Siege of Constantinople

Conquest of Morea

Of Mehmed the Conqueror's many great achievement, his greatest must be the Siege of Constantinople. He was the first person in all of history to break through the city's great walls. The Siege of Constantinople was led by Mehmed when he was just in his early 20s. The assault lasted over 50 days and consisted of over 200 ships and around 50,000 soldiers (Wikipedia). This attack was no small feat. The Ottomans shot cannons at the city's walls in an attempt to destroy them and break into the city. In order to prevent reinforcements from reaching the city, a fortress was built on the northwest coast of the Black Sea (Wikipedia). After a few weeks of attack, the Ottomans finally managed to break through the great walls, and were met with very little resistance from the residents (Wikipedia). Mehmed entered the city and hastily offered his prayers at the great Basilica (a place of worship), Aya Sophia. This siege brought an end to the Byzantine Empire (Wikipedia).

The Despotate of Morea was right along the southern Ottoman Balkans (Wikipedia). The Ottomans had already taken control of this region before under the rule of Murad II, Mehmed's father. The order to attack the Morea was sent just before the Siege of Constantinople. The tyrants that were in charge, Demetrios Palaiologos and Thomas Palaiologos, failed to send any help during this attack (Wikipedia). This incompetence and lack of ability to properly handle the situation resulted in a revolt against them (Wikipedia). During this revolt, they invited Ottoman troops to help put a stop to the revolt. After even more time of inadequate rule under the brothers, including their failure to pay their annual tribute to the sultan, and even their own revolt against the Ottomans, Mehmed entered More with his army in May of 1460 (Wikipedia). The Ottomans took one of the brothers - Demetrios - as a prisoner, while his younger brother fled in fear. By the end of the summer, the Ottoman had controlled nearly all of the Greek-possessed cities (Wikipedia).