The First Siege of Constantinople by the Ottomans (1394-1402) and its Repercussions on the Civilian Population of the City
By Dionysios Bernincolas-Hatzopoulos
Byzantine Studies / Etudes Byzantines, Vol. 10:1 (1983)
Introduction: The end of the fourteenth and the first years of the fifteenth century were marked by the first major Ottoman effort to capture Constantinople. For nearly a decade the Byzantine capital sustained a very severe siege. The city’s civilian population was devastated by famine and outbursts of plague, and as a consequence a great part of the population fled Constantinople.
A detailed study of the events between 1394 and 1402 shows that the Ottomans used in their assault upon Constantinople their proven methiod blockading the enemy city for a long period of time, thus causing its surrender. The method had been successfully tried on Greek cities in Asia Minor. The Byzantine capital, however, escapted the same fate because of the Mongol intervention and the subsequent Ottoman defeat at Ankara in July, 1402.
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Tags: Byzantium, Military History, Ottoman Empire
