wounded by an alTOW shot by one of his own side. The blood flowed
fast, and since he did not wish to disturb the rest of his soldiers by
sending for the surgeon, he left the battle inconspicuously. The
Emperor Constantine was informed of this, and realising that his
absence would endanger the city, and that if he stayed he would
help to save it, went to find him, begging him not to leave the fight,
and insisting that he should return. But no entreaties could hold
him, and finally he left, on the understanding that he would come
back when he had received medical attention.
All the gates leading to the outside from the inner walls had been
closed, so that the soldiers might have no hope of escape, and
would understand quite clearly that they must either win a gallant
victory, or all die sword in hanel. A gate had therefore to be opened
for Giustiniani, which caused the hearts to sink of all those who saw
it happen; they began to feel their courage slipping away, and to
think of escape rather than of continuing the battle. The captains
on the Turkish side saw this, and they began to scale the walls more
eagerly than before, shouting encouragement to one another, and
driving the Greeks back from their positions. Then panic seized the
defenders, and they turned to flee in the direction of the gate where
Oiustiniani had made his exit, every man hoping to save himself at
least.
When Constantine saw his soldiers retreating, he forgot his office,
his rank and what was proper for such a monarch, namely to die
fighting. He fled behind the others towards the gate, and there, with
everyone struggling to get out and trampling one another, he met his
death. In fact, of all the soldiers who were there to defend the
unfortunate city, only two thought more of their religion and their
honour than of their own safety, and preferred to die fighting the
enemy rather than fleeing from him. One of them was called
122
Theophilus Palaeologus, the other Giovanni Dalmata, a Slav; these
two, thinking flight a shameful thing for men of spirit, kept on
fighting until at last they died nobly, surrounded by an enormous
throng of Turks, after they had killed a great number of them.
No sooner had Giustiniani heard of the enemy's success, than he
fled hastily to Pera; then, because he did 110tfeel safe there, he went
on to Chios. where he died, either from shame at having left the
battle at such an inopportune moment, or because his wound was
mortal. And so he threw away the glory which he had won for
himself in such a short space of time. Indeed, it was the most for-
tunate moment of his life, when he had the opportunity of dying,
sword in hand, beneath the walls of Constantinople.
In the eager rush which the Turks made upon the gate, there died
some eighty Greeks and Latins. Then, when the Turks had won to
the top of the wall, they chased away the few men there, who had
been resisting them with stones and anything else which came to
hand.
After the Turks had entered the city in this manner, they set
about sacking it, slaying anyone who opposed them. They swarmed
about the place, and gave vent to their natural cruelty and in-
humanity with every kind of cruel and lustful act, showing respect
neither to sex norto age. Some they murdered, some they debauched,
they hustled the weak and aged into slavery and they chained
together the young, both male and female, of every class. When they
found any well-formed girl, they struggled with each other to
possess her, and for the sake of the sacred treasures they fought to
the death on many occasions.
Their army, compounded of so many nations, customs and
languages, spent three days in sacking the unfortunate city. There
was no act, however wicked, that was not committed by these
heathen. They laid hands even on the Church of the Holy Wisdom,
that marvellous work of the Emperor Justinian, and after despoiling
it of an enormous amount of gold and silver, they engaged in every
kind of vileness within it, making of it a public brothel and a stable
for their horses. They took the relics of the Saints from tl.lis and
other churches, threw them in the middle of the streets for swme and
dogs to trample on, and to be trodden underfoot by e,:ery ~asser-by;
and the images of our Lord Jesus Christ and of HIS Saints were
123
burned or hacked to pieces.
So much gold and silver fell into their hands that it was a marvel
to see. Surely it was God's will that these riches should have been
spent in the defence of the city, and in this way they might have
been very useful to their owners and to their country. But this is the
way of misers: even when they are in need, they will never spend
their own money, but think only of accumulating wealth, and die of
starvation in the midst of plenty.
After the sack had continued for three days, all was over, except
for the final enslaving of the wretched citizens of Constantinople.
Mehmet had them brought to his camp, and as he had promised his
viziers and his other officers, ordered many of them to be hacked to
ZORZI DOLFIN
pieces, for the sake of entertainment. There was present a certain
Kyr Lucas who in happier times had been held in great honour at
the Emperor's court. When he saw his elder son slaughtered before Cronaca, ff. 313-322
his eyes, and another reserved to satisfy Mehmet's lusts, he gained (selections)
permission to hang himself. Foreigners were treated with the same
cruelty, so they were likely to meet an evil end, unless they agreed
to buy themselves off at a high price from the hands of their enemies.
Cardinal Isidore of Russia, who had been sent to the siege long before
as legate to Constantinople by Pope Nicholas the Fifth, managed
to escape when the city fell. He was dressed in rags, and fell into the
hands of some mercenaries, who did not recognise him, but let him
go for a few aspri, which is the name of a Turkish coin.
After the capture of Constantinople the people of Pera, whose
protection consisted of Genoese soldiers, laid down their arms and
sent ambassadors to Mehmet to offer him the city and beg his
pardon. He promised them this at first, but then attacked Pera as an
enemy, breaking the oath which he had publicly sworn; and he
sacked it, put their children up for sale, led away their women,
bound their older men and slew the young ones, demolished
churches, palaces, houses and walls, and in short spared nothing at
all there.
After conquering Greece in this way, he returned to Constantin-
ople in triumph, where he had decided to fix the capital of his
empire, made sure that everything was quiet there, and then
departed.

125
124

How Constantinople was destroyed, and the manner of it
Now T shall describe the way in which the destruction of Constantin-
ople came about, drawing my account from authors who were
actually present, because there is a great difference between the
records of eyewitnesses and those which are based on hearsay. The
story is elegantly told by the Reverend Bishop of Mytilene, who
was in the entourage of the Cardinal of Sabina, the legate sent to
make the union with the Greeks, and was taken prisoner and later
ransomed. It was also written down by Filippo da Rimanc, Can-
celliere at Corfu.
But first I shall describe the quality and nature of the Ottoman
Sultan Mehmet, as portrayed by Dam Giacomo Langusto of Venice,
to show how he and all his descendants should be feared by the
whole Christian world. 'The Sultan, the Grand Turk Mehmet, is a
young man of twenty-six years of age, well formed and of a stature
rather above the average. He is skilled in the use of weapons. His
appearance inspires fear rather than respect. He laughs rarely, is
cautious in his judgements, and is endowed with great generosity.
He shows great tenacity in all his undertakings, and bravery under
all conditions. He aspires to equal the glory of Alexander the Great,
and every day has histories of Rome and other nations read to him
by a companion named Cyriac of Ancona and by another Italian.
He makes them read to him Laertius. Herodotus, Livy and Quintus
Curti us, with chronologies of the Popes and Emperors, the Kings of
France and the Lombards. He uses three languages, Turkish, Greek
and Slav.'
'He has taken pains to inform himself of the geographical position
of Italy, the points where Anchises with Aeneas and Antenor came
to land, the places where the seats of the Pope and the Emperor arc
to be found, and the number of kingdoms that are in Europe, which
he has painted on a map which shows its realms and provinces.
There is nothing which he studies with greater pleasure and eager-
ness than the geography of the world, and the art of warfare; he
burns with the desire to rule, while being prudent in his investi-
gation of what he undertakes. Such is the man, and so made, with
whom we Christians have to deal.'
'When he decided to attack Constantinople with his forces, he
•
prepared most carefully and diligently large quantities of munitions
and armaments, and then called a solemn meeting of his senior
officers and captains. He then displayed to them a great quantity of
gold, pearls, golden trappings and other treasures. Next, after they
had eaten, he told them that he had brought these riches for them
to take; he knew that the Christians with their bribes were trying
to dissuade them from besieging and capturing Constantinople, a
project which had been vital to his father Murat and to himself for
the strengthening of their kingdom; and he believed that they would
show greater honesty by accepting presents from him, rather than
from the Christians. With such words he ensured their support for
his plans, and each one swore an oath to follow him. Then he re-
moved his older counsellors, who said that it was impossible to
capture Constantinople, and chose others who were younger and
more responsive to his will.'
'He then began to bring together saltpetre and sulphur and a
great quantity of copper, and hired German cannon-makers at a
great fee to come where and when he wished, to cast cannon for
him. When these proved too large to be transported, he had them
taken to pieces, so that they could more easily be taken to their
destination. '
'He is a man continually watchful, able to endure weariness, heat
and cold, thirst and hunger, inexorably set upon the destruction of
I the Christians, and would admit to fearing no man. He had his
brother put to death at Adrianople, so as to have no partner in his
kingdom, and says that Caesar and Hannibal were of no account
compared with himself, and that Alexander, son of the king of
Macedon, entered Asia with a far smaller force than his. Now, he
says, times have changed, and he will march from the East to the
West, as the West once marched against the East; now there must
be only one empire in the world, one faith for all, and one kingdom.
There is no better place anywhere for such a union than Constantin-
ople, and with the help of this city, he can make the Christians his
subjects.'
f 'He is a man not given to lustful desires, and of sober habits, not
wishing to hear of any drunkenness at the time of Rhamadan. He is
not enslaved by any pleasures or delights, but only by the love of
glory. Any city which he captures is made subject to his laws. He
r
takes the best of their young men, circumcises them, and makes
them follow Mohammedan laws and customs. He claims that he
himself is subject to no law, but acknowledges one supreme God,
as his father did before him. When he wins a new province, he
thinks more of the men whom he has gained than of the captured
herds and valuables. He undertakes the rearing of the most promis-
ing children, and has them trained to arms, calling them janissaries,
these being drawn not from Turkey or Anatolia, but from the Greeks
and his other neighbours. In this he shows a remarkable tenacity
of purpose, as if by his own efforts he wished to produce a new
people.'
'To give an indication of his power, I shall list the parts of Europe
and Asia where he can now raise forces and supplies in abundance;
indeed, with the added advantage of keeping a fleet at Constantin-
ople, he thinks that he can rule the world. If he sends a fleet into
the Black Sea, as he has in fact done, he will make himself master of
Moncastro, Licoscomo and the other mouths of the Danube also
Soldaia and Caffa. as far as the mouth of the Tanais and as far as
Sebastopol. To the south of these he will have Amastris, Sinope,
Amisus and Tripolis as far as Trebizond. If he sends his ships
westwards he will have Lemnos, Mytilene and Chios. If he turns
further southwards he will gain Rhodes and Cyprus, westwards
again he will have Negropont and the rest of the Peloponnese. His
own empire now includes Armenia, Bithynia and Tenedos, Cilicia.
Phrygia, the Hellespont and the Bosphorus, the shores of the Black
Sea and Asia Minor, which covers the space of two Italies.'
'And so this raging monster is filled with pride at having so many
countries in his power, to provide him with forces to fight on land
and at sea; if he keeps Constantinople, he will also have a fortress
and an arsenal to keep his ships safe, and he will be able to pass at
his will from Asia into Europe, and attack anyone within his reach.'
How the defenders of Constantinople
took up their positions to prepare for
a general assault by the Turks
The positions of responsibility were assigned in the following manner.
On the walls, the leading men of the city were in charge of the gates
which had been assigned to them. At the Golden Gate near the sea ,
128
where there was a double line of walls, there was placed Andronicus
Cantacuzenus, ~itl~ Catarin Contarini and a strong force of younger
men '. At th.e :Plghl Gate there was Nicolo Guideli. and by him
B~tttsta Critti, a man of great bravery and spirit. At the gate of
Saint Romanus there were John and Andronicus Cantacuzenus
who in spite of their age stood high among the Emperor's advisers:
At the gate of the Imperial Palace there was Hieronimo Minoto
the Baile at that time, with Zanzorzi, Cancelliere of Vicenza, and a~
the Porta Caligaria there was Emanuel Guideli. Emanuel Palaeolo-
gus was stationed at the Xyloporta, and not far distant, at the
Cynegion Gate, was Gabriel Trivisan with the crews of the two galleys
under his command, and Zorzi de Nicolo from Drivasto, a notable
crossbowman. Alexic Dissipato was at the Pharos Gate, and Zuan
Blacho at the gate of Saint Theodosia. Metochites Palaeologus was
at the Plutei Gate, Philanthropo at the Platea Gate, and Lucas
Notaras at the Imperial Gate, while at the other gates on the
seaward side various trustworthy men were put on guard.
Prodigies before the fall of Constantinople
The minds of men also were agitated by cruel and terrible mon-
strosities and portents in these days, in the sky and on the land and
on the sea. A few days previously oysters were gathered which, when
opened, dripped blood. From the sky there appeared in the air many
fires and bright lights with terrible rumblings, and dark clouds with
lightning flashes and thunderbolts. On the ground there were great
winds and earthquakes which threatened to overthrow the houses,
making it clear that universal ruin was approaching. The rumour
spread that a great serpent had come, and was laying waste the
villages, the flocks and the herds, so that men left their ploughs,
and abandoned their erops already gathered in the fields, as it
attacked the farmers with its fiery breath.
The Sultan is triumphant
Boasting of his victory, the Grand Turk said that he had taken
revenge for the violation of the Trojan virgin which had taken place
in the temple of Pallas. After this, when a great search had been
made by order of the Sultan among the corpses of the dead, there
was found the pitiful head of the Emperor Constantine, and it was
brought to the Sultan, who was greatly moved by the cruel sight.
He then said to the multitude around him, 'Fellow soldiers, this one
thing was lacking to make the glory of such a victory complete.
Now, at this happy and joyful moment of time, we have the riches
of the Greeks, we have won their empire, and their religion is
completely extinguished. Our ancestors eagerly desired to achieve
this; rejoice now, since it is your bravery which has won this king-
dom for us.'
ANGELO GIOVANNI LOMELLINO

ex-Podesta of Pera. to his brother

'3D '3'

J
 1453, the ajrd of June, at Pera
My noble and beloved brother. You must forgive me, if I have not
written before, and if even in this letter I do not answer yours.
I have been so constantly filled with sorrow and distress, that at
the present time I wish I were dead rather than alive. You will
have heard by now, I am sure, of the unexpected fate of Con-
stantinople, captured by the Turkish Sultan on the twenty-ninth
of last month, a day which we longed for, because it seemed to us
that our victory was assured. The Sultan attacked from all sides
throughout the night. As morning came, Giovanni Oiustlniani
received a ... * and left his gate, and went towards the sea, and by
this same gate the Turks entered, finding no resistance, and this
was the end of it; one would not expect to lose even a single house
so cheaply. I can well believe that it came about because of our
sins.
Now, my dear brother, you see my position, may God give me
strength to bear it. They put the city to the sack for three days, and
you never saw such suffering; the extent of their plundering cannot
be calculated. I sent to the defence of the city all the mercenaries
from Chios, and all those who had been sent from Genoa, and a great
number of the citizens and burghers from here, with my nephew
Imperlali and members of my own establishment. For my part,
God knows that I did whatever was possible, since I knew that once
Constantinople had fallen, this place was also lost.
They captured most of the city. A few terrified persons managed
to reach here, and other merchants and citizens were able to escape,
and most of them rejoined their families. Some were captured by the
palisade, because the masters of the ships were so overcome by fear
that they would not wait for anyone. With the greatest of difficulty
I brought back some of those who were by the palisade; you never
saw such a terrible sight.
Seeing the position I was in, I thought it better to lose my life
than desert the city; if I had gone, it would have been sacked at once.
I decided, on the contrary, to take steps for its safety, and at once
* There is a gap in the text here, and all that remains of the description
of Ciustiniani's wound is the words cepit in ..... mentum,
132
sent ambassadors to the Sultan with fine gifts, saying, 'We have a
good pact between us,' and asking in submissiveness that he should
be willing to continue it with us. But no answer was given. The ships
dragged themselves to a place where they could raise their sails.
I sent a message to the masters, that for the love of God and for
pity's sake they should stay the next day, since I was sure we would
reach an agreement with the Sultan. They would have nothing of it,
but made sail in the very middle of the night. In the morning, when
the Sultan heard the news that the ships had gone, he told our
ambassadors that he wanted the city thrown open to him, and we
were barely able to keep our persons and our possessions safe; he
said that we had done as much as we could to save Constantinople,
and that we had stopped him from capturing it on the very first
day. Here indeed he spoke the truth, and we were in the greatest
danger. To escape his rage, we had to do what he wanted, as you
will see from the enclosed; everything was done in the name of the
burghers. I thought it best not to take part in anything, but after-
wards I visited the Sultan, who came here twice. He caused de-
struction everywhere. The towers on the walls were broken down,
and much of the foss filled in, and he had the Tower of the Holy
Cross pulled down; also part of a curtain wall inside the barbican,
and part of the barbican. The sea walls were left standing. He took
all our cannon, and intends to take all the weapons and means of
making war which the citizens have. He has also had lists made of
all the property belonging to the merchants and citizens who have
left here, saying, 'If they return, they shall have them back, and
if not, it will all belong to me.' .
Because of this, we arranged for a message to be sent to Ch1OS,to
tell all the merchants and citizens who had left here that they could
come back; and jf they did, they would have their property. With
the Sultan's messenger we sent Antonio Cocca, and told all the
merchants how the Venetians had left all their stocks of goods here.
As to our own citizens who had gone away with their families and
households, this letter informed them in the same way that all
Genoese could travel on business in these parts.
That night the Sultan went back to Adrianople, and there he se~t
for Halil Pasha and made him pay a huge sum of moner A~ this
time too he had the Bailo of the Venetians decapitated, WIth hISson
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II

and seven other Venetians, and also the Catalan consul with five
Greeks nor the Venetians. By the One True God, unless some action
or six other Catalans. Now you can see whether we were in any
is taken by the Christians, the Sultan will surprise them; all his
danger. He looked for Maurizio Cataneo and Paolo Bocchiardi, who aspirations are in the direction of further wars.
went into hiding, and sent one of his officers here to guard the place;
My nephew Imperiali was captured, and I have done everything
while he sent other officers to Constantinople with about fifteen
possible to get him back. His identity was discovered, and they
hundred janissaries. He sent an officer to Chios, as it is said, to
would not allow him to be ransomed. Then the Sultan heard of
demand that a transit tax should be levied, and it is said that he is
him, and took him, and another, a Venetian, with him; the reason
sending one here, and intends to do the same in Caffa and all the
being, that he wants to have some Latins at his court, which has
larger ports. He also demanded from the Despot of Serbia certain thrown me into such melancholy that I scarcely know how to go on
territories which had been held by his father, and the Despot was living.
most unwilling to hand them over. In sum, he has become so in- I have done everything I could for the present, but could not get
solent after the capture of Constantinople that he sees himself soon him back. I hope it will not take too long, if I keep up my efforts;
becoming master of the whole world, and swears publicly that before money will not stand in the way, even if I am left with nothing but
two years have passed he intends to reach Rome; and by the One my shirt. Whichever way I look, I see trouble. Forgive me if lam
True God, unless the Christians take action quickly, he is likely to not writing very clearly; my mind is so disordered that I hardly
do things that will fill them with amazement. On the other hand, know what I am doing. For the last eighteen months I have had
if they make the necessary preparations, Constantinople will be the nothing but work and worries, and in one day all our labours went
beginning of his ruin.
for nothing, because of our sins, I can readily believe.
For your information, the terms of the agreement which has been My deepest respects to our master the Doge; I am not writing to
made are that our citizens can appoint a senior official to administer him, because my spirits are so low. My respects too, if you please,
justice among them. When this agreement had been made, I planned to my father-in-law, to whom I have not written for the same
to leave the Residence, and find a house for myself. But the citizens reason, and you can read this letter to him. Commend me to my
asked me to stay in the Residence and continue governing them until father and your wife, and give my greetings to the others.
such time as it was possible for me to leave. For a number of reasons
I was happy to agree to their request, although not, you will under- Angelo Giovanni, merchant.
stand, because it included any salary.
The Sultan does not propose to levy any taxes, except for a poll-
tax; but the Compere * have lost the places which belonged to them.
I would most strongly recommend to our Doge that he should
arrange for a full-scale embassy to come here, to discuss everything
that applies to our places of business; at the same time he should
not relax his efforts to organise the Christian nations, and should
do what has been done up to now. We are continually looking for
aid; our forces now consist of one small vessel with a hundred and
forty eight men, such as they are. I can see the hand of God in this
whole affair, because no one played his part properly, neither the

* Genoese trading associations.

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The Genoese merchants are to come and go freely and transact

their own business. We shall not take their children as janissaries,
nor any other young person there. They are not to have Turks
Appendix: Mehmet's treaty with the Genoese planted among them, unless they are of high rank, or in the event
that Our Majesty should send one of Our servants to oversee them.
The people of Galata are also to have permission to appoint an
We the great Lord and Emir, the Sultan Mehmet Bey, son of the official among themselves, to direct the administration which their
great Lord and Emir, the Sultan Murat Bey. trade demands. ]anissaries and slaves are not to be lodged in their
Do swear by the God of Heaven and Earth, and by our great houses. Let them collect the taxes which they owe, and keep
Prophet Mahomet, and by the Seven Names * which we Mahometans accounts of what they have spent in doing so; and let them recoup
have and confess, and by the hundred and twenty-four thousand these expenses from their own people. Their merchants are not to be
prophets of God, and by the spirit of Our Father's Father and of subject to requisition orders. The merchants of Genoa are to have
Our Father, and by the life of Our children and by the sword which freedom to come and to go, and are to pay taxes according to the
We wear. laws in force and the prevailing custom.
That whereas the general magistrates of Galata have sent their This present treaty was written down, and the oath sworn by
worthy ambassadors to the Porte of Our Majesty, the noble Mar- Our Majesty, in the year of the world6l)6r, and 857 since the Hegira.
chesis de Franchi and their dragoman Nicolo Pagliuzzi, and have
done reverence to Our Majesty and humbled themselves before Our
Majesty, and have placed themselves in the power of Our Majesty:
They are to obey the laws and customs in force throughout Our
dominions. We shall not destroy their fortifications. They are to
keep their property and their houses, their shops and their vine-
yards, their mills and their ships, their boats and their merchandise
entire, and their women and their children according to their wishes.
,
They may sell their goods as freely as in any other part of Our
dominions. They may come and go freely by land and sea,without
paying any taxes or tolls, except for the poll tax, as is the custom in
every part of Our dominions.
Let them observe their own laws and customs, and preserve them
now and in the future; and We will keep them as earnestly and hold
them as dear as those which are current in our own dominions. They
may keep their churches and hold services in them, provided that
they do not ring bells or sound semantra. t We shall not try to tum
their churches into mosques, but they are not to build any new
churches .

• Or 'Books'.
t Pieces of wood, beaten to attract attention, as still used in Greece.

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