statistics of bombardment 1
first attack 1
in the modern city 1
cannonneers 1
Cantacuzenos, Demetrios 1, 2, 3
carracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Catalan consul 1
Catalans 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
catapults 1, 2, 3, 4
Catholic Church
start of the Great Schism 1
compared with the Orthodox 1
rift over the Nicene Creed 1
and potential unity with the Orthodox 1
Council of Florence (1438 ) 1
cavalry (Ottoman) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
household 7
given their battle orders 1
heavy 1
light 1
Central Asia 1, 2, 3
Chalcocondylas 1, 2, 3
Champagne, Marshal of 1
charcoal 1, 2, 3
Charles VII, King of France 1
chavushes (Mehmet’s military police)1, 2
Chelebi, Evliya 1
Chios 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Chora Monastery 1
Chosroes, King of Persia 1
Christian I, King of Denmark and Norway 1
Christianity
struggle with Islam for the true faith 1, 2
Christians protected by Islam as ‘People of the
Book’ 1
schismatic Christian sects 1
symbol of Islamic triumph over Christianity 1
see also crusades
Chroniates, Nicetas 1, 2
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem 1
Circus Gate (Wooden Gate), Constantinople 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Clermont sermon (1095) 1
Coco, Giacomo 1, 2, 3, 4
Columbus, Christopher 1
Commynes, Philippe de 1
Constantine the Great, column of, Constantinople 1, 2, 3, 4
Constantine the Great, Emperor 1, 2
vision of a cross before the Milvian Bridge battle 3
chooses Constantinople for his new Christian
capital (AD 324) 1, 2, 3
construction of the city 1
doctrinal disputes 1
Constantine XI, Emperor
birth (1405) 1
background 1, 2
ceremonial title 1
unenviable inheritance 1, 2
appearance 1
personality 1
breaching of the Hexamilion (1446) 1
accession (1449) 1
as Despot of Morea 1, 2
vows of vassalage to the Sultan 1
attempts to forge a dynastic marriage 1
sends envoys to Italy (1451) 1, 2
during the building of Rumeli Hisari 1, 2
supports union of the two churches 1, 2
lack of coronation at St Sophia 1
prepares for the city’s defence (winter of 1452 ) 1
council of war with Giustiniani 1
tries to maintain the city’s morale 1
deeply alarmed by attack 1
peace proposal 1, 2
strained by the attritional fighting 1
and search for signs of a rescue fleet 1, 2
forces Ottoman cavalry back 1
and mining threat 1
advised to leave the city, and collapses 1
Mehmet’s offer 1
orders unblocking of Circus Gate 1
prepares for a supreme effort 1
told of Giustiniani’s wounding 1
rallies the people to work together 1
pre-battle speech 1
headquarters in central section 1
service in St Sophia 1
defence of the city 1
death of 1, 2, 3
unknown fate 1
Constantinople
chosen as Constantine’s new Christian capital (324) 1, 2, 3
capital of the Byzantine Empire 1
the front line in the Christianity vs. Islam struggle 1
origin of the holy war 1
splendour of 1, 2, 3, 4
relics of Christendom 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
defences 1, 2, 3
Avar siege (626) 1
first Arab siege of 669 1
siege of 674 1, 2, 3
Arab failure to take the city in 717 1, 2, 3, 4
Muslim martyrs make the city a holy place for Islam 1
deeply marked by experience of Arab sieges 1
Galata destroyed (1171) 1
Italian community massacred (1183) 1, 2
falls to Christians in Fourth Crusade (1204) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
‘Latin Empire of Constantinople’ 1
recaptured by the Byzantines (1261) 1
Orhan captures the city (1326) 1, 2
becomes Istanbul 1
the first European city to experience the Black Death 1
reduced population 1
poverty 1, 2
besieged by Bayezit 1, 2
besieged by Murat II in 1422 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Mehmet’s early plans to capture the city 1
divided by religious passions 1, 2
volatile proletariat 1
winters 1
Hexamilion breached (1446) 1, 2
Ottoman army advances towards (1453) 1, 2
sealed against the enemy 1
start of the siege 1
Ottoman cavalry starts to penetrate the city 1
penitent procession hit by storm 1
heaviest bombardment of the siege 1
Giustiniani’s stockade 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Mehmet promises three days of plunder 1, 2, 3
procession carrying icons and relics 1
the locked gates 1
the Ottoman attack 1
indiscriminate slaughter 1
churches and monasteries plundered 1
obsessive search for booty 1
ordinary citizens marched off to slave markets 1
rebuilding of the city 1, 2
Muslim joy at the capture 1
consequences of the fall in the Christian world 1, 2
becomes prosperous again 1
the new skyline 1, 2
the Ottoman city 1, 2, 3, 4
the fall as a fulcrum moment in the Middle Ages 1
Contarini, Jacopo 1
Contarini, Philippo 1
Copernicus, Nicolas 1
copper 1, 2
Corfu 1, 2
Corfu, Antonio de 1
‘corned’ powder 1
Council of Florence (1438 ) 1, 2, 3
Creçy, Battle of 1
Cretans 1, 2, 3, 4
Crete 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
crossbowmen 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
crossbows 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
crusades 1
Urban II’s Clermont sermon (1095) 2
350 years of crusader warfare 1
Constantinople sacked by ‘Christian’ crusaders (Fourth Crusade, 1204) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
papal bull of 1366 1
led by Hungarians 1, 2
reasons for defeats 1
ten-year truce 1
Crusade of Varna is defeated 1, 2
end of 1, 2
and the fall of Constantinople 1
culverins 1, 2
currency 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
cutlasses 1
Cyprus 1, 2, 3
Cyzicus 1, 2
Dallam, Thomas 1
Dalmata, John 1, 2
Damascus 1, 2
Dandolo, Enrico 1, 2
Danube River 1, 2, 3, 4
Dar al-Harb (House of War) 1, 2
Dar al-Islam (House of Islam) 1, 2
Dardanelles 1, 2, 3, 4
trade routes 5
Orhan’s war band crosses (1350s) 1
blocked by Italian ships 1, 2, 3
Darius, King of Persia 1, 2
Demetrios (brother of Constantine XI) 1, 2, 3, 4
Demetrios the Great, tower of 1
dervishes 1, 2, 3
Didimotkon, near Edirne 1
Diedo, Aluvixe 1, 2, 3, 4
Dneiper River 1
Doctrine of Economy 1
Dolfin, Dolfin 1
Dolmabache Palace 1
dolphin emblem 1
Doria, Zorzi 1
Double Columns 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
double-headed eagle (house of Palaiologos) 1, 2, 3
Doukas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Dracul, Vlad 1
Dubrovnik 1, 2
Dulle Griete, the Great Bombard of Ghent 1
Edirne 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Ottomans take (1362) 9
birth of Mehmet II (1432) 1
Mehmet’s early childhood 1
Mehmet recalled from governing Amasya 1
large proportion burnt down (1444) 1
Mehmet’s return after his father’s death 1
Mehmet settles into the royal palace (1451) 1
test firing of Orban’s gun 1
Mehmet sets off on campaign (23 March 1753) 1
trade with Venetians 1
slave market 1
Halil Pasha hanged 1
see also Adrianople
Edward III, King 1
Egypt 1, 2, 3, 4
Eleutherii 1
Elizabeth I, Queen 1
ul-Ensari, Ebu Seybet 1
ul-Ensari, Hamd 1
Epibatos 1, 2
Epiphanios 1
Erzurum, Anatolia 1
escalade 1
Eugenius gate 1
Eugenius IV, Pope 1
Euphrates River 1
Europe: divided from Asia by the Bosphorus 1, 2
Fatih district, Istanbul 1, 2
Fifth Military Gate, Constantinople 1, 2
Filelfo, Francesco 1
Filomati 1
Firuz Bey 1
Flanders, Count of 1
food supplies 1, 2, 3
Forum of Constantine, Constantinople 1
Forum of the Bull, Constantinople 1
Forum of the Ox, Constantinople 1
Forum of Theodosius, Constantinople 1
Francisco of Toledo, Don 1, 2, 3, 4
Franks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
fratricide law 1, 2
Frederick I Barbarossa, Emperor 1
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor 1, 2
Froissart, Jean 1
Fulcher of Chartres 1
fustae (raiding galleys) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
gads 1
Galata 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
a fortified Genoese town 7
wealth of 1, 2
guarantee of peace with Mehmet 1, 2
Genoese troubled by threat to their colony 1
and the boom 1, 2, 3, 4
permanent lookouts on the town walls 1, 2
trades profitably with both city and besiegers 1, 2
overt neutrality compromised 1
Turks bombard ships at the boom from behind Galata 1
indirectly threatened 1
warning to chief magistrates 1
Galata, Podesta of (Angelo Lomellino) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Galata Hill 1
Galata Tower 1, 2
galleys
Venetian transport 1, 2
war 1, 2, 3, 4
raiding (fustae) 1, 2
great 1
narrow 1
ordered by Pope from Venice 1, 2
long 1, 2
light 1
Gallipoli 1, 2, 3, 4
earthquake (1354) 5, 6
Ottoman fleet based at 1, 2, 3
fleet destroyed by Venetians (1416) 1
shipbuilding 1
fleet assembled 1
Ganga, Anatolia 1
Gataloxa 1
Gate of Charisius (Cemetery Gate; later Edirne gate), Constantinople 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Gate of the Military Boot Makers,
Constantinople 1
Gate of the Silver Lake, Constantinople 1
Gate of the Spring, Constantinople 1, 2, 3
Gates of Gibraltar 1, 2
gazis (warriors of the Faith) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Gebze 1
Genghis Khan 1
Gennadios (George Scholarios) 1
anti-unionist clergy 2
public harangue against union 1
belief in imminent end of the world 1
manifesto 1
spiritual father of Orthodoxy 1
self-imposed isolation 1, 2
on the dying Byzantium 1
captured 1
rescued from slavery 1
restored as patriarch of the Orthodox community 1
Genoa 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Genoese 1, 2
colony at Galata 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
rivalry with Venetians 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
fails to send promised aid 1
and the boom 1, 2
soldiers 1, 2
Pope sends merchantmen to the city 1
confronted by Ottomans 1, 2, 3
praised by Constantine 1
and Giustiniani’s wounding 1, 2
George, Brother 1, 2, 3
Georgevich, Bartholomew: Miseries and
Tribulations of the Christians held in Tribute
and Slavery by the Turk 1
Georgia, King of 1
Gepids 1
Gibbon, Edward 1
Gilles, Pierre 1, 2, 3
Giustiniani, Nicholas 1
Giustiniani family 1
Giustiniani Longo, Giovanni 1
brings 700 men to defend Constantinople 2
expert in wall fighting 1, 2
repair of walls 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
councils of war 1, 2
decision to defend the outer wall 1
start of the siege 1
skirmishes for the ditch 1
stoutly marshals defenders 1
a strategist of genius 1
Genoese 1
and operation to burn Ottoman fleet 1
and Notaras 1, 2, 3
offers his galleys for Constantine’s escape 1
saved from death 1
helps to force Ottoman cavalry back 1
the hero of the siege 1, 2
wounded 1
in charge of central section 1
success of his stockade 1
Italians fight under his command 1
severe injury 1
carried away from battle 1, 2
learns that defence has crumbled 1
escapes 1
death and epitaph 1
Golden Gate, Constantinople 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Golden Horn 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
a sheltered deep-water inlet 10, 11
an excellent anchorage for the imperial fleet 1
the boom 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
guarded by Genoese and Venetian sailors 1
Genoese merchantmen attacked by Ottoman fleet 1
sea wall barely guarded 1
no longer a sanctuary against attack 1
crucial control lost by the defenders 1
a zone of unresolved tension 1
pontoon bridge across the Horn 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
defence of 1
escape attempts 1
gonfalons 1
Gospels 1
Goths 1
Grant, John 1, 2, 3
grappling hooks 1, 2
great galleys 1
Great Idea 1
Great Schism 1, 2, 3, 4
Greece 1
Turkocratia 2
the Great Idea 1
Greek fire 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Greeks
siege as a state of mind 1
Michael the Syrian on 1
attitude to crusaders 1