DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25694#0060
MAHOMET THE GREAT,
SEVENTH EMPEROR OF TPIE TURKS.
1451-1481.
The death of Amurath placed Mahomet in possession of all his wishes. He was now in his
twenty-first year: the large accession of territory which descended to him, so far from setting
bounds to his ambition, only filled him with the desire of new conquests. He, however, began
his reign by an attention to domestic regulations ; for having observed the abuses which gradually
spread through every department of the government, he instituted a system of inquiry, which
not only led to the detection of the delinquents, but prevented a recurrence of the same evils.
The good and generous feelings of Amurath had often prompted him to bestow largesses and
preferments on his soldiers and adherents, and these had increased to such a degree, as to render
a moderate reform necessary ; but, as neither feeling, gratitude, nor reverence for a father’s memory,
formed any part of the character of Mahomet, he felt no compunction in strictly enforcing his
plans of retrenchment and reform.
After having modelled the government to his satisfaction, he levied such extensive contributions
on his subjects, as plainly indicated that he had some great enterprise in view ; and the extinction
of the Byzantine empire soon became the avowed object of his preparations. He commenced the
memorable siege of Constantinople with a numerous army, and an immense train of artillery; but
his formidable batteries, though furnished with ordnance of extraordinary size, and constructed
for the occasion, made but a slight impression on the walls ; and the defenders, with incredible
industry and perseverance, repaired during the night, the damage sustained in the day. The mouth
of the harbour being so secured by large chains and booms, as to baffle all the attacks of the
Turks by sea, Mahomet conceived the bold idea of cutting a passage over land ; which being
accomplished with incredible labour, the channel was lined with planks, and, by the help of
engines, in the space of one night, eighty gallies and seventy other vessels were drawn over a
distance of ten miles, and launched into the harbour of Constantinople. The surprise and terror
of the Greeks can hardly be imagined, when, in the morning, they saw themselves surrounded
by an enemy’s fleet; and, after a siege of forty days, the fate of Constantinople could no longer
be averted. It was in vain that terms of capitulation were proposed to the Sultan: the prospect
of possessing the Byzantine treasures only tended to inflame the ferocity of the assailants;
and so obstinate and sanguinary was the conflict, that the bodies of the slaughtered Turks served
their companions as ladders to mount the breach. In the midst of this scene of horror and carnage,
the Christian general, Justinian, was wounded: his removal from the scene of action caused
universal consternation, and the Greek Emperor, finding all his endeavours to restore the courage
of his troops ineffectual, rushed among the ranks of the besiegers, and was slain. The city was
given up to plunder during three days, and the riches found in it exceeded the expectations
of the victors, who returned to the camp laden with the spoils of fallen Greece. This great conquest
and revolution, by which the final destruction of the Roman empire was accomplished, took place
on the twenty-ninth of May, in the fourteen hundred and fifty-third year of the Christian asra.
Constantinople, thus desolate and naked, might have remained a heap of ruins, had not its
incomparable situation marked it out for the metropolis of a great Empire. In a short time, the
city resumed the appearance of its former riches and grandeur : inhabitants resorted to it from all
parts of Greece, and the memory of Byzantium, once the seat of science and refinement, was
revived, in no mean degree, amid the pomp of Ottoman magnificence.
Among the prisoners taken in Constantinople was Irene, a Greek of incomparable beauty, of
SEVENTH EMPEROR OF TPIE TURKS.
1451-1481.
The death of Amurath placed Mahomet in possession of all his wishes. He was now in his
twenty-first year: the large accession of territory which descended to him, so far from setting
bounds to his ambition, only filled him with the desire of new conquests. He, however, began
his reign by an attention to domestic regulations ; for having observed the abuses which gradually
spread through every department of the government, he instituted a system of inquiry, which
not only led to the detection of the delinquents, but prevented a recurrence of the same evils.
The good and generous feelings of Amurath had often prompted him to bestow largesses and
preferments on his soldiers and adherents, and these had increased to such a degree, as to render
a moderate reform necessary ; but, as neither feeling, gratitude, nor reverence for a father’s memory,
formed any part of the character of Mahomet, he felt no compunction in strictly enforcing his
plans of retrenchment and reform.
After having modelled the government to his satisfaction, he levied such extensive contributions
on his subjects, as plainly indicated that he had some great enterprise in view ; and the extinction
of the Byzantine empire soon became the avowed object of his preparations. He commenced the
memorable siege of Constantinople with a numerous army, and an immense train of artillery; but
his formidable batteries, though furnished with ordnance of extraordinary size, and constructed
for the occasion, made but a slight impression on the walls ; and the defenders, with incredible
industry and perseverance, repaired during the night, the damage sustained in the day. The mouth
of the harbour being so secured by large chains and booms, as to baffle all the attacks of the
Turks by sea, Mahomet conceived the bold idea of cutting a passage over land ; which being
accomplished with incredible labour, the channel was lined with planks, and, by the help of
engines, in the space of one night, eighty gallies and seventy other vessels were drawn over a
distance of ten miles, and launched into the harbour of Constantinople. The surprise and terror
of the Greeks can hardly be imagined, when, in the morning, they saw themselves surrounded
by an enemy’s fleet; and, after a siege of forty days, the fate of Constantinople could no longer
be averted. It was in vain that terms of capitulation were proposed to the Sultan: the prospect
of possessing the Byzantine treasures only tended to inflame the ferocity of the assailants;
and so obstinate and sanguinary was the conflict, that the bodies of the slaughtered Turks served
their companions as ladders to mount the breach. In the midst of this scene of horror and carnage,
the Christian general, Justinian, was wounded: his removal from the scene of action caused
universal consternation, and the Greek Emperor, finding all his endeavours to restore the courage
of his troops ineffectual, rushed among the ranks of the besiegers, and was slain. The city was
given up to plunder during three days, and the riches found in it exceeded the expectations
of the victors, who returned to the camp laden with the spoils of fallen Greece. This great conquest
and revolution, by which the final destruction of the Roman empire was accomplished, took place
on the twenty-ninth of May, in the fourteen hundred and fifty-third year of the Christian asra.
Constantinople, thus desolate and naked, might have remained a heap of ruins, had not its
incomparable situation marked it out for the metropolis of a great Empire. In a short time, the
city resumed the appearance of its former riches and grandeur : inhabitants resorted to it from all
parts of Greece, and the memory of Byzantium, once the seat of science and refinement, was
revived, in no mean degree, amid the pomp of Ottoman magnificence.
Among the prisoners taken in Constantinople was Irene, a Greek of incomparable beauty, of