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jackconsidine 11 hours ago [-]
As alluded, the walls stood the test of time (1,000 years) until the final siege in 1453. The Ottomans fired thousands of cannon shots (weighing 1k lbs) into the walls and ultimately broke through.
I'm struck by the significance. The walls allowed the Byzantine Empire to outlive the Roman Empire by ten centuries. Their undoing marked the end of medieval times (the collapse of the Western Roman Empire marked the start).
jballanc 11 hours ago [-]
Fun fact about that cannon: it took so long for the cannon to cool off between shots that the Byzantines were able to patch each hole it caused before the next shot.
raldi 9 hours ago [-]
Supposedly they could fire it seven times a day, and had to soak it in warm oil in between to minimize thermal shock.
MengerSponge 6 hours ago [-]
Everything reminds me of her
shrubble 11 hours ago [-]
The repairs to the walls under the Ottoman cannon fire made use of the rubble, they made a wooden "basket" to hold the rubble; this ended up being very effective, as just like sand, the slight "give" to the rubble swallowed up much of the force of the cannonball.
robotnikman 11 hours ago [-]
RIP Byzantine Empire
morgoths_bane 10 hours ago [-]
1453, worst year of my life.
jcranmer 9 hours ago [-]
Honestly, the Fourth Crusade in 1204 was more of a "real" death of the Byzantine Empire than the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Although the largest remnant of the Byzantine Empire was able to reconquest Constantinople in 1261, the city's population never recovered (it went from ~400k in 1204 to ~50k in 1453). The 14th century saw it riven with a series of civil wars, which the Ottomans used to expand their foothold into the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. By 1453, Constantinople was unable to really defend itself without garrison from the major European states like Hungary and Venice, and Mehmet II was able to conquer the city before those states could get their forces sent out.
I'm struck by the significance. The walls allowed the Byzantine Empire to outlive the Roman Empire by ten centuries. Their undoing marked the end of medieval times (the collapse of the Western Roman Empire marked the start).