Thursday, May 29, 2008

Today In History: The end. For real, this time.

On this date in 1453, the Ottoman armies of Mehmed II captured Constantinople, sacking the city at the end of an almost two month long siege. Constantine XI, the last Roman emperor, is believed to have perished in the fighting or the subsequent rapine. His body was never identified.

With Islam ascendant in the city of Constantine the Great on the Golden Horn, the last vestiges of the empire of the caesars were finally swept away.

1 comment:

Don M said...

The story is that Contantinius Paleologus, facing the facts that the Turks had used Hungarian cannon to pound a breach into the Walls of Theodosius, did off his b badges, and lead his bodyguard and court into a vastly outnumbered counterattack.

The Turks were harsh to captives. More harsh than I hope we can understand.