Today in 1453
Today exactly 559 years ago, in 1453 (Gregorian calender) the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II begins his conquest of the city we now know as Istanbul, Constantinopel. With an army between 80.000 to 200.000 people (which is quite a gap, if you ask me) he intended to conquer this strategically very important city. This we do not solely know from poetry and court poetry, which was the usual way to document important events in these days. Interestingly, it is also mentioned in a hadith, saying: “Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will he be, and what a wonderful army will that army be!”
Mehmed did well: Constantinopel fell on May 29, 1453. By that time, Mehmed was only 21.
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