11 Michael Kritovoulos, The Siege of Constantinople, 1453

124. …The Sultan [Mehmed II] summoned the cannon-makers and spoke to them about the cannon and the walls, and about how the wall could most easily be demolished. They assured him it would be easy to demolish it if, in addition to the guns they already had (for they already had some others, made earlier), they should construct one more, which, they believed, would be strong enough to batter down and destroy the wall. For this, heavy expense was needed, to purchase both a large amount of brass and many other materials.

125. No sooner said than done. The Sultan immediately provided them in abundance with everything they needed, and so they constructed the cannon, a thing most fearsome to see and altogether unbelievable and hard to accept when one hears about it…

130. Of bronze and tin an amount of great value and of great weight was cast into the foundries – in fact, 1500 talents [ancient unit of weight], as was reported. Besides, a great quantity of charcoal and of tree-trunks was heaped up on the outside of the crucibles, above and below and all around, to such a depth as to hide the furnaces, all but their mouths.

131. Around them were bellows blowing violently and continuously, setting fire to the whole mass for three whole days and as many nights, until the bronze was entirely melted and dissolved, becoming liquid and fluid.

132. Then, when the mouths were opened, the bronze poured out through the conduits into the mold until the whole receptacle was completely full, and it covered the inner core entirely, and overflowed this by a cubit in height; and thus was the cannon completed. After that, when the bronze had cooled off and become cold, it was cleared of both the inner core and the outer casing, and being smoothed and polished by scrapers, it shone altogether. Such was the construction and the form of the cannon…

140. Sultan Mehmed, since the makers of the cannon had completed them successfully, ordered them to bring the cannon near the walls. Over against the Middle Wall where he had his camp, and where his tent was, he ordered them to set up three of them, chosen as the largest and most powerful, and to bombard and shake the wall at that point. He ordered the others to be brought up against portions of the wall here and there, choosing the most vulnerable and weakest parts of the walls. For he judged it best to attack the wall at many points, so that, after he had begun the battle in several places, the capture of it would prove easier and more facile for him, as indeed it turned out to be…

213. Rising at dawn, he [Mehmed II] first called the gunners and ordered them to make the guns ready and aim them at the wrecked parts of the wall, so that when the time came they might fire on the defenders there.

214. Afterward he summoned the cavalry and infantry of his guard – I mean the heavy infantry and shield-bearers and archers and all the royal guard – and grouped them effectively by bands, masses, groups, and companies, by thousands and sometimes in larger numbers. He ordered them to fight in shifts, when their turns came. Some were to fight and do battle while others took food and sleep and rested so that they might be refreshed and renewed for the struggle. Then those should replace the others, and that thus, with one division constantly succeeding another and with periods of rest, the battle should go on incessantly and continuously, so as to allow their opponents no respite or relaxation in the fight. He also appointed a place for each, and a time and a regular order, and commanded them how and where and when to make their best effort.

215. Then the Sultan mounted his horse and went around to all the other divisions, reviewing them and giving his orders to all in general and each in particular. He encouraged them and stirred them up for the battle, especially the officers of the troops, calling each one by name. Then, having passed along the entire army, along the wall from sea to sea, and having given the necessary orders and encouraged and incited all for the fight, and having urged them to play the man, he ordered them to have their food and rest until the battle-cry should be given and they should see the signal. And after doing all this, he went back to his tent, had his meal, and rested…

226. Sultan Mehmed saw that the attacking divisions were very much worn out by the battle and had not made any progress worth mentioning, and that the Romans and Italians were not only fighting stoutly but were prevailing in the battle. He was very indignant at this, considering that it ought not to be endured any longer. Immediately he brought up the divisions which he had been reserving for later on, men who were extremely well armed, daring and brave, and far in advance of the rest in experience and valor. They were the elite of the army: heavy infantry, bowmen, and lancers, and his own bodyguard, and along with them those of the division called Yenitsari [Janissaries].

227. Calling to them and urging them to prove themselves now as heroes, he led the attack against the wall, himself at the head until they reached the moat. There he ordered the bowmen, slingers, and musketeers to stand at a distance and fire to the right, against the defenders on the palisade and on the battered wall. They were to keep up so heavy a fire that those defenders would be unable to fight, or to expose themselves because of the cloud of arrows and other projectiles falling like snowflakes.

228. To all the rest, the heavy infantry and the shield-bearers, the Sultan gave orders to cross the moat swiftly and attack the palisade. With a loud and terrifying war-cry and with fierce impetuosity and wrath, they advanced as if mad. Being young and strong and full of daring, and especially because they were fighting in the Sultan’s presence, their valor exceeded every expectation. They attacked the palisade and fought bravely without any hesitation. Needing no further orders, they knocked down the turrets which had been built out in front, broke the yardarms, scattered the materials that had been gathered, and forced the defenders back inside the palisade…

233. Sultan Mehmed, who happened to be fighting quite near by, saw that the palisade and the other part of the wall that had been destroyed were now empty of men and deserted by the defenders. He noted that men were slipping away secretly and that those who remained were fighting feebly because they were so few. Realizing from this that the defenders had fled and that the wall was deserted, he shouted out: “Friends, we have the City! We have it! They are already fleeing from us! They can’t stand It any longer! The wall is bare of defenders! It needs just a little more effort and the City is taken! Don’t weaken, but on with the work with all your might, and be men and I am with you!”

234. So saying, he led them himself. And they, with a shout on the run and with a fearsome yell, went on ahead of the Sultan, pressing on up to the palisade. After a long and bitter struggle they hurled back the Romans from there and climbed by force up the palisade. They dashed some of their foe down into the ditch between the great wall and the palisade, which was deep and hard to get out of, and they killed them there. The rest they drove back to the gate…

237. Then a great slaughter occurred of those who happened to be there: some of them were on the streets, for they had already left the houses and were running toward the tumult when they fell unexpectedly on the swords of the soldiers; others were in their own homes and fell victims to the violence’ of the Janissaries and other soldiers, without any rhyme or reason; others were resisting, relying on their own courage; still, others were fleeing to the churches and making supplication – men, women,. and children, everyone, for there was no quarter given.

238. The soldiers fell on them with anger and great wrath. For one thing, they were actuated by the hardships of the siege. For another, some foolish people had hurled taunts and curses at them from the battlements all through the siege. Now, in general they killed so as to frighten all the City, and to terrorize and enslave all by the slaughter…

239. When they had had enough of murder, and the City was reduced to slavery, some of the troops turned to the mansions of the mighty, by bands and companies and divisions, for plunder and spoil. Others went to the robbing of churches, and others dispersed to the simple homes of the common people, stealing, robbing, plundering, killing, insulting, taking and enslaving men, women, and children, old and young, priests, monks – in short, every age and class…

255. There died, of Romans and of foreigners, as was reported, in all the fighting and in the capture itself, all told, men, women, and children, well-nigh four thousand, and a little more than fifty thousand were taken prisoners, including about five hundred from the whole army.

256. After this the Sultan entered the City and looked about to see its great size, its situation, its grandeur and beauty, its teeming population, its loveliness, and the costliness of its churches and public buildings and of the private houses and community houses and of those of the officials. He also saw the setting of the harbor and of the arsenals, and how skillfully and ingeniously they had everything arranged in the City – in a word, all the construction and adornment of it. When he saw what a large number had been killed, and the ruin of the buildings, and the wholesale ruin and destruction of the City, he was filled with compassion and repented not a little at the destruction and plundering. Tears fell from his eyes as he groaned deeply and passionately: “What a city we have given over to plunder and destruction!”