Constantinople: The Last Great Siege, 1453 (56 page)

Muslim armies

agile, resourceful and hardy
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ambushed and destroyed (678)
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tricked by Leo II
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defeated in the Loire Valley (732)
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Muslim navies

ships built in Egypt and Palestine
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Cyprus taken in 648
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Battle of the Masts (655)
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base at Cyzicus
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Christians
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,
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fleet destroyed by Byzantines using Greek fire
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Mustapha (standard-bearer of the Anatolian army)
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Naples
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National Gallery, London
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Negroponte
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Nestor-Iskander
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Nicaea, Anatolia (later Iznik)
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,
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Nicene Creed
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,
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Nicephorus Palaiologos
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Nicephorus Phocas, Emperor
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,
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Nicholas I, Pope
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Nicholas V, Pope
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Nicomedia, fall of (1337)
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Nile delta
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Notaras, Grand Duke Lucas
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Novo Brdo, Serbia
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Odo de Deuil
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Old Royal Palace
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Omar Bey
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Orban (Hungarian cannon founder)
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Orhan, Prince, Ottoman pretender
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Orhan, son of Osman
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Orthodox Church

dispute with the papacy
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,
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start of the Great Schism
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compared with Western tradition
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rift over the Nicene Creed
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and potential unity with the Church of Rome
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Council of Florence (1438 )
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and celebration of union at St Sophia
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importance of prayer to survival of the city
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Crete a bastion of the Church
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Oruch
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Osman
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his dream of Constantinople
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his domain
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first victory over the Byzantines
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tomb of
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Otranto
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,
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Ottoman army

creation of
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Christians
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,
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defeats the Serbs (1371)
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victory at Varna (1444)
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,
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enslaves Greeks in the Morea (1146)
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Tursun Bey on
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the call to arms
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,
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command structure
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advances towards Constantinople (1453)
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,
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Greek villages taken in its path
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reaches Constantinople (April 1453)
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encampment
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clothing and equipment
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size at the siege
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casualties from close-range fighting
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military band
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,
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retreat to camp
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Mehmet unable to command the love of his army
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low morale
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,
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essential disciplines of Ottoman warfare
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statistics
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Zaganos prepares the army for battle
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commitment to the final attack
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Mehmet promises three days of plunder
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,
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final work in the camp
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,
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Akshemsettin on its motivation
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starts to deploy into regimental formations (28 May)
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on the eve of battle
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the attack
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festivities in the camp
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Ottoman court
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chilly atmosphere
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Mehmet in
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,
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technical mercenaries
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two factions
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Ottoman Empire

a multicultural creation
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ten-year truce with Christians
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uprising by Bey of Karaman
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Constantinople as a threat to its security
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comes fully into its own
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,
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Ottoman fleet
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defecting Byzantines help to build a fleet
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caught and destroyed at Gallipoli (1416)
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shipbuilding programme
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brought to a Constantinople siege for the first time (1453)
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approaches the city from the Dardanelles
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,
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rows to the Double Columns
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Mehmet’s objectives
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confronts Genoese intruders
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,
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,
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ships moved overland to the Galata basin
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failed Genoese attempt to burn Ottoman ships
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floating of pontoon bridge
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larger fleet encircles the city
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forces open sea gates
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Ottomans

emergence from the Turkmen (about 1280)
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a caste of illiterate warriors
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history subsequently reconstructed
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styled as gazis
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become sultans
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,
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quick-witted, flexible and open
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genetic inclusiveness
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myth of the Savage Turk
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identity
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quick-learning
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rapid assimilation of cannon technology
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crescent moon symbol
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Ovid
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Pacific Ocean
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Palaiologos family
see
House of Palaiologos

Pantocrator, monastery of the
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papacy

dispute with the Orthodox Church
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,
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Council of Florence
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and citizens of Constantinople
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parandaria
(heavy transport barges)
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partial eclipse
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,
2

Patras, siege of
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Patriarchs
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Paul the Silentiary
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Pears, Sir Edward
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Pechenegs
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Pelekanos, Battle of (1329)
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Peloponnese (Morea)
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Pera see Galata

Persia
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Persian Empire
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Persians
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,
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Petra quarter, Constantinople
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Petrion
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Phanar district, Constantinople
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Piccolomini, Aeneas Sylvius
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Pius II, Pope
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Plataea, Battle of (479 BC)
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Plateia, Constantinople
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Plateia Gate
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Plato
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,
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priming powder
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Princes’ Islands
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,
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Prinkipo, Princes’ Islands
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Procopius
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prophecy
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Provence
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Psalms
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