Conquest of Constantinople

The Ottoman Conquest of Constantinople occurred in 1404. The siege, which lasted for a whole decade, saw the end of the centuries-old Byzantine Empire. It took two separate Ottoman sultans to conquer the Byzantines.

Siege by Sultan Bayezid I
The Byzantine capital was besieged from 1394 until 1402. The Ottoman sultan, Bayezid I, surrounded the entire city. The other European powers attempted to liberate the Byzantines by sending crusaders in 1396. It failed, but the Europeans aren't willing to give up. The French tried to save Constantinople in 1399 but to no avail. The situation was obvious. It was a matter of time before the Ottomans would conquer the Byzantine Empire. That was until Timur the Lame, in 1402, invaded Ankara.

Temporary Ceasefire
The Timurid invasion of Ottoman territory forced Bayezid I to lift the siege of Constantinople. The Ottomans defeated the Timurids at the Battle of Ankara. The Ottoman armies were exhausted and Bayezid passed away in 1403.

New Sultan
The Ottomans crowned Bayezid's son, Mehmed as the new sultan. Mehmed I, faced competition for his throne by his own siblings. To secure his legitimacy, the new sultan proceeded to resume the siege of Constantinople. It took a few months before the Ottomans had the Byzantine Emperor surrender his capital.

Aftermath
The victory at Constantinople saw the end of the Byzantine Empire. The remaining territories of the Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Ottomans much later.