\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs24 In the fourteenth century the first Ottoman \b \cf2 \ATXht11909 sultans\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , Murad I and Beyazid I, extended their
offensive from Anatolia to the Byzantine domains in the Balkans, to Thrace and Dalmatia. By doing so they put the resistance of the Genoese and Venetians, masters of the trading ports of the Aegean and Mediterranean, to a harsh test. In 1451 Mohammed II
ascended the throne and over the course of two years patiently assembled an army and a well-equipped navy. His aim was to make a final assault on the last bulwark of the Byzantine world, Constantinople. The waterway of the Golden Horn had been blocked by
a gigantic chain, but the Turkish fleet was still able to enter the strait, circumventing the obstacle by an astonishing feat. The ships were hauled overland across the Pera peninsula and set afloat again beneath the walls of the city. Artillery, archer
s, and cavalry did the rest. On May 29, 1453, a breach was opened in the massive fortifications and the Turks entered the city. It was the end of the Byzantine empire.\par
