The Grand Turk: Sultan Mehmet II - Conqueror of Constantinople and Master of an Empire by John Freely Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: John Freely
was founded c. 660 BC. The first six hills are connected by a ridge that rises above the south side of the Golden Horn, while the Seventh Hill rises to two peaks above the Marmara shore of the city. The Seventh Hill is separated from the first six by the deep valley of the Lycus, a stream that flows into the city midway along the land walls and eventually empties into the Marmara. Defence walls protected the city on its seaward sides as well, extending along the shores of the Golden Horn and the Marmara to join the ends of the land walls.
The First Hill is crowned by Haghia Sophia, a magnificent domed basilica erected by the emperor Justinian in the years 532-7. On the Marmara slope of the First Hill was the Great Palace of Byzantine, first built by the emperor Constantine the Great when he established Constantinople as the capital of his empire in 330. Later emperors enlarged and embellished the Great Palace, particularly Justinian, but it was ruined during the Latin occupation of 1204-61. After the Greek recapture of Constantinople in 1261 the emperors of the Palaeologus dynasty resided in the Palace of Blachernae, built on the slope of the Sixth Hill leading down to the Golden Horn, with an annex known as the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus (Turkish Tekfursaray) standing further up the hill. Both palaces were built into the land walls, which would put the imperial household on the front line during the Ottoman siege of the city.
On the northern side of the lower stretch of the Golden Horn across from Constantinople was the independent city state of Galata, also known as Pera. The Genoese signed a treaty in the spring of 1261 with the emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus, and after his troops recaptured Constantinople that summer Genoa was given control of Galata, governing the city through an official known as the podesta . The treaty did not allow the Genoese to fortify Galata, but they disregarded this and soon afterwards they began building fortifications. The bastion of the Genoese fortifications was the Tower of Christ, now known as the Galata Tower, from which defence walls ran down to both the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, with sea walls along the shore.
Genoa tried to remain neutral, while giving the podesta in Galata, Angelo Lomellino, a free hand. The Genoese in Galata were sympathetic to their fellow Christians in Constantinople, a number of them crossing the Horn to join in the defence of the city. Other Genoese came from Genoa to join in the defence, including Maurizio Cattaneo, the two brothers Geronimo and Leonardo di Langasco, and the three Bocchiardo brothers, Paolo, Antonio and Troilo, who brought at their own expense a small company of soldiers. There were also a few volunteers from elsewhere in Europe. These included the Catalan community in Constantinople and their consul, Péré Julia, along with some Catalan sailors; the Castilian nobleman Don Francisco de Toledo, a distant relative of Emperor Constantine; and the military engineer Johannes Grant, usually called a German, but who was probably a Scottish mercenary. Prince Orhan, the Turkish pretender, also volunteered to join in the defence of the city along with the men of his household.
Mehmet’s plan to attack Constantinople was already evident in February 1452, when Constantine sent an ambassador to inform the Venetian Senate that the sultan was preparing to besiege the city, which he said would inevitably fall unless the Christian powers of Europe came to the aid of Byzantium.
The Venetians agreed to send supplies to Constantinople, but they held off on promising military assistance, partly because of their own war with Florence, and also to see what the other Christian powers would do to help Byzantium. The Senate appealed in the name of Byzantium to Pope Nicholas V, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, King Ferrante of Naples and John Hunyadi of Hungary, ‘informing them furthermore of the provisions that we have taken on our part, and
The First Hill is crowned by Haghia Sophia, a magnificent domed basilica erected by the emperor Justinian in the years 532-7. On the Marmara slope of the First Hill was the Great Palace of Byzantine, first built by the emperor Constantine the Great when he established Constantinople as the capital of his empire in 330. Later emperors enlarged and embellished the Great Palace, particularly Justinian, but it was ruined during the Latin occupation of 1204-61. After the Greek recapture of Constantinople in 1261 the emperors of the Palaeologus dynasty resided in the Palace of Blachernae, built on the slope of the Sixth Hill leading down to the Golden Horn, with an annex known as the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus (Turkish Tekfursaray) standing further up the hill. Both palaces were built into the land walls, which would put the imperial household on the front line during the Ottoman siege of the city.
On the northern side of the lower stretch of the Golden Horn across from Constantinople was the independent city state of Galata, also known as Pera. The Genoese signed a treaty in the spring of 1261 with the emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus, and after his troops recaptured Constantinople that summer Genoa was given control of Galata, governing the city through an official known as the podesta . The treaty did not allow the Genoese to fortify Galata, but they disregarded this and soon afterwards they began building fortifications. The bastion of the Genoese fortifications was the Tower of Christ, now known as the Galata Tower, from which defence walls ran down to both the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, with sea walls along the shore.
Genoa tried to remain neutral, while giving the podesta in Galata, Angelo Lomellino, a free hand. The Genoese in Galata were sympathetic to their fellow Christians in Constantinople, a number of them crossing the Horn to join in the defence of the city. Other Genoese came from Genoa to join in the defence, including Maurizio Cattaneo, the two brothers Geronimo and Leonardo di Langasco, and the three Bocchiardo brothers, Paolo, Antonio and Troilo, who brought at their own expense a small company of soldiers. There were also a few volunteers from elsewhere in Europe. These included the Catalan community in Constantinople and their consul, Péré Julia, along with some Catalan sailors; the Castilian nobleman Don Francisco de Toledo, a distant relative of Emperor Constantine; and the military engineer Johannes Grant, usually called a German, but who was probably a Scottish mercenary. Prince Orhan, the Turkish pretender, also volunteered to join in the defence of the city along with the men of his household.
Mehmet’s plan to attack Constantinople was already evident in February 1452, when Constantine sent an ambassador to inform the Venetian Senate that the sultan was preparing to besiege the city, which he said would inevitably fall unless the Christian powers of Europe came to the aid of Byzantium.
The Venetians agreed to send supplies to Constantinople, but they held off on promising military assistance, partly because of their own war with Florence, and also to see what the other Christian powers would do to help Byzantium. The Senate appealed in the name of Byzantium to Pope Nicholas V, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, King Ferrante of Naples and John Hunyadi of Hungary, ‘informing them furthermore of the provisions that we have taken on our part, and
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