Romans

The East Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire, was created when the Ancient Roman Empire was permanently divided into two in 395. during the A.D. 500's, the period of its greatest size, the empire included parts of southern and eastern Europe, of northern Africa, and of the Middle East. By the time the siege began, the empire had shrunk to only its capital, Constantinople, and the city's immediate suburbs.

top

Ottomans

The Ottomans are the descendants of nomadic Muslim Turks from central Asia. In the 1300's, under the leadership of Osman I, they began to build a powerful empire. By the mid-1400's, the Ottomans had conquered the entire East Roman Empire except for the city of Constantinople. The term Ottoman comes from Osman, the first sultan (ruler) of the empire, who died in about 1326.

top

Sultan Muhammad

Sultan Muhammad is the seventh ruler of the Ottoman Empire. He became sultan in 1444, was deposed in 1446, and regained power in 1451. At that time, Muhammad resolved to make his mark by capturing Constantinople. To this end, he built a fleet to blockade the city and large cannons to destroy the city's mighty walls, which had thwarted Muslim invaders for centuries.

top

Constantine XI

Constantine XI was the last emperor of the East Roman Empire. A vigorous and skilled military commander, he tried to expand Roman rule farther north in Greece in the 1300's and 1400's, but was beaten back by the Ottomans. Constantine became emperor in 1448. He is believed to have died in the final assault on Constantinople, but his body has not been recovered.

top

The Seljuk Turks

The Seljuk Turks were Turkic-speaking Muslims from Central Asia who controlled much of southwestern Asia from the mid-1000's to the mid-1200's. They were named for Seljuk, their first leader. In 1071, Seljuk armies defeated Roman forces in the Battle of Manzikert. This victory enabled them to eventually win control of Anatolia. Their rule was weakened by Mongol invaders.

top

Giovanni Giustiniani

Giovanni Giustiniani, a general from the Italian city of Genoa, was the commander of the foreign troops in Constantinople. Gravely wounded in what became the final assault on the city, he fled the battlefield, despite pleas by Emperor Constantine to remain with his troops. He managed to escape to the island of Chios in the Aegean Sea, where he died of his wounds. After the fall of Constantinople, Christians scorned Giustiniani for abandoning the fighting at the worst possible moment, and the Genoese were shamed on his behalf.

top