Constantinople Siege and Fall
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the siege of Constantinople in 1453. When Sultan Mehmet the Second rode into the city of Constantinople on a white horse in 1453, it marked the end of a thousand years of the Byzantine Empire. After holding out for 53 days, the city had fallen. And as one contemporary witness described it: “The blood flowed in the city like rainwater in the gutters after a sudden storm”. It was the end of the classical world and the crowning of an Ottoman Empire that would last until 1922.Constantinople was a city worth fighting for - its position as a bridge between Europe and Asia and its triangular shape with a deep water port made it ideal both for trade and defence. It was also rumoured to harbour great wealth. Whoever conquered it would reap rewards both material and political. Earlier attempts to capture the city had largely failed - so why did the Ottomans succeed this time? What difference did the advances in weaponry such as cannons make in the outcome of the battle? And what effect did the fall of Constantinople have on the rest of the Christian world?With Roger Crowley, author and historian; Judith Herrin, Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King’s College London; Colin Imber, formerly Reader in Turkish at Manchester University.
→ Listen on BBC Sounds website
Guests
-
Roger Crowley No other episodes
Author and historian - Judith Herrin
2 episodes
Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King's College London -
Colin Imber No other episodes
Formerly Reader in Turkish at Manchester University
Related episodes
-
Byzantium
19 Jul, 2001 940 History of Europe -
The Siege of Vienna
14 May, 2009 940 History of Europe -
The Siege of Malta, 1565
11 Jan, 2018 940 History of Europe -
The Battle of Lepanto
12 Nov, 2015 940 History of Europe -
The Venetian Empire
3 Nov, 2024 940 History of Europe -
Third Crusade
29 Nov, 2001 940 History of Europe -
The Plague of Justinian
21 Jan, 2021 940 History of Europe -
The Schism
16 Oct, 2003 270 History of Christianity -
Constantine the Great
5 Oct, 2017 930 History of the Ancient World -
The Sack of Rome 1527
22 Feb, 2024 940 History of Europe
Programme ID: p0038xbd
Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0038xbd
Auto-category: 949.6 (Byzantine Empire and Ottoman Empire)
Hello (First sentence from this episode)
Hello. When Sultan Mehmed II rode into the city of Constantinople on a white horse in 1453, it marked the end of a thousand years of the Byzantine Empire.