The Red Apple: The (Staggering) Siege of Constantinople 1453

On Easter Monday in 1453, an Ottoman army led by the young and ambitious Sultan Mehmed II arrived at the gates of the Byzantine capital Constantinople. This marked the beginning of a siege characterized by the determination of leaders, a city with extraordinary fortifications, and the most extensive siege artillery the world had seen to this day. The fall of Constantinople was a true watershed in history. It cemented the position of the Ottoman empire as the major power in the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean and it ended the long chapter of Roman history for good. The Roman Empire had in some ways outlasted the so-called fall of Rome in 476AD almost for a thousand years as it continued to exist as what we nowadays call the Byzantine Empire. Up to this day thousands of pages have been written on the fall, or conquest, of Constantinople, and barely any other siege in history has received more attention by scholars and history buffs alike. In this video we tell the story of the staggering siege of Constantinople by weaving together the insights of the most recent scholarly literature. This required – given the many controversies about this siege - quite a lot of reading.

Chapters:
Intro 00:00-01:25
Blinkist 01:25-02:30
Chapter 1: Longing for the Red Apple 02:30-06:08
Chapter 2: The Wrong Apple to Pick? 06:08-14:24
Chapter 3: The Ottoman Giant 14:24-19:06
Chapter 4: Rolling Thunder Over the Red Apple 19:06-23:18
Chapter 5: Quick Victory 23:18-28:08
Chapter 6: The Tide Turns 28:08-32:46
Chapter 7: Assaults for Days on End 32:46-38:20
Chapter 8: Mind Games 38:20-40:40
Chapter 9: The Fall of Constantinople 40:40-45:00
Chapter 10: Epilogue 45:00-47:47

Bibliography:
Babinger, F., Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time, Princeton 31992.
Harris, J., Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium, Hambledon 2007.
Harris, J., The End of Byzantium, London 2011.
John W. Barker, s. v. “Constantinople” in: Clifford J. Rogers (ed), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval
Warfare and Military Technology, 2010.
Lilie, R.-J., Geschichte des oströmischen Reiches. 326-1453, München 62014.
Melville-Jones, J. R., The Siege of Constantinople 1453: Seven Contemporary Accounts, Amsterdam
1972.
Meuthen E., Der Fall von Konstantinopel und der lateinische Westen. In: Historische Zeitschrift 237/3
(1983), pp 1-35.
Nicol, Donald M., The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453. Cambridge 1993.
Nicolle, David, John Haldon, and Stephen Turnbull. The Fall of Constantinople: The Ottoman
Conquest of Byzantium. Oxford and New York 2007.
Pears, Edwin. The Destruction of the Greek Empire and the Story of the Capture of Constantinople by the Turks, New York 1968.
Philippides, M./Hanak W. K., The Siege and Fall of Constantinople in 1453. Historiography,
Topography and Military Studies, Farnham 2011.
Runciman, Steven. The Fall of Constantinople: 1453. Cambridge, Cambridge 1965.
Todt, K.-P., Von Kanonen zerschossen, von Janitscharen erstürmt: Die Eroberung Konstantinopels
durch die Osmanen, in: Antike Welt, Vol. 40, No. 6 (2009), pp 27-32

[SandRhomanHistory]

Edit: If you like the video, please leave a comment and a like to please the almighty algorithm!

[hrgunn]

This siege has all the elements of an amazing action drama series. So many great characters, the history, the drama, great speeches, and tragic ends. I don't know why no has done such a series yet.

[Tom_Cruise_Missile]

The last Roman emperor died as an emperor should; a sword in his hand without fear, side by side with his soldiers. A worthy end to the greatest empire the world has ever seen.

[kingswood]

Really good story telling coupled with an interesting art style and animations, well done. Incredibly detailed video regarding the siege.

[theicepickthatkilledtrotsk]

"God forbid that I should live as an Emperor without an Empire. As my city falls, I will fall with it. Whosoever wishes to escape, let him save himself if he can, and whoever is ready to face death, let him follow me." -Constantine XI Palailogos Last Roman Emperor.

[ahmedabdolghani]

Imagine you’re a 15th century soldier patrolling walls and see wholeass ships casually crossing from land into the golden horn

[karma]

You left out arguably the best part of Mehmed becoming Sultan at 12. The empire was at war (a crusade no less) from most Eastern powers (Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Lithuania, etc.).

After some failed expeditions in 1442, there was a truce signed that was to last 10 years, as well as making peace in Anatolia with the other beyliks, Murad thinking things would be fine for the time decided to abdicate at that time. However, the eastern powers knowing after the truce they’d just be invaded again and emboldened by the fact a 12 year old was in charge of the Ottoman Empire decided to approach the pope to sanction a crusade.

Mehmed knowing he’s too young to lead the empire through that (and probably with some pushing from his viziers) wrote a letter to his father that said, “if you are the Sultan come and lead your armies. If I am the Sultan, I hearby order you to come and lead my armies.” It was the ultimate, “dad come help” in history.

[alessandrobenvenuti]

“The city has fallen, and I am still alive!” The last roman emperor charged into the ottoman lines and was never seen again, fading into history.
To think that a little village in Italy could shape the world to this extent. It all came to this

[haldemarest]

Constantine XI is impossible to hate. He was given a choice between surrendering and having Balkan lands to his name as a vassal or fighting to the death. He decided to be the man who did everything he could to keep the city rather than the coward who gave it up just to save his own life.

[vinicius_coletta]

Giustiniani is an extremely underrated historical figure. According to some sources, he traveled to Constantinople at his own expense with his men, fought a war that wasn't his and died like a martyr, retreating only after receiving a deadly wound. A hero, from beginning to end

[generalaigullletes]

I love this content! On such a under-represented period of history, I appreciate the amount of detail and research into the early modern era you put in. I'm just the average viewer, but cmon, keep working, it's amazing!

[obuw]

What I find interesting is that the idea of carrying ships through land was not an unprecedented tactic by the 15th century. The Slavs had done the exact same thing in 626 AD when they sieged Constantinople. Turkopol soldiers (turkish mercenaries in crusader armies) had used the tactic against Seljuk turks in Nicosia at 1097. And Seljuk turks used it against the Venetians in the Corinthian Isthmus on 1339.
So it makes me wonder if Mehmed or his advisors had read about these battles in history books and were inspired by them. And I also wonder if any of the seasoned veterans on the byzantine side were also aware of these earlier battles, and were worried about such a possibility.

[alancosta]

"Or I will conquer Constantinople or Constantinople will conquer me."

Mehmed, the conquer

[etuanno]

As we can see yet again, reinforcements or lack there of are the deciding factor in sieges.

Amazing video!

[staffsgt.sullivan]

Napoleon’s brother Joseph—whose activities mostly consisted of being told by his brother, the emperor, to which kingdom had he been installed as ruler that day—wrote Napoleon a letter when it was clear the Coalition would prevail and Paris would fall. He suggested to Napoleon if he must lose he should fall in combat defending his city; like Constantine XI did in Constantinople. Easier said than done but it may have saved Napoleon some boredom in exile.

[emanuelefiorentino]

As a Genoese, I pay very much respect to the Byzantines in their Last Stand, even more epic than Thermopylae. Mehmed II was a military genius, although this could have been an easy victory for him. It was not so easy thanks to many citizens of the Republic of Genoa (mainly from Chios island), who tried their best to defend the allied city. Galata people were civilians, they could not fight the Emperor's war, but if Venice and other European countries had done even 1/10 of what Genoeses did those days, Constantinople would be saved. This siege was however the most epic episode of War History!

[FamousFleming]

i asked the experts and declare this video a certified banger. Your siege stories (and overall video making skills) are truly impressive!

[yasintamer]

The narration and the music are masterpieces as usual...

[godofchaoskhorne]

I'm a Turk. We don't really know what happened to Constantine as there are no true first hand witnesses that we know off. But if he did die fighting (which is likely) he definitely was admirable. Friend or Foe, always need to respect a man that is ready to die for his nation.

[frederickthegreat]

I was wondering when you were going to make this one :) The Great (and staggering) Siege of Malta next pls!