The Fall of Constantinople. An historical romance

Preface

The excitement caused throughout the civilised world by the present chaotic condition of the Ottoman Empire is a tempting opportunity for reviewing, in the form of an historical romance, the various interesting events which preceded and finally culminated in the overthrow of the Roman Empire of the East, and the establishment of a Mohammedan power in Christian Europe. In " The Fall of Constantinople," the author has endeavoured to adhere to the main points of history. But in a work of this kind, which embraces both fact and fiction, one is forced to take a certain amount of license, and accordingly he has to plead guilty to the creation of two characters — Laura Spinola and Sigismund — whose names are not to be found in the chronicles of the period. The heroine is a necessity in order to sustain the interest of the romance, and also (as is explained in the Appendix) to account for

PREFACE.

. VIII the existence, at this day, of descendants of the Imperial Palæologus. To avoid encumbering the narrative with a super fluity of historical detail concerning the origin of the Turk, his encroachments on the Asiatic territories of the Empire, and his passage into Europe, an Appendix has been added wherein these and other facts requisite for the elucidation of the story will be found. Streatham Hill, 1897. CONTENTS Chap. Page I. The Gathering Clouds - - i II. Genoese Prevarication 19 III. Like unto Apollo 36 IV. For the Safety of Christendom - 53 V. "I have Faith" ... 69 VI. An Interview with Calil Pascha 79 VII. The Purple Chamber 95 VIII. The Treaty of Brousa - - - 114 IX. Faithful in all Things - - 133 X. Reunion - - - - 153 XL A Turn of Fortune's Wheel - - 164 XII. The First Signs of an Avalanche - 182 XIII.

The Beginning of the End - - 197 XIV. A Gleam of Hope - - - - 221 XV. Mahomet's Stratagem - - - 240 XVI. A Desperate Sortie - - - 261 XVII. On the Eve of Destruction - . 284 XVIII. The Final Assault- - - - 300 Appendix .....

Chapter I. The Gathering

clouds. The waters of the Golden Horn danced merrily in the brilliant sunlight, which cast its warming beams over the holiday makers of Nova Roma on the nth of May, in the year of our Lord 1452. The citizens were engaged in celebrating the eleven hundred and twenty-second anniversary of the dedication of the city to the Virgin Mary, and though all were attired in festal garments, yet many faces bore the aspect of a discontent which only required a slight spark to make it burst into open turbulence. It was not at first easy for a stranger to fathom the reason of this sullenness, for there had been enough of pomp, grandeur, and amusement to put the most obstinate into the best of tempers. The morning had been devoted to a magnificent procession from the palace to St. Sophia, where the Holy Patriarch, and a glittering array of priests, had A performed a thanksgiving service before the Emperor and his Court.

At its conclusion, the procession had wended its way to the Hippodrome, where the grand memorial ceremony of the day was carried out. The golden statue of Constantine the Great, bearing in its right hand a small image of the tutelary genius of Byzantium, was erected on a triumphal car, and, surrounded by guards holding white tapers, was drawn into the Hippodrome. When it arrived op posite to the Emperor's throne, he rose from his seat, and with grateful reverence adored the memory of his predecessor, amidst the plaudits and acclamations of the assembled multitude. After this, some hours were spent in watching the exciting incidents of horse and chariot races, and when the events were finished, the crowd poured out in various directions, some to their homes, and some, belonging to the lower classes, to the great square in front of St. Sophia, and others to the quays bordering the harbour.

These latter sauntered' moodily about, and idly watched the busy slaves of the Genoese merchants unloading the cargoes of six grain ships which had lately come to anchor on the opposite shore of Galata. The sight apparently had an exasperating effect upon the men's tempers, for low murmurs and muttered curses were soon exchanged for threats against their magistrates, though the presence of a few nobles, who were passing through the malcontents, kept them from being uttered too loudly. " The Grand Duke Notaras was a lucky man to-day," exclaimed one. " He must have won a large sum of money over the chariot race." " Which, no doubt, he will presently scatter amongst us," said another. " He is the people's friend, and will right our wrongs, if anyone will." " Alas, we have many to right ! " exclaimed a Greek fiercely.

" The old privileges, which were granted by the great Constantine, have been slowly filched from us, until we stand on a level with the outer barbarians." " The meanest wrestler from savage Thrace is now as good as a Roman ! " exclaimed a female fury. " He is petted and pampered by the nobles, whilst we Romans have to starve ! " " We could not be worse off under Ottoman rule," said the first speaker. " We should be better off if we only consented to worship their God and his prophet." " May the Virgin save us from such apostacy," devoutly uttered a chorus of voices. " May both Moslems and Latins be accursed ! " " Amen," answered a sunburnt boatman. " But all this talking does not help us to food. Monks and priests, kings and nobles, are eating their fill this day, whilst our empty stomachs are asked to be satisfied with vain pageantry and circus games.

Yet we are told to believe that this is the feast of the dedication of our city ! " " A feast of the dedication of the city, forsooth ! " exclaimed a burly giant, whose halting Greek pro claimed him a foreigner. " In the olden times it was truly a feast, with tables spread in the streets, and at which every man, woman, and child could take his fill, and none should say him nay." " I hear that there will be no more distribution of corn and oil, wine or money," said another dolefully. " It has come to this, that we free citizens of Rome will have to work for bread like those black dogs yonder, who slave for the Genoese factors." " The Logothete of Finance says that his coffers contain only enough for the use of the Emperor, whom may the Virgin protect ! " interposed another of the crowd. "In ancient times the tribute of Egypt was given to the people of Constantinople, but the accursed Saracens have deprived us of this, and the thrice-accursed Othmans have cut off the dues from our own provinces."

" The people will starve unless matters speedily mend," ejaculated an indignant voice. " The people are starving ! " thundered the burly foreigner, who had first raised the discussion. " The price of an emperor's meal, or of one suit of his robes, would feed a thousand famishing wretches. Force your Logothete to unload his coffers. Tell him that empty stomachs cause sits of frenzy, wherein many dangerous deeds are done, and many unpopular magistrates come badly off." A hoarse murmur of applause greeted the seditious speech, but no man stirred from his place. The apathy of effete manhood required a far stronger stimulus for its removal than the foreigner's incite ment, so he cast a contemptuous glance on his hearers and held his peace. " If we obtained the money, the food would still be wanting," presently exclaimed a voice.

" The Genoese hold all the supplies, and, owing to a quarrel between them and the Grand Logothete, they refuse to sell to the city." " What cause have these barbarians for such insolence ? " asked several voices. " Their Syndic, Oberto Spinola, had commenced to build a castle on a hill behind Galata, and intended to arm it with culverins capable of throwing stone balls as far as, or even beyond, the Imperial palace. On this coming to thc ears of our Logothete, he immediately called upon the Genoese to desist under penalty of being declared rebels against the authority of the Emperor Constantine. The merchants have obeyed the order, but they retaliate by starving the city." " Are you worthy of the name of Romans if you suffer these things ? " asked the foreigner, again coming forward. " Behold those grain ships, scarcely begun to be unladen.

Hunger excuses many faults, so take the food which Heaven has placed before your eyes, and tell the owners to look to the Logothete for payment." " By our Lady, he speaks with wisdom," murmured the crowd, with an uneasy shifting of feet, which showed a growing excitement. " Here are boats in plenty," continued the foreigner. " The distance is not more than two and a half stadia,1 and a sudden dash will scatter the sailors, when every man can load himself with as much as he can carry." " Be not led away by barbarian cunning," ex 1 The Greek stadium is equal to 606 feet, 9 inches English, or 625 Roman feet. Eight stadia make one Roman mile. claimed the warning voice of a new-comer. " Make not a leader of Sigismund of Prague, whom men say loves the Genoese better than the Romans. Go rather to the gates of Cæsar, and his compassion will find a means of giving you food."

" Sigismund," echoed several citizens. " He com mands one of the very ships he would have us attack. It is a trap he is laying for us, in order to embroil us with his masters." " Down with the spy," was shouted from the outskirts of the crowd. " Death to the barbarian ; drown him in the harbour." Sigismund faced the hostile mob with a flush of anger on his face, and a bold, defiant look, which kept his assailants at bay. But the pressure from behind forced the front ranks towards him, and, seeing the impossibility of contending against so many foes, he suddenly drew a short sword, laid about him freely, and thus gained a passage to the water's edge. Arrived here, he blew a shrill whistle, and then plunged into the harbour, and swam vigor ously towards the numerous boats which instantane ously started to his assistance from the Genoese shore.

In a very few minutes he was safe from the Constantinople mob beneath the walls of Galata, and was shaking the streaming waters from his garments, when an elderly man, with a close-cut beard, ad dressed him. " How happened it that you had to flee for your life, my Sigismund ? " " Because I am better known in this city of curs than I deemed possible, O Spinola. I had nearly incited these cowardly Romans to commit a robbery, when, by ill-luck, several people cried out that I was in the Genoese service." " Had they hurt thee, my faithful servant, Con stantinople should have starved until the Imperial Palæologus implored pardon on his knees. A cruel, idle, and degenerate race are these so-called Romans, and I do not envy the task of the enlightened Emperor in having to govern them. It is evident that a more vigorous nation must sooner or later gain possession of a city from which it could rule the world, and that nation will either be the Ottoman or the Genoese.

My task is to obtain this magnifi cent site for my own country, but to do so I must anticipate the Sultan, who, I hear, is seriously considering the same project. I am now keeping the city short of food, but presently I will lavish gifts upon it so that the people will regard me as a saviour. Then, by judicious measures, the Syndic of Galata shall become the Autocrat of Constantinople, and his first step will be to repair the ruinous fortifications, arm them with the newest catapulta, lay in vast stores of food, and thus be ready to meet the inevit able Ottoman assault." " The Turks must not be permitted to gain any further foothold in Europe," said Sigismund ear nestly. " Three-quarters of a million already inter vene between us and Mount Hæmus, and, if they be not speedily broken, they will break us.

We should employ numerous companies of Christian Free Lances, for these miserable Greeks have long forgotten the art of war." " I have caused inquiries to be made on that head," answered Spinola. " My friend Georgius Phranza has privately informed me that there are barely five thousand Romans in the city who understand the use of arms. As it would be hopeless to attempt the defence with such doubtful material as this, I am about to empower the captains of our ships to raise a body of mercenaries in Italy, which shall be pledged to keep its destination secret." " That is as it should be, for the Sultan is already suspicious of our movements, and is pushing on the building of his new fortress on our side of the Bosphorus. The artificers are working night and day to complete it, and such extreme haste seems a presage of his desire to try conclusions with Constan tinople as speedily as possible."

" It cannot be finished in less than a year from now," said the Syndic gravely. "It may even happen that the entreaties and gifts of the terrified Emperor may induce Mahomet to proceed with thc work more leisurely. But when the Imperial treasury is exhausted, entreaties will no longer avail with the wily Turk. The formidable European fortress will be garrisoned, and then woe betide the ancient city unless the Genoese come to its assistance." " It is quite possible that the Franks may institute another crusade against the Turks," said Sigismund. "The Hungarians and Poles have not yet forgotten the disastrous defeat at Warna eight years ago, and they must still be burning to avenge the death of Ladislaus. You Genoese did not come very well out of that business, for report still says that you aided the Turk by purposely leaving the Hellespont so loosely guarded that Amurath was enabled to transport his Asiatic forces to Europe."

" The world only deems it an unfortunate over sight," answered Spinola. " But, nevertheless, we were forced to that step for fear the victory of the Hungarians might result in the establishment of a Christian Protectorate at Constantinople. If that had happened, Genoese aspirations would have been an nihilated." " Take heed lest your ambitious projects are not again frustrated, for I have it on good authority that Emperor Constantine is preparing embassies to Rome, France, and Hungary, imploring their alliance as the only means of saving Christianity and driving the infidel Turk back to Asia." "This is news indeed," exclaimed Spinola with a touch of excitement. "Any such alliance would ruin the plans of Genoa, and force us still to remain the humble vassals of Constantinople. If the Pope is induced to preach a crusade, we are utterly lost, for what nation or individual would dare to act contrary to the Holy Father's command ?

" " I, for one, would brave his displeasure," said Sigismund emphatically. " I belong not to his com munion, and I should delight in treating his orders with contempt. Thirty-five years ago, Christianity beheld the spectacle of three rival Popes, each claim ing to be the occupier of St. Peter's chair. It was not edifying to the Faithful, and such rivalry could never have occurred had not the Church become a mass of corruption and iniquity." " I am old enough to remember the great schism," answered Spinola. "But the Council of Constance deposed the three candidates, elected Cardinal Colonna, and reformed many abuses." " Did not the Council also go out of its way to put John Huss on his trial, and, disregarding the Imperial safe-conduct with which he was furnished, condemn him to the stake ?

I was a mere boy at the time, but my father, Jerome of Prague, a friend of Huss, suffered with him. Jerome, at his trial, certainly retracted his belief in what his enemies called ' obnoxious doctrine ' ; but after a short experience of prison he demanded a public audience, and there asserted that his recantation was only due to temporary weakness. He died as a martyr should, and I, his son, hate the so-called religion which in the name of God carries out the work of the Devil." " Peace, peace, my friend," exclaimed the Syndic, with a gesture of annoyance. " You may feel sore at the ills which have vexed your family, but it is not becoming to rail at the religion which should be your consolation. The men who violated the safe-conduct were actuated more by political reasons than by zeal for the Faith.

Blame not the Holy Father for acts of which he had no cognisance." " Then, if the Pope issues an edict commanding Christendom to maintain Constantine Palæologus on his tottering throne, are you prepared to throw aside your ambitious schemes, and remain confined to your fief of Galata for ever ? " " Such an edict must never be promulgated," said Spinola emphatically. " But, in spite of all your endeavours, it may be," answered Sigismund with a short laugh. " And if this comes to pass, I prophesy a mighty struggle in your mind. Nevertheless, you will finally tell yourself that the Pope shall influence you in spiritual things, but that in matters temporal you will have none of him." "Of what avail would it be, for I should be the sole rebel against his authority ? The rest of Europe would follow his behests, and I should find myself excommunicated and proscribed."

" But, as master of Constantinople, you could laugh at the whole world leagued against you," said Sigismund. " Be well advised, and let nothing hinder you in the seizure of the city. Salve your conscience, if you will, by telling yourself that the infidel Turk will despoil the sanctuary of St. Sophia unless you speedily intervene. The Franks will take a year or more to move, whereas, in six months I pledge myself to have five thousand Free Lances conveyed hither, in detachments small enough to avoid suspicion. The men can be disguised as sailors, and scattered about Constantinople and Galata in groups of two or three, ready to combine at a moment's notice." " I should not dare to run the awful evil of ex communication," said the Syndic irresolutely. "You hinted just now that you could prevent any active interference on the part of the Pope.

Do this, and think no more of excommunication, but rather turn your mind to a consideration of the means to be adopted in making the city impregnable against Christian and Turk alike. The Greeks have long trusted to the throwing of their phialæ of fire from the walls, or to the blowing of fire against a naval enemy through their copper siphones. These are excellent in their way, as are also the bombards discharging stone balls of heavy weight. As you know, these bombards are formed of bars of iron bound together with hoops, and are very liable to burst with too large a charge of gunpowder. Such a mischance as this, too frequently repeated, might lose a battle, or even an empire. Now, a good friend of mine, a citizen of Lucca, has discovered a font-metal — a kind of bronze — which he casts into a hollow tube, so hard that it is capable of throwing an iron bullet weighing five hundredweight without any risk of its bursting.

Thus we have a cannon projecting iron instead of stone, carrying twice the distance of a bombard, and possessing no liability to burst." "Wonderful!" exclaimed Spinola. "With fifty of such pieces we could annihilate the Ottoman army." " I have more to tell you," continued Sigismund. " A hand - gun has recently been invented.1 It is a long tube cast in brass, and so arranged that a soldier can take accurate aim at the enemy, and yet be well out of the reach of the slingers and archers. My friend of Lucca was fortunate enough to discover this when his city was besieged by the Florentines, and, though this new sire-arm is becom- 1 A hand-gun of this description was used in England in 1446, as well as in the defence of Constantinople in 1453 a.d. ing well known in Italy, it is still looked upon as a curiosity by the Court of Constantine."

" With such weapons as these, Genoa could defy the world," said Spinola with a spice of enthusiasm. " If only the Holy Father would not interfere ! " he added, reverting to his former air of dejection. " The Pope can easily be made to wash his hands of the heretical Greeks," said Sigismund contemptuously. " Your agent at Rome will, of course, secretly laugh at the forebodings expressed by Constantine's embassy. He must make the Pope believe that the Ottoman power is not the formidable thing it is represented to be. There is another way out of the difficulty," he continued, though with hesitation. " The ambassadors need never reach their destina tion. This would effectually put an end to all your superstitious fears anent excommunication." " But it would leave a still greater horror on my soul — that of murder," said Spinola sternly.

" And yet you aspire to sit on the throne of the Cæsars ! " was Sigismund's scornful ejaculation. " True ambition knows not timidity, and only regards men as pawns, to be moved or removed according to the varying conditions of the game. Murder, for sooth ! Such a term is not to be used by anyone who would found an empire, or descend to posterity as one of the great ones of the earth." " Then, why was the command written, ' Thou shalt do no murder ' ? " "A nomadic community wandering in the desert knew nothing of political necessity," answered Sigis mund quickly. "In after times, when the Israelites were settled in Canaan, and were cemented into a body politic, they had often to abrogate the Mosaic ordinance — more than once at the direct instigation of God Himself." "Such doctrine does not commend itself to me," answered Spinola with fiery decision.

" I am about to undertake a great task : first, in the interests of Christianity ; and secondly, for the advancement of my native country. As I firmly believe that a Chris tian's chief duty is to implicitly obey the rules laid down by the Church for his guidance, I shall refuse to commit a cold-blooded murder, although convinced that ultimate good would come of it. Such is my unalterable decision, so pursue the distasteful subject no more. If Constantine sends an embassy to Rome, I shall use all lawful means to defeat its ends." " Including those of false swearing, lying, and slandering," interrupted Sigismund with a sneer. " Of a truth, the Moslem is more consistent than the Christian." Spinola reddened with anger, but held his peace as the two walked up the steep hill to the villa inhabited by the Syndic.

Arrived in front of the portico, the host turned to Sigismund, and extended his hand. " Enter, I pray you, and take a change of garments, and after the slaves have conducted you to the bath, we will break our fast in my daughter's room." After a short interval devoted to that Eastern necessity known to moderns as the Turkish bath, Sigismund entered an apartment, tastefully hung with rich silk tapestry, wherein a light repast of fruit, cakes, and wine was laid. As he advanced over the marble floor, a young girl, dressed in a semi-Oriental garb, rose to greet him. " My father begs you to excuse his absence," she began apologetically. " He complains of a sudden indisposition." " I regret to hear it, Signora Laura. But per haps some of my arguments have upset him." " That cannot be, for he takes much delight in your companionship," said Laura with a smile, that lighted up every feature into a sunny radiance, and made the visitor stand dumb with admiration.

" You grow very beautiful," he at length ex claimed, with an emphasis which proclaimed the sincerity of his remark. " Your golden hair, your sweet speech, and sweeter laugh, make you a close competitor of that other Laura whom Petrarch loved so madly." " You are a born courtier," she answered gaily. " Nobody who heard you flatter would believe you had been bred to the rough life of the sea, but would imagine you to be a Court official of Palæologus." " Nevertheless, I am cast in a sterner mould than those peacock-bedecked fools, who call themselves descendants of the Romans. It is pitiable to be hold the effeminate antics which form the Court life of men whose fathers ruled the world with a rod of iron. But you know nothing of these things, nor of the degeneracy to which man can sink, for the Syndic does not permit you to enter the palace of the Cæsars."

"That is true," answered Laura. "But I must confess to an almost overwhelming curiosity to see the wonderful things it contains. I hear that in the throne-room there is a golden tree with golden birds, and that when an ambassador prostrates him self at the feet of the Emperor, the birds commence to warble, and two golden lions intermingle their roarings with the sweeter notes." " Your information is correct, and I can add to it by saying, that by the time the prostration is over, the Emperor and his throne have been hoisted from the floor to the ceiling. His Majesty has, in the interval, invested himself with apparel of most gorgeous hue, which so shines and sparkles in the artificial light thrown upon it that the ambassador may be pardoned for thinking he is addressing, not a mortal man, but a god."

" Does not this seem rather profane ? " asked Laura. " What would you ? " replied Sigismund. " In a Church where the Patriarch himself is a creature of the Emperor, to be rewarded, deposed, or put to death, is not the Emperor greater than the Patriarch, and thus almost, if not quite, a god ? " " It is perhaps wiser to know nothing of this strange people," said Laura sadly. " Yet the time is coming when your father will strive to infuse a little virtue into them. From base, sensual slaves, he will raise them to an understanding of liberty, and make them more worthy of the name of Roman." " The love of liberty is inherent in our house," exclaimed Laura ardently. " Perhaps you may not know that my father is a lineal descendant of that famous ' Captain of Liberty ' who held the supreme power in Genoa in 1270?"

" I knew it not," answered Sigismund. " But the knowledge will make me urge him on to action more strenuously than ever." " To what are you urging him ? " asked Laura. " 'Tis a secret which I can whisper only to Spinola's daughter, knowing she would not betray her father. I would have him seize the throne of the Cæsars, drive the Ottomans out of Europe, and then, when peace is established, train these Greeks to hardier habits, which alone can fit them to receive the blessings of liberty." " It is a perilous scheme, and may cost my father his life," said Laura, with a shudder. " Do not per suade him into it," she implored, with tears in her eyes. " These Greeks are so cruel in their vengeance, that henceforward I shall always have some fearful vision to haunt me night and day." " Fear nothing.

Our plans will be too well laid." " You must not involve my only parent in worse than ruin. Good though your object may sound, I mistrust your powers of execution." " You are but a woman, and cannot understand these things which I now regret having told you." " You have done my father good service by telling me, for I shall use every art to dissuade him from having any part in the enterprise." " The girl cannot prevail against the greybeard," said Sigismund, with a look that startled her, for it revealed a totally new aspect of the man's character. B Sigismund of Prague had been a captain in Spinola's service for about twelve years, and conse quently had known Laura ever since she was six years of age. Being admitted to the friendship of the family, he had cultivated the affection of the little girl, who looked upon him as a sort of second father, and welcomed him boisterously on his return from the various voyages between Constantinople, Genoa, and the African ports.

His refined manners, so dif ferent from those of the other sea-captains, impressed the little lady, and caused her to regard him as a model of all that a man should be. Mild, courteous, and gentle he had ever been until to-day, when the rough inflection of his tones, as he told her that girls could not influence greybeards, caused her to regard him curi ously. Then she caught the expression on his face, which fairly struck her with terror, so diabolically inflexible did it seem. Having no rounds of gaiety to distract her thoughts, the habit of reflection had been early formed, and, therefore, in a very brief space she assured herself that Sigismund was not the honest man he pretended to be, and that it behoved her to watch him narrowly, unless she wished her father to be made the scapegoat of a dangerous intrigue.