Fall of Constantinople

The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, led by Sultan Mehmed II, that ended the Byzantine Empire and made the city an Ottoman capital.

Siege of Constantinople (1453): The Ottoman military campaign that surrounded and captured Constantinople from April to May 1453. The conquest unfolded through this seven-week siege.
Byzantine Empire: The medieval continuation of the Roman Empire, centered on Constantinople and lasting until 1453. The city’s capture brought this empire to an end.
Giovanni Giustiniani: A Genoese military commander who led defenders at Constantinople during the 1453 siege. His leadership strengthened the land-wall defense until he was wounded and withdrew.
Istanbul: The largest city of modern Turkey, known as Constantinople before its Ottoman conquest in 1453. The captured city became the Ottoman capital and developed into the metropolis now called Istanbul.
Fourth Crusade: A crusade that culminated in the Latin conquest and sack of Constantinople in 1204. The city had been captured by Latin crusaders centuries before the Ottoman conquest.
Theodosian Walls: The monumental defensive walls that protected Constantinople’s landward side for more than a millennium. Ottoman cannon breached defenses long regarded as nearly impregnable.
Ottoman Empire: A state founded in Anatolia that expanded across southeastern Europe, western Asia, and North Africa. Its expansion encircled and ultimately absorbed Constantinople.
Orban: A Hungarian gun founder who offered his services to both Byzantium and the Ottomans before the 1453 siege. His expertise helped the Ottomans build heavy siege artillery.
Hagia Sophia: A monumental church in Constantinople completed under Emperor Justinian I in 537. After the conquest, the Ottomans converted the church into a mosque.
Fall of Rome: The conventional name for the deposition of the last Western Roman emperor in 476. Unlike the western imperial collapse, Constantinople’s capture ended the eastern Roman state much later.

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