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Y309: The Ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire 1453–1606

Depth study: The Fall of Constantinople 1453 — the siege, the fall and its significance

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 3

Overview

Recall questions on Ottoman artillery, the Golden Horn, religious motivation, the final assault, the fate of Constantine XI, the sack, reactions in Christendom and Islam, economic effects and debates over 1453 and Mehmed’s motives.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What accidents of the final assault helped the Ottomans?

Process

What effects did the fall have on the European economy?

Key term

Why do historians dispute the claim that 1453 caused the Renaissance and the age of discovery?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was new about the Ottoman artillery in 1453?

    Model answer

    A Hungarian founder built enormous bombards for the sultan, one of them firing stone shot of several hundred kilograms, and sustained bombardment from early April broke sections of walls that had held for a thousand years.

  2. 2

    How did Mehmed overcome the chain across the Golden Horn?

    Model answer

    He had ships dragged overland on greased rollers behind Galata and launched into the Horn in April, forcing the defenders to man a second stretch of wall they could not spare men for.

  3. 3

    What role did religious motivation play in the campaign?

    Model answer

    The siege was preached as holy war, promising the fulfilment of an old prophecy that the city would fall to a Muslim army, which drew volunteers and sustained morale through a long and costly siege.

  4. 4

    What accidents of the final assault helped the Ottomans?

    Model answer

    The Genoese commander Giustiniani was wounded and carried off, which shook the defence, and a small postern gate was found open, letting attackers inside the outer defences.

  5. 5

    What happened to Constantine XI?

    Model answer

    He was last seen fighting at the breach and his body was never certainly identified, which allowed the later legend of the emperor who would return.

  6. 6

    How much bloodshed and looting followed the capture?

    Model answer

    The city was given over to plunder and thousands were killed or enslaved, though Mehmed halted the sack early to preserve the capital he intended to make of it, converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque and resettling the city afterwards; historians still disagree over how far accounts of the slaughter were exaggerated.

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