The Rise & Fall of Constantinople

For as Bizas drifted by the wind across the Aegean towards the old shores of Troy , he decided to navigate the narrow clefts of the Hellespont and pass into the Sea of Marmara , further east than many of the most powerful Greek kings before him had ever been . There , of course , he found more water waiting for him to tread , and so he did .

The decorated prows of his fleet drove into the mass of water beneath him and before him for countless more hours until , passing the deepest soundings they had taken , they caught first sight of yet another inlet , one whose port city they would find a city great and terrible , rife with blood and glory .

There , kissed by the salty breeze coming through the Bosphorus from the northern Black Sea and to the shouts of seagulls dancing overhead , king Bezos of Megara laid the foundations of his crowning achievement the city that would bear his name forever Byzantium .

Traveling and conquering and exploring further and further across the fringe of the known world , byzantium matured into a center of trade and port that was a friend to all .

The curious deckhands from Rus would meet in Byzantium with Arab traders and Greek naval fleets , only to find that , while they sat happy in the idyllic weather of the dark horse city , they could only manage to make friends with one another .

Thus was the reputation of Byzantium through all its early history , whether it was the first years of its founding in the 6th century BC , the reign of the Persians there for centuries after that , or the first steps that Roman Emperor Severus took inside its walls generations after the apostles suffered their martyrdoms , this gateway to the mystic world of the Black

Sea and beyond was a haven for the weary , for the poor , for the triumphant and for the powerful . Byzantium never failed to cast its spell on all who saw it .

This enchantment would lead both to its highest glory and its greatest sorrows , as it came into the grip of Roman rule , a process which unfolded in several stages , beginning in the second century BC and firming up over the next centuries . Byzantium was rebuilt and adorned with stadiums for games and amphitheaters for the arts .

Bathhouses were built for the enjoyment of all , and the city encountered a new era of flourishing under the governance of the empire . In 212 AD , the Roman emperor Caracalla endowed Byzantium once more with the privileges of a free city-state inside of Rome , and therefore the city's popularity grew even more .

Hordes of Romans , young and old , rich and poor , began to pour in from all regions , causing the center of gravity in the empire to suffer a slight shift away from the Italian peninsula towards the older eastern world .

This gravitational pull to Byzantium steadily increased for many years until , with the ascension of Constantine the Great to the throne of the greatest power in the world , it was finalized with the rechristening of the city . No longer would she be called Byzantium , now she was Constantinople , a city with a new name and a new role .

As capital city of the empire , she was Nova Roma , the new Rome , now endowed with the weighty privileges and corresponding duties of the seat of empire . Constantinople evolved from a friend to all into a properly epic city of kings .

Constantine began the erection of thick walls surrounding the city , taking advantage of the strategic location of the city , which lay nestled in the cleft of high ground between the Bosphorus Strait and the Marmara Sea .

It was the nexus between Europe and Asia , the strongholds of the budding seed of Christendom , blessed by the first great Christian monarch , constantine , and the line of Christian princes who followed him . It was the resurrected glory of an empire in the dire straits of waning and slow decline .

It was a beacon of hope in a world walking the labyrinthine path from antiquity to modernity . It was , in perhaps the most human way imaginable , a good city . But as was said before , the goodness of the place did not only attract the righteous and well-to-do .

Soon enough , the doom of deceit and threat of destruction began to bend all of its will upon the freshly raised wall of Constantinople .

The death of Constantine brought great turmoil with it , from unruly sons sowing civil unrest and discord across the empire to the growing threat of barbaric Visigoths on the outskirts of the empire , hungry for a way in Rome was in no way secure .

Even the status of Constantinople hung in the balance of politics and power plays from other prominent Romans , some loyal to the faith of Constantine and some not some , who didn't see the benefits of moving the empire's capital away from its foundations at the Hesperian hills of Rome .

Thus , while lovelier and lovelier churches began to spring up across the empire , uglier and uglier treachery began to eat at the roots of her ancient power . Constantinople , purely by the magnanimity of Constantine's person , was always at the center of these changing tides .

One day would see the coronation of Hagia Irene , the first truly breathtaking church in the city , and then the next would see the cultic practices of Hecate or Artemis acted out in the city center for all to see . The political tug of war matched the tumult of the spiritual battle taking place for Rome's heart .

Into this fray strode an emperor named Theodosius , the last emperor of the United Rome and the civil patron of Nicene Orthodoxy , taking charge of Constantinople . After the devastating Roman loss at the Battle of Adrianople , theodosius quickly put his house in order . He made peace with the Armenians , the Goths , pre-iranian Sasanians .

He then saw to the protection and uplifting of Constantinople . He extended the Forum Tauri until it became the largest public square known to have ever existed in antiquity . He fought hard for the strict adherence to Nicene orthodoxy that the Arians kept undermining , and achieved it with the first council of Constantinople .

But his reign was not without its dark portions as well , and over the course of multiple civil wars , the administrative and defensive improvements Theodosius had tried to make in his empire simply could not hold up . Upon his death , the empire was formally split into eastern and western sections .

Constantinople was finally settled as a capital of an empire , but it was a new and diminished empire . Years passed and Constantinople was finally settled as a capital of an empire , but it was a new and diminished empire . Years passed and Constantinople settled .

Theodosius II , the son of Emperor Arcadius , built up the city's walls into a triple wall fortification of about 60 feet in height all along its perimeter . It was a potent act that , while undertaken with the utmost prudence , foreshadowed the darkness that was about to descend upon the city of the east .

But that darkness had not come yet and the city , as it reflected the rest of the empire , enjoyed a short season of rest , culminating in Justinian's reign and the construction of one of the greatest cathedrals the world has ever seen Hagia Sophia , the Church of Holy Wisdom .

But even as the brushes were swept across the magnificent floors of this monumental church , the first droplets of what would become a torrential doom began to fall on the ramparts of Constantinople .

After the death of the Eastern prophet and cultic mystic named Muhammad , his followers , consolidated into an entity called the Umayyad Caliphate , they ran with their late leader's message and corresponding example of jihad for the glory of Allah .

Fueled by the promise of either earthly wealth or the eternal rewards of martyrdom , they pushed across the world in a wave of terror , in destruction , casting wave after wave of horrified humanity into their charnel meat grinder as they went .

This tactic of tireless brutality worked well for the Caliphate army and soon after having claimed much of the Levant steppe in North Africa for Muhammad , they turned their sights on this beacon of power there at the western end of the Bosphorus .

At the time , emperor Constantine IV was reigning over the Eastern Roman Empire , which had already begun to be colloquially called the Byzantine , and the realm was enjoying a bit of a noontide Accepting . A small military revolt began in the island of Sicily , which contested the emperor's claim to the throne .

Constantine IV's time as sovereign was going smoothly , but one day in late April or early May , sentries atop the thick walls of the city spotted an unwelcome sight of ships treading the waters towards the city from the direction of the Hellespont . Constantine had heard of Umayyad fleets harboring for the winter in Smyrna and Cilicia .

He'd been advised to prepare for an attempted attack on Byzantium and had done so . But to finally see the long approach of enemy ships into Christian waters was a thing most unsettling to the ruler . Nonetheless , he didn't waver . He stayed true to his honor and faith and bid his countrymen to do the same .

So it was that Constantine IV coolly looked upon the first siege of Constantinople , with God on his side and righteous indignation fueling the boldness he was soon to display . After months of waiting and storing provisions while the Arab armies gathered their strength not far from the city gates , the battle finally began with the trumpet blast .

But the blast of the trumpet was not the only thing unleashed on that day , for the Christians had a secret tool of war as yet unseen in the world Byzantine ships fled out of the port of their emperor as if to run a sortie .

The Umayyads laughed at the feeble size of the approaching enemies and waited for what was sure to be an easy victory on the pathetic capital . But just as the Christians entered shouting distance of their foe , fire , like thick liquid , leapt forth from the prow of their ships and engulfed every Arab vessel it touched in sudden , unquenchable flame .

Thus the legend of Greek fire began with an overwhelmingly successful attack on the much larger Mohammedan military force .

Thus was the reputation of Constantine IV as a staunchly resilient defender of Christendom also begun a reputation which would prove well-founded Over the next five years , umayyad fleets would sail before Constantine every spring , only to be repelled every time by the Christian defenders and their closely guarded military arts . In the winters .

The Arab strongholds across the plains of the land weakened and suffered great loss until hardly into the reserves of provisions kept for her people . Constantinople was officially victorious over her first siege attempt , but oh , how many more she would suffer and how much further they would go . Welcome to the rise and fall of Constantinople .

The King's Hall Podcast exists to make self-ruled men who rule well and win the world .

Well , hey , everybody , welcome back to another episode of the King's Hall podcast , where we are talking in this season about the first Christendom , the lessons that we can learn from our great forefathers in the faith , stories of courage and also stories of vice and sin , and we're trying to not only understand the history that has often been stolen from us , but

also understand some of the lessons that we can learn today as Christians building in our times and really we're New Christendom Press , attempting to build towards a new Christendom ourselves and whatever small part of that story and whatever bricks that we can put into that wall , we want to be skillful and courageous in playing our part .

I'm Brian Sauvé , joined , as always , by the only other co-host of the King's Hall who has ever been on an episode of the King's Hall podcast , ben Garrett . Ben , say hi to the listeners .

We don't want to take something really glorious away from Dan and Eric , let's just do the entire history of Constantinople , one of the greatest cities in the history of not just the Christian world but the entire world , the world and one of the most compelling stories .

It's got ins and outs , it's got highs , it's got lows , it's got white pills , it's got black pills and we said we're taking it , we're doing it . And they're out of cell service , so they couldn't tell us .

You just heard the cold open , which was probably 15 minutes or so long . That brought us up through the first siege in the 600s , like 677 , 674 to 678 , I think , is the actual range there . So we went from 600 BC with the mythical and legendary founding and the actual founding , which is the same story of Constantinople , through that first siege .

We're going to take you all the way through the mid 1400s actually really to today .

In a sense , in this story of Constantinople , the rise and fall of this great city there's going to be less commentary and a lot more story , and so in a way , this episode is going to be kind of like a mega version of something that we do over on the King's Hall Patreon channel , which , if you like the show , you should sign up and support the work we

do here and help us keep making it .

But over there we have a show called the Deus Vault , which is a hilarious pun first of all Great , great show name , and it is basically stories , so like 15 to 45 minute stories that are scripted and we go through with music and all that , just like a cold open , basically , of some of these great stories from Christendom .

This episode is going to be more like that where you're just going to hear a lot of history of what happened in Constantinople and we really want to inspire you through that . And also like one of the effects for me when I hear the history of Constantinople , especially where it lands , is that it does fill me with a certain urgency .

Yeah , it puts things into perspective . Yeah , and I wonder if it does that for you too 100% .

It's such an epic story it's almost like an old myth . When you really look at it from front to back , it begins with Constantine and it ends with Constantine . You know the troubles begin with Muhammad and they end with Muhammad . Like so amazing . These bookends are really something and everything in between it has .

It has romance and heroism and triumph and woe and sin and all this stuff , and it's just worth sitting back and appreciating the arc of this gem of the world for what it is and then at the end , like you said , hoping that there will come a day when it's called Constantinople again .

Yeah , and once again the songs of the saints ring out in the Hagia Sophia and the Muslim conquest , the evil conquest of that land , is done away with . Yes and so , yeah , this episode is going to be a lot of story and frankly , I think that let the story speak for itself . Yeah , it will affect you . It affects me , Hopefully it affects you .

Yeah , and I think that it will lead to greater virtues for all of us .

Just how cool of a thing that is but it's the Hagia Sophia which was built in 537 by Justinian Emperor Justinian , I , I believe , and if you've ever , if you haven't looked this up and maybe I can like trouble Martin to cut this into the video if there's a convenient version of it but you can listen to clips of people singing in the Hagia Sophia and the

reverb in this dome is whatever the god frequency is .

For hundreds and hundreds of years , a lot of our Christian brothers and sisters sang and worshiped in this beautiful cathedral . And Constantinople is just a city like that . It's full of wonders .

It's a city where , like every , if you pull up an old map to prepare for this episode , I was kind of trying to walk through the old city as it was and see where the Hippodrome was from the Roman period and to see where the Hagia Sophia is and where the palaces were and the different cisterns and the way they set up the military defenses , the way that

they actually defended the city , the harbor with the chain where they stretched this great , gigantic chain all the way across this straight .

I think that's what it was , I know .

Yeah , and Christian culture , but then they defended it like that's what it was . Yeah , in amazing stands , I mean , where they would route warships , armies , whole navies would come and cast themselves against the defenses of Constantinople and they would literally like every enemy would be killed .

It was founded as the new Rome and they took all of the best of Rome at its height and put it in this city such that Constantinople , up until the day that it fell , was the most advanced city in late antiquity up to the Middle Ages , and part of why it was advanced was because they kept all of the ingenuity that Rome did really well .

They kept the aqueducts . They were still functioning , they kept all the forums . It had the largest public square in the known ancient world period and , as far as we know , it was the biggest , the Forum Tari , yeah , and it really just it's like imagine what you think Athens looked like at its height , or even maybe something like Atlantis .

That's what Constantinople was and there's this really really like great poetry in it and that Constantinople was put through the Hellespont , through the Sea of Marmara .

But if you go back the other way , into the eastern side of the Aegean , right before going into the Hellespont , through the Sea of Marmara , but if you go back the other way into the eastern side of the Aegean right before going into the Hellespont , you get the ancient ruins of Troy , and so Constantinople is right next to Troy .

Troy , if you're familiar with the founding of Rome , like Aeneas fled from the Trojan War , he fled the shores of Ilium , founded Rome in the Hesperian lands , in the Italian peninsula , and then the last vestige of Rome that ever survived was founded right back where Troy had been . So there's like the whole story is just so poetic it seems like a myth .

Exactly , but kind of on the note of the technology that they preserved . One of those technologies was Greek fire .

Greek fire was not had anywhere else other than the Byzantine empire , especially in Constantinople , and it was this substance that was like viscous , like syrup or something , and it was more than just like petroleum jelly , because they could spray it more like a liquid out of ships that they had in those days made completely out of wood , and it didn't damage their

ships and it could set water on fire .

I'm just imagining , at the first siege , okay , like 678 , and the ships are coming , the Muslim ships are coming , and then , all of a sudden , this small fleet of the constantinople and uh navy comes out and the , the muslims are just laughing . They're like this is these christians are stupid , they must , we're gonna . This could be way easier than we thought .

Yeah , because the , the , the leaders of the muslim world , they had had their eye on constantinople , they knew how big and glorious this jewel was . If they could capture it , it would be like they would have the gate to Christendom , exactly To the Eastern world . They'd already conquered so much , but they'd have the gate to the rest of the world .

And so this little dinky Navy comes out and they're laughing until the Christians flame , throw their faces off .

Yes , they did this successfully . Not only did they do it successfully , this is the craziest part to me they kept the formula secret so well that , when constantinople falls in 1453 , the secret to Greek friar is lost and we don't know how they made it To this day we are not certain what it was . We know that it's not mythical .

This is a fact , a military fact , that this art , this technology existed . It was lost with the Christians , which to me that's crazy that they were able to keep it secret , when of course , everybody is trying . Can you imagine the Muslims trying to send spies and like we need to steal the secret of this Greek fire ?

Yeah , it would be like having a nuclear the new , the technology of nuclear weapons for like 800 years and no one else is able to do it .

That is the first black pill is that greek fire is lost and it's because constantinople fell , and even if we retake it , like , we're still not going to know , yeah for sure , how they did greek . But how amazing is that , this otherworldly power almost that they possessed , and it was only them and they kept it so secure .

Like think of how much progress they could have made maybe in some other naval battles across the empire , had they just like spread the word a little bit more . Yeah , but they didn't , because they knew that once that happens , it'd be over . It goes everywhere , yep , and goes everywhere .

And now they lose the ability to protect their city in this really , really potent way .

Ben's gonna tell us that story and uh hope you guys enjoy it and we'll come back after that story . Yep .

Chief among the acts that would see the success of this objective was the handling of the religious schism that was quickly growing between the eastern Greeks and their western allies in Rome . You see , the previous emperor , philippicus , had been foolish enough to elevate the heretic monothelite John VI to the sea of Constantinople before the end of his reign .

This elevation of a heretic monothelitism was anathematized at the sixth ecumenical council , sent shockwaves of scandal and ill will throughout Christendom , further complicating the already difficult peace and fellowship of the east with Rome .

Thus , when Anastasius deposed John VI from his see and elevated the orthodox patriarch Germanus in 715 , a great deal of healing was completed between Anastasius and the Western Thrones , those of the Emperor and the Pope respectively . Unfortunately , this was not enough .

Soon after the dust had settled on the theological dispute , military revolt occurred on the island of Rhodes , which was led by elite Byzantine troops unhappy with the less aggressive hand of the new emperor In seeking to send a message of strength to the Caliphate , anastasius had sent his fleet to recapture Rhodes , which was successfully completed under the leadership of

a man named Conan man named Conan . But once Anastasius did not press his advantage and instead settled for Rhodes , while rebuilding the defenses of the capital city , some of the soldiers mutinied in protest . Conan was faithful to Anastasius , the rightful emperor , and did all he could to stop the revolt , but it grew too strong .

In a bid of utter greed and unchecked anger , the elite Absychian soldiers sailed from Rhodes to Byzantium , where they forcefully exiled Anastasius to a monastery in Thessalonica and installed an unknown tax collector who took the name of Theodosius III as emperor . They had succeeded in doing what they thought was best for the empire .

Little did they know that in their small and unholy victory , they laid the path for the ascension of one of the greatest monarchs the world has ever seen . Conan , the commander who had stood by Anastasius in his hour of need , fled into the wilderness upon Theodosius III's assumption of power .

He knew that he , being a staunch defender of the older emperor and his policies , would be placing his life in danger . To stay near the center of action , he took a post on the fringes of the empire , where fighting was thickest and most brutal , where policy meets sword and scimitar and where the ideals of the capital matter for nothing to get by each day .

Here , as with everywhere else , khanen proved both shrewd and brave . After playing a cat-and-mouse game of guerrilla tactics with the much larger Muslim army stationed in the same region of Anatolia , he successfully parlayed peace with the leader of those opposing forces , a man named Maslama .

Behind the curtain of peace , khanan , appealing to his Arab heritage and life spent around Muslims of all kinds , was able to do far more than barter the ceasefire that threatened his life .

Every day , he told Maslama that he was disillusioned with the empire that had raised him , that he was angry with the endless deceit of the so-called Christian regime and their treatment of his old lord Anastasius . Bending his pathos into these grievances , conan struck a seemingly insane deal with Maslama .

The Muslim army would let Conan go freely and well-provisioned to Constantinople where , once he was inside of its walls , maslama's men would then arrive to support Conan's own bid for the throne . In doing this , conan swore to turn Byzantium , and therefore the empire itself , into a Muslim state , a vassal state of the Mohammedans .

The audacity of the plan appealed to Maslama's sense of romance and military conquest , and he saw no reason to doubt the sincerity of Conan's apostasy from Christ . He heartily agreed to this plan and sat back to wait on the wonderful honor he'd inevitably receive for his wise dealings . The armies set to motion right away .

Conan and his troops went ahead into the city and Maslama , following not too close behind , sent emissaries ahead to inform Emperor Theodosius III that he and his men would be coming and staying to besiege the city as long as it took for the emperor to abdicate and crown this new vassal of his as king .

With the threat of Muslim occupation close at hand , conan entered the royal courts he had so often enjoyed in the company of Anastasius and immediately demanded , upon pain of torture and death , that Theodosius abdicate . This false usurper , taking after his own kind , complied right away beneath the looming and war-hardened figure of the mighty Conan .

But Conan was no simple man . Upon gaining the throne , he took upon himself the name of Leo , the name he would be remembered by in Christendom . He took upon himself the name of Leo , the name he would be remembered by in Christendom , and sent messages to Maslama informing him of their success .

When Maslama excitedly replied , asking when he would lower the city gates and let the Muslim army enter .

Leo's reply was stern and without hesitation never the Syrian general had outplayed the Muslim , had stolen the throne of the empire back from the thief who exiled Anastasius and had no plans whatsoever of giving the demoniac hordes of Allah the keys to the city , to God's city . Great triumph for the Eastern Empire .

For upon receiving this message from the king and after killing the messenger who brought it , maslama mustered all of his forces and started to bombard the city from all sides . Thus began the second siege of Constantinople . 150,000 Umayyad Arabs surrounded the walls of the city , a massive fleet of reinforcements harbored outside of the Bosphorus .

Smoke filled the air and crept into the sky above Constantinople from the swarming war machines littering the enemy camp Siege engines and battering rams and catapults slung death at the triple walls and the wooden and iron gates , but each stone ram and earthen ramp was turned to dust against the impenetrable stone that had been placed there by Theodosius II , leo , calm

and cool , stood near Hagia Sophia and gazed out over the city towards the sea . He , confident in the defense of the city , its provisions and the faithfulness of God to his people , smiled awry and knowing smile as he watched the swelling horde of Muslims gather to try and take his throne .

Maslama , for his part , turned his focus to the blockading of the sea . Given his massive troops on land , he knew that communication with Christendom by escape into the Aegean was the best tactic . Constantinople had to wait out the storm .

He therefore sent forth his own fleet as a wall of defense , intent upon trapping the Byzantines inside , turning their home into a deadly prison , or at least that was his hope . But Leo had seen through the devilish plan and was ready to strike the soft underbelly of Maslama as more and more Muslim ships poured into the Sea of Marmara and neared the Bosphorus .

To reinforce the blockade , leo ordered the great chain that had been placed across the strait to protect it be removed , all but inviting the enemy ships in to do their worst .

While Maslama marveled at his good fortune for dropping the chain he thought must have been some kind of mistake or treachery , the reason for Leo's wry smile became apparent in blazing destruction . Out of the morning mist came the cavalry of ships bearing Greek fire .

They sprayed the sticking and flaming balm all over the Muslim fleet until it seemed as if the entire sea itself was burning . Dozens of ships turned to either side and ran aground on the rocky shores near the inlet , seeking escape for their terrified passengers .

They continued to burn until hardly any trace of each vessel remained , but the bulk of the fleet burned too fast and too hot to land any of her troops on the shore . They sank into the Marmara Sea and dealt the first blow of resistance to Maslama . To add to his injury , maslama soon received word that the caliph , his brother , had died in the night .

The captain knew that his successor , a more prudent man named Omar II , would not be keen on spending resources on a siege that was already not going well . He gritted his teeth against the mounting obstacles and doubled down on his attack , but it availed not , as Greek fire decimated the Muslim fleet . Each day .

The season turned from warm to cold , bitter cold , and the Umayyad forces settled into one of the most brutal winters that part of the world had ever seen . On top of this , muslim provisions were delayed in arriving , and so Maslama was hard-pressed to reassure his men that they'd eventually be succored . Unfortunately for him , these promises were empty .

What's more , the call to arms had reached the winter-hardened Bulgarians from the north , who had arrived to harry the Muslim forces day after day , even as they froze to death in their camps . By the time reinforcements of men and supplies arrived in the spring , it was too late . Maslama was beaten and his forces were dwindled to nothing .

He continued to press for an advantage , though , for he had an ace up his sleeve . Omar II , you see , upon hearing that his men were at the walls of the west and upon learning how much it had already cost , was not willing to order a retreat . Yet cost was not willing to order a retreat .

Yet he promised Maslama 800 ships filled with yet more freshmen and provisions to arrive from the port of Alexandria very soon . They had just to last it out . At the same time , leo was beginning to see the effect of his slight overconfidence in repelling the Muslims quickly .

Though they had fared well in the winter , they were quickly running out of the resources in the city . The worst-case scenario was quickly approaching and he had little in the way of plans to avoid it . The tide had turned in the blink of an eye back to Maslama .

But just when a brutal fight to the death seemed inevitable for the Byzantines , salvation came from the most unexpected of places when the 800 Muslim ships arrived from Egypt soldiers on the wall of Constantinople rejoiced to see that they were filled not with Umayyad infantry but with Egyptian Christians .

Omar had spread his forces too thin and had been forced to trust Christian slaves to make up the bulk of his relief efforts to Muslimah . But where the Muslim longs for the selfish gain of death and battle , the Christian love of martyrdom for the sake of others runs even deeper .

In a rush under the cover of night , the Egyptians mutinied and cast their Arab masters into the sea . They drove their ships into the Bosphorus before destroying them and finding safe haven in the city of Christians . The sea , it is said , looked like a hardwood floor from all of the loose timber now filling it . The Muslim forces descended into chaos .

At that moment , leo released his fire-bearing ships once again and put the remainder of the Muslim fleet to flight , abandoning their still crippled land forces , leaving them to exile or death . The visiting Bulgars made quick work of slaughtering 22,000 starved and sickly Arabs that day , and the Umayyads were routed completely .

On August 15th of 718 , exactly one year after it began , the siege was lifted and Leo III's legacy was sealed . Constantinople had endured yet again .

Like super bitter and he had legitimate cause . Like they took his guy . They took his emperor yeah , you know , exiled him , gave his throne to a lesser man . I'm on your team . Muslims , let's go retake the city . I'll be like a puppet king . Many . Let's go retake the city . I'll be like a puppet king . Many such cases in history . Here it is . Here .

The third is like , you're exactly right , like so right let me get out of your way sorry , my things kept the seat warm for you ? Yeah , and then he just goes right into like ordering people around and the muslims are like .

Constantine the Great , you're saying that the first great Christian ruler in the world ?

It's like Kobe and Kanye Normal .

Oh , I know if help would have come from the west if demon trees and help from the west not dude , those were fairy trees . They were good still .

Yeah , um , in the christian , in the world of Christian theology , a lot of , even church fathers , and it's a fairly strong historical position that you should never engage in deception as a Christian . To the classic like would you tell them that you had the Jews hidden in ?

No , dude , you're so handsome . Thanks , man . I was fishing , I knew you were fishing . I was fishing , I knew , dude you were fishing .

And so Leo , to me is one of these examples of just my word , the thing is the absolute stones on this guy .

You know , he thought that he was going to be able to end it pretty quick and it did end up costing like a lot of the lives of yeah , it was exactly a year , and a lot of Byzantian citizens died yeah , died in defense of the city . That is something . And then the other thing too is like Leo entered into this parlay with Maslama .

Well , conan did kind of so that he would stop getting hunted on the fringes of the empire . Now , at the same time , he had it in his mind like I need to get rid of Theodosius III , he's a usurper . He got rid of Anastasius , my guy .

He's like Mraz , yeah , exactly , and like Anastasius was the proper ruler of the Byzantine Empire , and so I think that his motivations were good . But you do really have to think like that was a bold move , maybe a little reckless , because it resulted in a year-long siege .

Yeah , they're completely different those are different things . So yeah , they're , they're completely they require different strengths right . Like a Christian , it's easier for a Christian minister to be an ideologue about deception and whether or not there's such a thing as righteous military deception .

A Christian Prince oftentimes doesn't have the luxury of being an ideologue in that regard . He has to have the stomach to do what's required for the good of his people , and a lot of times that means a lot of killing .

Dysfunction between the Great Schism , obviously between the East and the West formally . But we also , and actually before that even , like with the Roman division into multiple empires , then we have the Christian division into multiple churches , and that's obviously a shame . The unity of the church is very important .

So we talked about this last episode in our Brother Wars conversation .

But one of the through lines in the story of Constantinople and really not just Western Christendom or Eastern Christendom , but Christendom encompassing both is that Constantinople , I'm confident , would still be in Christian hands if the Christian church through this period had been at her maturity of unity .

So if we had and Lord willing , I believe that the Lord will work this unity in his church . I'm post-millennial . I believe that's going to happen as a historical reality in the future when we will see reunification and much , much greater unity across Christendom .

But I think it's the case that had they had that maturity and not been in their toddler , adolescent phase of the church at this point that Constantinople would still be a Christian city .

But the Fourth Crusade was predicated on a lot of other things that really started with and I mean petty , petty squabbles over , and I'm not saying that like the theology is petty , and I'm not saying that the theology is petty , I just mean to let it get to that level in civil unrest , in military disagreement , that's petty .

And if they could have avoided that , if there would be and you can blame it on all sorts of things the simony of general weakness of a lot of the emperors in the Byzantine world , a lot of them were not very pious men , a lot of them were not actually good statesmen or administrators , and so they did a poor job of propping up the economy and the military

and staying up to date with all these things . You can blame it on all these factors , but when it comes down to it , it was a failure of love for one another , like the brothers in the East and the brothers in the West simply hated each other functionally , and it led to the again , the destruction of the greatest jewel of Christendom , wasn't ?

Yeah so , and ultimately , in this final story we'll bring you into here momentarily , you're going to hear the destroyer of Constantinople , the one who takes it from Christian hands never to be returned in our lifetimes and in history since was the son of a Christian slave girl .

So you think this is a great example of the kind of thing that , while we're bickering , while the Christians are infighting and warring with one another , both within the West , within the East , because that was true and then also intramurally between the two , muslims are enslaving their Christian sisters , turning them into concubines and wives in their courts and making

Christian women into the mothers of the destroyers of the .

One of the through lines in Christendom 1.0 is the Christian church needs to learn how to get along lest we be swept away and destroyed by our enemies Right , who absolutely will , if given an opening , seek to destroy Christ's people , not just spiritually , but also even physically , and we shouldn't be surprised at mayhem and chaos that comes into our countries and

into our families , even when we fail in this basic task of Christianity .

Induction of the diaconate is so that there wouldn't be an overflowing dispute between the Hellenist and the Hebrew widows , and if we can't get that right , then we should expect nothing less than civil turmoil and an inability to actually make progress in doing what we want to do , which is institutionalizing Christianity across the world by discipling the nations

effectively .

One of the things , one of the greatest tragedies of this whole story , and we're not going to ruin the whole thing , but you know that Constantinople falls , so this isn't a big deal , but one of the things that Constantine XI did which was the emperor when Constantinople fell is he reached out to the West and he was willing to sign this agreement in return for

their defensive help that said that they would do the Latin mass in their cathedrals , so in the Hagia Sophia , they would do the Latin mass . In return , the West said we will send you military aid .

Now , first of all , I think it's wrong for the West to blackmail them in that way , like banking any sort of military aid on , basically abandoning their convictions and their religion . But then , when Constantine XI did it , help never came . So the West was dealing with its own problems . It's not like they just wanted to see the East die and burn away .

It's not like they just wanted to see the East die and burn away . It's not like that . But it is like they put all of this stock into like , well , if you would just do the Latin mass , everything will be fine .

Well , they did the Latin mass and Constantinople still fell , and it's because help never came out of the West , and that's a big tragedy to me .

So you know what's the goal here , because we're going to take you into the episode or into the last story here . But the goal of an episode like this is it's to inspire you . We do want you to see the glory of what it is that Christians have built in times past , what our fathers are capable of , what we're capable of again .

But it's also sobering , like it's not all rah-rah . This is one of the most black , blackpilling stories . At the end it ends sadly . Yeah , I mean Like let me just tell everybody a joke here before so that you can , just before we blackpill you the other day . I keep asking people you know where monkey pox comes from , but I can't get a straight answer .

That's good . Hey , I got a joke .

And there's this scene where , you know , Aragorn rolls into Edoras and he's like Gondor calls for aid , the beacons are lit and then Théoden says and Rohan will answer , and you know , especially in the movies , this is conveyed that Théoden actually is like am I going to do it , Am I going to be willing to go give more of my people's lives to help Gondor , who

, even though they had their own issues , never came to mind ? I think one of the takeaways , one of the things that we should learn from this episode and from this story of Byzantium maybe an exercise in the fifth commandment you know , not repeating the sins of our forefathers is when that other camp calls for aid against the common enemy , go help them .

Yeah , Like it doesn't matter how annoyed you are If they're Christians and they're being attacked by a common enemy to you and they ask for help , just go help . Go help the Dispies .

We do have the show up now on YouTube and rumble some video platforms it's also the full episodes are up on X under our King's hall Twitter account or X account there that you can watch . So now we've added a multi-camera , different angles , things like that .

That was possible again through the support of patrons that we have that generously support our show from month to month . Chip in a couple bucks a month to help make this possible . We've been able to hire a full-time audio and video editor to help us with all these projects , which we're very thankful for . So thank you to all of our supporters .

Even if you listen on audio and plan to continue , go check out the YouTube channel , leave a comment , support us there . Plan to continue ? Go check out the YouTube channel , leave a comment , support us there , and we hope that that can .

Actually , this is a platform where a lot of people who probably have never heard of anything we're doing are there and that it's funny how even maybe the Lord could use something like the Google YouTube algorithm to push this show in front of non-Christians , or maybe Christians that like some of you who listen now , you've had this experience where you were like a

little bit normie and then you found the King's Hall and the next thing you knew you were like , basically you had a crusader replica armor set on the way from wishcom .

There are dozens and dozens of volumes that have been written just on different aspects of Constantinople . Go pick up some books . There are dozens and dozens of volumes that have been written just on different aspects of Constantinople . We've skipped a rock across the surface of this story . There's so much more to learn , but be interested in it .

Interested people are interesting people , so go take interest in it . Fest in Alente . Thanks for listening . Now enjoy this last story . Yeah , thanks for having me .

Bartolomeo de Giano 1438 . In the intervening history between the second great siege of Byzantium and her fall , we learn just how treacherous it is to play at these global games of conquest and empire . More than that , these things betray how deep the rifts of disagreement between those who should be brothers can go when bitterness is given freedom to germinate .

After Leo departed and the Western Church enmeshed itself heroically in the arrest of Muslim expansion across the world , the consequences of schism between Rome and the Orthodox proved far worse than any could have imagined . Beginning in the late 11th century , successful commercial endeavors from the Western half of Christendom started making inroads in the East .

11th century , successful commercial endeavors from the western half of Christendom started making inroads in the east . Merchants from Venice , genoa and Pisa opened up operations in the Orthodox territory even as far as the walls of Constantinople .

At the time , alexios Komnenos reigned as the Byzantine emperor , he welcomed this bridge between east and west and provided civil protection for the Catholics so they might continue furthering the flourishing of his own lands .

This shrewd economic policy , though unpopular with some of the orthodox patriarchs that advised him , proved to help a great deal in coagulating the empire's many wounds . It carried from war , civil unrest and economic ruin . Alexios faced nearly constant war with the Muslims during his reign .

Yet he proved the stalwart defender for his life and made great progress in turning back the Muslim tide and saving his empire from total ruin . This toleration of Catholic merchants was a massive part of his success , but , as I said , some of the purists didn't see it that way .

Eventually , alexios Komnenos died and the people finally appreciated just how competent of a ruler he had been . A new administration took charge , an administration which proved to be lesser sons of a greater sire , incapable of filling the shoes of their predecessor .

Therefore , the decision was made to lean further and further into the things that Alexios had done so well . They didn't consider the fact that there can't often exist too much of a good thing . As they increased the rights and privileges of the Western merchants , they decreased the effectiveness of their own economic endeavors and even naval supremacy .

After all , why use the older and slower eastern ships when the West is willing to help with their state-of-the-art vessels ? Such it was that after just a single generation , the West had a maritime death grip on the Byzantine Empire . The good idea had been taken too far , to the ultimate ruin everything Alexios had tried to build .

To correct this overcorrection , alexios' grandson , manuel Komnenos , took drastic measures to reduce the privileges of Venetian merchants in Byzantium by increasing the privilege of other Italian city-state merchants . He thought the cure to too many Venetians was to let in hordes of other kinds of Italians to clean up the mess .

But of course this led to social chaos within the walls of Constantinople . Eventually , it all served to ignite the underlying bad blood that already existed due to the great schism of the two sides' respective religions . The tension reached a boiling point just as Manuel Comnenos died in 1180 .

At that point , since his son was too young to assume rule , the widow , queen Maria of Antioch , acted as a regent for the empire . She continued to pour out favors to the Italian merchants , whose numbers were always swelling , despite the discord it was causing with her own native people .

Then , in April of 1182 , the critical mass of tension was reached and tragedy followed . In a mad rush of the mob , byzantines started massacring any Latin person they could find . Anger fueled their beatings and sword thrusts until 60,000 Latin men , women and children had been murdered .

Blood ran in rivers down the streets of the city that had so long avoided war inside of its own walls . Empress Maria was executed while waiting for tensions to cool in her own home . Thus , a major blow was dealt to the already delicate relationship between the Eastern and Western empires of Christendom .

The West , it turns out , was not willing to forget it , and all of the worst tendencies in brothers reached their crescendo when this massacre of the Latins by the Byzantines was avenged in the Fourth Crusade , which broke through the walls of Constantinople in 1204 , a feat previously never accomplished .

Under the pretext of financial gain promised by the rightful claimant to the Byzantine throne if the crusaders would restore his rule , the forces of the West returned , slaughter for slaughter , when they charged through the gates of Constantinople and brutally killed all on their path .

And while this unforced error was eventually settled and peace was restored , it was an even more delicate peace than before . One can't help but wonder how history may have been different had the East and the West not been so diligently focused on killing each other when the true enemy was standing just outside of Byzantium's gate ?

I suppose no one is told what might have been , but one wonders nonetheless . By the year 1402 , the Byzantine Empire , in its stronghold capital of Constantinople , the last remaining Roman city , was dying An off and on siege by Ottoman Turks on the city had beleaguered the city for a decade . Food reserves were all but used up .

The Byzantine army was weak and worn and tired , shrinking day by day , and the storm of Mongolia that came from the north had sent all of Christendom , but especially the east , into a whirlwind of new troubles .

Dejected and degenerate , but not at all undignified , emperor Manuel toured various countries in the west , appealing to their pity and courage to return and help him save the land of his fathers . The tour , it must be said honestly , can't be called a success .

Though the West pitied their Eastern brothers with great sincerity , their own problems demanded the strength of their youth .

Back on the shores of Bosphorus , in between the famine and disease that stacked up bodies within the walls and the occasional Byzantine climbing over them to escape to the Muslim camp , a message came to Manuel's son , john VII , from the Ottoman commander , bayezid , demanding an immediate surrender from the prince .

John , stern and faithful , replied with the following quote tell your master that we are weak , but that we trust God , who can make us strong and can put down the mightiest from their seats . Let your master do as he pleases , end quote .

And though Bayezid scoffed at the naivete of the boy , the boy's prayers would be answered in the form of another villain , the Mongol Turk Tamerlane , mocking Bayezid's age and failure from afar and calling his leadership into question . The Ottoman commander's ego couldn't not take the challenge .

He thus recalled all of his troops from Europe , lifting the siege of Constantinople in the process , and marched to war with Tamerlane . But as with all the other close calls from disaster , constantinople had suffered in the past , this peace also wouldn't last long . Before long , death would come knocking for real Somewhere deep down .

They all must have known Everything dies . Constantinople's death came in the form of a boy born to Sultan Murad II by way of a European Christian slave girl . His name was Muhammad II , an important name , and his destiny was to finish what his faith's founder had begun .

He thus grew into his name , mixing Islamic piety with all the depravity you may expect from such a savage culture . At 19 years old , when he became sultan , his first act was to murder all of his brothers , 19 of them , including an infant , by strangulation .

He then decapitated three concubines who were pregnant with some of his brother's children and , turning from this raving madness to the pious and political strategist , he replied to the message sent from Constantinople by Constantine XI , congratulating him on his ascension to the Sultanate with kind words of friendship and peace .

Christendom never even saw it coming , though it is fitting , ironic even that the last emperor of Byzantium was named Constantine and the man who made him the last emperor was named Muhammad .

But thus it was that Muhammad , in 1452 , took a small company of men with him to build a brick wall blockade across the Bosphorus , sending a clear message to the citizens of Constantinople and their emperor that he had no intention of staying true to his words of peace , and their emperor that he had no intention of staying true to his words of peace .

When messengers went to the Turks to ask them why they were doing something so obviously aggressive , when the ink on the treaties was still wet , muhammad sent them back relieved of their heads . War was declared and the final siege of Constantinople was ready to begin like day , ready to break at any moment over the mountains .

Constantine closed the gates and destroyed all the bridges that had been recently rebuilt . He pulled taut the great iron chain guarding the Bosphorus from entry by enemy ships . He did this and comforted his people with the promises of God . He did this and began the distribution of daily rations to the people .

He did this and sent one final plea for aid to the West . But the West never came , still drowning in their own troubles and unwilling to spend so much for the protection of their Orthodox brethren . But some of the Latins , moved by the plight of their old friends , did come of their own accord to help in this time of greatest need .

Among these was one man named Giovanni Guistiani , a man who would prove himself ultimately to be a hero , for now he joined his 400 veteran soldiers to the little more than 6,000 men remaining behind the walls of the city .

Once there , and all together , all that remained was to wait for the end of the world , to begin to pray that it wouldn't come , at least not yet . In the end , some 7,000 Christians stood proud to defend Constantinople from over 100,000 Muslim soldiers and 100 warships , more than 14 to 1 odds , and so the end began .

On April 6th 1453 , muhammad launched his attacks Right away . In the quickly kindled heat of explosion and sweat and stone . A hole was almost made in the western wall , but Giovanni was there with his men in a flash , raining guns and crossbows and catapults down on the encroaching Turks until they were driven back into the ditch from whence they had come .

By nightfall of the first day , the potential breach was repaired and the city was still standing up to its Armageddon . That night , a naval assault approaching the chain was driven back by guns mounted on either side of Bosphorus , spewing Greek fire at the ships . The routes were small , but they had an outsized effect on the morale of both armies .

Muhammad was furious and Constantine was comforted . What followed was weeks of nearly constant bombardment of the walls by the Turks . Siege engines were pushed forward , catapults flung whatever destructive mass they could against the stone , but still the stone didn't relent .

Even the newfangled cannons that shot heavy iron balls at high speeds didn't avail much on the walls . Instead , they often collapsed under their own recoil . They were cumbersome to move and load and often couldn't be aimed properly at all . The Christian shouts of hope rang out frequently from the city .

In those early days , impatient Muhammad ordered a mad rush of thousands of soldiers to just one section of the wall he thought most weak . After a stream of attack for four straight hours , the Christians fought the horde back , killing 200 of their number and suffering no losses themselves .

Driven to great lengths of anger , muhammad was ready for his elephants in the Alps moment and tried something wild . On the advice of a Christian turncoat , he ordered teams of men and thousands of oxen to haul entire ships completely up out of the Marmara Sea and over a hill on the southern side of the Bosphorus .

From there they pushed the vessel back into the water , thus bypassing the iron chain of protection the city relied on and , entering the port of the city , christian sailors in the area were shocked to see 70 Muslim ships falling down nearly on top of them , with war cries and virtually no warning .

The Christians stood no chance and quickly succumbed to the fighting . Forty men survived and swam to shore , only to be brutally impaled there by the sultan . Whatever morale had been gained by the unlikely resistance thus far mounted dwindled quickly .

Hunger steadily crept in , soldiers worried for the well-being of their families , who were often just beneath their stations on the wall , worrying about their heads above . What it must have been like to move from the fearful eyes of daughters and sons and wives to the hateful mass of demon soldiers can only be imagined , though perhaps it's better not to try .

Infighting began as Easterners and Westerners accused one another of betrayal , of taking more than their share of the food of cowardice and more . Constantine tried to reinstate peace and order , but found that not even the common enemy of war could undo the damage caused by centuries of schism .

Without even knowing it , muhammad was stalking the very easy prey of great victory from inside of the walls rather than out . When nobles advised Constantine to quit the city and seek aid in Europe , he responded with the pious words how could I leave the church of our Lord , his servants , the clergy and the throne and my people in such a plight ?

What would the world say about me ? I pray you , my friends , in future do not say to me anything else . But nay , sire , do not leave us . Never , never will I leave you . I am resolved to die here with you , the emperor said then wept aloud to the sound of war drums echoing outside of the walls .

Yet , despite the despair and the weeks of cannon fire on the wall , the Muslim army had made no progress in actually entering the city . Muhammad then ordered the charge of his newly constructed Helopolis , a mobile tower and siege engine much taller than the wall actually was and equipped with flaming catapults .

He pushed this right up to the wall to give cover to men beneath it who began to dig frantically , undermining the wall . This effort , though , was stopped by Giovanni again Giovanni and his men , who destroyed the tower by throwing kegs of gunpowder into the fosse . Another small victory , but too small .

The attacks continued , giving the small force of defenders little opportunity to rest , while fresh troops continually poured in for the Muslims . Then came the announcement from Muhammad , the cloud the Christians so much dreaded , that the grand assault would take place on May 29th . On May 27th , the emperor could be found weeping against his palace wall .

Having heard the conclusive news that no relief was coming on the hills from the west , his cries went up with the rest of those poor souls in the lonely city until the wind rang with the wailing . On May 28th , christian services were rendered in the city and God's mercy was implored by all pious souls Deep into that night .

Constantine spoke to his advisors and bid them die like honorable men of God before the wrath that would surely take them . He was a good king . Following the speech , he went into the Hagia Sophia , received communion , returned home to bid his wife farewell and took up his post along the wall with the rest of his men . He would die there very soon .

At 2 am on May 29th , muhammad released hell on Constantinople . Trumpets shouted and cymbals clanged in a cacophony of noise and confusion and frenzy . Cannon fire lit the night and crash after crash of heaving iron slammed into the quaking wall .

Suddenly , thousands of crazed bashi bazooks , irregular troops of the Ottoman army known for their guerrilla war tactics , slammed themselves into the wall and climbed atop one another to reach its peak , though they were cut down by the tired defenders of Christendom .

They were followed by the ladders and hooks and ropes and arrows of the Sultan's guard , who further wore down the defenders' thinning strength . And though thousands of enemies lay piled and dead at the base of the wall , muhammad's plan had succeeded . The soldiers of Byzantium were on their last threads of strength .

By four in the morning , the cannons had made several breaches which the Janissaries fought to swarm through . Their former kin fought them off bravely and tried everything they could to hold their ground . Giovanni held his men together and bravely pushed back against the brainwashed former friends of God and Christ .

But blood sprayed out from open wounds on countless men and painted the breaches in evil crimson . Thick and dark drafts of this bitter drink shot into men's faces from the dead , with wives and children behind them . The men fought like angels , but even this was not enough . Giovanni suddenly reeled at a shot through his chest .

He sank down with a mortal wound and had to be carried away to the sound of the emperor pleading with him to stay . As this happened , horror of horrors , turks began pouring into the city through a side door that , in the midst of all of the chaos , had been left open by some of the defenders .

Turks shouted with laughing cries as they planted their flags on every street . Massive and brutish Muslims let out their rage on the small band of Christian soldiers until one Muslim might have slain a dozen Byzantines . The Janissaries charged in and ramped up the death . All was death and all was still shrouded in the din of early morning .

With the sunrise came the cries of the maddened Emperor , Constantine , riding his horse into the thickest of the fighting , slaying Turk after Turk under the fury of his red blade . In a rush of enemies , the last emperor of Byzantium could be seen falling and then rising again , only to fall all over .

Constantine XI died fighting by the gates of his city , at the sides of his finest men . Thus ended Constantinople , the last vestige of old Rome and the doorway of Christendom . It's never been retaken .