The "wicked and evil " Turks-1453

Good morning to all you evil and wicked Turks- 10:21 am Pacific standard time

Here is a quote from one of those evil and wicked Latins-

On the fith of May, the wicked and evil Turks went and place a great cannon on the top of the hill above Pera, and with these cannons they began to fire over Pera at our fleet, which lay by the boom.

I suppose it is all perspective on who is the wicked and evil one.

Constantinople the last bastion to an Islamic invasion but the western Europeans were too busy fighting each other to unite against this threat.

"Diary of the Seige of Constantinople" by Nicolo Barbaro

Originally posted by eaglecap On the fith of May, the wicked and evil Turks went and place a great cannon on the top of the hill above Pera, and with these cannons they began to fire over Pera at our fleet, which lay by the boom.

A typical Venetian, this Nicolo Barbaro(sic!), not concerned about the city and people of Constantinople, who were the main target of the Turks, but about the couple of Venetian merchant vessels who got up in the siege. More worried about the loss of profit than the fate of the city.
Venice was more responsible for the demise of the Byzantine Empire than any other nation, if you want to call a gang of cut throat hawkers a "nation".
Great place, Venice, but a very dodgy past!


Edited by Komnenos

Venice was more responsible for the demise of the Byzantine Empire than any other nation, if you want to call a gang of cut throat hawkers a "nation". Great place, Venice, but a very dodgy past!

Don't worry comrade, we will see them drown. Istanbul has 60 names and it has survived 60 disasters, both natural and man-made. As long as mankind builds cities, and the straits remain open (no ice age) it will be there.

Venice, on the other hand, is sinking fast. It is also being destroyed by pigeon droppings. A really fragile city, Venice is. Some decades later it will be nothing but a collection of submerged ruins. Scuba-diving tourists from Istanbul will be visiting it...

Originally posted by eaglecap Good morning to all you evil and wicked Turks- 10:21 am Pacific standard time Here is a quote from one of those evil and wicked Latins- On the fith of May, the wicked and evil Turks went and place a great cannon on the top of the hill above Pera, and with these cannons they began to fire over Pera at our fleet, which lay by the boom. I suppose it is all perspective on who is the wicked and evil one. Constantinople the last bastion to an Islamic invasion but the western Europeans were too busy fighting each other to unite against this threat. "Diary of the Seige of Constantinople" by Nicolo Barbaro

ever heard of the book THE OTTOMANS by Andrew Weathcroft?The best point of view ever

the western Europeans were too busy fighting each other to unite against this threat

At least one of them, a Scotsmen, was helping the Turks fire their cannons.
What expertise he offered i don't know, how to light matches in the rain or something like that probably.

Originally posted by Cywr At least one of them, a Scotsmen, was helping the Turks fire their cannons. What expertise he offered i don't know, how to light matches in the rain or something like that probably.

I believe he was Hungarian named Hurbanus (sp?). He first offered his services to the Byzantine emperor but when he didn't get the money he was asking, he moved to the Sultan's camp. He's the one who minted the great cannons that destroyed Constantinople's walls.

PS

Irrelevant: I'm listening to the Faithless at the moment, "I want more" is a trully great song... next week comes Thievery Corporation and then the Chemical brothers concert (and I got tickets for both . It's going to be a great summer

Edited by Yiannis

Urban was the guy who gave them the cannons, but there was a Scotsman in the Sultan's army helping to fire them.

A typical Venetian, this Nicolo Barbaro(sic!), not concerned about the city and people of Constantinople, who were the main target of the Turks, but about the couple of Venetian merchant vessels who got up in the siege. More worried about the loss of profit than the fate of the city. Venice was more responsible for the demise of the Byzantine Empire than any other nation, if you want to call a gang of cut throat hawkers a "nation".

So what if the Venetians and others (esp. the Normans) plundered Constantinople. They were certainly not the only ones going around plundering; the Byzantines themselves were hardly excluded from that club.
They were merely being opportunists picking on a crumbling empire. Had the EastRomans kept their state ship-shape it wouldn't have happened. Always blame someone else, eh?

Hmm, don't know, but Urban designed and built a special siege cannon, called the Basilic (sp?) IIRC, the cannon eventualy broke towards the end of the siege, wether it was a misfire that also killed him i don't know.
But the Turks did have other cannons too, and other people to fire them and oversee their use, and there was Scotsman in there somewhere i'm, pretty sure

Hmm, coming to think of it, i think it was mining and not cannons. So i guess he was on the Byzy-Roman side then.
My bad.