Siege of Constantinople (1422)
Siege of Constantinople | |||||||
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Part of the Byzantine-Ottoman wars. | |||||||
Constantinople in 1422; the oldest surviving map of the city | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Byzantine Empire | Ottoman Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
The first full-scale
When Murad II emerged as the winning successor to his father, he marched into Byzantine territory. The Turks had acquired their own cannon for the first time by the siege of 1422, "falcons", which were short but wide cannons.[1] The two sides were evenly matched technologically, and the Turks had to build barricades "in order to receive ... the stones of the bombards".[1]
Siege
According to a Byzantine short chronicle compiled in c. 1425, "on 10 June, Wednesday, at the fourth hour after midday,
Murad was forced to lift the siege due to the rebellion of his younger brother,
Aftermath
In spite of the Byzantine victory, the 'Empire' at this time had in fact been reduced to a few disconnected strips of land besides the city of Constantinople itself. It was also facing grave economic problems and severely lacked soldiers.
Traditions
Byzantine accounts attributed the lifting of the siege to an apparition of the Theotokos upon the city walls, which greatly inspired the defenders.[1] John Kananos records that:
The Romans, although exhausted from fatigue, leapt and were glad… They shouted hymns to the
Most Holy Virgin, glorifying her from the depths of their hearts, saying "This is in truth a rich, celebrated, memorable, extraordinary and remarkable miracle worthy of admiration."
Also in the same reference, the Ottoman Army notes that they themselves even saw a woman in purple robes walking on the outer ramparts of the city.[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 1-84176-759-X.
- ^ Imber 1990, p. 94.
- ^ Imber 1990, p. 95.
Sources
- Imber, Colin (1990). The Ottoman Empire: 1300-1481. Isis. ISBN 978-975-428-015-9.