Sieges of Constantinople
Encyclopedia
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
during the history of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. Two of them resulted in the capture of Constantinople from Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
rule: in 1204 by Crusaders
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
, and in 1453 by the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
under Mehmed II
Mehmed II
Mehmed II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446, and later from...
.
Persian and Arab Sieges of Constantinople
- The First Siege of ConstantinopleSiege of Constantinople (626)The Siege of Constantinople in 626 by the Avars, aided by large numbers of allied Slavs and the Sassanid Persians, ended in a strategic victory for the Byzantines...
by AvarsEurasian AvarsThe Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
, Slavs and Sassanid PersiansSassanid EmpireThe Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
in 626. - The First Arab Siege in 674-678
- The Second Arab Siege in 717-718
Sieges by Bulgaria and the Rus'
- The Bulgarian siege by KrumKrum of BulgariaKrum the Horrible was Khan of Bulgaria, from after 796, but before 803, to 814 AD. During his reign the Bulgarian territory doubled in size, spreading from the middle Danube to the Dnieper and from Odrin to the Tatra Mountains. His able and energetic rule brought law and order to Bulgaria and...
in 813 - The siege by the Rus' in 860
- The siege by the Rus' in 941
Sieges and attacks during civil wars
- The siege by Thomas the SlavThomas the SlavThomas the Slav was a 9th-century Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt against Emperor Michael II the Amorian in 820–823....
in 821–822 - The siege during the revolt of Leo TornikiosLeo TornikiosLeo Tornikios was a mid-11th century Byzantine general and noble, who in 1047 rebelled against the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachos ....
in 1047
Crusades
- The first siegeSiege of Constantinople (1203)The Siege of Constantinople in 1203 was a Crusader siege of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, in support of the deposed emperor Isaac II Angelos and his son Alexios IV Angelos.- The siege :...
by the Fourth CrusadeFourth CrusadeThe Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
in 1203, in which Alexius IV was able to usurp the throne after Alexius III fled to Thrace. - The successful second siegeSiege of Constantinople (1204)The Siege of Constantinople occurred in 1204; it destroyed parts of the capital of the Byzantine Empire as it was confiscated by Western European and Venetian Crusaders...
by the Fourth CrusadeFourth CrusadeThe Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
in 1204, in which the Byzantines were overwhelmed and the Capital thoroughly sacked.
Nicaean sieges
- An unsuccessful attemptSiege of Constantinople (1235)The Siege of Constantinople was a joint Bulgarian-Nicaean siege on the capital of the Latin Empire. Latin emperor John of Brienne was besieged by the Nicaean emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes and Tsar Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria. The siege remained unsuccessful.-Prelude:After Robert of Courtenay died...
in 1235, by Bulgarian and Nicaean forces, to retake the city. - A second unsuccessful siegeSiege of Constantinople (1260)The Siege of Constantinople in 1260 was the failed attempt by the Nicaean Empire, the major remnant of the fractured Byzantine Empire, to retake Constantinople from the Latin Empire and re-establish the City as the political, cultural and spiritual capital of a revived Byzantine...
of Constantinople and Galata, in January-April 1260. - In 1261, a small force of Nicaean troops under Alexios StrategopoulosAlexios StrategopoulosAlexios Strategopoulos was a Byzantine general during the reign of Michael VIII Palaiologos, rising to the rank of megas domestikos and Caesar. He is most notable for leading the reconquest of Constantinople from the Latins in 1261.- Early life :...
gained entry into the poorly defended Latin capital, ending the Latin Empire and restoring Byzantine rule to the City. Most Latin troops defending the city were absent on campaign, and the Emperor fled without putting any resistance; there was no siege.
Ottoman Sieges
- An Ottoman blockade between 1390–1402, interrupted first by the Crusade of Nicopolis then successfully lifted by the Battle of AnkaraBattle of AnkaraThe Battle of Ankara or Battle of Angora, fought on July 20, 1402, took place at the field of Çubuk between the forces of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I and the Turko-Mongol forces of Timur, ruler of the Timurid Empire. The battle was a major victory for Timur, and it led to a period of crisis for...
.
- The First Ottoman Siege of ConstantinopleSiege of Constantinople (1422)The first full-scale Ottoman Siege of Constantinople took place in 1422 as a result of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II's attempts to interfere in the succession of Ottoman Sultans, after the death of Mehmed I in 1421...
(1422), which ended in a Byzantine victory.
- The Second Ottoman Siege and Fall of ConstantinopleFall of ConstantinopleThe Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, against the defending army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI...
in 1453
See also
- Occupation of Constantinople
- Rus'–Byzantine War (907)
- Walls of ConstantinopleWalls of ConstantinopleThe Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople since its founding as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire by Constantine the Great...