The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman army of Sultan Mehmed II, after a siege that lasted from April to 29 May 1453. The city's defenders, numbering only a few thousand under Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos and including Genoese and Venetian volunteers, held out behind the great Theodosian land walls. The Ottomans used huge cannon, including those cast by the engineer Orban, and eventually breached the walls and stormed the city. Constantine died in the fighting. The conquest ended the Byzantine Empire, which had lasted over a thousand years from Roman times, and the city, later called Istanbul, became the Ottoman capital. Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque.
Before and after
- 22 April 1451Birth of Isabella I of Castile
- 15 April 1452Birth of Leonardo da Vinci
- 21 September 1452Birth of Girolamo Savonarola
- from 1453 to 1454Morea revolt of 1453–1454
- from 6 April 1453 to 29 May 1453Fall of Constantinople
- from 1454 to 1466Thirteen Years' War
- 9 March 1454Birth of Amerigo Vespucci
- 1455Construction of Grand Bazaar
- from 22 May 1455 to 16 June 1487Wars of the Roses
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The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 15th century.