The Handy Military History Answer Book. Samuel Willard Crompton

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      The walls of Constantinople were no match for Mehmet the Conqueror’s siege guns. He took the city for the Turks in 1453. (L’Entrée du sultan Mehmet II à Constantinople le vingt-neuf mai 1453 by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant, 1876)

      The scene was something out of a movie, in that there were no trees or physical obstacles: one could see the entire panorama. Centuries of tradition endured within the walls, while centuries of aggression were arrayed against them. And on May 28, 1453, the Turks succeeded not only in breaching the walls but pouring into the city.

      What happened to the emperor?

      Constantine XI (ruled 1449–1453), the last Byzantine emperor, died that day, but whether he was killed on the steps of the great cathedral or in front of one of the broken set of walls is unknown. Thousands of civilians were killed as the Turks came into the city. The ceremony of victory, however, was reserved for the following day.

      On May 29, 1453, Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror rode slowly through the ruined walls, passed through dozens of streets, and arrived at the building the Byzantines called Hagia Sophia, meaning church of divine wisdom. It had been built during the reign of the Emperor Justinian, roughly 920 years earlier. The sultan rode his horse up the steps and into the cathedral. Seeing beautiful Christian paintings on its inner walls, he decreed that these be covered over. He then declared that the building was now a mosque and that its name was Aiya Sophia, meaning “pride of the sultans.”

      What was so important about the year 1453?

      It is easier to reverse the question, to ask what was not important about that year. France finally expelled England from Gascony, ending the Hundred Years’ War. The Ottoman Turks finally captured Constantinople—“the big red apple”—which had been their goal for centuries. And, in a medium-sized German city, Johannes Gutenberg put the finishing touches on what would soon be known as the printing press, a technology that would change the lives of millions of people.

      When did the Renaissance begin?

      No one can put a true date for the precise beginning because the Renaissance was a social and artistic movement, rather than a primarily political one. If one poses this question to a group of scholars, however, chances are good that a majority would nod at the year 1453. In that calendar year, the Hundred Years’ War ended and Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks. Then, too, Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press began running off some of its first bibles around that time.

      Is there any way to know, and to say, that one has passed the medieval type of warfare and entered the Renaissance?

      Many of the weapons were quite similar. The crossbow, longbow, and lance were all still in use, but the early cannon and early muskets—known as harqubeses—had appeared. Also, when examining paintings of Renaissance warfare, one is struck by the greater amount of color. Italian artists, especially, put many shades of red and blue into their paintings, and the deep grimness—and perhaps griminess—of the Hundred Years’ War seems to dissipate.

      To be sure, this does not mean that Renaissance warfare was less deadly; rather, it implies that the men involved had more of a sense of humor—and indeed of color—in their lives. The Italian mercenary bands, and the Swiss mercenary soldiers, especially, seem to have taken their warfare very seriously and their humor very lightly.

      Which nation was furthest along the road to creating a modern-style army?

      Spain had come the farthest distance in pursuit of that goal. The kingdoms of Aragon and Castile were united in the persons of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1469. Spain, too, had been at war with the Muslim population in its southern half for centuries, leading to the creation of a warrior culture. By 1485, only one Muslim enclave survived, the tiny Kingdom of Granada. Ferdinand and Isabella set their sights on Granada, knowing that a victory in Spain would do much to lift the spirits of men and women throughout Christendom.

      Their Majesties attacked Granada in 1489 and following a three-year siege, the city capitulated. The siege went on so long that the Spanish forces built what amounted to another city—of the same size—in which they housed their troops and maintained their stores. To Ferdinand and Isabella the fall of Granada was the culmination of centuries of Christian Spain fighting against the Muslims, but to an Italian adventurer—from Genoa—it also represented a great opportunity. He was Christopher Columbus, and he staked nearly everything on persuading the Spanish king and queen to back his venture.

      Which nation was furthest along the in the creation of a modern-style navy?

      England. The English had long been among the world’s best fishermen because of their long, indented coastline and because the hinterland did not support enough wheat for everyone. Starting in the High Middle Ages, however, and accelerating as they reached the Renaissance, the English pioneered the establishment of a real navy.

       When did the term Christendom come into use?

      We cannot date the precise year, but the expression was widely used throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Rather than refer to Europe or to Western Europe, as we do today, the Europeans of that time spoke of Christendom, meaning all the peoples and nations who lived under the law of Christianity. It was a beautiful concept, and a far more appealing word than simply Europe, but it did not long survive once the Reformation took hold.

      During the reign of King Henry VII (1485–1509), the English Navy became a professional organization with a table of ranks and schedules (still no pensions as yet). The English, too, decided to militarize several towns along their southern and southeastern coast. Naming these the Cinque Ports, the English monarchy established special laws for governance of these towns, and it is worth noting that hardly any of them ever fell to a foreign foe.

LUTHER AND POPE LEO X

      When did the Reformation begin?

      This is one of the few times when we can date something with great precision. The Protestant Reformation began on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther (1483–1546)—a German monk and priest—tacked up a series of statements for debate on the door of the church at Wittenberg.

      Luther did not, originally, wish to destroy or divide the Roman Catholic Church. His entire life had been devoted to the church, and he loved it with great intensity. Luther’s goal was to reform the Roman Catholic Church by putting an end to the selling of indulgences. These documents, either handwritten or struck off a printing press, explained to the purchaser that his deceased relative was released from a certain number of years in Purgatory. To Luther, and many others, this amounted to spiritual fraud and encouraged materialism within the Church. He, therefore, posed his Ninety-Five СКАЧАТЬ