The beginning of the Ottoman conquests. Fall of Byzantium

On May 29, 1453, the capital of the Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks. Tuesday May 29 is one of the most important dates in the world. On this day, the Byzantine Empire, created back in 395, ceased to exist as a result of the final division of the Roman Empire after the death of Emperor Theodosius I into western and eastern parts. With her death, a huge period of human history ended. In the lives of many peoples of Europe, Asia and North Africa, a radical change occurred due to the establishment of Turkish rule and the creation of the Ottoman Empire.

It is clear that the fall of Constantinople is not a clear line between the two eras. The Turks established themselves in Europe a century before the fall of the great capital. And by the time of its fall, the Byzantine Empire was already a fragment of its former greatness - the emperor’s power extended only to Constantinople with its suburbs and part of the territory of Greece with the islands. Byzantium of the 13th-15th centuries can only be called an empire conditionally. At the same time, Constantinople was a symbol of the ancient empire and was considered the “Second Rome”.

Background of the fall

In the 13th century, one of the Turkic tribes - the Kays - led by Ertogrul Bey, forced out of their nomadic camps in the Turkmen steppes, migrated westward and stopped in Asia Minor. The tribe assisted the Sultan of the largest Turkish state (founded by the Seljuk Turks) - the Rum (Konya) Sultanate - Alaeddin Kay-Kubad in his fight against the Byzantine Empire. For this, the Sultan gave Ertogrul land in the region of Bithynia as fief. The son of the leader Ertogrul - Osman I (1281-1326), despite his constantly growing power, recognized his dependence on Konya. Only in 1299 did he accept the title of Sultan and soon subjugated the entire western part of Asia Minor, winning a series of victories over the Byzantines. By the name of Sultan Osman, his subjects began to be called Ottoman Turks, or Ottomans (Ottomans). In addition to wars with the Byzantines, the Ottomans fought for the subjugation of other Muslim possessions - by 1487, the Ottoman Turks established their power over all Muslim possessions of the Asia Minor Peninsula.

The Muslim clergy, including local dervish orders, played a major role in strengthening the power of Osman and his successors. The clergy not only played a significant role in the creation of a new great power, but justified the policy of expansion as a “struggle for faith.” In 1326, the largest trading city of Bursa, the most important point of transit caravan trade between the West and the East, was captured by the Ottoman Turks. Then Nicaea and Nicomedia fell. The sultans distributed the lands captured from the Byzantines to the nobility and distinguished warriors as timars - conditional possessions received for serving (estates). Gradually, the Timar system became the basis of the socio-economic and military-administrative structure of the Ottoman state. Under Sultan Orhan I (ruled from 1326 to 1359) and his son Murad I (ruled from 1359 to 1389), important military reforms were carried out: the irregular cavalry was reorganized - cavalry and infantry troops convened from Turk farmers were created. Warriors of the cavalry and infantry troops were farmers in peacetime, receiving benefits, and during the war they were obliged to join the army. In addition, the army was supplemented by a militia of peasants of the Christian faith and a corps of Janissaries. The Janissaries initially took captured Christian youths who were forced to convert to Islam, and from the first half of the 15th century - from the sons of Christian subjects of the Ottoman Sultan (in the form of a special tax). The sipahis (a kind of nobles of the Ottoman state who received income from the timars) and the janissaries became the core of the army of the Ottoman sultans. In addition, units of gunners, gunsmiths and other units were created in the army. As a result, a powerful power arose on the borders of Byzantium, which claimed dominance in the region.

It must be said that the Byzantine Empire and the Balkan states themselves accelerated their fall. During this period, there was a sharp struggle between Byzantium, Genoa, Venice and the Balkan states. Often the fighting parties sought to gain military support from the Ottomans. Naturally, this greatly facilitated the expansion of the Ottoman power. The Ottomans received information about routes, possible crossings, fortifications, strengths and weaknesses of the enemy troops, the internal situation, etc. Christians themselves helped cross the straits to Europe.

The Ottoman Turks achieved great success under Sultan Murad II (ruled 1421-1444 and 1446-1451). Under him, the Turks recovered from the heavy defeat inflicted by Tamerlane in the Battle of Angora in 1402. In many ways, it was this defeat that delayed the death of Constantinople for half a century. The Sultan suppressed all the uprisings of the Muslim rulers. In June 1422, Murad besieged Constantinople, but was unable to take it. The lack of a fleet and powerful artillery had an effect. In 1430, the large city of Thessalonica in northern Greece was captured; it belonged to the Venetians. Murad II won a number of important victories on the Balkan Peninsula, significantly expanding the possessions of his power. So in October 1448 the battle took place on the Kosovo Field. In this battle, the Ottoman army opposed the combined forces of Hungary and Wallachia under the command of the Hungarian general Janos Hunyadi. The fierce three-day battle ended with the complete victory of the Ottomans, and decided the fate of the Balkan peoples - for several centuries they found themselves under the rule of the Turks. After this battle, the Crusaders suffered a final defeat and made no further serious attempts to recapture the Balkan Peninsula from the Ottoman Empire. The fate of Constantinople was decided, the Turks had the opportunity to solve the problem of capturing the ancient city. Byzantium itself no longer posed a great threat to the Turks, but a coalition of Christian countries, relying on Constantinople, could cause significant harm. The city was located practically in the middle of the Ottoman possessions, between Europe and Asia. The task of capturing Constantinople was decided by Sultan Mehmed II.

Byzantium. By the 15th century, the Byzantine power had lost most of its possessions. The entire 14th century was a period of political failure. For several decades it seemed that Serbia would be able to capture Constantinople. Various internal strife were a constant source of civil wars. Thus, the Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos (who reigned from 1341 to 1391) was overthrown from the throne three times: by his father-in-law, his son and then his grandson. In 1347, the Black Death epidemic swept through, killing at least a third of the population of Byzantium. The Turks crossed to Europe, and taking advantage of the troubles of Byzantium and the Balkan countries, by the end of the century they reached the Danube. As a result, Constantinople was surrounded on almost all sides. In 1357, the Turks captured Gallipoli, and in 1361, Adrianople, which became the center of Turkish possessions on the Balkan Peninsula. In 1368, Nissa (the suburban seat of the Byzantine emperors) submitted to Sultan Murad I, and the Ottomans were already under the walls of Constantinople.

In addition, there was the problem of the struggle between supporters and opponents of the union with the Catholic Church. For many Byzantine politicians it was obvious that without the help of the West, the empire could not survive. Back in 1274, at the Council of Lyon, the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII promised the pope to seek reconciliation of the churches for political and economic reasons. True, his son Emperor Andronikos II convened a council of the Eastern Church, which rejected the decisions of the Lyon Council. Then John Palaiologos went to Rome, where he solemnly accepted the faith according to the Latin rite, but did not receive help from the West. Supporters of union with Rome were mainly politicians or belonged to the intellectual elite. The lower clergy were the open enemies of the union. John VIII Palaiologos (Byzantine emperor in 1425-1448) believed that Constantinople could only be saved with the help of the West, so he tried to conclude a union with the Roman Church as quickly as possible. In 1437, together with the patriarch and a delegation of Orthodox bishops, the Byzantine emperor went to Italy and spent more than two years there, first in Ferrara, and then at the Ecumenical Council in Florence. At these meetings, both sides often reached an impasse and were ready to stop negotiations. But John forbade his bishops to leave the council until a compromise decision was made. In the end, the Orthodox delegation was forced to concede to the Catholics on almost all major issues. On July 6, 1439, the Union of Florence was adopted, and the Eastern churches were reunited with the Latin. True, the union turned out to be fragile; after a few years, many Orthodox hierarchs present at the Council began to openly deny their agreement with the union or say that the decisions of the Council were caused by bribery and threats from Catholics. As a result, the union was rejected by most Eastern churches. The majority of the clergy and people did not accept this union. In 1444, the Pope was able to organize a crusade against the Turks (the main force was the Hungarians), but at Varna the crusaders suffered a crushing defeat.

Disputes about the union took place against the backdrop of the country's economic decline. Constantinople at the end of the 14th century was a sad city, a city of decline and destruction. The loss of Anatolia deprived the capital of the empire of almost all agricultural land. The population of Constantinople, which in the 12th century numbered up to 1 million people (together with the suburbs), fell to 100 thousand and continued to decline - by the time of the fall there were approximately 50 thousand people in the city. The suburb on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus was captured by the Turks. The suburb of Pera (Galata) on the other side of the Golden Horn was a colony of Genoa. The city itself, surrounded by a 14-mile wall, lost a number of neighborhoods. In fact, the city turned into several separate settlements, separated by vegetable gardens, orchards, abandoned parks, and ruins of buildings. Many had their own walls and fences. The most populous villages were located along the banks of the Golden Horn. The richest quarter adjacent to the bay belonged to the Venetians. Nearby were streets where Westerners lived - Florentines, Anconans, Ragusians, Catalans and Jews. But the piers and bazaars were still full of traders from Italian cities, Slavic and Muslim lands. Pilgrims, mainly from Rus', arrived in the city every year.

Last years before the fall of Constantinople, preparation for war

The last emperor of Byzantium was Constantine XI Palaiologos (who ruled in 1449-1453). Before becoming emperor, he was the despot of Morea, a Greek province of Byzantium. Konstantin had a sound mind, was a good warrior and administrator. He had the gift of arousing the love and respect of his subjects; he was greeted in the capital with great joy. During the short years of his reign, he prepared Constantinople for a siege, sought help and alliance in the West, and tried to calm the turmoil caused by the union with the Roman Church. He appointed Luka Notaras as his first minister and commander-in-chief of the fleet.

Sultan Mehmed II received the throne in 1451. He was a purposeful, energetic, intelligent person. Although it was initially believed that this was not a young man brimming with talents, this impression was formed from the first attempt to rule in 1444-1446, when his father Murad II (he transferred the throne to his son in order to distance himself from state affairs) had to return to the throne to resolve emerging issues. problems. This calmed the European rulers; they all had their own problems. Already in the winter of 1451-1452. Sultan Mehmed ordered the construction of a fortress to begin at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus Strait, thereby cutting off Constantinople from the Black Sea. The Byzantines were confused - this was the first step towards a siege. An embassy was sent with a reminder of the oath of the Sultan, who promised to preserve the territorial integrity of Byzantium. The embassy left no response. Constantine sent envoys with gifts and asked not to touch the Greek villages located on the Bosporus. The Sultan ignored this mission too. In June, a third embassy was sent - this time the Greeks were arrested and then beheaded. In fact, it was a declaration of war.

By the end of August 1452, the Bogaz-Kesen fortress (“cutting the strait” or “cutting the throat”) was built. Powerful guns were installed in the fortress and a ban was announced on passing the Bosphorus without inspection. Two Venetian ships were driven off and the third was sunk. The crew was beheaded and the captain was impaled - this dispelled all illusions about Mehmed's intentions. The actions of the Ottomans caused concern not only in Constantinople. The Venetians owned an entire quarter in the Byzantine capital; they had significant privileges and benefits from trade. It was clear that after the fall of Constantinople the Turks would not stop; Venice’s possessions in Greece and the Aegean Sea were under attack. The problem was that the Venetians were bogged down in a costly war in Lombardy. An alliance with Genoa was impossible; relations with Rome were strained. And I didn’t want to spoil relations with the Turks - the Venetians also carried out profitable trade in Ottoman ports. Venice allowed Constantine to recruit soldiers and sailors in Crete. In general, Venice remained neutral during this war.

Genoa found itself in approximately the same situation. The fate of Pera and the Black Sea colonies caused concern. The Genoese, like the Venetians, showed flexibility. The government appealed to the Christian world to send assistance to Constantinople, but they themselves did not provide such support. Private citizens were given the right to act as they wished. The administrations of Pera and the island of Chios were instructed to follow such a policy towards the Turks as they considered most appropriate in the current situation.

The Ragusans, residents of the city of Ragus (Dubrovnik), as well as the Venetians, recently received confirmation of their privileges in Constantinople from the Byzantine emperor. But the Dubrovnik Republic did not want to put its trade in Ottoman ports at risk. In addition, the city-state had a small fleet and did not want to risk it unless there was a broad coalition of Christian states.

Pope Nicholas V (head of the Catholic Church from 1447 to 1455), having received a letter from Constantine agreeing to accept the union, appealed in vain to various sovereigns for help. There was no proper response to these calls. Only in October 1452, the papal legate to the emperor Isidore brought with him 200 archers hired in Naples. The problem of union with Rome again caused controversy and unrest in Constantinople. December 12, 1452 in the church of St. Sophia served a solemn liturgy in the presence of the emperor and the entire court. It mentioned the names of the Pope and Patriarch and officially proclaimed the provisions of the Union of Florence. Most of the townspeople accepted this news with sullen passivity. Many hoped that if the city stood, it would be possible to reject the union. But having paid this price for help, the Byzantine elite miscalculated - ships with soldiers from Western states did not arrive to help the dying empire.

At the end of January 1453, the issue of war was finally resolved. Turkish troops in Europe were ordered to attack Byzantine cities in Thrace. The cities on the Black Sea surrendered without a fight and escaped pogrom. Some cities on the coast of the Sea of ​​Marmara tried to defend themselves and were destroyed. Part of the army invaded the Peloponnese and attacked the brothers of Emperor Constantine so that they could not come to the aid of the capital. The Sultan took into account the fact that a number of previous attempts to take Constantinople (by his predecessors) failed due to the lack of a fleet. The Byzantines had the opportunity to transport reinforcements and supplies by sea. In March, all the ships at the Turks' disposal are brought to Gallipoli. Some of the ships were new, built within the last few months. The Turkish fleet had 6 triremes (two-masted sailing and rowing ships, one oar was held by three oarsmen), 10 biremes (a single-masted ship, where there were two rowers on one oar), 15 galleys, about 75 fustas (light, fast ships), 20 parandarii (heavy transport barges) and a mass of small sailing boats and lifeboats. The head of the Turkish fleet was Suleiman Baltoglu. The rowers and sailors were prisoners, criminals, slaves and some volunteers. At the end of March, the Turkish fleet passed through the Dardanelles into the Sea of ​​Marmara, causing horror among the Greeks and Italians. This was another blow to the Byzantine elite; they did not expect that the Turks would prepare such significant naval forces and be able to blockade the city from the sea.

At the same time, an army was being prepared in Thrace. All winter, gunsmiths tirelessly worked on various types of weapons, engineers created battering and stone-throwing machines. A powerful strike force of approximately 100 thousand people was assembled. Of these, 80 thousand were regular troops - cavalry and infantry, Janissaries (12 thousand). There were approximately 20-25 thousand irregular troops - militias, bashi-bazouks (irregular cavalry, the “crazy” did not receive pay and “rewarded” themselves with looting), rear units. The Sultan also paid great attention to artillery - the Hungarian master Urban cast several powerful cannons capable of sinking ships (with the help of one of them a Venetian ship was sunk) and destroying powerful fortifications. The largest of them was pulled by 60 oxen, and a team of several hundred people was assigned to it. The gun fired cannonballs weighing approximately 1,200 pounds (about 500 kg). During March, the Sultan's huge army began to gradually move towards the Bosphorus. On April 5, Mehmed II himself arrived under the walls of Constantinople. The morale of the army was high, everyone believed in success and hoped for rich booty.

The people in Constantinople were depressed. The huge Turkish fleet in the Sea of ​​Marmara and strong enemy artillery only increased anxiety. People recalled predictions about the fall of the empire and the coming of the Antichrist. But it cannot be said that the threat deprived all people of the will to resist. All winter, men and women, encouraged by the emperor, worked to clear ditches and strengthen the walls. A fund was created for unforeseen expenses - the emperor, churches, monasteries and private individuals made investments in it. It should be noted that the problem was not the availability of money, but the lack of the required number of people, weapons (especially firearms), and the problem of food. All weapons were collected in one place so that, if necessary, they could be distributed to the most threatened areas.

There was no hope for external help. Only a few private individuals provided support to Byzantium. Thus, the Venetian colony in Constantinople offered its assistance to the emperor. Two captains of Venetian ships returning from the Black Sea, Gabriele Trevisano and Alviso Diedo, took an oath to participate in the fight. In total, the fleet defending Constantinople consisted of 26 ships: 10 of them belonged to the Byzantines themselves, 5 to the Venetians, 5 to the Genoese, 3 to the Cretans, 1 came from Catalonia, 1 from Ancona and 1 from Provence. Several noble Genoese arrived to fight for the Christian faith. For example, a volunteer from Genoa, Giovanni Giustiniani Longo, brought 700 soldiers with him. Giustiniani was known as an experienced military man, so he was appointed by the emperor to command the defense of the land walls. In total, the Byzantine emperor, not including his allies, had about 5-7 thousand soldiers. It should be noted that part of the city’s population left Constantinople before the siege began. Some of the Genoese - the colony of Pera and the Venetians - remained neutral. On the night of February 26, seven ships - 1 from Venice and 6 from Crete - left the Golden Horn, taking away 700 Italians.

To be continued…

"The Death of an Empire. Byzantine lesson"- a journalistic film by the abbot of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery, Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov). The premiere took place on the state channel “Russia” on January 30, 2008. The presenter, Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov), gives his version of the collapse of the Byzantine Empire in the first person.

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As night fell, the crusaders stopped their attacks and moved their camp within the city fortifications and settled down for the night. A terrible night fell on the ancient capital of Byzantium, all as if woven from fear and anxiety. Murzufl, abandoned by everyone, found nothing better than to flee the city.

The fall of the empire could no longer be stopped. In a hurry, they choose a new emperor - Theodore Lascaris. But neither the nobility nor the people respond to his calls. In despair, he also leaves the doomed city.

The fire that started during the attack, which no one was putting out, by night turned into a raging disaster that destroyed several neighborhoods (interestingly, from this fire, in Constantinople alone, approximately the same number of houses were destroyed as there could be in three large cities of France and Germany).

In the morning, the crusaders walked in battle formation through the streets of Constantinople. But instead of battles and deaths, they were met by a delegation of residents, led by the clergy, begging only for mercy. Constantinople fell. All losses from military operations were not so many - up to 2000 people. In addition, after the surrender of the city, the crusaders were given an order not to inflict violence on the local population, so much blood was initially avoided.

But if the crusaders spared the lives of their enemies, then nothing could restrain their thirst for booty. Frantically and indiscriminately, they searched for treasures in rich and poor dwellings, not retreating either from the sanctity of churches, or from the peaceful tranquility under the roof of the coffin, or from the innocence of young creatures.

The altarpiece of the Mother of God, which served as decoration for the Church of St. Sophia and arousing astonishment as a work of art, was crushed into small pieces, and the curtain of the altar was turned into rags. The winners played dice on marble boards with images of the apostles and drank until drunk from vessels intended for use during divine services.

The countryside, in the vicinity of the Bosphorus, presented no less a deplorable sight than the capital: villages and dachas were all devastated, patricians of royal origin, senators wandered in rags around the imperial city. While the looting of the Church of St. Sofia, the patriarch fled the city, begging for alms from passers-by. All rich people turned into beggars, and the scum of the people, rejoicing at the public disaster, called these ill-fated days days of equality and fair retribution.

Between various scenes in the devastated capital, the crusaders enjoyed dressing up in Greek costumes. In mockery of the effeminacy of the vanquished, they were draped in their wide, flowing robes, dyed in different colors.
They made their comrades laugh by putting on the heads of their horses linen headdresses with silk laces, in which the inhabitants of the East dressed up, some of them walked the streets, carrying paper and an inkwell in their hands instead of weapons in mockery of the Greeks, whom they called a nation of clerks and scribes.

Constantinople, which still stands among the ruins of many states, inherited from them the remains of art and possessed many more great works, spared by time and barbarism. When it was conquered by the crusaders, they began to make rough coins from bronze objects on which the ancient genius was imprinted. The heroes and gods of the Nile, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome fell under the blows of the victors.

Venice, in which from that time marble palaces appeared, was enriched with some rich remains of Byzantium, but the Flemings and Champagnes neglected this kind of war booty - other monuments, other treasures were kept within the walls of Constantinople, more precious to the Greeks of that era: relics and images of saints. Most of the warriors were content with more “mundane” things - they captured gold, precious stones, carpets and luxurious oriental fabrics.

Many of them acted contrary to the prohibitions of the command and were not afraid to resort to threats and violence in order to take possession of some particles of relics, this object of their reverent veneration.

Most of the Byzantine churches were thus deprived of their decorations and riches, which constituted their splendor and glory. The Greek priests and monks parted with tears with the remains of the martyrs and apostles and the instruments of the Savior’s suffering, the protection of which was entrusted to them by religion. These sacred remains were now to adorn churches in France and Italy, and were accepted by the faithful of the West as the most glorious trophy of the Crusade.

Constantinople was taken on April 12. Marshal Champagne, describing the scenes and unrest that followed the victory, naively says: “This is how the Palm Sunday holidays were spent.”

They decided to store all the loot collected in Constantinople in three churches. Under pain of death and excommunication, it was forbidden to appropriate any of these items for oneself. Despite such a double threat, of course there were disobedient people among the crusaders.

Villegarduigne, mentioning the severity of the trial of the guilty, says: “Many were executed by hanging and Monsieur de Saint-Paul ordered one of his own to be hanged with a shield around his neck.”

Three parts of the booty were divided between the French and Venetians, and the fourth part was put aside in reserve. From part of the booty that went to the French, 50,000 marks worth of valuables were taken in payment of their debt to the Venetian Republic.

Although Villegarduigne exclaims that “such rich booty has not been seen since the creation of the world,” the overall distribution turned out to be no more than 20 silver marks for each knight, 10 for a mounted warrior and 5 marks for an infantryman. All the wealth of Byzantium amounted to an amount not exceeding 1,100,000 marks.

Source - Compilation based on the book by Joseph Michaud, “History of the Crusades”, and other materials in the public domain
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The beginning of the Ottoman conquests. Fall of Byzantium.

In the late Middle Ages, Byzantium fell, and in its place a new aggressive power of the Turks, the Ottomans, emerged. The Ottoman Empire arose in the west of Asia Minor from the possessions of Sultan Osman (1258-1324). In Byzantium at this time there was an acute internal struggle. The Ottomans, helping one of the contenders for the throne, made a number of campaigns in Europe. For this they received a fortress there in 1352. From this time on, the Ottomans began their conquests in the Balkans. The Turkish population is also sent to Europe. The Ottomans captured a number of Byzantine territories, and after defeating the Serbs at Kosovo in 1389, they subjugated Serbia and Bulgaria.

In 1402, the Ottomans were defeated by the ruler of Samarkand, Timur.
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But the Turks managed to quickly restore their strength. Their new conquests are associated with the Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror. In April 1453, a Turkish army of 150 thousand people appeared under the walls of Constantinople. They were opposed by less than 10 thousand Greeks and mercenaries. The assault on the city took place in May 1453. Most of the defenders fell in battle. Among them was the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos. Mehmed II declared the city his capital under the name Istanbul.

Then the Turks captured Serbia. In 1456, Moldavia became a vassal of Turkey. The Venetians were defeated. In 1480, Turkish troops landed in Italy, but were unable to gain a foothold there. After the death of Mehmed II, conquests in the Balkans continued. The Crimean Khanate became the Sultan's vassal. Hungary was later captured. Poland, Austria, Russia, and other countries were subjected to devastating raids. The Turks began conquests in Asia and North

Changes in the internal life of European states.

In addition to tires, Europeans had to endure other disasters in the late Middle Ages. In 1347, a plague epidemic ("Black Death") hit the continent. The plague caused the greatest damage to the common people. Thus, the population of France has almost halved.

The population decline led to a decrease in the need for food. Peasants began to grow more industrial crops, which they then sold to urban artisans. The freer the peasant was, the more successfully he acted in the market, the more income he received and the more profit he could bring to his lord. Therefore, after the epidemic in many countries The liberation of peasants from serfdom accelerated. In addition, the reduction in the number of workers increased their value and forced the feudal lords to treat the peasants with greater respect. However, most lords set huge ransoms for the liberation of peasants. The response was uprisings.

Particularly large uprisings of peasants took place in France and England, where the situation worsened in connection with the Hundred Years' War. In the north of France in 1358, an uprising broke out, called Jacquerie(The nobles contemptuously called peasants Jacques). The rebels burned feudal castles and exterminated their owners. The Jacquerie was brutally suppressed. In England, in the spring of 1381, a peasant uprising broke out. The roofer became the leader of the Wat Tupler.
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Peasants killed tax collectors and destroyed estates and monasteries. The peasants were supported by the urban lower classes. Having entered London, Tanler's troops dealt with the hated nobles. At a meeting with the king, the rebels put forward demands for the abolition of serfdom, corvee, etc. The uprising was also suppressed. Despite the defeats, peasant uprisings accelerated the liberation of the peasants.

The beginning of the Ottoman conquests. Fall of Byzantium. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "The beginning of the Ottoman conquests. The fall of Byzantium." 2015, 2017-2018.

Moscow was called the “Third Rome”. And recently a date flashed by that no one paid attention to - 560 years ago, the “Second Rome” - Constantinople - collapsed. He reached the highest prosperity, defeated all his enemies, but it was not the wars that were disastrous for him, but the attempt to make friends with the West and adapt to Western standards. In general, the history of this power seems very instructive, especially for modern times.

When the Roman Empire perished under the blows of the “barbarians,” its eastern part survived. It still called itself the Roman Empire, although it was already a different state - Greek, and a different name - Byzantium - was introduced into history. This state has shown amazing vitality. In the chaos of the Early Middle Ages, it remained the main center of high civilization in Europe. Byzantine commanders won victories, the fleet dominated the seas, and the capital, Constantinople, was rightfully considered the largest and most beautiful city in the world.

The empire was the main stronghold of Christianity and created its own world system, the Orthodox one in the 10th century. Rus' also entered it. But even in Western countries, poor and fragmented, the church existed thanks to the support of the Greeks - Constantinople allocated it money, liturgical literature, and qualified clergy. Over time, significant differences accumulated between the Western and Eastern churches. Roman theologians were poorly educated and made serious mistakes in dogmatics. And most importantly, the popes assumed the role of leaders of the “Christian world.” They crowned and regulated kings and began to place their power above secular power.

Nevertheless, the Roman high priests recognized themselves as vassals of the Byzantine emperors - the Greeks provided them with protection and protected them from enemies. And even among Western rulers, the authority of Byzantium was unattainable; they fawned on it, dreamed of becoming related to the Greek dynasty, and wooed the royal daughters and sisters. Very few have received such an honor. They usually answered that they were kings of “barbarians” and were not worthy to receive as wives “those born in Purtura” (as is known, St. Vladimir forced the Byzantines to such a marriage only by force, by taking Chersonesos).

The fabulous wealth of Byzantium attracted many, and it lay in a busy place, covering the border of Europe and Asia. It was hit by invasions of the Persians, Avars, Arabs, and Bulgarians. But the soldiers of the empire fought valiantly. The entire population came out to defend the cities. And engineers invented a terrible weapon - “Greek fire”. Its composition is still unknown; from specially designed vessels installed on the walls of fortresses or ships, jets of burning liquid were emitted that could not be extinguished with water. Byzantium fought off all enemies.

But the West did not experience such powerful blows; it gradually crawled out of chaos and became stronger. And the Greeks accumulated internal diseases. Constantinople was drowning in luxury and debauchery. The officials were predatory, the capital's mob became spoiled, they craved magnificent holidays, spectacles, distributions of money, food, and wine. In the 11th century the inertia of greatness broke. Court groups of the nobility and oligarchs began to place their puppets on the throne and plunder the treasury. In pursuit of sources of income, the army was destroyed. Military service and the maintenance of troops were replaced by an additional tax. They announced that it was better to hire professionals. Although mercenaries cost five times more than their soldiers, and the money collected did not reach the troops, it flowed into the pockets of grabbers. The defense collapsed, Pecheneg raids began from the north, and Seljuk Turks from the east.

In Rome they realized that they could no longer count on help, and Pope Leo IX found another support for himself - the Norman pirates. Rude and arrogant messages were sent to Constantinople from the Vatican, and in 1054 the Latin and Greek churches were divided. And among the Greeks, the ugliness and predation of the nobility outraged their subjects, and civil strife broke out. The Seljuks took advantage of this and captured almost all of Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine.

Alexei Komnenos won the troubles. The situation of the empire was difficult, but not critical. The Pechenegs were far inferior in strength to the Avars or Bulgarians, and the Seljuk power disintegrated into emirates, which fought among themselves. But Komnenos was by nature a convinced “Westernizer.” Instead of mobilizing national forces, he began to build bridges with Europe. Against the attacks of the Normans, the king called the Venetian fleet to the rescue, and for this he granted her the right to duty-free trade throughout Byzantium. And in 1091 it became known that the Pechenegs and the Seljuk leader Chakha were preparing the next raids. Alexei panicked, turned to the pope and the kings with a message: “The empire of Greek Christians is being greatly oppressed by the Pechenegs and Turks... I myself, invested with the rank of emperor, do not see any outcome, I do not find any salvation... So, in the name of God we beg you, soldiers of Christ, hurry to help me and the Greek Christians..."

No help was needed. The Byzantines defeated the Pechenegs in alliance with the Polovtsians and Russians. And Chakha was killed in a quarrel with other Seljuk leaders, his campaign did not take place. But the emperor continued negotiations with the West about “common threats,” and this came in handy for Pope Urban II; a crusade was proclaimed at the Council of Piacenza. In 1096, avalanches of knights flowed to the east. On Greek soil they showed themselves to the fullest. They robbed and were self-willed. But Comnenus humiliated himself and ingratiated himself. He presented the leaders with breathtaking treasures, if only they would be friends with Byzantium and recapture its lost territories. But the crusaders did not refuse free jewelry, they even took a vassal oath to the emperor for this. Without much difficulty they defeated the scattered emirs and occupied Syria and Palestine. But they were not occupied for the Greeks. They expelled the imperial representatives from their army and became complete masters of the Middle East.

The son and successor of Alexei Komnenos, John, tried to correct his father’s mistakes. In contrast to the West, he strengthened the alliance with Russia and married his daughter to the Suzdal prince Yuri Dolgoruky. The Venetians, who were stifling trade, refused to confirm their privileges. Where there! It was too late. Venice immediately sent out a fleet, which began to devastate the Byzantine shores. I had to return the privileges and also pay “compensation for damages” with an apology.

And John’s heir, Manuel Komnenos, turned out to be a “Westerner” even worse than his grandfather Alexei. He gave foreigners high positions at court, in the army, and in the government. Constantinople began to dress according to European fashions. Men sported stockings and short pants, ladies wore high caps and squeezed their busts with corsages. Knight tournaments became a favorite spectacle. In addition to the Venetian merchants, Manuel brought the Genoese and Pisans into the country and gave them the same broad rights. Western management models were also adopted. Archons, the rulers of the provinces, who had previously been only officials of the king, received greater independence like dukes. And to collect taxes, the Western system of tax farming was introduced. Tax farmers contributed cash to the treasury, and collected it from the population themselves, with interest.

Manuel made an alliance with Rome. He sacrificed Orthodoxy and agreed to subordinate the Greek Church to the Vatican. And with regard to Rus', he changed his policy dramatically. He aimed to subjugate her to his influence. He supported the strife and helped place Mstislav II on the Kiev throne, who recognized himself as a vassal of the emperor. The Greek metropolis launched an attack on the Russian church, removed bishops, and excommunicated the Kiev Caves Monastery under a trifling pretext. But Mstislav II and Metropolitan Kirill in 1169 solemnly greeted the ambassadors of the Pope. It was supposed to conclude an alliance with him and send Russian soldiers to the enemy of Rome and Byzantium, the German emperor. St. did not allow committing apostasy and dragging Rus' into someone else’s war. Righteous Prince of Vladimir Andrei Bogolyubsky. He sent out regiments and captured Kyiv. Mstislav II, the Greek Cyril and the papal ambassadors fled, and the people of Vladimir took away all the shrines from the desecrated metropolitan churches (the Pechersky Monastery was taken under protection).

The people grumbled, and crooks eager for power took advantage of this. Manuel's son, Alexei II, was overthrown and killed by his uncle Andronicus in 1182, declaring himself a defender of the people's interests. In 1185, under the same slogan, Isaac the Angel overthrew him from the throne. But it only got worse. Under Angel, according to contemporaries, “positions were sold like vegetables,” “traders, money changers and dress sellers were awarded honorary distinctions for money.” It got to the point that the head of the Lagos prison would release thieves and robbers for the night, and part of the loot would go to him.

The Angels were also friends with the West. But the West never became a friend of Byzantium. European kings conducted secret negotiations with the dissatisfied, and a wave of “velvet revolutions” rolled in - Armenian Cilicia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and the Trebizond Empire separated from Byzantium. And the archons of the provinces used the greater rights they had received, did not pay attention to the government, and even fought with each other.

Meanwhile, the Crusades were running out of steam. Muslims appreciated the greed and cruelty of the Europeans. The English king Richard the Lionheart was especially distinguished by this, exterminating thousands of prisoners. The population rallied against the occupiers, and it became clear that the Middle East could not be held. But the coveted riches and lands were much closer! Pope Innocent III and the Venetian Doge Dandolo began in 1098 to prepare the Fourth Crusade against the collapsed Byzantium.

It took place in 1204. There were only 20 thousand Crusaders! But Byzantium no longer had either an army or a navy. Admiral Strifn stole and sold ships, timber, canvas, and anchors. The “Greek fire” also turned out to be lost. Engineers have not been trained for a long time, the composition has been forgotten. Even the population of Constantinople was half a million! But instead of defense, it held rallies and squabbled over who would lead the country. The knights easily broke into the city. They killed little, but robbed thoroughly. Palaces, houses, temples. The young and beautiful were selected from the residents to be sold into slavery, and the rest were stripped down to their underwear or naked (in the West, even a shirt was considered of considerable value) and kicked out.

And when crowds of robbed people wandered along the roads, the inhabitants of the province laughed at them! They say, this is what you need, “snickering” Constantinople residents. But soon their turn came. The knights followed, dividing the villages, and the peasants suddenly learned that they were serfs. And serfdom in the West was cool. Build a castle for the owner, plow the corvee, pay, they will beat you up or hang you for your offense. In place of Byzantium, the Latin Empire stretched. Persecution of Orthodox priests and bishops began, punitive forces descended on Athos, tortured and executed monks, demanding that they convert to Catholicism.

And yet the Lord had mercy on Byzantium. When the Crusaders stormed Constantinople, a group of young aristocrats elected Theodore Laskar as emperor. He fled to Asia Minor. The government had long given up on the local outskirts and did not provide them with any protection from the Seljuks. However, the border population learned to organize themselves and wield weapons, like the Cossacks. Laskar was not received kindly at first. The cities did not let him in, the governors did not want to obey. But the crusaders followed, and Theodore became the banner around which the patriots gathered. The Latins were thrown back...

The Nicene Empire arose and a miraculous transformation took place. All the worst, the corrupt, remained in the Latin Empire, looking for how it would be more profitable to join the occupiers. And the best, honest, selfless people flocked to Nicaea. The Patriarchate was restored - Rus' also came under its auspices. Theodore relied on the common people - and defeated all enemies! Latins, Seljuks, rebels.

His successor John Vatatsi carried out reforms. On lands confiscated from traitors, he created large state farms. He supported the peasants, lowered taxes, and personally controlled officials. He prescribed to buy domestic, not foreign, goods, and the result was amazing! The formerly seedy outskirts of Byzantium became the richest country in the Mediterranean! A powerful fleet was built, the borders were covered with fortresses. Even the Tatar-Mongols did not attack this power and concluded peace and an alliance. Nicene troops cleared Asia Minor of crusaders and began to liberate the Balkans.

But... the magnates were extremely dissatisfied with the “kingdom of the people” - under the Laskars, it was not the well-born and rich who were promoted, but the capable. In 1258, Emperor Theodore II was poisoned. The head of the conspirators, Mikhail Paleologus, became the regent for his 8-year-old son John. And in 1261, a Nicaean detachment recaptured Constantinople from the crusaders in a sudden raid. Amidst the noise of celebrations on the occasion of the liberation of the capital, Mikhail overthrew and blinded the child and put on the crown himself.

Indignation arose, Patriarch Arseny excommunicated him from the church, and the inhabitants of Asia Minor rebelled. But the king had already formed a mercenary army and suppressed the rebellion with the most brutal massacre. Oligarchs and swindlers once again found themselves at the helm of the state. The huge treasury accumulated by the Laskars was squandered on the revival of the former court tinsel. The worst Byzantine vices, ambitions, and abuses returned.

Michael Paleologus again undertook to establish friendship with the West and, for the sake of greater mutual understanding, in 1274 he concluded the Union of Lyons and subordinated the church to the Vatican. For refusing to change Orthodoxy, people were imprisoned and executed, uprisings were drowned in blood, and Uniate punitive forces again committed atrocities on Mount Athos. Michael's son Andronik II tried to correct what his father had done and dissolved the union. But the devastated country no longer provided income. We had to disband the fleet and reduce the army. There was complete confusion in the Balkans. Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, Latin barons, Italians were stuck in wars with each other.

And in Asia Minor, from the fragments of various tribes, a new community arose - the Ottomans. In fact, there was no “Turkish conquest” of the empire. The Ottomans simply populated lands that the Byzantines themselves had devastated during the suppression of uprisings. Local residents joined them. They didn’t see anything good from the government, they only tore three skins from them. The Turks helped their own, protected them. People converted to Islam and became full-fledged Ottomans, and the community grew rapidly.

At first, Constantinople did not appreciate the danger. On the contrary, they began to invite the Turks to participate in wars. They took it cheap and were content with the spoils. Ottoman troops became the best in the Greek army! But one fine day the Turks began to cross the Dardanelles in boats and settle Thrace, depopulated by civil strife. Only then did the government grab its heads, but could do nothing. Greek archons began to defect to the Ottomans, turning into Turkish beys. The cities surrendered without a fight and ended up winning. Sultan Murad made Adrianople (Edirne), which had fallen into decay, with 15 thousand inhabitants, his capital, and it grew into a luxurious center with a population of 200 thousand.

For help, the Byzantines kept turning to the same place, to the west. In 1369 Emperor John V went to Rome. He fawned, agreeing to the union, but dad did not immediately accept him, allowing him to kiss the shoe and take the oath of allegiance. Then John went to the French court, but achieved nothing except new humiliations. And on the way back, the Venetians arrested him for debt. Fortunately, my son helped me out and sent me money. Well, when John returned, the Sultan pointed at him and pointed out: what is outside the walls of Constantinople is yours, and what is outside the walls is mine. And the emperor resigned himself. He recognized himself as Murad's vassal, began to pay tribute, and sent his daughter to the Sultan's harem.

It was dangerous to argue. The Turks conquered the Balkan peoples warring among themselves: the Bulgarians, the Serbs. And Byzantium became completely impoverished. At court they served pottery covered with gilding, rhinestones sparkled on crowns and thrones - genuine stones were pawned to moneylenders. Emperors sold their islands and cities. And Constantinople was destroyed by the inhabitants themselves. They took away the stones and bricks of palaces and temples for new buildings, small and lopsided. Marble was burned into lime. Residential areas were interspersed with vast areas of ruins and wasteland.

There was no longer any thought about national revival. The struggle was between the “Turkophile” party, which believed that one must obey the Sultan, and the “Westernist” party, which relied on Europe. The West actually intervened and began a crusade in 1396 (having previously distributed which countries and regions would go to whom). But the inhabitants of the Balkans already knew what the rule of the Crusaders was. Even the Serbs, who fought the Turks on Kosovo 7 years ago, chose to side with the Sultan. The Europeans were smashed to smithereens near Nikopol.

However, this did not teach the Greek “Westerners” anything. Emperor John VIII once again traveled with an outstretched hand to European countries. As a result, a council was convened in Ferrara and Florence, and a union was concluded in 1439. Although the results were disastrous. At this time, Rome, which had become too arrogant, had reached the point of complete disintegration of morals; bribe-takers, homosexuals, and murderers replaced each other on the papal throne. The Patriarchs of Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Antioch refused to submit to such high priests; they anathematized the union. Rus' did not accept it either; Grand Duke Vasily II arrested and expelled the Uniate Metropolitan Isidore, who was sent to Moscow.

The majority of Greeks also protested. It got to the point that Uniate Patriarch Grigory Melissin chose to flee to Rome, but they did not dare to replace him; the country was left without a patriarch at all. Well, the Turks in those centuries patronized Orthodoxy and did not harm the faith. The popes undertook crusades twice more, in 1443 and 1448, but the Ottomans, together with the Serbs, Bulgarians, and Romanians, beat the knights together.

Finally, Sultan Mohammed II decided to eliminate the nest of intrigues sticking out in the middle of his possessions. The reason for the war was given by Emperor Constantine XII, a brave military man, but a useless politician. He again communicated with the West and addressed the Sultan with a daring message. In 1453, the Turks besieged Constantinople from land and sea. The Greeks' European allies, the Venetians and Genoese, rushed to assure the Sultan of their loyalty in order to preserve trade benefits. And even the emperor’s brothers Thomas and Dmitry, rulers of the estates in Morea, did not help. At this time they were fighting among themselves and agreed that the Turks would help them!

When Constantine called the population of the capital to arms, out of 200 thousand residents, only 5 thousand responded. In addition to them, a squad of mercenaries, foreign merchants with servants came out to defend their own homes. This handful fought heroically, but the forces were too unequal. On May 29, the Turks broke into the city. The emperor and his companions died. And the rest of the residents were no longer capable of self-defense. They huddled in their homes and waited for someone to save them or cut them out. They were slaughtered, and 60 thousand were sold into slavery.

Although Rome had not yet calmed down, it announced a new crusade to “liberate” the Greeks. I was not concerned about the Greeks, but about the salvation of the dying union. The papal envoys aroused the hopes of the rulers of the surviving fragments of the empire, Thomas of the Sea, King David of Trebizond, and they rebelled. But the Western knights received too much from the Turks; there were no more willing ones. And the Sultan drew conclusions: as long as pieces of Byzantium exist in his state, the West retains a reason for aggression. In 1460, Muhammad II crushed these fragments.

Thomas fled and died in Rome. His dissolute sons Andrei and Manuel sold the rights to the Byzantine throne to anyone who would pay (the French bought it). And dad married his daughter Sophia to the Russian sovereign Ivan III, hoping through his wife to draw him into the union, but in vain. But after this marriage, Ivan III included the Byzantine double-headed eagle in his coat of arms, and the growing Moscow began to turn into the “Third Rome”. In general, the West and Rus' divided the inheritance of Constantinople. All material wealth flowed to Europe - what the crusaders did not plunder was siphoned off by Italian merchants.

And Rus' inherited spiritual and cultural treasures. It adopted the best achievements of Greek history, philosophy, architecture, icon painting, and inherited the role of the world center of Orthodoxy. By the way, Pope Sixtus IV was greedy with Sophia’s dowry. I didn’t want to shell out money, but many books were evacuated from Byzantium to Italy. Dad found them unnecessary, and loaded a huge convoy as a dowry. This was the only thing that survived from the colossal baggage of Byzantine literature. Everything else was soon destroyed by the Inquisition as “heretical.” The Monk Maxim the Greek, who saw the collection of books that came to Russia, admired: “All of Greece does not now have such wealth, nor Italy, where Latin fanaticism turned the works of our theologians into ashes.”

Fall of Constantinople (1453) - the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Turks, which led to its final fall.

Day May 29, 1453 , undoubtedly, is a turning point in human history. It means the end of the old world, the world of Byzantine civilization. For eleven centuries there stood a city on the Bosphorus where deep intelligence was admired and the science and literature of the classical past were carefully studied and treasured. Without Byzantine researchers and scribes, we would not know much about the literature of ancient Greece. It was also a city whose rulers for many centuries encouraged the development of a school of art that has no parallel in the history of mankind and was a fusion of the unchanged Greek common sense and deep religiosity, which saw in the work of art the embodiment of the Holy Spirit and the sanctification of material things.

In addition, Constantinople was a great cosmopolitan city where, along with trade, the free exchange of ideas flourished and the inhabitants considered themselves not just some people, but the heirs of Greece and Rome, enlightened by the Christian faith. There were legends about the wealth of Constantinople at that time.

The beginning of the decline of Byzantium

Until the 11th century. Byzantium was a brilliant and powerful power, a stronghold of Christianity against Islam. The Byzantines courageously and successfully fulfilled their duty until, in the middle of the century, a new threat from Islam approached them from the East, along with the invasion of the Turks. Western Europe, meanwhile, went so far that it itself, in the person of the Normans, tried to carry out aggression against Byzantium, which found itself involved in a struggle on two fronts just at a time when it itself was experiencing a dynastic crisis and internal turmoil. The Normans were repulsed, but the price of this victory was the loss of Byzantine Italy. The Byzantines also had to permanently give the Turks the mountainous plateaus of Anatolia - lands that were for them the main source of replenishing human resources for the army and food supplies. In the best times of its great past, the well-being of Byzantium was associated with its dominance over Anatolia. The vast peninsula, known in ancient times as Asia Minor, was one of the most populated places in the world during Roman times.

Byzantium continued to play the role of a great power, while its power was already virtually undermined. Thus, the empire found itself between two evils; and this already difficult situation was further complicated by the movement that went down in history under the name of the Crusades.

Meanwhile, the deep old religious differences between the Eastern and Western Christian Churches, fanned for political purposes throughout the 11th century, steadily deepened until, towards the end of the century, a final schism occurred between Rome and Constantinople.

The crisis came when the Crusader army, carried away by the ambition of their leaders, the jealous greed of their Venetian allies and the hostility that the West now felt towards the Byzantine Church, turned on Constantinople, captured and plundered it, forming the Latin Empire on the ruins of the ancient city ( 1204-1261).

4th Crusade and the formation of the Latin Empire

The Fourth Crusade was organized by Pope Innocent III to liberate the Holy Land from infidels. The original plan for the Fourth Crusade included organizing a naval expedition on Venetian ships to Egypt, which was supposed to become a springboard for an attack on Palestine, but was later changed: the crusaders moved on the capital of Byzantium. The participants in the campaign were mainly French and Venetians.

Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople on April 13, 1204. Engraving by G. Doré

April 13, 1204 Constantinople fell . The fortress city, which withstood the onslaught of many powerful enemies, was captured by the enemy for the first time. What was beyond the power of the hordes of Persians and Arabs, the knightly army succeeded. The ease with which the crusaders captured the huge, well-fortified city was the result of the acute socio-political crisis that the Byzantine Empire was experiencing at that moment. A significant role was also played by the fact that part of the Byzantine aristocracy and merchant class was interested in trade relations with the Latins. In other words, there was a kind of “fifth column” in Constantinople.

Capture of Constantinople (April 13, 1204) by the Crusader troops was one of the epoch-making events of medieval history. After the capture of the city, mass robberies and murders of the Greek Orthodox population began. About 2 thousand people were killed in the first days after the capture. Fires raged in the city. Many cultural and literary monuments that had been stored here since ancient times were destroyed in the fire. The famous Library of Constantinople was especially badly damaged by the fire. Many valuables were taken to Venice. For more than half a century, the ancient city on the Bosphorus promontory was under the rule of the Crusaders. Only in 1261 did Constantinople again fall into the hands of the Greeks.

This Fourth Crusade (1204), which evolved from the "road to the Holy Sepulcher" into a Venetian commercial enterprise leading to the sack of Constantinople by the Latins, ended the Eastern Roman Empire as a supranational state and finally split Western and Byzantine Christianity.

Actually, Byzantium after this campaign ceased to exist as a state for more than 50 years. Some historians, not without reason, write that after the disaster of 1204, actually two empires were formed - the Latin and the Venetian. Part of the former imperial lands in Asia Minor was captured by the Seljuks, in the Balkans by Serbia, Bulgaria and Venice. However, the Byzantines were able to retain a number of other territories and create their own states on them: the Kingdom of Epirus, the Nicaean and Trebizond empires.

Latin Empire

Having established themselves in Constantinople as masters, the Venetians increased their trading influence throughout the territory of the fallen Byzantine Empire. The capital of the Latin Empire was the seat of the most noble feudal lords for several decades. They preferred the palaces of Constantinople to their castles in Europe. The nobility of the empire quickly became accustomed to Byzantine luxury and adopted the habit of constant celebrations and cheerful feasts. The consumer nature of life in Constantinople under the Latins became even more pronounced. The crusaders came to these lands with a sword and during the half-century of their rule they never learned to create. In the middle of the 13th century, the Latin Empire fell into complete decline. Many cities and villages, devastated and plundered during the aggressive campaigns of the Latins, were never able to recover. The population suffered not only from unbearable taxes and levies, but also from the oppression of foreigners who disdained the culture and customs of the Greeks. The Orthodox clergy actively preached the struggle against the enslavers.

Summer 1261 Emperor of Nicaea Michael VIII Palaiologos managed to recapture Constantinople, which entailed the restoration of the Byzantine and destruction of the Latin empires.

Byzantium in the XIII-XIV centuries.

After this, Byzantium was no longer the dominant power in the Christian East. She retained only a glimpse of her former mystical prestige. During the 12th and 13th centuries, Constantinople seemed so rich and magnificent, the imperial court so magnificent, and the piers and bazaars of the city so full of goods that the emperor was still treated as a powerful ruler. However, in reality he was now only a sovereign among his equals or even more powerful ones. Some other Greek rulers have already appeared. To the east of Byzantium was the Trebizond Empire of the Great Comnenos. In the Balkans, Bulgaria and Serbia alternately laid claim to hegemony on the peninsula. In Greece - on the mainland and islands - small Frankish feudal principalities and Italian colonies arose.

The entire 14th century was a period of political failures for Byzantium. The Byzantines were threatened from all sides - Serbs and Bulgarians in the Balkans, the Vatican in the West, Muslims in the East.

Position of Byzantium by 1453

Byzantium, which had existed for more than 1000 years, was in decline by the 15th century. It was a very small state, whose power extended only to the capital - the city of Constantinople with its suburbs - several Greek islands off the coast of Asia Minor, several cities on the coast in Bulgaria, as well as the Morea (Peloponnese). This state could only be considered an empire conditionally, since even the rulers of the few pieces of land that remained under its control were actually independent of the central government.

At the same time, Constantinople, founded in 330, was perceived as a symbol of the empire throughout the entire period of its existence as the Byzantine capital. For a long time, Constantinople was the largest economic and cultural center of the country, and only in the XIV-XV centuries. began to decline. Its population, which in the 12th century. together with the surrounding residents, amounted to about a million people, now there were no more than one hundred thousand, continuing to gradually decline further.

The empire was surrounded by the lands of its main enemy - the Muslim state of the Ottoman Turks, who saw Constantinople as the main obstacle to the spread of their power in the region.

The Turkish state, which was quickly gaining power and successfully fought to expand its borders in both the west and the east, had long sought to conquer Constantinople. Several times the Turks attacked Byzantium. The offensive of the Ottoman Turks on Byzantium led to the fact that by the 30s of the 15th century. All that remained of the Byzantine Empire was Constantinople and its surroundings, some islands in the Aegean Sea and Morea, an area in the south of the Peloponnese. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Ottoman Turks captured the richest trading city of Bursa, one of the important points of transit caravan trade between East and West. Very soon they captured two other Byzantine cities - Nicaea (Iznik) and Nicomedia (Izmid).

The military successes of the Ottoman Turks became possible thanks to the political struggle that took place in this region between Byzantium, the Balkan states, Venice and Genoa. Very often, rival parties sought to enlist the military support of the Ottomans, thereby ultimately facilitating the expanding expansion of the latter. The military strength of the strengthening state of the Turks was especially clearly demonstrated in the Battle of Varna (1444), which, in fact, also decided the fate of Constantinople.

Battle of Varna - battle between the Crusaders and the Ottoman Empire near the city of Varna (Bulgaria). The battle marked the end of the unsuccessful crusade against Varna by the Hungarian and Polish king Vladislav. The outcome of the battle was the complete defeat of the crusaders, the death of Vladislav and the strengthening of the Turks on the Balkan Peninsula. The weakening of Christian positions in the Balkans allowed the Turks to take Constantinople (1453).

Attempts by the imperial authorities to receive help from the West and to conclude a union with the Catholic Church for this purpose in 1439 were rejected by the majority of the clergy and people of Byzantium. Of the philosophers, only admirers of Thomas Aquinas approved the Florentine Union.

All neighbors were afraid of Turkish strengthening, especially Genoa and Venice, who had economic interests in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, Hungary, which received an aggressively powerful enemy in the south, beyond the Danube, the Knights of St. John, who feared the loss of the remnants of their possessions in the Middle East, and the Pope Roman, who hoped to stop the strengthening and spread of Islam along with Turkish expansion. However, at the decisive moment, Byzantium's potential allies found themselves captive to their own complicated problems.

The most likely allies of Constantinople were the Venetians. Genoa remained neutral. The Hungarians have not yet recovered from their recent defeat. Wallachia and the Serbian states were vassals of the Sultan, and the Serbs even contributed auxiliary troops to the Sultan's army.

Preparing the Turks for war

Turkish Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror declared the conquest of Constantinople as his life's goal. In 1451, he concluded an agreement beneficial for Byzantium with Emperor Constantine XI, but already in 1452 he violated it, capturing the Rumeli-Hissar fortress on the European shore of the Bosphorus. Constantine XI Palaeologus turned to the West for help and in December 1452 solemnly confirmed the union, but this only caused general discontent. The commander of the Byzantine fleet, Luca Notara, publicly stated that he “would prefer that the Turkish turban dominate the City rather than the papal tiara.”

At the beginning of March 1453, Mehmed II announced the recruitment of an army; in total he had 150 (according to other sources - 300) thousand troops, equipped with powerful artillery, 86 military and 350 transport ships. In Constantinople there were 4973 inhabitants capable of holding weapons, about 2 thousand mercenaries from the West and 25 ships.

The Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, who vowed to take Constantinople, carefully and carefully prepared for the upcoming war, realizing that he would have to deal with a powerful fortress, from which the armies of other conquerors had retreated more than once. The unusually thick walls were practically invulnerable to siege engines and even standard artillery at that time.

The Turkish army consisted of 100 thousand soldiers, over 30 warships and about 100 small fast ships. Such a number of ships immediately allowed the Turks to establish dominance in the Sea of ​​Marmara.

The city of Constantinople was located on a peninsula formed by the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Golden Horn. The city blocks facing the seashore and the shore of the bay were covered by city walls. A special system of fortifications made of walls and towers covered the city from land - from the west. The Greeks were relatively calm behind the fortress walls on the shores of the Sea of ​​Marmara - the sea current here was fast and did not allow the Turks to land troops under the walls. The Golden Horn was considered a vulnerable place.

View of Constantinople

The Greek fleet defending Constantinople consisted of 26 ships. The city had several cannons and a significant supply of spears and arrows. There were clearly not enough fire weapons or soldiers to repel the assault. The total number of eligible Roman soldiers, not including allies, was about 7 thousand.

The West was in no hurry to provide assistance to Constantinople, only Genoa sent 700 soldiers on two galleys, led by the condottiere Giovanni Giustiniani, and Venice - 2 warships. Constantine's brothers, the rulers of the Morea, Dmitry and Thomas, were busy quarreling among themselves. The inhabitants of Galata, an extraterritorial quarter of the Genoese on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus, declared their neutrality, but in reality they helped the Turks, hoping to maintain their privileges.

Beginning of the siege

April 7, 1453 Mehmed II began the siege. The Sultan sent envoys with a proposal to surrender. In case of surrender, he promised the city population the preservation of life and property. Emperor Constantine replied that he was ready to pay any tribute that Byzantium was able to withstand, and to cede any territories, but refused to surrender the city. At the same time, Constantine ordered Venetian sailors to march along the city walls, demonstrating that Venice was an ally of Constantinople. The Venetian fleet was one of the strongest in the Mediterranean basin, and this should have influenced the Sultan's resolve. Despite the refusal, Mehmed gave the order to prepare for the assault. The Turkish army had high morale and determination, unlike the Romans.

The Turkish fleet had its main anchorage on the Bosphorus, its main task was to break through the fortifications of the Golden Horn, in addition, the ships were supposed to blockade the city and prevent aid to Constantinople from the allies.

Initially, success accompanied the besieged. The Byzantines blocked the entrance to the Golden Horn Bay with a chain, and the Turkish fleet could not approach the walls of the city. The first assault attempts failed.

On April 20, 5 ships with city defenders (4 Genoese, 1 Byzantine) defeated a squadron of 150 Turkish ships in battle.

But already on April 22, the Turks transported 80 ships overland to the Golden Horn. The attempt of the defenders to burn these ships failed, because the Genoese from Galata noticed the preparations and informed the Turks.

Fall of Constantinople

Defeatism reigned in Constantinople itself. Giustiniani advised Constantine XI to surrender the city. Defense funds were embezzled. Luca Notara hid the money allocated for the fleet, hoping to pay off the Turks with it.

May 29 started early in the morning final assault on Constantinople . The first attacks were repulsed, but then the wounded Giustiniani left the city and fled to Galata. The Turks were able to take the main gate of the capital of Byzantium. Fighting took place on the streets of the city, Emperor Constantine XI fell in the battle, and when the Turks found his wounded body, they cut off his head and hoisted it on a pole. For three days there was looting and violence in Constantinople. The Turks killed everyone they met on the streets: men, women, children. Streams of blood flowed down the steep streets of Constantinople from the hills of Petra into the Golden Horn.

The Turks broke into men's and women's monasteries. Some young monks, preferring martyrdom to dishonor, threw themselves into wells; the monks and elderly nuns followed the ancient tradition of the Orthodox Church, which prescribed not to resist.

The houses of the inhabitants were also robbed one after another; Each group of robbers hung a small flag at the entrance as a sign that there was nothing left to take from the house. The inhabitants of the houses were taken away along with their property. Anyone who fell from exhaustion was immediately killed; the same thing was done with many babies.

Scenes of mass desecration of sacred objects took place in churches. Many crucifixes, adorned with jewels, were carried out of the temples with Turkish turbans dashingly draped over them.

In the Temple of Chora, the Turks left the mosaics and frescoes untouched, but destroyed the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria - her most sacred image in all of Byzantium, executed, according to legend, by Saint Luke himself. It was moved here from the Church of the Virgin Mary near the palace at the very beginning of the siege, so that this shrine, being as close as possible to the walls, would inspire their defenders. The Turks pulled the icon out of its frame and split it into four parts.

And here is how contemporaries describe the capture of the greatest temple of all Byzantium - the Cathedral of St. Sofia. "The church was still filled with people. The Holy Liturgy had already ended and Matins was underway. When noise was heard outside, the huge bronze doors of the temple were closed. Those gathered inside prayed for a miracle that alone could save them. But their prayers were in vain. Very little time passed, and the doors collapsed under blows from outside. The worshipers were trapped. A few old people and cripples were killed on the spot; The majority of the Turks were tied up or chained to each other in groups, and shawls and scarves torn from women were used as fetters. Many beautiful girls and boys, as well as richly dressed nobles, were almost torn to pieces when the soldiers who captured them fought among themselves, considering them their prey. The priests continued to read prayers at the altar until they were also captured..."

Sultan Mehmed II himself entered the city only on June 1. Escorted by selected troops of the Janissary Guard, accompanied by his viziers, he slowly rode through the streets of Constantinople. Everything around where the soldiers visited was devastated and ruined; churches stood desecrated and looted, houses uninhabited, shops and warehouses broken and plundered. He rode a horse into the Church of St. Sophia, ordered the cross to be knocked off it and turned into the largest mosque in the world.

Cathedral of St. Sofia in Constantinople

Immediately after the capture of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed II first issued a decree “providing freedom to all who survived,” but many residents of the city were killed by Turkish soldiers, many became slaves. To quickly restore the population, Mehmed ordered the entire population of the city of Aksaray to be transferred to the new capital.

The Sultan granted the Greeks the rights of a self-governing community within the empire; the head of the community was to be the Patriarch of Constantinople, responsible to the Sultan.

In subsequent years, the last territories of the empire were occupied (Morea - in 1460).

Consequences of the death of Byzantium

Constantine XI was the last of the Roman emperors. With his death, the Byzantine Empire ceased to exist. Its lands became part of the Ottoman state. The former capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, became the capital of the Ottoman Empire until its collapse in 1922 (at first it was called Constantine and then Istanbul (Istanbul)).

Most Europeans believed that the death of Byzantium was the beginning of the end of the world, since only Byzantium was the successor to the Roman Empire. Many contemporaries blamed Venice for the fall of Constantinople (Venice then had one of the most powerful fleets). The Republic of Venice played a double game, trying, on the one hand, to organize a crusade against the Turks, and on the other, to protect its trade interests by sending friendly embassies to the Sultan.

However, you need to understand that the rest of the Christian powers did not lift a finger to save the dying empire. Without the help of other states, even if the Venetian fleet had arrived on time, it would have allowed Constantinople to hold out for a couple more weeks, but this would only have prolonged the agony.

Rome was fully aware of the Turkish danger and understood that all of Western Christianity might be in danger. Pope Nicholas V called on all Western powers to jointly undertake a powerful and decisive Crusade and intended to lead this campaign himself. From the moment the fatal news arrived from Constantinople, he sent out his messages calling for active action. On September 30, 1453, the Pope sent a bull to all Western sovereigns declaring a Crusade. Each sovereign was ordered to shed the blood of himself and his subjects for the holy cause, and also to allocate a tenth of his income to it. Both Greek cardinals - Isidore and Bessarion - actively supported his efforts. Vissarion himself wrote to the Venetians, simultaneously accusing them and begging them to stop the wars in Italy and concentrate all their forces on the fight against the Antichrist.

However, no Crusade ever happened. And although the sovereigns eagerly caught reports of the death of Constantinople, and writers composed sorrowful elegies, although the French composer Guillaume Dufay wrote a special funeral song and it was sung in all French lands, no one was ready to act. King Frederick III of Germany was poor and powerless because he had no real power over the German princes; Neither politically nor financially he could participate in the Crusade. King Charles VII of France was busy rebuilding his country after a long and ruinous war with England. The Turks were somewhere far away; he had more important things to do in his own home. For England, which suffered even more than France from the Hundred Years' War, the Turks seemed an even more distant problem. King Henry VI could do absolutely nothing, since he had just lost his mind and the whole country was plunging into the chaos of the Wars of the Roses. None of the kings showed any further interest, with the exception of the Hungarian king Ladislaus, who, of course, had every reason to be concerned. But he had a bad relationship with his army commander. And without him and without allies, he could not dare to undertake any enterprise.

Thus, although Western Europe was shocked that a great historic Christian city had fallen into the hands of infidels, no papal bull could motivate it to action. The very fact that the Christian states failed to come to the aid of Constantinople showed their clear reluctance to fight for the faith if their immediate interests were not affected.

The Turks quickly occupied the rest of the empire. The Serbs were the first to suffer - Serbia became a theater of military operations between the Turks and Hungarians. In 1454, the Serbs were forced, under the threat of force, to give up part of their territory to the Sultan. But already in 1459, the whole of Serbia was in the hands of the Turks, with the exception of Belgrade, which until 1521 remained in the hands of the Hungarians. The neighboring kingdom of Bosnia was conquered by the Turks 4 years later.

Meanwhile, the last vestiges of Greek independence gradually disappeared. The Duchy of Athens was destroyed in 1456. And in 1461, the last Greek capital, Trebizond, fell. This was the end of the free Greek world. True, a certain number of Greeks still remained under Christian rule - in Cyprus, on the islands of the Aegean and Ionian seas and in the port cities of the continent, still held by Venice, but their rulers were of a different blood and a different form of Christianity. Only in the south-east of the Peloponnese, in the lost villages of Maina, into the harsh mountain spurs of which not a single Turk dared to penetrate, was a semblance of freedom preserved.

Soon all Orthodox territories in the Balkans were in the hands of the Turks. Serbia and Bosnia were enslaved. Albania fell in January 1468. Moldavia recognized its vassal dependence on the Sultan back in 1456.

Many historians in the 17th and 18th centuries. considered the fall of Constantinople to be a key moment in European history, the end of the Middle Ages, just as the fall of Rome in 476 was the end of Antiquity. Others believed that the mass flight of Greeks to Italy caused the Renaissance there.

Rus' - the heir of Byzantium

After the death of Byzantium, Rus' remained the only free Orthodox state. The Baptism of Rus' was one of the most glorious acts of the Byzantine Church. Now this daughter country was becoming stronger than its parent, and the Russians were well aware of this. Constantinople, as was believed in Rus', fell as punishment for its sins, for apostasy, having agreed to unite with the Western Church. The Russians vehemently rejected the Union of Florence and expelled its supporter, Metropolitan Isidore, imposed on them by the Greeks. And now, having preserved their Orthodox faith unsullied, they found themselves the owners of the only state that had survived from the Orthodox world, whose power was also constantly growing. “Constantinople fell,” wrote the Metropolitan of Moscow in 1458, “because it retreated from the true Orthodox faith. But in Russia this faith is still alive, the Faith of the Seven Councils, which Constantinople handed over to the Grand Duke Vladimir. On earth there is only one true Church - Russian Church."

After his marriage to the niece of the last Byzantine emperor from the Palaiologan dynasty, the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III declared himself heir to the Byzantine Empire. From now on, the great mission of preserving Christianity passed to Russia. “The Christian empires have fallen,” the monk Philotheus wrote in 1512 to his master, the Grand Duke, or Tsar, Vasily III, “in their place stands only the power of our ruler... Two Romes have fallen, but the third still stands, and there will never be a fourth... You are the only Christian sovereign in the world, ruler over all true faithful Christians."

Thus, in the entire Orthodox world, only the Russians derived some benefit from the fall of Constantinople; and for the Orthodox Christians of the former Byzantium, groaning in captivity, the consciousness that in the world there was still a great, albeit very distant sovereign of the same faith as them, served as consolation and hope that he would protect them and, perhaps, someday come save them and restore their freedom. The Sultan-Conqueror paid almost no attention to the fact of the existence of Russia. Russia was far away. Sultan Mehmed had other concerns much closer to home. The conquest of Constantinople certainly made his state one of the great powers of Europe, and henceforth it was to play a corresponding role in European politics. He realized that Christians were his enemies and he needed to be vigilant to ensure that they did not unite against him. The Sultan could fight Venice or Hungary, and perhaps the few allies the pope could muster, but he could fight only one of them at a time. No one came to the aid of Hungary in the fatal battle on the Mohacs Field. No one sent reinforcements to the Johannite Knights to Rhodes. No one cared about the loss of Cyprus by the Venetians.

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK