Home >  Blossary: Byzantine Empire  >  Term: The Fall
The Fall

Constantinople by this stage was underpopulated and dilapidated. The population of the city had collapsed so severely that it was now little more than a cluster of villages separated by fields. On 2 April 1453, Sultan Mehmed's army of some 80,000 men and large numbers of irregulars laid siege to the city.

Despite a desperate last-ditch defence of the city by the massively outnumbered Christian forces (c. 7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were foreign), Constantinople finally fell to the Ottomans after a two-month siege on 29 May 1453. The last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, was last seen casting off his imperial regalia and throwing himself into hand-to-hand combat after the walls of the city were taken.

0 0

Byzantine Empire

Category: History

Total terms: 20

Δημιουργός

  • KSGRAM
  • (Athens, Greece)

  •  (Bronze) 162 points
  • 100% positive feedback
© 2024 CSOFT International, Ltd.