Download Digest #: 3516 TITLE SIEGE OF CONSTANTINOPLE, THE

DESCRIPTION
Constantinople served for centuries as the gateway to Europe and a fortress for Christianity. Its massive walls
protected it from Muslim invaders until 1453 when 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed was determined to take the city.
War's newest technology, the cannon, and brilliant strategy led him to victory. Renamed Istanbul, the city served
as the heart of the Ottoman Empire for over 500 years.
ACADEMIC STANDARDS
Subject Area: World History
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Standard: Understands major global trends from 1000 to 1500 CE
§ Benchmark: Understands the impact of interaction between Christians and Muslims in the
Mediterranean region (e.g., how their encounters, both hostile and peaceful, affected political,
economic, and cultural life in Europe, North Africa, and Southwest Asia) (See Instructional Goal #3)
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Standard: Understands patterns of crisis and recovery in Afro-Eurasia between 1300 and 1450
§ Benchmark: Understands the origins and early expansion of the Ottoman Empire up to the capture of
Constantinople in 1453 (See Instructional Goals #1 and #4)
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Standard: Understands how large territorial empires dominated much of Eurasia between the 16th and
18th centuries
§ Benchmark: Understands cultural, political, and economic factors that influenced the development of
the Ottoman Empire (e.g., the development of the Ottoman Empire among diverse religious and ethnic
groups, the Christian European view of the Ottoman seizure of Constantinople in 1453, trade routes
within the Ottoman Empire and how trade was affected by the development of a sea route around
Africa) (See Instructional Goals #1, #3 and #4)
§ Benchmark: Understands political and cultural achievements of the Ottoman Empire (e.g., the
significance of the capture of Constantinople for Christians and Ottomans; how the Ottoman military
succeeded against various enemies; artistic, architectural, and literary achievements of the Ottoman
Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries; achievements of Sulieman the Magnificent; the extent of the
Byzantine and Ottoman Empires in the 14th and 15th centuries) (See Instructional Goals #1, #2 and
#3)
§ Benchmark: Understands major political events in the rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire (e.g.,
the emergence of the Ottomans as a regional and world power between 1450 and 1650, the Ottoman
Empire in the context of the Byzantine and Roman Empires, Austrian and Russian responses to
Ottoman aggression, significant events in the expansion and recession of the Ottoman Empire from
the 15th to the 17th centuries) (See Instructional Goals #1, #3 and #4)
INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS
1. To depict the 1453 siege of Constantinople.
2. To emphasize effects of the siege of Constantinople.
3. To present the clash between Christians and Muslims, and, within the Christian church, between
Orthodox and Catholic believers.
4. To examine the roles of Constantine XI and Sultan Mehmed in the Roman and Ottoman Empires.
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VOCABULARY
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impregnable
stalemate
Janissaries
martyr
enclave
standard bearer
ultimatum
tactic
omen
artillery
BEFORE SHOWING
1. Locate the following places on a map.
a. bodies of water: the Danube, the Euphrates, the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara
b. countries: Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Albania
c. cites: Istanbul (Constantinople), Rome, Venice, Alexandria
d. the Rumeli Hisar fortress in Turkey
2. Discuss the following empires: Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman. Consider the location and dates that
these empires existed.
DURING SHOWING
Discussion Items and Questions
1. View the video more than once, with one showing uninterrupted.
2. Complete a timeline of important events. (See INSTRUCTIONAL GRAPHICS.)
AFTER SHOWING
Discussion Items and Questions
1. Discuss the ongoing tensions between Muslims and Constantinople prior to 1453.
a. At that time period, what nations were considered to be part of the East and the West?
b. What previous skirmishes had happened between Muslims and Christians?
c. What is Aopensari’s claim to fame?
2. Describe the Christian, Roman, and Greek influences on language, organization, and outlook in
Constantinople.
3. Discuss the internal strife between the Orthodox Church in Constantinople and the Catholic Church in
Rome.
a. Why was there both political and religious enmity between Rome and Constantinople?
b. Why did the Crusaders sack Constantinople in 1204?
c. How did the Crusaders’ treatment of Orthodox holy places differ from that of the Ottomans?
4. Discuss Mehmed II.
a. What were Mehmed’s goals?
b. How did his education help him in the conquest of Constantinople?
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c. What does Mehmed’s last message to Constantine XI say about his character?
5. Discuss Constantine XI.
a. What was the city of Constantinople like during his reign?
b. What was Constantine XI’s relationship to the city of Constantinople?
c. Why did he reject Mehmed’s ultimatum on the eve of the siege?
6. Discuss the siege of Constantinople in 1453.
a. Evaluate Constantine XI’s decision to stay with the city at all costs and reject Mehmed’s offer of
safety and land in Greece.
b. Calculate the amount of time Mehmed waited, schemed, and fought to conquer Constantinople.
c. Hypothesize how Mehmed built the Rumeli Hisar in only four months.
d. Imagine how Constantinople defeated the sultan’s forces in the first battle.
e. Evaluate the importance of the Ottoman offensive strategies: the artillery barrage, the giant cannons,
breaches in the wall, and the siege tower.
f. Explain the Byzantine defensive strategies of protecting breaches in the wall and the great chain.
g. Hypothesize how Ottoman desertion would have affected the outcome of the siege.
h. Imagine how overnight Mehmed moved more than 30 ships across a narrow stretch of land.
i. Evaluate the effect of omens on the siege of Constantinople. Consider the lunar eclipse and
Aopensari’s grave.
7. Discuss the effects of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople.
a. How did Mehmed’s treatment of Christian holy sites differ from that of the Crusaders?
b. Why did the fall of Constantinople make the whole of Europe vulnerable?
c. What were the Christian and Muslim views of the Ottoman conquest?
d. In what way was Christianity threatened by the fall of Constantinople?
e. What was the importance of the Silk Road trade route being in Ottoman hands?
f. How did the siege of Constantinople start a new era of warfare?
Applications and Activities
1. Evaluate the siege of Constantinople.
a. Debate if Constantine XI should have accepted Mehmed’s offer of territory in Greece and religious
freedom for his population in exchange for Constantinople.
b. Hypothesize the effects if Mehmed had been defeated at Constantinople. Consider the influence on
trade, Christianity, tactics of warfare, and the Ottoman Empire.
2. Write a fictional diary entry for one of the following:
a. an Ottoman soldier after their defeat in the first battle of the siege
b. a citizen of Constantinople after waking to discover that the Ottoman war fleet had surrounded the
city
c. a citizen of Constantinople on Constantine XI’s decision to not accept terms of peace from Mehmed
d. an Ottoman soldier considering desertion after 12 weeks of battle
e. a Janissary who found the lost tomb of Aopensari
f. a Constantinople citizen seeing the full eclipse of the moon
g. a woman or child who survived the siege
3. Plan a visit to Istanbul. Consider seeing mosques, St. Sophia (Hagia Sofia), Rumeli Hisar and the tombs
of Aopensari, and Constantine XI.
4. Research the Janissary.
a. Write a fictional account of a new recruit joining the Janissaries.
b. Create a sample training plan for a new group of Janissaries.
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c. Compare the Janissaires to kamikazes and Hitler Youth.
d. Determine if the siege of Constantinople was a jihad.
e. Compare the perception in 1453 that Bosnia, Serbia, and Albania were the most warlike states in the
Ottoman Empire with modern perception of these countries.
Investigate the Ottoman Empire.
a. What political and economic factors influenced the development of the empire?
b. How did the diverse religious and ethnic groups of the empire influence its development?
c. What was the extent of the Ottoman Empire after the siege?
d. What brought about the end of the Ottoman Empire after World War I?
Compare the siege of Constantinople to other sieges in history. Consider the following:
a. the German-Finnish siege of Leningrad during World War II
b. Alexander the Great’s siege of Aoronos
c. Napoleon’s siege of Mantua
d. the American siege of Boston during the American Revolution
e. the Confederate siege of Union troops at Chattanooga during the American Civil War
f. the French-American siege of Yorktown during the American Revolution
g. the Crusaders’ siege of Jerusalem during the First Crusade
h. the post-World War II blockade of West Berlin
Investigate siege weapons
a. siege towers, belfries
b. battering rams
c. mining
d. trebuchet
e. Greek fire
Compare religious beliefs related to the siege of Constantinople. Consider Islam, Orthodox Christianity,
and Roman Catholicism.
From the video, determine the speaker and the audience for the following quotes, before performing
dramatic interpretations of them.
a. “I do not know where to begin the story of what these monsters committed. They broke the holy
images. They hurled the sacred relics of the martyrs into unmentionable places.”
b. “They scattered the body and the blood of the Savior. They seized the chalices and tore out their
precious stones and drank from them.”
c. “As it is clear that thou desires more war than peace, I turn now and look alone to God.”
d. “. . . I release thee from all thy oaths and treaties with me, and closing the gates of my capital, I will
defend my people to the last drop of my blood.”
e. “I will, as the law commands, spare you, the citizens of this great city, harm neither your families nor
your belongings if you voluntarily surrender to me.”
f. “How could I leave the churches of our Lord and the throne in such a plight? What would the world
say about me?”
g. “I pray you, my friends, in future do not say to me anything else but, ‘Nay sire, do not leave us.’
Never, never shall I leave you. I am resolved to die here with you.”
Investigate other infighting within the Christian church.
a. the Protestant Reformation
b. the establishment of the Church of England
c. conflicts in Ireland between Protestants and Catholics
d. French Protestant Huguenots’ persecution in France in the 16th and 17th centuries
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INSTRUCTIONAL GRAPHICS
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TIMELINE
RELATED RESOURCES
Captioned Media Program
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Armenian Genocide, The #8031
Empire Conquered, An #7575
Light Horsemen, The #7402
Ottoman Empire, The #3065V
Western Europe: Our Legacy #3317
World Wide Web
The following Web sites complement the contents of this guide; they were selected by professionals who have
experience in teaching deaf and hard of hearing students. Every effort was made to select accurate, educationally
relevant, and “kid-safe” sites. However, teachers should preview them before use. The U.S. Department of
Education, the National Association of the Deaf, and the Captioned Media Program do not endorse the sites and
are not responsible for their content.
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GALLERY BYZANTINE IMAGES http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/images.html
A subpage of Byzantium studies on the Internet, the intent of this site is to “present available images of
Byzantine art under topical exhibition.”
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CONSTANTINOPLE http://w4u.eexi.gr/~ippotis/consten.html
Divided into three time periods, this site covers the history of Constantinople from 636 B.C. to today.
The time period of the siege includes milestones (a timeline), a photograph tour of Hagia Sofia (St.
Sophia cathedral), and a list of emperors. Scroll down to see past and present photos of Constantinople.
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ISTANBUL http://www.dominet.com.tr/turkey/turkey/marmara/istanbul/istanbul.html
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Visitor information about Istanbul, Turkey. Provides listings of area attractions, including museums,
mosques, and monuments; phone numbers for accommodations, tourist offices, and places of worship;
and an overview of shopping and transportation.
HYPER HISTORY ONLINE http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html
This mammoth site includes an interactive synchronic timeline with links to text files and political maps
of the period. An overwhelming amount of information: 1400 files covering over 3000 years of world
history.
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WORLD HISTORY COMPASS http://www.schillercomputing.com/whc/index.htm
A huge collection to links on historical sites. Byzantine links include over 40 sites ranging from images
of Byzantine coins to directions to make Byzantine-like clothing. Includes specific links to
Constantinople sites.
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