Byzantium and the Fall of Constantinople

Activity: Other › Public engagement, outreach and knowledge exchange - Public Lecture/debate/seminar

Description

Byzantium (or the Byzantine empire) had once been the most powerful Christian state but by 1450 it had declined to a position of terminal weakness. Most of its territories had been parcelled out among its eastern and western enemies and little remained to it apart from its capital city of Constantinople. It was at this point that the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II took the decision to launch an attack on the city and to put an end to the shadow empire once and for all. This lecture sets out the background to the siege and follows the events leading to the Ottoman victory on 29 May 1453.
Period7 Jan 2021
Held atSherborne Historical Society, United Kingdom
Degree of RecognitionLocal

Keywords

  • Byzantine History
  • Ottoman empire
  • siege warfare