Siege of Constantinople (1422)

In 1421, Murad II inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire from his father, Mehmed I. By this time, the Byzantine Emperor had long remained the ruler of only the heavily fortified Constantinople and a number of adjacent territories. In 1422, Manuel II was struck by paralysis and had to hand over most of his official duties to his eldest son, John VIII . However, he did not have his father's experience and endurance. He ardently supported Murad II's competitor in the struggle for the imperial throne. Under these circumstances, in the summer of that year, Murad II decided to lay siege to Constantinople, deciding to teach them a lesson in obedience. Like the siege of 1394, the siege of 1422 coincided with another plague epidemic in Constantinople, which, however, also spread to the besieging Turks.^[6]

However, when Murad II managed to gain official recognition as the successor to his father Mehmed I, he decided to invade the Byzantine Empire. The plan for the siege was drawn up by himself, and consisted of a double attack on the Empire, dividing the large Ottoman army into two armies: the bulk of the army would go to besiege Constantinople, while the remainder would besiege Thessalonica, which was the second largest city of the Byzantine Empire. With the conquest of Thessalonica, the Ottoman Empire would be able to easily dominate all of Thrace , thus crushing the last Byzantine resistance in those places. Furthermore, Murad II could count on a new, very effective weapon, which would improve the Ottoman artillery. In fact, in 1422 the Ottomans purchased their first siege guns, using falcons, which were weapons of small caliber (8–10 cm for the largest models), but with a range comparable to that of a culverin . Before beginning the siege, Murad II had many shells built to fire from his cannon, which would obviously be the main weapon in the sieges of Constantinople and Thessalonica.^{[citation needed]}

Murad II, who regarded John VIII's actions as a rebellion, sent troops to Constantinople that had not fully recovered from the Battle of Angora. Nevertheless, on June 15, 1422, the Turks laid siege to the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Ten thousand cavalry blocked the roads approaching the city.^[7] Although the artillery used by Murad II was a new type of weapon, it could not destroy the powerful walls of Constantinople. The Byzantines also defended the walls with small cannons, which were also new and appeared in Constantinople in the second half of the 14th century, during the reign of John VI Cantacuzenus, and also used the famous Greek fire. The city's inhabitants successfully defended themselves, including with the help of French and Italian mercenaries.^[8]

When a proper siege failed, on August 24, a 10,000-strong army attempted to storm the walls of Constantinople. However, the assault was repelled. The people perceived the deliverance from the invaders as a manifestation of the protection of the Mother of God , who is considered the protector of Constantinople. In this honor, a contemporary of the events, John Canan, composed "The Story of the Constantinople War of 6930, when Amurat Bey attacked the city with a strong army and nearly captured it, if the Most Pure Mother of God had not preserved him." Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire was experiencing significant internal problems, which led to the need to end the siege.^[9]

Murad was forced to lift the siege due to the rebellion of his younger brother, Küçük Mustafa, in Anatolia. This was supported with men by the Anatolian beyliks of Germiyan and Karaman, who feared a revival of Ottoman power, as well as, according to Doukas, money given by the Byzantine emperor. Mustafa was thus able to gather a significant army, and in late August or early September laid siege to the Ottoman capital, Bursa.^[10] Contemporary Byzantine tradition ascribed the deliverance of Constantinople to a miraculous intervention by the Theotokos.

During the siege, up to a thousand Turks perished. The losses of the Greeks were relatively small; about 30 inhabitants killed and about 100 wounded. Nevertheless, according to the peace concluded with the Turks in 1424, Emperor John VIII was obliged to continue paying a certain tribute to the sultan and ceded him some cities in Thrace. Thus, the territory surrounding Constantinople became even smaller. Having lost significant resources and become weakened, the capital seemed to repeat the fate of Emperor Manuel II, who was paralyzed and died in 1425.^[11]

At the same time, on the western front, the Turkish sultan, seeking to punish the Palaiologoi for their attempts to stir up rebellion in his state, began a siege of the harbor of Thessaloniki, the second most important city of the empire. Despite military support from the Venetians, who effectively took over the city's defense, Thessaloniki became depopulated and was finally conquered by the Turks on March 29, 1430.^[12]

In spite of the Byzantine victory, the 'Empire' at this time had in fact been reduced to a few disconnected strips of land besides the city of Constantinople itself. It was also facing grave economic problems and severely lacked soldiers. Any new cannons after the 1422 siege were gifts from European states, and aside from these no other advances were made to the Byzantine arsenal.^[5] As such, the next Ottoman leader, Mehmed II, would be successful in 1453.

Byzantine accounts attributed the lifting of the siege to an apparition of the Theotokos upon the city walls, which greatly inspired the defenders.^[5] John Kananos records that:

The Romans, although exhausted from fatigue, leapt and were glad… They shouted hymns to the Most Holy Virgin, glorifying her from the depths of their hearts, saying "This is in truth a rich, celebrated, memorable, extraordinary and remarkable miracle worthy of admiration."

Also in the same reference, the Ottoman Army notes that they themselves even saw a woman in purple robes walking on the outer ramparts of the city.^[5]