Byzantium And The Crusades Nick Holmes

In this new mini-series, we will hear about the fall of Byzantine Constantinople in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks. Many people see it as a turning point in history, marking the end of the Middle Ages. But what really happened? Find out here. 

In the thirteenth century, the Mongols destroyed the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia. But after the Mongols left, a new Turkish dynasty began to rise to power in western Anatolia. This dynasty was that of the Ottomans. 

In the fourteenth century, the growing power of the Ottoman Turks seemed unstoppable. But there was one man who checked it. This was Timur the Lame, or Tamerlane, as he was called in Europe. Of mixed Turkish and Mongol descent, he created a vast empire at the end of the fourteenth century that was modelled on the Mongol Empire of the legendary Genghis Khan.

The Ottoman onslaught against Constantinople is getting closer. Two new leaders emerge on either side. Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Emperor of Byzantium, and the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, better known as Mehmet the Conqueror. Both men will go down in history as great heroes - discover why in this podcast.

With the Ottoman Turks closing in on Constantinople, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologus made a last desperate appeal to the West for help. But would it be too little and too late?

By 1452, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II had decided to launch a huge attack on the ancient city of Constantinople. But as he gathered his army from all over his dominions, he knew that he would need more than soldiers. To breach the ancient walls he would need gunpowder and cannons!