Mehmed II Seizes Constantinople: Byzantine Empire Falls
Sultan Mehmed II's Ottoman forces breached the walls of Constantinople on May 29, 1453, ending a 53-day siege and extinguishing the 1,123-year-old Byzantine Empire. The final assault began at 1:30 AM with waves of irregular troops followed by Anatolian infantry and finally the elite Janissaries. Emperor Constantine XI reportedly died fighting on the walls; his body was never identified. The city was given over to three days of looting, as was customary. Mehmed renamed the city Istanbul and converted the Hagia Sophia cathedral into a mosque. The fall of Constantinople sent Greek scholars fleeing west with classical manuscripts, accelerating the Renaissance. It also disrupted the Silk Road trade routes to Asia, motivating the search for sea routes that led Columbus to the Americas 39 years later.
May 29, 1453
573 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Constantinople
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Ottoman Empire
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Byzantine Empire
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sultan
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Mehmed II
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Siege
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Byzantine-Ottoman Wars
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Fatih
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Mehmed the Conqueror
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Fall of Constantinople
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Fall of Constantinople
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Ottoman Empire
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Sultan
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Mehmed II
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Constantinople
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Siege
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Roman Empire
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Battle of Gallipoli (1416)
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Republic of Venice
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Pietro Loredan
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Gallipoli
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Byzantine Empire
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Syria
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Terremoto de Antioquía de 526
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Mercalli intensity
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Hagia Sophia
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Salat (islam)
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Middle Ages
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Époque moderne
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Istanbul
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Europe
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