On the border between East and West was the City of Constantinople. Capital of the Byzantine Empire founded by Emperor Constantine I, The Great, in 330. Today called Istanbul. Constantinople had unique qualities for its location. Its shape resembled a rhinoceros horn with two sides surrounded by sea. One bordered the Sea of Marmara, whose treacherous currents prevented any possible invasion by sea. The other, on the Golden Horn, offered a safe deep water port to guard its fleet, whose entrance was guarded with a huge chain, secured against the wall of Galata, a Genoese enclave located on the northern coast of the Horn. The third side was protected by a system of triple walls, called the wall of Theodosius, the most formidable medieval defense in the world, which made it impregnable for ten centuries to enemy attacks. It was located at a strategic point: Right at the entrance of the Bosphorus, a must stop for ships trading with the remote cities beyond the Black Sea. To Constantinople came silks from China, skins of Russian steppes, spices, metals, hardwoods, precious stones. It was delicious.
But the most important thing is that Constantinople was the bulwark of Christianity in the East. It was home to the largest monument in the Christian world: the fabulous church of St. Sophia. In the center of the city, there was an equestrian statue of Constantine. The emperor was depicted on his horse, with one hand outstretched to the east, in the other he held a ball that meant the world, crowned with a cross. The Muslims called that ball the red apple, and for that reason, its conquest was Islam's most fervent desire. For many years, Muslims deployed military operations to capture her without any result.
On 29 March 1432, the third son of Sultan Murat was born, named after his father, Mehmet II. Until the age of two he lived in the Harem of Edirne, then he was sent to Amasya in Anatolia to be educated under the supervision of tutors. His older brother died suddenly in 1437. Six years later, his other brother, Ali and his two sons, are killed in their own bed. In February 1451, when the Sultan Murat died, Mehmet settled in the palace of Edirne. There comes another wife of Murat to offer condolences to the youngest of her brothers, called Little Mehmet. That same night, Mehmet sent Ali Bey to drown his little half-brother while bathing. The next day he had Ali Bey executed. The power in the Ottoman court followed a logical conclusion: “Only one could rule,” and to avoid any possibility of civil war, fratricidal law was at that time a common practice of the Ottoman Empire.
At that time Constantinople was ruled by Constantine XI, coincidentally bearing the same name as the founder of the Empire. Constantine was 27 years older than Mehmet. He was a man of action, more than a good manager, he liked riding, the art of war, brave and enterprising. He had a great sense of responsibility for his Byzantine heritage. When he was 17, he lived Murat's siege against The City and knew very well what it was.
Although Constantinople was considered the Christian stronghold in the East, a separation of the Church of Rome had been carried out due to multiple factors: cultural, political and economic differences. In the East the celebrations were held in Greek, in the West, in Latin. There were great differences in the liturgy, as well as in the organization. The Byzantines regarded the Westerners as barbarians. But at the center of the discussion there were two important topics: the first was the role of the pope. The Byzantines could come to accept that the pope had a special place over all patriarchs, but they did not accept that he had authority over all the churches of the world. The second theme was doctrinal: The church of the East was accused of omitting a word in the Philippian Credo- That little word had a great meaning. Because in the Nicaea Creed it was read that “the Holy Spirit came from the Father”, and in the Church of the West the word” filioque” was added, that is, “the Holy Spirit came from the Father and from the Son”. These “Byzantine” discussions led the inhabitants of the city to demonstrate in defense of their cause with great fanaticism, making efforts to achieve union between the two Churches virtually impossible. For Emperor Constantine, this confrontation represented a major problem. He knew that in the face of the Ottoman advance, he could only receive help from the West, and it would become increasingly difficult to achieve that support if the church was not united.
Mehmet, in his palace in Edirne, dreamed of making the conquest of the city a reality and began a steady path to achieve it: As a first step he began to build a fortress on the Bosphorus, just a few kilometers north of the City of Constantinople. That imposing castle by the sea, called Rumeli Hisari, meant the Strait Cutter, but it also meant “The Gorge Cutter” was protected by canyons located at sea level, with the intention of collecting taxes on every ship passing in front of it or risking bombardment. Constantine quickly sent a delegation to protest what he considered to be a daring of the Sultan. Mehmet replied that within their walls they could do whatever they wanted, but if they sent ambassadors again he would behead them. At the same time, Mehmet allowed the horses to graze in the surrounding cultivated fields, ruining the crops. When the peasants complained, he decapitated them. He also sank ships that refused to stop to pay the tribute in front of the strait cutter and the survivors were killed. The inhabitants of La Ciudad were terrified. Constantine, closed the doors of the City and sent ambassadors for urgent help to the West. Meanwhile he stored all the gunpowder he could from the Venetians, but the city had become impoverished over time and did not have enough resources to invest in weapons.
In early 1452, a Hungarian cannon fodler named Orban appeared before Constantine, seeking to increase his fortune in the imperial court. Orban was a mercenary who offered his experience to the highest bidder. He offered the Byzantines his technique and experience in the bronze forging of large one-piece cannons. Constantine was very interested and tried by all means to keep him in the city, paying him a small stipend, but still did not meet his expectations. Months later, Orban left the city and asked Mehmet for an audience who welcomed him. The Sultan asked him if he could melt a cannon that projected stone bullets large enough to destroy the city walls. Orban replied that he could melt a cannon that met that requirement, but he would not know how to fire it. Mehmet hired him instantly. What emerged from the Orban smelter, once the molds were separated and polished, was “a horrifying monster.” The cannon measured about 8 meters long of solid bronze and a diameter of 75 centimeters, capable of firing a stone bullet weighing 500 kilograms. In January, they tested their effectiveness on the outskirts of the palace of Edirne. The roar of the canyon was heard even in Constantinople terrorizing its inhabitants even more. In February they were engaged in the tasks of transporting the Grand Canyon near the walls of Constantinople. Several groups were dedicated to this: some to level the ground, others to guide it, while sets of sixty oxen carried the heavy load through the fields of Thrace slowly moving forward.