For more than a thousand years, the rulers of Constantinople had built and maintained strong defenses. The famed Walls of Constantinople were first constructed by Emperor Constantine the Great (see SOURCE2 ). When rebuilding the city’s initial fortifications, Constantine added more complex structures to the city’s defences. These included towers at regular intervals and heavily protected gates and passages. Constantine the Great also increased the number, thickness and height of the original walls. On the seaward sides, steep cliffs and sea walls made access difficult. The Golden Horn (the strip of water north of Constantinople) could be closed off in times of attack by a heavy chain running from shore to shore. Subsequent emperors such as Theodosius II made further improvements to the fortifications of Constantinople, including a system of double walls.
SkillBuilder discussion Historical significance 1. How did the Walls of Constantinople help protect the city from invasions? 2. Why were these Walls considered an important feature of medieval military architecture? 3. What role did the Walls of Constantinople play in the survival of the Byzantine Empire for centuries?
SOURCE2 The Walls of Constantinople
While the Walls of Constantinople had provided protection for a very long time, their effectiveness was diminished by the Ottoman army’s use of cannons. Gunpowder and the cannon had originated in China and were probably brought to the area by the Mongols. The Ottomans were quick to adopt them in warfare. They used one cannon in November 1452 to sink a Venetian ship sailing along the Bosphorus Strait, but for the attack on Constantinople, a larger cannon was needed and built. It was 8.4 metres long with a wall 20 centimetres thick. It could fire a cannonball of 600 kilograms a distance of 1.6 kilometres. 4.4.2 The siege
SOURCE3 The Dardanelles Gun. This cannon, built in 1464, was cast in bronze and weighed 18.4 tonnes. It was built in two parts that could be screwed together using a large lever as a spanner.
At the time of the Ottoman conquest, Constantinople was far from the once-great city it had been. Years of tension and hostility between Rome and the Byzantine capital had taken its toll on the city and its people. Constantinople had also never truly recovered from the social and economic impact of the Black Death. These factors left Constantinople vulnerable and the Ottomans planned on taking full advantage of the city’s weakened state. Before the siege began, Mehmet II tried to tempt Constantine XI into surrendering. Mehmet offered freedom of religion as well as territory in Greece to the Byzantine Emperor, but the proud Constantine refused, plunging his city into war with the Ottomans.
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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