War and civilization are, simply put, inextricably interwoven.

beginning of Asia. This conflux would put it amidst various other competing societies,

such as the nomads of Asia, the Turks (and other Muslim caliphates), the Bulgars, the

Serbs, etc. The crusades would only exacerbate this, and ultimately hasten its decline.

     Culturally, the Byzantines were still of Roman traditions. It was basically a re-located

Rome to the east, and claimed all the imperial rights and power of the former. The

westerly absorption of Rome into the barbarian tribes and subsequent formation of the

Frankish kingdoms could also, arguably, be seen as evidence of Rome never dying, just

re-locating or adapting to change. We therefore have a marked distinction of Eastern and

Western Europe, each retaining its Roman influence.

    The Byzantine empire was a Christian cosmopolitan empire that was, uniquely, very

Greekish. The Byzantines were adamant about the continuation of classical studies and

Byzantine education and philosophy reinforced this. The Latin Kingdoms of the west had

largely dissipated Greek thought, while the Byzantines saw mastery of the classics a pre-

requisite to education. The works of Homer, Aristotle, Plato and other Greeks are avail-

able to us today only through the efforts of the Byzantines. Women also played a key part

in the intellectual pursuits of the Byzantines, in stark contrast to the Greek, Roman and

medieval Latin Europe. Emperor Alexius (1048-1118) daughter, Anna Comnena, would

write one of the greatest historiographies of medieval Europe ever.   

     Also, the role of Christianity (and religion in general) in the medieval world is very

important as a perpetuator of culture, and sought warfare as means of protecting it. The

emergence of Christianity and subsequent adoption by the Europeans would play a lead

role in this unfolding drama. Christianity, although scorned by Rome, would finally be

adopted through the council of Nicea in 325 A.D. by Constantine, the Roman emperor.

Christianity and warfare were inextricably intertwined from the start. Constantine only

adopted Christianity after being given a victory in battle under the auspice of his vision of

the cross, in hoc signo vinces (in this sign you shall conquer). Constantine, as we stated

earlier, moved his capital to then Byzantium, renamed it, and indeed fostered territorial

gains under the cross. Christianity was the new breath of the Roman empire, and would

facilitate Byzantine influence in its new location on the Bosphorus.

     Byzantine, indeed, sought to convert the world around it to one rule. The Byzantine

emperor was ruler by way of near divinity (echoing the mandate of heaven from the east),

and church and state were almost the same. Control by Byzantines meant subjugation to

its form of Christianity as well. This was largely successful in the outlying regions of

Constantinople, and the conquests of Justinian (527-565) were an partially successful

attempt to bring the old Roman provinces back to the empire. Basil II (985-1025) was

also largely successful and brought the Bulgarian Balkan peninsula under his control,

along with alliances from the Vikings and Russians to the north.

    The Byzantines form of Christianity had been a source of content to its Latin neighbors

to the west, and furthered the divisions farther. Latin Europe was lacking a central auth-

ority and struggled with the church’s role in the state. The Holy Roman Empire was

successful in gaining support of the church from the Pope in Rome. Otto I’s (962-973)

acceptance of the imperial title was under direct implication of succeeding Charlemagne

(742-814), holder of the original title over the now defunct Carolignian Franks.    

     

     Byzantine and Latin Christianity were already divided by the iconoclastic controversy

of the 8th and 9th century. Destruction of idols was a way to combat idolatry, but also,

gave some leverage with another competing faith, Islam. The Byzantines would make

their version of Christianity similar in respect to icons as that of their Muslim neighbors

to, in effect, make any religious transformation of conquered Muslim areas easier (the

Muslims would play another lead, and fatalistic, role in Byzantine demise). As a finality

of the division of the Eastern and Western churches was the Great Schism of 1054. With

this, the churches were permanently divided, each adopting different doctrines.

     Islam was also growing in its followers after Mohammed’s death in the 632. It too

sought to spread its cultural vision to the world. In fact Islam was the major faith of the

world west of China, which by some standards, would seem “uncivilized”. However, the

Abbasids were able to create a dynasty that extended what is now the modern Middle

Eastern world, with caliphs ruling over a more legitimized Muslim state. Unfortunately,

the Abassids would politically dissolve into fragmented caliphates like the Fatimids

Qarmatians, Buyids, and Samanids. These too, would later be dissolved by the steppe

Turks in the 11th century. The Muslim world would be of critical importance to the

Byzantine empire due to simple geopolitics-they were neighbors fighting for the same

lands.

     The stage would now be set for the Crusades, which signaled some East/West Christ-

ian unity but ultimately would result in the betrayal of Constantinople. The Seljuk Turks

now ruled a vast Muslim empire which rivaled the Byzantine. Militarily, the Turks were a

force to contend, being originally steppe nomads now cultivated into a potent “civilized”

army. The Battle of Manzikert (1071) would bring a loss for the Byzantines which result-

ed in the almost entire loss of Anatolia, across the Bosphorus from Constantinople.  Byz-

antine’s pleas for help were met with the first Crusade (1095-1099), which was largely

justified by the Christian need to occupy the holy land of Jerusalem. Thus began a series

of five Crusades to retake the holy land by the soldier-citizens of western Europe. Const-

antinople would reap the benefits of the Crusades as an ally of the westerners by prov-

iding a logistically secure base to operate from, resulting in increased trade and economic

boom.

     Here we once again see how war and civilization intertwine, the Crusades provide a

drastic means of acculturation from peoples of many ethnic origin. Battles of the Crus-

ades served as forums for these distinctly different peoples. The utterly refined Knights

Templar or Hospitallers vs. the seedy light steppe cavalry, the citizen soldiers vs. the

slave elites, chainmail armor vs. leather armor, etc., would overall be a learning exp-

erience for those involved. The expansionistic zeal of the Crusades would create unities,

alliances, breaks, gaps, divisions, enemies and betrayals that are still traceable on a mod-

ern map.

     Despite the influx of arms and food Constantinople, it’s economy was not, however,

strong by itself. It relied heavily on Venetian sea merchants to import the goods used to

sustain the Crusade, and slowly became more dependant upon it. The Venetian merchants

would monopolize on this, much to the dismay of the citizens of Constantinople, whose

own commercial interests were becoming increasingly stifled. In 1171, the Byzantine rul-

ers decided to reduce Venetian interests which led to anti-Venetian riots. Now an enemy,

the Venetians sought revenge. Under the urgings of the Venetian doge Enrico Dandolo,

the fourth Crusade (1198-1204) was rerouted to conquer Constantinople instead of

Jerusalem. Even the city’s mighty walls couldn’t stop the crusaders, and in 1204

Constantinople fell for the first time. It territory would annexed under a flag of

Frankish, Latin, and Venetian interests. 

     Constantinople would be recaptured in 1261 by the Greek Emperor of Nicaea,

Michael VIII Palaeologus. Unfortunately, the city would still a puppet to the already

dominating economic influences that brought its demise. Its links to Black Sea and the

Meditteranean were crucial for western trade from Europe to the newly opened trade

routes to China. However, Venetian and Genoese merchants would once again enact their

supreme control over Constantinople’s international trading economy. Constantinople

would at least be once again Eastern Orthodox, thanks to Michael VIII.  

     The Mongols of Genghis Khan had taken the Asian steppelands, China and the

Middle eastern Khwarezm caliphate by storm in the early 13th century. Their domination

of the middle eastern caliphates continued to grow among the already internally strug-

gling Muslims. The Seljuk Turks would eventually be eliminated. Mongol domination

had not reduced Muslim followings but instead adopted it, so therefore the Muslim ghazis

(religious warriors) could still continue to flourish.

     One ghazi was Osman, who would go on to found the Ottoman Empire. This would be

established by a small state on what was the disintegrating Seljuks Anatolia. Muslim

states were still warring with each other but the Ottoman empire would soon emerge the

winner, and by 1400 A.D. would hold much of Anatolia, and the former Byzantine

territories of Bulgaria, Serbia and Macedonia. In 1402 they would move their capital to

Edirne, slightly over one hundred miles from Constantinople. By 1453 the Ottoman

Empire engulfed the last outpost of a once mighty empire, Constantinople, and its

conquest would signal the ultimate dispersion and redistribution of an ancient culture.

     The Ottomans were a militarily cohesive society as evidenced by their rapid accession

to power. Although the society was not largely embedded in the military, it did maintain

a standing army through conscription or devsirme. The sipahi were professional cavalry

troops, and some of the Rumalia (European) sipahi were still Christians. The Kapi Kulu

were the palace elites, of which the Janissaries were a part of. The azaps and akinci were

irregular light infantry and cavalry, respectively, who could be summoned from the

peasant Muslim peasantry and frontier peoples for a single use campaign. Prisoners of

war were also subjected to military service, but the Kapi Kulu devsirme was becoming

the preferred method for recruitment of elites. Although the Ottomans were of Turkish

steppe nomad origin, their tactics no longer reflected this. They had adopted the more

sedentary way of society and had an organized military. This alone wouldn’t have taken

Constantinople.  This is where one of the newer innovations, the cannon, would come

into play.

     The Jannisaries were some of the first Turkish units to be equipped with handguns,

however firearms were still in a fledgling phase of development. In battle, the guns would

still have to be supplemented with the normal bow and sword weapons. Gun wielding

Janissaries could be easily repulsed by the Romans (as were still called in Constantin-

ople), without even breaching the mighty walls of the city. Walls could be a stubborn

obstacle to any siege efforts and the Ottomans had previously failed in 1444 A.D.

     Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II’s cannon artilleryman were unrivaled in their day. The

cannon was still in its infancy and was just as dangerous to its user as those being

attacked. The cannons were made of bronze or iron hoops and staves and the cast-iron

cannon would still be several decades away. Mehmet’s own knowledge of ballistics (the

new art of firing cannons) was formidable as well, and he is credited with inventing a

new long-range mortar during the 1453 siege.

     The Christian forces under Emperor Constantine XI realized their plight, as the Otto-

man’s navy and cannons clearly gave them a decisive advantage. Constantine had no

navy and his army was relatively small, some estimates of the siege have it at 6,000-

8,500 at most. Constantine’s requests to the Venetian for military support were given

superficial consideration, and Constantinople was considered a lost cause. It did however,

serve as Venetian gateway to the Black Sea and their ships were already being harassed

by the Sultan. One had actually been sunk by cannons mounted on the Sultan’s new

castle on the Bosphorus, Rumeli Hisar. Only then, did the Venetians decide to send

support by way of transports with soldiers and some galleys.

     The battle for Constantinople didn’t happen overnight. Mehmet gathered his army and

navy systematically from January to March 1453 and began a blockade of the city. His

troops consisted of  around 200,000 (only 60,000 combatants) according to one source 

and his navy around 18 war galleys, 60-70 smaller galliots, and 16-20 small craft (prob-

ably horse transports).

     Placement of the cannons was a considerable undertaking, requiring 60 oxen to pull

them into position about 2 miles away from the walls. It is said there were 69 cannons

arranged in 15 batteries, the largest being the Basilica. This fired a ball weighing about

800 pounds, and there were other smaller, though not unsubstantially less powerful

cannons.

     The artillery bombardment began on 6 Apr 1453. One witness reports the sultan’s can-

non being fired between 100-150 times a day, consuming 1,100 lb of powder. The Otto-

mans would pound the walls of the city with the enormous cannons until 29 May 1453.

In between that time, various sea interludes involving the Venetian fleet and the Otto-

mans would take place. The defenders of Constantinople would fight valiantly but on 29

May it was Mehmet who rose victorious in the Santa Sofia.   

     Consequently, the Byzantine empire was officially gone. The Sultan proclaimed him-

self  Qaysar, or Caesar of the Roman people. Italian trade was cut to the Crimea. Many

there would eventually convert to Islam, but there were also many Byzantine elites that

fled to other countries like Crimea and Morea. The Byzantine fondness for classical

Greek thought resurged in the Italian Renaissance. But overall, the once prosperous

Christianity of the areas of Byzantine had been over ran by Muslims, this time for good.

     Constantinople had failed to perpetuate its war ethos, instead relying on culture to en-

able it to remain a power. This power, however great it’s culture, would only be symbol-

ic for the latter part of its existence. It was simply a matter of time before its not so fragile

shell was cracked, something that could only be brought about through war. Therefore,

warfare can ultimately be seen as a determinant of a civilizations ability to exist. This was

the case with the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople (now Istanbul).  

     

       

     

       

           

 

     

     

     

     

 

     

 

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