Constantinople Siege and Fall

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 December 2006

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the siege of Constantinople in 1453. When Sultan Mehmet the Second rode into the city of Constantinople on a white horse in 1453, it marked the end of a thousand years of the Byzantine Empire. After holding out for 53 days, the city had fallen. And as one contemporary witness described it: “The blood flowed in the city like rainwater in the gutters after a sudden storm”. It was the end of the classical world and the crowning of an Ottoman Empire that would last until 1922.Constantinople was a city worth fighting for – its position as a bridge between Europe and Asia and its triangular shape with a deep water port made it ideal both for trade and defence. It was also rumoured to harbour great wealth. Whoever conquered it would reap rewards both material and political. Earlier attempts to capture the city had largely failed – so why did the Ottomans succeed this time? What difference did the advances in weaponry such as cannons make in the outcome of the battle? And what effect did the fall of Constantinople have on the rest of the Christian world?With Roger Crowley, author and historian; Judith Herrin, Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at King's College London; Colin Imber, formerly Reader in Turkish at Manchester University.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:36.0	Thanks for downloading the In Our Time Podcast.
0:39.0	For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co. UK forward slash radio for. I hope you enjoy
0:46.5	the program. Hello when Sultan Mehmet II wrote into the city of Constantinople and a white horse in 1453
0:54.3	it marked the end of a thousand years of the Byzantine Empire after holding out for
0:58.4	53 days the city had fallen and as one contemporary witness described it, quote,
1:03.0	the blood flowed in the city like rainwater in gutters after a sudden storm.
1:08.0	It seemed to mark the end of the classical world and the crowning of an Ottoman Empire that would last until
1:13.0	1922. Constantinople was a city worth fighting for.
1:16.4	Its position as a bridge between Europe and Asia and its triangular shape with a
1:20.7	deep water port made it ideal both for trade and defence.
1:24.0	It was also rumored to harbour great wealth.
1:27.0	It was a place of fabled splendour.
1:29.0	Whoever conquered it would reap rewards both material and political.
1:32.0	Earlier attempts to capture the city had largely failed.
1:35.2	So why do the Ottomans succeed this time? What difference did the advances in weaponry such as cannons
1:40.1	make in the outcome of the battle? And what effect did the fall of Constantinople have on the outcome of the battle and what effect did the fall of Constantinople have on the
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.