At a glance
- Era
- The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
- Region
- Anatolia
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
On screen
- Rise of Empires: Ottoman· Documentary series · About · documentary
Sultan Mehmed II opened the city of Constantinople with wisdom and courage, protecting its inhabitants and building schools.
In 857 AH (1453 CE), the young Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II opened Constantinople following a strategic siege. Mehmed devised an ingenious plan transporting warships overland on greased wooden logs into the Golden Horn. Upon entry, he granted a decree of protection to the citizens, transforming Istanbul into an imperial capital of learning and diversity.
Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.
The conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul) on 20 Jumada al-Ula 857 AH (29 May 1453 CE) by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II ('the Conqueror') following a sophisticated fifty-three-day siege. The conquest marked the definitive end of the Byzantine Empire and represented a monumental paradigm shift in global history, ushering in the early modern era. Renowned for tactical innovations including the overland transport of fleet vessels over greased logs and super-sized cannon siegecraft, Mehmed subsequently issued guarantees of personal and religious liberty to the city's inhabitants, transforming Istanbul into the cosmopolitan imperial capital.
Overview
Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror took Constantinople on Wednesday, 20 Jumada al-Akhira 857 AH, after a siege that lasted fifty days, according to Ibn al-Imad. 2
The conquest
Ibn al-Imad says that the sultan brought ships overland and by sea, besieged the city with the utmost severity, and took it on the fifty-first day. He prayed the Friday prayer in Hagia Sophia. 2
Inside the war council
al-Sallabi relates that when four ships sent by the Pope reached the city, the emirs and viziers gathered and told the sultan that there was no hope of conquest. He sent his vizier to the tent of Shaykh Aq Shams al-Din, who answered that God would certainly grant the conquest. The war council decided to continue. 3
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Connections
- Had participant
- Ahmad ibn Ismail al-Kurani· Baltaoglu· Candarli Halil Pasha the Younger· Constantine XI Palaiologos· Gennadios II (Scholarios)· Giovanni Giustiniani· السلطان محمد الفاتح· Orban the Hungarian cannon-founder· Zaganos Pasha· آق شمس الدين
- Occurred at
- Constantinople
- Subject of
- Rise of Empires: Ottoman
People and things also explored
السلطان محمد الفاتح· Istanbul· Ahmad ibn Ismail al-Kurani· آق شمس الدين· Constantine XI Palaiologos· Rise of Empires: Ottoman· Conquest of Trebizond· Ottoman invasion of Otranto
Sources
- Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 344-345
- Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p.344-345
- al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya — Ali Muhammad al-Salabi (2001) , p.113-114
- Stoddard, Hadir al-ʿalam al-islami (Arabic translation with Arslan's commentary)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Conquest of Constantinople in 857 AH”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/conquest-constantinople-857/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.