May 29, 1453 - The End of a World

On Tuesday 29 May 1453 an Ottoman army of ca. 80,000 men, led by Sultan Mehmet II, captured the city of Constantinople after a 53 day siege, bringing to an end the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine empire. Rather than submit to the Sultan's demand to surrender Constantinople, the emperor Constantine XI Palaeologos chose to die fighting in defense of the city and his faith. Although the 7,000 defenders fought bravely, the city's massive 5th c. AD walls, which had for a millennium proved impregnable to successive sieges, were no match for the Turkish cannon, and the 80,000 man Ottoman army overwhelmed the small defending force of Byzantines and their Italian allies. Once Constantine realized the city was lost, he threw off his imperial regalia and plunged into the midst of the fighting. His body was never found.

There have been numerous studies of the fall of Constantinople, but one of the most convenient for English readers is Sir Steven Runciman's The Fall of Constantinople 1453. The quoted sections that follow are from his wonderful book. On Monday the 28th, realizing the end was near, the emperor encouraged his small force by reminding them what they were fighting for. “To his Greek subjects he said that a man should always be ready to die either for his faith or his country or for his family or for his sovereign. Now his people must be prepared to die for all four causes. He spoke of the glories and high traditions of the great Imperial city. He spoke of the perfidy of the infidel Sultan who had provoked the war in order to destroy the True Faith and to put his false prophet into the seat of Christ. He urged them to remember that they were the descendants of the ancient heroes of Greece and Rome and to be worthy of their ancestors. For his part, he said, he was ready to die for his faith, his city, and his people.”

That evening the last Christian service was held in the great church of Holy Wisdom, the Hagia Sophia, that for a thousand years had been the heart of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Latin Catholic and Greek Orthodox put aside their bitter doctrinal differences. “Priests who held union with Rome to be a mortal sin now came to the altar to serve their Unionist brothers. The Cardinal was there, and beside him bishops who would never acknowledge his authority; and all the people came to make confession and take communion, not caring whether Orthodox or Catholic administered it. There were Italians and Catalans along with the Greeks. The golden mosaics, studded with the images of Christ and his saints and the emperors and empresses of Byzantium, glimmered in the light of a thousand lamps and candles; and beneath them for the last time the priests in their splendid vestments moved in the solemn rhythm of the Liturgy. At this moment there was union in the Church of Constantinople.”

Coins of this last Roman emperor are very rare, but a small hoard of them entered the market in 1991. Thanks go to my wife Susan who urged me to purchase one at the time. I've attached its photo. The obverse depicts the image of Christ, while the emperor's portrait appears on the reverse. It's a diminutive, unprepossessing silver coin, but its history speaks volumes.

 

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Thanks for the excellent post with the story of the fall of Constantinople. The coin is a super prize.

 

I've never seen one in person, and my understanding is that these seldom.come for sale and command high prices. You did well purchasing it in 1991. Who knows if you'd be able to get one now.

That little coin, as crude as it is, will fetch $5,000 easily at the right auction. At least that's what one got at a recent auction.

 

They do occasionally appear in the big auctions. But there have been no new finds, as far as I know. All the ones I have seen are part of the original hoard published by Simon Bendall in Revue Numismatique.

 

Excellent post!

 

Thanks for the interesting post, @Voulgaroktonou!

 

Great story, and I love seeing ancient coins that depict Christ. Thank you for sharing

 

Great writeup & coin. One of those "I wish" coins for me.

 

At the time I bought it, a friend of mine purchased 2 of the tiny eighth stavrata like mine. He paid $1400 each for them, the same as I did. About 5 years ago, he sold the lesser of his back to Harlan Berk (who had sold us the coins in 1991) for $3,000. Harlan put it in that year's Gemini auction and it sold for $25,000!

 

A fascinating read. I remember reading about them before the hoard was discovered and the coins were then as scarce as a truthful politician.

As Lord M notes it is fascinating how the coinage denigrated over time, that coin would appear to have fit in with coins that were struck 700-800 years before.

Oh, in the account I read of the seige the Ottomans catapulted bodies of people that had died of the plague to spread disease in Constantinople. Germ warfare/weapons of mass destruction are nothing new.

 

You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it. Attached are my rather poor examples of the first time Christ is depicted on a coin - a solidus and holed semissis of Justinian II at the end of the 7th c.

 

Wow, what a way to end the Roman Empire. Great coin and post!

 

Dear MM, thanks for your note. Your reference to Horace, "Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori", is fitting for today! I work in a Classics Dept. and appreciate the Horace quote.

 

Great write up and great coin... I WANT one!

Here is the guy that did it:


Ottoman Turks Sultan Mahmed II 1451-1481 took Constantinople in 1453 Serez mint AR 1.2g

 

Thanks for the post @Voulgaroktonou . You collect on the other end of the Roman timeline than me. I would like a Justinian II bust of Christ coin (or a later one), but it has not filtered to the top of my wish list.
I bought the book you mentioned. Several on line folks have them for next to nothing. While looking for the book, I found an interesting link -
http://www.persee.fr/collection/numi
The site has free links to Revue Numismatique from 1958 to 2014. The article you mentioned is here -
http://www.persee.fr/doc/numi_0484-8942_1995_num_6_150_2047

 

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori is a line from the Roman lyrical poet Horace's Odes (III.2.13). The line can be translated as: "It is sweet and proper to die for the fatherland."

 

My coin is no. 129 in the article. I work in a university library dedicated to books on ancient Greece, Rome, medieval and modern Greece. We've got one of the best collections in the world. Having all the sources in print, I never have to find them in electronic format, although we are making plans to start digitizing our collection.

 

Thanks for an interesting coin! I have one coin of Mehmed II. Struck in Constantinople, 1478/79, if my memory is correct, although this is an area in which I have no expertise.