Memorial Day, 1453
Jennifer Aniston is in a bad mood today, and the reason predates Brad Pitt by 554 years. This is the anniversary of the Fall of Constantionople, a day of mourning among Greeks.
By 1453, Byzantium was an empire in name and memory. It once had been the greatest power in Christendom, extending from Italy to Mesopotamia. Now, it was reduced to a ruined city and a few remnant outposts on the Greek mainland. Its emperors bore a revered title that dated to Constantine, but they wore crowns with paste jewels. Yet, built on an easily defended peninsula , and guarded by the most formidable walls in Europe, Constantinople had defied attack for 1000 years. The Ottoman Turks had conquered the Balkans, but they had learned through past failures to avoid Constantinople.
Mehmed II wanted the imperial city for his capital. He gathered an army of 80,000 men and a siege train that included the largest cannons in the world. Furthermore, he created a navy to blockade the port city. Against this force, Constantinople had a garrison of 7000 men, Greeks and their Genoese allies. They were too few to adequately man the walls; yet they still thwarted four assaults by the Ottomans. After days of bombardments, the Ottomans launched their fift
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We are currently not in a position to comment on the sovereign status of Constantinople.
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That’s nobody’s business but the Turks.
Constantinople had been in Dire Straits for years; finally, , in 1453, it went to hellespont in a handbasket.
And during the long decline of the Ottoman Empire, the malady melody was “Turkey in Distraught.”