Byzantine-Ottoman Wars: Constantinople Falls

Ascending to the Ottoman throne in 1451, Mehmed II quickly began making preparations for a campaign against the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. Besieged numerous times during its long history, Constantinople had only fallen in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. Since that time, the empire had largely eroded leaving the Byzantines with only a small area around the city as well as with land in Greece. Aware of Ottoman intentions, Emperor Constantine XI worked to strengthen the city's defenses. Laying siege in early April 1453, Mehmed's first efforts to assault the city failed. After mining operations also failed in late May, he launched a massive attack on the city during the night of May 28/29. Badly outnumbered, Constantine's forces were overwhelmed and defeated with him falling in the fighting. The Fall of Constantinople was a devastating blow for Christendom as well as a turning point in Western history. Commonly used as the ending point of the Middle Ages and beginning of the Renaissance, the defeat saw an influx of Greek scholars into Western Europe as they fled the Ottomans.