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A review by librarianonparade
1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West by Roger Crowley
5.0
1453 and the fall of Constantinople is one of those pivotal moments in history, now sadly too neglected and forgotten, to which we owe much of the modern conflict between East and West, between Islam and Christianity. This conflict is often ascribed to the legacy of the Crusades and the attempt by the Western Christian nations of Europe to reclaim Jerusalem from the 'Saracens'. But in reality the fall of Constantinople had far more lasting repercussions, heralding as it did the spread of the Ottoman Empire into Europe, a steady overwhelming conquest that was not halted until the failed siege of Vienna in 1526 and did not end until the collapse of the Empire in 1923.
To Sultan Mehmed I Constantinople heralded more than just the last outpost of Eastern Christianity, the last remnant of the Roman Empire. It was a symbol of Ottoman supremacy, the city that was destined to form the centre of the Empire, a city prophesied to fall to Islamic might by no less than Muhammed himself, besieged and fought over for 650 years. In the siege and conquest of Constantinople more was at stake than just the fate of one city.
Considering the relative brevity of this book, Roger Crowley admirably establishes the history and context of both Constantinople and the fledging Ottoman Empire. He paints a picture of a city lost in fading grandeur, long since fallen from the height of its power and glory, a city and an empire than never really recovered from its sacking by Christian crusaders during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It was a city riven by the schism between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and that hastily papered-over rift was largely to blame for the paltry forces available to the Emperor Constantine XI and why so little aid was forthcoming from the Pope and the West.
Despite obvious prior knowledge of 'how the story ends', Crowley writes with such narrative flair and skill that I read this on the edge of my seat, anticipating with dread the pre-dawn attack on 29th May 1453. He really conjures up the image of that long-ago morning, the noise and the confusion of battle, the sights and sounds and smells, the panic and fear of the besieged Greeks, the exultation and bloodlust of the conquering Ottomans, the sacking of the city, the despoilment of the churches and monasteries, the ransacking of the famous Church of St Sophia, now of course the Hagia Sophia mosque. The ransacking Muslims armies were, of course, no worse than any marauding medieval army, despite what some modern commentators and reviewers will say. Indeed, Mehmed reined his forces in after only one day of plunder and murder, despite the laws of Islam dictating three days of plunder for a city that refused to surrender - although largely this was because they'd done more than enough damage in just one day and he wanted something of the city left to form his new capital!
The fall of Constantinople was such a turning point in history that one cannot wonder what the world might have been like had it not fallen. At the point the city fell the siege was at such a breaking point that had the attack of 29th May been repulsed, as many others prior to this date had been, the Ottoman armies would likely have withdrawn, their forces too exhausted and their morale too low to continue. Without Constantinople the subsequent conquests of Anatolia, Greece, the Balkans and Eastern Europe may not have occurred and the whole history of Europe could have been different. But who knows?
To Sultan Mehmed I Constantinople heralded more than just the last outpost of Eastern Christianity, the last remnant of the Roman Empire. It was a symbol of Ottoman supremacy, the city that was destined to form the centre of the Empire, a city prophesied to fall to Islamic might by no less than Muhammed himself, besieged and fought over for 650 years. In the siege and conquest of Constantinople more was at stake than just the fate of one city.
Considering the relative brevity of this book, Roger Crowley admirably establishes the history and context of both Constantinople and the fledging Ottoman Empire. He paints a picture of a city lost in fading grandeur, long since fallen from the height of its power and glory, a city and an empire than never really recovered from its sacking by Christian crusaders during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It was a city riven by the schism between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and that hastily papered-over rift was largely to blame for the paltry forces available to the Emperor Constantine XI and why so little aid was forthcoming from the Pope and the West.
Despite obvious prior knowledge of 'how the story ends', Crowley writes with such narrative flair and skill that I read this on the edge of my seat, anticipating with dread the pre-dawn attack on 29th May 1453. He really conjures up the image of that long-ago morning, the noise and the confusion of battle, the sights and sounds and smells, the panic and fear of the besieged Greeks, the exultation and bloodlust of the conquering Ottomans, the sacking of the city, the despoilment of the churches and monasteries, the ransacking of the famous Church of St Sophia, now of course the Hagia Sophia mosque. The ransacking Muslims armies were, of course, no worse than any marauding medieval army, despite what some modern commentators and reviewers will say. Indeed, Mehmed reined his forces in after only one day of plunder and murder, despite the laws of Islam dictating three days of plunder for a city that refused to surrender - although largely this was because they'd done more than enough damage in just one day and he wanted something of the city left to form his new capital!
The fall of Constantinople was such a turning point in history that one cannot wonder what the world might have been like had it not fallen. At the point the city fell the siege was at such a breaking point that had the attack of 29th May been repulsed, as many others prior to this date had been, the Ottoman armies would likely have withdrawn, their forces too exhausted and their morale too low to continue. Without Constantinople the subsequent conquests of Anatolia, Greece, the Balkans and Eastern Europe may not have occurred and the whole history of Europe could have been different. But who knows?