The events of 1453 left a lasting impression in the memory of contemporaries. The fall of Byzantium became the main news for the peoples of Europe. In some this caused grief, in others - gloating. But there was no one indifferent.
Whatever the reasons for the fall of Byzantium, this event had enormous consequences for many European and Asian countries. However, the reasons should be discussed in more detail.
The development of Byzantium after restoration
In 1261, the Byzantine Empire was restored . However, the state no longer claimed its former power. The ruler was Michael the Eighth Paleolog. The possessions of his empire were limited to the following territories:
- northwestern part of Asia Minor;
- Thrace;
- Macedonia
- part of Morea;
- several islands in the Aegean.
After the looting and destruction of Constantinople, its importance as a shopping center fell. All power was in the hands of the Venetians and Genoese. They were engaged in trade in the Aegean and Black Seas.
Restored Byzantium became a collection of provinces, which also broke up into separate districts. They lost economic and political ties between themselves.
Thus, the feudal lords of Asia Minor began to arbitrarily conclude agreements with the Turkish emirs, the aristocrats fought for power with the ruling dynasty of the Paleologists. It is not surprising that feudal strife became one of the reasons for the fall of Byzantium. They disorganized the political life of the state, weakened it.
The situation in the economic sphere was not the best. In later years, there was a regression. It was expressed in a return to subsistence farming and developmental rent. The population was impoverished and could not pay the previous taxes. The bureaucratic apparatus remained the same.
If asked to name the reasons for the fall of Byzantium, one should also recall the exacerbation of social relations within the country.
Wave of urban traffic
Factors such as the decline of industry, the collapse of trade relations and shipping led to the aggravation of social relations. All this led to the impoverishment of the urban population. Many residents did not have any livelihoods.
The causes of the fall of Byzantium lie in a wave of turbulent urban movements, which swept in the forties of the fourteenth century. They were especially bright in Adrianapolis, Heracles, and Solun. Events in Solun led to the temporary proclamation of an independent republic. It was created by the type of Venetian states.
The reasons for the fall of Byzantium also lie in the reluctance of the largest powers of Western Europe to support Constantinople. Emperor Manuel II personally addressed the governments of Italian states, the kings of France and England, but they only promised assistance at best.
Delayed death
Turks won victory after victory. In 1371, they showed themselves on the Maritsa River, in 1389 - on the Kosovo Field, in 1396 - near Nikopol. Not a single European state wanted to stand in the way of a strong army.
In the 6th grade, the cause of the fall of Byzantium is the power of the Turkish army, which directed its forces against Constantinople. And indeed, Sultan Bayazid the First did not even try to hide his plans for the capture of Byzantium. Nevertheless, Manuel the Second had a hope for the salvation of his state. He found out about this while in Paris. The hope was connected with the "Angora disaster." This should be found out in more detail.
The Turks faced a force that was able to withstand them. We are talking about the invasion of Timur (in some sources of Tamerlane). He created a huge empire. In 1402, the army under his leadership moved to Asia Minor. The Turkish army was not inferior in number to the enemy army. Decisive was the betrayal of some emirs who sided with Timur.
Under Angor, a battle took place, which ended with the complete defeat of the Turkish army. Sultan Bayazid fled from the battlefield, but was captured. He was kept in an iron cage until his death. Nevertheless, the Turkish state has survived. Timur did not have a fleet and did not direct his forces to Europe. In 1405, the ruler was gone, and his great empire began to disintegrate. But it is worth returning to Turkey.
The loss at Angora and the death of the Sultan led to a long struggle between the sons of Bayazid for power. The Turkish state briefly abandoned plans to capture Byzantium. But in the twenties of the fifteenth century, the Turks gained strength. Sultan Murad II came to power, and the army was replenished with artillery.
Despite several attempts, he was unable to take Constantinople, but in 1430 he captured Solun. All its inhabitants became slaves.
Florence Union
The reasons for the fall of Byzantium are directly related to the plans of the Turkish state. It surrounded the perishing empire with a tight ring. The possessions of the once powerful Byzantium were limited to the capital and the surrounding district.
The Byzantine government constantly sought help among the states of Catholic Europe. The emperors even agreed to subordinate the Greek Church to the authority of the pope. This idea attracted Rome. In 1439, the Florence Cathedral was held, at which they decided to unite the eastern and western churches under papal authority.
The union was not supported by the Greek population. In history, the statement of the head of the Greek fleet, Luke Notar, has been preserved. He stated that he would rather see the Turkish turban in Constantinople than the papal tiara. All segments of the Greek population remembered well the attitude of the West European feudal lords who ruled them during the Crusades and the existence of the Latin Empire.
A large amount of information contains the answer to the question "how many reasons for the fall of Byzantium"? Everyone can count them on their own by reading the entire article.
New Crusade
European countries understood the danger that awaits them from the Turkish state. For this and a number of other reasons, they organized the Crusade. It took place in 1444. It was attended by Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, Germans, a separate part of the French knights.
The campaign was unsuccessful for Europeans. Powerful Turkish troops defeated them near Varna. After this, the fate of Constantinople was a foregone conclusion.
Now it is worth highlighting the military causes of the fall of Byzantium and listing them.
Power imbalance
The ruler of Byzantium in the last days of its existence was Constantine the Eleventh. At his disposal were rather weak military forces. Researchers believe that they consisted of ten thousand warriors. Most of them were mercenaries from the Genoese lands.
The ruler of the Turkish state was Sultan Mehmed II. In 1451, he succeeded Murad II. The sultan had an army of two hundred thousand soldiers. About fifteen thousand were well-trained janissaries.
No matter how many reasons for the fall of Byzantium would be called, the inequality of the parties is fundamental.
Nevertheless, the city was not going to give up. The Turks had to show considerable ingenuity in order to achieve the goal and take possession of the last bastion of the Eastern Roman Empire.
What is known about the rulers of the warring parties?
The last Konstantin
The last ruler of Byzantium was born in 1405. His father was Manuel II, and his mother was the daughter of the Serbian prince Elena Dragash. Since the maternal clan was quite noble, the son had the right to take the surname Dragash. So he did. Konstantin’s childhood passed in the capital.
In his mature years, he was in charge of the administration of the province of Morea. For two years he ruled Constantinople during the absence of his older brother. Contemporaries described him as a hot-tempered man who nevertheless possessed sound sanity. He knew how to convince others. He was a fairly educated person, was interested in military affairs.
He became emperor in 1449, after the death of John the Eighth. He was supported in the capital, but he was not crowned by the patriarch. All his reign, the emperor prepared the capital for a possible siege. He also did not stop the search for allies in the fight against the Turks and made attempts to reconcile Christians after the signing of the union. Thus, it becomes clear how many reasons for the fall of Byzantium. In the 6th grade, students are also explained what caused the tragic events.
The reason for the new war with Turkey was the demand of Konstantin to increase the monetary contribution from Mehmed II for the fact that the Ottoman prince Urhan lives in the Byzantine capital. He could claim the Turkish throne, therefore, it represented a danger to Mehmed II. The sultan did not comply with the requirements of Constantinople, and even refused to pay a fee, declaring war.
Constantine could not get help from the Western European states. Late was the military assistance of the pope.
Before the seizure of the Byzantine capital, the sultan gave the emperor the opportunity to surrender, saving his life and retaining power in Mystra. But Konstantin did not go for it. There is a legend that when the city fell, he tore off his insignia and rushed into battle along with ordinary soldiers. The last emperor of Byzantium perished in the battle . There is no exact information about what happened to the remains of the deceased. There are only a lot of assumptions on this issue.
Conqueror of Constantinople
The Ottoman Sultan was born in 1432. Murad II was the father, and his mother was the Greek concubine Hume Khatun. After six years, he lived for a long time in the Manisa province. Subsequently, he became its ruler. Mehmed tried to ascend the Turkish throne several times. Finally, he managed to do this in 1451.
During the capture of Constantinople, the sultan took serious measures to preserve the cultural values of the capital. He established contact with representatives of Christian churches. After the fall of Constantinople, the Venetians and the Genoese had to conclude non-aggression treaties with the Turkish state. The agreement also touched on the issue of free trade.
After submission to Byzantium, the sultan took Serbia, Wallachia, Herzegovina, the strategic fortress of Albania. His policies spread east and west. Until his death, the sultan lived with thoughts of new conquests. Before his death, he intended to seize a new state, supposedly Egypt. The cause of death is considered food poisoning or a chronic disease. It happened in 1481. His place was taken by the son of Bayazid II, who continued the policy of his father and strengthened the Ottoman Empire. Let us return to the events of 1453.
Siege of Constantinople
The article examined the causes of the weakening and fall of Byzantium. Its existence ended in 1453.
Despite a significant superiority in military power, the Turks besieged the city for two months. The fact is that Constantinople was helped by people, food, and weapons from outside. All this was transported across the sea. But Mehmed II came up with a plan that allowed to block the city from the sea and land. What was the trick?
The Sultan ordered to place wooden decks on land and grease them with lard. On this "road" the Turks were able to drag their ships into the Golden Horn harbor. The besieged made sure that enemy ships did not enter the harbor by water. They blocked the way in huge chains. But the Greeks could not know that the Turkish sultan would ferry his fleet overland. This case is examined in detail along with the question of how many reasons for the fall of Byzantium in the history of the 6th grade.
City invasion
Constantinople fell on May 29 of the same year, when its siege began. Emperor Constantine was killed along with most of the defenders of the city. The capital of the former empire was robbed by the Turkish army.
It didn’t matter how many reasons the fall of Byzantium (in the text of the paragraph you can find such information yourself). More importantly, the inevitable happened. New Rome fell a thousand years after the destruction of old Rome. Since that time, a regime of despotic oppression of the military-feudal order, as well as grave national oppression, has been established in southeastern Europe.
However, not all buildings were destroyed during the Turkish invasion. The sultan had plans for their use in the future.
Constantinople - Istanbul
Mehmed II decided not to destroy the city, which his ancestors tried so hard to take over, completely. He made him the capital of his empire. That is why he gave the order not to destroy the city buildings.
Thanks to this, the most famous monument of the time of Justinian has survived. It's about the Hagia Sophia. The Sultan turned it into the main mosque, giving it a new name - “Aya Sufiya”. The city itself received a new name. Now it is known as Istanbul.
Who was the last emperor? How many reasons for the fall of Byzantium? In the text of the paragraph of the school textbook there is this information. However, it is not always indicated what the new name of the city means. "Istanbul" was due to the Greek expression that the Turks distorted when they took possession of the city. The besieged shouted "Istin Pauline," which meant "In the city." The Turks thought this was the name of the Byzantine capital.
Before returning again to the question of what is the reason for the fall of Byzantium (briefly), it is worth considering all the consequences of the capture of Constantinople by the Turks.
Consequences of the Conquest of Constantinople
The fall of Byzantium and its conquest by the Turks had a tremendous impact on many peoples of Europe.
With the capture of Constantinople, Levantine trade went into oblivion. This happened due to a sharp deterioration in the terms of trade with the countries that captured the Turks. They began to levy large requisitions from European and Asian merchants. The sea routes themselves became dangerous. Turkish wars practically did not stop, which made it impossible to conduct trade in the Mediterranean Sea. Subsequently, it was precisely the unwillingness to visit Turkish possessions that prompted the merchants to seek new routes to the East and to India.
Now it’s clear how many reasons are called the fall of Byzantium by historians. However, one should also pay attention to the consequences of the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks. Moreover, they affected the Slavic peoples. The transformation of the Byzantine capital into the center of the Turkish state influenced political life in Central and Eastern Europe.
In the sixteenth century, Turkish aggression unfolded against the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Ukraine, Hungary. When in 1526 the Turkish army defeated the crusaders in the battle of Mojac, it captured the main part of Hungary. Now Turkey has become a threat to the Habsburg possessions. Such a danger from outside contributed to the creation of the Austrian Empire from the many peoples who lived in the Middle Danube basin. The Habsburgs became the head of the new state.
The Turkish state also threatened the countries of Western Europe. By the sixteenth century, it had grown to enormous size, including the entire North African coast. However, the Western European states had a different attitude to the Turkish question. For example, France saw in Turkey a new ally against the Habsburg dynasty. A little later, England, which wanted to seize the Middle East market, also sought to draw closer to the Sultan. One empire was replaced by another. Many states were forced to reckon with such a strong adversary, which the Ottoman Empire proved to be.
The main causes of the fall of Byzantium
According to the school curriculum, the question of the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire is considered in high school. Usually at the end of a paragraph the question is asked: what are the reasons for the fall of Byzantium? Briefly in the 6th grade it is supposed to designate them precisely from the text of the textbook, so the answer may vary slightly depending on the author of the manual.
However, four common causes can be identified:
- The Turks owned powerful artillery.
- The conquerors had a fortress on the banks of the Bosphorus, thanks to which they controlled the movement of ships through the strait.
- Constantinople was surrounded by a two hundred thousandth army, which controlled both land and sea.
- The invaders decided to storm the northern part of the city walls, which were less fortified than the rest.
The short list lists external causes that are primarily related to the military power of the Turkish state. However, in the article you can find many internal reasons that played a role in the fall of Byzantium.