The Conquest of Constantinople (1453): Venetian microhistories

Vortrag von Maarten Halff (BGSH Fellow) im Rahmen des Forschungskolloquiums "Geschichte der Vormoderne"

The history of the conquest of Byzantine Constantinople by Ottoman forces under Mehmed II in 1453 – and its significance in the history of East and West – is well-covered ground. This lecture aims to complement the extensive historiography by examining the experiences of individual Venetians in Constantinople during and after the siege. Many of these have so far remained mere names - or even nameless - in the literature. Drawing on mostly unpublished sources in the Archivio di Stato di Venezia, the lecture will present evidence of mechanisms of adaptation during crisis and rupture, both at the individual and the communal level. They include experiences of Turkish imprisonment, the reconstitution of governance structures, and the settlement of financial debts on return to Venice. More broadly, these microhistories can give insight into how a migrant community responds to the hostile takeover of its host. The findings form part of a larger prosopographical study of the Venetian community in Constantinople on the eve of the Ottoman conquest.  

Export event as iCal