1
00:00:17,559 --> 00:00:20,938
[narrator] Hours before Mehmed
launches his final assault,

2
00:00:21,210 --> 00:00:23,815
an ominous sight shakes both sides.

3
00:00:34,618 --> 00:00:36,370
[Notaras] Why has God forsaken us?

4
00:00:37,496 --> 00:00:39,748
Is our fate to be thrown
to the Ottoman dogs?

5
00:00:40,290 --> 00:00:42,292
The city is not yet lost, Lord.

6
00:00:42,709 --> 00:00:45,170
Yes, the Venetian fleet is on its way.

7
00:00:45,254 --> 00:00:47,673
Unless they arrive tomorrow,
they do us no good.

8
00:00:50,634 --> 00:00:55,389
[narrator] Rumors of a 40-ship fleet's
imminent arrival have swirled for weeks,

9
00:00:55,472 --> 00:00:58,558
but it's exact whereabouts
remain unknown.

10
00:01:00,185 --> 00:01:02,980
I think everyone involved
was hoping against hope.

11
00:01:03,630 --> 00:01:07,317
I think you just naturally want the hope
that, uh, deliverance will come.

12
00:01:07,401 --> 00:01:09,528
The West can't forget about us.

13
00:01:09,611 --> 00:01:14,825
They know that Venice has voted
to send help in the form of their navy,

14
00:01:14,908 --> 00:01:16,340
as well as soldiers.

15
00:01:16,118 --> 00:01:18,120
And so the relief fleet is on their way.

16
00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:22,291
Every day, they get up there
and they look for it,

17
00:01:22,374 --> 00:01:25,850
day after day, after day

18
00:01:25,168 --> 00:01:27,212
and it doesn't come and it doesn't come.

19
00:01:27,963 --> 00:01:31,258
We can hold off the Turks, Emperor,
I swear to you.

20
00:01:32,759 --> 00:01:33,802
Lord Giustiniani?

21
00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:36,430
The walls will hold, Lord.

22
00:01:36,972 --> 00:01:40,267
The Turks have suffered heavy losses
every time they've attacked.

23
00:01:40,350 --> 00:01:44,104
It's not me who needs to be convinced,
dear Giustiniani.

24
00:01:45,564 --> 00:01:47,691
My faith is inseparable from this city.

25
00:01:48,233 --> 00:01:50,360
[Loukas] It may not have to be, Emperor.

26
00:01:51,153 --> 00:01:52,946
I have some good friends in Galata.

27
00:01:53,405 --> 00:01:58,535
They offered me to get us...
you and your court out of the city.

28
00:01:59,286 --> 00:02:01,288
Leave the city? Now?

29
00:02:01,371 --> 00:02:02,664
There's no shame in it.

30
00:02:02,748 --> 00:02:04,416
You will abandon the fight?

31
00:02:05,830 --> 00:02:07,836
There's no honor in suicide.
The Turks will have our heads.

32
00:02:07,919 --> 00:02:10,500
I will have yours now, coward!

33
00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:11,131
[Sphrantzes] Hey,.

34
00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,763
Lord Loukas, you would leave your emperor
and countrymen at such a moment as this?

35
00:02:17,846 --> 00:02:20,641
I'm, of course, only concerned
for the emperor's safety.

36
00:02:22,100 --> 00:02:24,353
If this has to be the end
of the Roman Empire,

37
00:02:25,479 --> 00:02:26,980
I will die defending it.

38
00:02:28,106 --> 00:02:31,401
Anyone who loves me and their empire,

39
00:02:31,985 --> 00:02:35,238
take up your swords
and join me in this battle!

40
00:02:35,322 --> 00:02:36,698
[cheering]

41
00:02:39,743 --> 00:02:42,829
Then let us write our own history
in these fateful hours!

42
00:02:42,913 --> 00:02:45,415
[cheering]

43
00:02:49,544 --> 00:02:51,922
[narrator] Every empire has a beginning.

44
00:02:52,500 --> 00:02:56,134
Forged of blood, steel,
fortune and conquest.

45
00:02:56,218 --> 00:03:00,555
In 1453, Roman Emperor Constantine XI

46
00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,100
and Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II,

47
00:03:03,183 --> 00:03:06,269
wage an epic battle for Constantinople.

48
00:03:06,770 --> 00:03:10,230
Twenty-three armies have tried
to take the legendary city,

49
00:03:10,107 --> 00:03:11,441
all have failed.

50
00:03:11,817 --> 00:03:15,280
Out of the carnage,
one ruler will emerge victorious

51
00:03:15,112 --> 00:03:19,741
and change the course of history
for the next 300 years.

52
00:03:20,325 --> 00:03:21,993
For one empire to rise...

53
00:03:22,661 --> 00:03:24,329
another must fall.

54
00:03:32,450 --> 00:03:35,600
[Giustiniani] The Turks will concentrate
their attacks on the land walls.

55
00:03:35,900 --> 00:03:38,969
The gate of St. Romanus
will be their primary target.

56
00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:41,513
It's nearly demolished by their cannons

57
00:03:41,596 --> 00:03:45,350
and they have been stacking their units
directly across from it.

58
00:03:45,934 --> 00:03:49,200
We must defend with all we have, there.

59
00:03:50,630 --> 00:03:52,691
Lord Giustiniani,
you will have whatever we can get.

60
00:03:53,650 --> 00:03:55,944
We will need all men of fighting age.

61
00:03:56,528 --> 00:04:00,730
We can leave the old and the clergy
to defend the seaside walls.

62
00:04:00,991 --> 00:04:04,369
Lord Loukas,
knowing the Turks will come here,

63
00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,415
I will immediately need your cannons
moved to the gate of St. Romanus.

64
00:04:08,498 --> 00:04:10,830
That's out of the question.

65
00:04:10,500 --> 00:04:13,170
I need them to defend the walls
along the Golden Horn.

66
00:04:13,253 --> 00:04:15,130
You've seen their ships waiting to attack.

67
00:04:15,213 --> 00:04:17,174
They will not come from the Horn.

68
00:04:17,591 --> 00:04:18,758
It's too great a risk.

69
00:04:18,842 --> 00:04:20,552
They will storm this gate.

70
00:04:20,635 --> 00:04:22,762
I need all of our cannons to stop them.

71
00:04:22,846 --> 00:04:23,847
Lord Giustiniani,

72
00:04:23,930 --> 00:04:27,580
I'm sure you will find a way
to defeat them without my cannons.

73
00:04:28,310 --> 00:04:30,187
You are the military genius,

74
00:04:31,563 --> 00:04:32,564
aren't you?

75
00:04:35,859 --> 00:04:37,861
It's not a request.

76
00:04:38,445 --> 00:04:42,908
[scoffs] I don't take orders
from the Catholic pirates.

77
00:04:43,867 --> 00:04:44,743
[Loukas] Ah!

78
00:04:45,285 --> 00:04:46,286
Ah!

79
00:04:46,369 --> 00:04:49,122
I have killed hundreds in this siege.

80
00:04:49,581 --> 00:04:53,877
-One more won't make a difference to me.
-Enough!

81
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,380
There is no time
for this petty bickering.

82
00:04:57,464 --> 00:04:58,882
[cannon fire in distance]

83
00:05:00,926 --> 00:05:04,930
You will get your cannons,
Lord Giustiniani, but end this now.

84
00:05:09,226 --> 00:05:12,187
We will settle this
after the Turks are gone.

85
00:05:15,230 --> 00:05:17,400
[Lars Brownworth] Humans have
this endless capacity to bicker.

86
00:05:17,484 --> 00:05:19,236
Even when extinction is threatening.

87
00:05:20,700 --> 00:05:23,865
Constantine has to kind of
console Giustiniani and Notaras

88
00:05:23,949 --> 00:05:27,786
and kind of wake them up to, you know,
we have a bigger problem here.

89
00:05:29,371 --> 00:05:32,332
My lord, Captain Tommaso
has returned with urgent news.

90
00:05:32,415 --> 00:05:33,416
Send him in.

91
00:05:33,500 --> 00:05:35,210
[narrator]
Three and a half weeks earlier,

92
00:05:35,293 --> 00:05:38,713
Constantine had ordered lookouts
to find the Venetian fleet.

93
00:05:38,797 --> 00:05:41,675
Their imminent arrival
could save the city.

94
00:05:42,592 --> 00:05:44,844
We ran the blockade, my lord.

95
00:05:45,762 --> 00:05:48,980
We scanned the seas from dusk till dawn,

96
00:05:49,641 --> 00:05:51,590
but saw no ships.

97
00:05:57,399 --> 00:06:00,402
[narrator] The grim news means
the Venetian fleet's arrival

98
00:06:00,485 --> 00:06:02,279
is at least a week away.

99
00:06:02,988 --> 00:06:05,115
The Romans are on their own.

100
00:06:06,700 --> 00:06:08,340
Thank you, Captain.

101
00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:36,354
[John Goodwin]
Constantine couldn't surrender.

102
00:06:36,438 --> 00:06:41,109
He couldn't give up
because he bore on his shoulders

103
00:06:41,192 --> 00:06:44,446
more than his own personal dignity

104
00:06:44,529 --> 00:06:47,699
and his hopes, uh, for himself
and for his family.

105
00:06:47,782 --> 00:06:49,659
He was the embodiment

106
00:06:49,743 --> 00:06:53,580
of something that had been set in train
a thousand years before

107
00:06:53,663 --> 00:06:58,376
with the foundation of that city
by his namesake, Constantine the Great...

108
00:07:00,629 --> 00:07:03,798
who had founded that city
and called it after himself.

109
00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:07,552
And from the 15th century,

110
00:07:07,636 --> 00:07:13,767
that had been one, almost continuous story
of imperial rule and Christianity.

111
00:07:13,850 --> 00:07:17,228
And that was too much
for one man to lay aside.

112
00:07:24,277 --> 00:07:27,720
[Brownworth] Constantine, he says,
"These are my people

113
00:07:27,155 --> 00:07:30,492
and it's worth dying...
I'm not gonna leave them to die alone,

114
00:07:30,575 --> 00:07:32,952
I'm gonna... I'm gonna lead them
and die with them."

115
00:07:48,134 --> 00:07:49,844
[cheering]

116
00:07:51,930 --> 00:07:54,974
[Roger Crowley] The day comes,
29th of May, before dawn.

117
00:07:55,558 --> 00:07:57,268
[cheering continues]

118
00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,899
Mehmed realized
that it was now or never.

119
00:08:05,735 --> 00:08:07,779
[cheering]

120
00:08:25,922 --> 00:08:27,340
[all chanting]

121
00:08:46,484 --> 00:08:48,690
[narrator] Mehmed orders his cannons

122
00:08:48,153 --> 00:08:51,698
to intensify their barrage
on the weakened walls.

123
00:08:55,577 --> 00:08:57,203
[screaming]

124
00:08:58,872 --> 00:09:02,500
There is a Genoese ship
readying to depart from the Golden Horn.

125
00:09:02,584 --> 00:09:04,961
Take who you can, go to Chios.

126
00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:06,671
No. No, I won't leave you!

127
00:09:06,755 --> 00:09:08,840
If you care for me, you will.

128
00:09:09,382 --> 00:09:11,718
It will give me strength
to know you are safe.

129
00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,474
Promise me... promise me
you'll join me in Chios.

130
00:09:31,613 --> 00:09:32,614
Now go.

131
00:09:45,335 --> 00:09:47,796
[cannon fire]

132
00:09:57,680 --> 00:09:59,349
I think we're due a pay rise, lads.

133
00:09:59,432 --> 00:10:01,101
[laughs]

134
00:10:02,769 --> 00:10:04,354
Let's send the bastards to hell.

135
00:10:04,437 --> 00:10:05,522
[soldiers] To hell!

136
00:10:05,605 --> 00:10:06,940
To hell!

137
00:10:07,230 --> 00:10:08,316
To hell!

138
00:10:12,737 --> 00:10:14,989
[narrator] Giustiniani
and his remaining men

139
00:10:15,730 --> 00:10:18,243
take up a position
between the inner and outer walls

140
00:10:18,326 --> 00:10:19,953
at the St. Romanus gate,

141
00:10:20,495 --> 00:10:23,832
putting them in what will soon become
a killing field.

142
00:10:24,457 --> 00:10:27,293
For the Genoese mercenaries
and their leader,

143
00:10:27,377 --> 00:10:28,878
there are two ways out:

144
00:10:29,337 --> 00:10:31,339
victory or death.

145
00:10:37,595 --> 00:10:43,560
Twenty-three armies have tried
to take this city and failed.

146
00:10:47,897 --> 00:10:51,317
My own father faltered at these walls,

147
00:10:51,401 --> 00:10:54,654
as did many of your fathers
who fought alongside him.

148
00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:00,201
Tonight, we will avenge them.

149
00:11:01,536 --> 00:11:02,912
Allah has willed it.

150
00:11:04,873 --> 00:11:10,860
The Prophet said,
"You shall conquer Constantinople.

151
00:11:10,587 --> 00:11:12,964
What a wonderful leader
will her leader be.

152
00:11:14,900 --> 00:11:16,509
And what a wonderful army
will that army be."

153
00:11:17,802 --> 00:11:20,130
Let us now fulfill our destiny.

154
00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:22,348
[cheering]

155
00:11:31,733 --> 00:11:35,653
Then, we will use our hands and minds

156
00:11:35,737 --> 00:11:38,310
to forge a new age from the ashes.

157
00:11:39,616 --> 00:11:41,701
The Red Apple
will be given to the fateful.

158
00:11:42,368 --> 00:11:43,411
Allahu Akbar!

159
00:11:43,494 --> 00:11:45,790
Allahu Akbar!

160
00:11:45,163 --> 00:11:46,456
Allahu Akbar!

161
00:11:46,998 --> 00:11:48,416
Allahu Akbar!

162
00:11:48,499 --> 00:11:49,959
Allahu Akbar!

163
00:11:50,430 --> 00:11:51,211
Allahu Akbar!

164
00:11:51,628 --> 00:11:54,923
[Dr. Talbot] Mehmed, he really knows
what to do and when to do it.

165
00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:57,133
So, you'll conquer
and you'll get these riches.

166
00:11:57,216 --> 00:12:00,637
But also appealing to the religious side
of these soldiers too.

167
00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,140
God is with us
and he'll help us to conquer.

168
00:12:03,970 --> 00:12:06,267
But also making himself into a standard.

169
00:12:06,684 --> 00:12:08,811
I'm with you, therefore we'll conquer.

170
00:12:08,895 --> 00:12:11,105
[cheering]

171
00:12:16,986 --> 00:12:19,530
[narrator]
Inside the walls of Constantinople,

172
00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,750
the emperor readies his men.

173
00:12:22,951 --> 00:12:25,787
The battle will decide
the fate of the city.

174
00:12:26,996 --> 00:12:27,914
Men!

175
00:12:30,625 --> 00:12:32,877
You know what awaits you
outside those walls.

176
00:12:35,922 --> 00:12:37,480
Be not afraid.

177
00:12:38,967 --> 00:12:42,303
We are privileged to defend this city

178
00:12:42,387 --> 00:12:45,223
that Constantine the Great
built from dust.

179
00:12:46,599 --> 00:12:50,228
We are the protectors
that have kept the scourge of Islam

180
00:12:50,311 --> 00:12:52,814
from Europe for a thousand years.

181
00:12:54,816 --> 00:12:56,693
If the great empire of Rome...

182
00:12:58,277 --> 00:12:59,404
must end tonight,

183
00:13:00,738 --> 00:13:02,115
let it not go easily.

184
00:13:03,449 --> 00:13:09,956
Sharpen your swords and steel your souls,
for we fight as brothers, as Romans!

185
00:13:10,390 --> 00:13:11,100
[cheering]

186
00:13:16,754 --> 00:13:17,880
Augustus,

187
00:13:18,548 --> 00:13:19,674
Justinian,

188
00:13:20,133 --> 00:13:21,384
Constantine...

189
00:13:22,260 --> 00:13:24,530
they will be watching!

190
00:13:24,137 --> 00:13:25,763
[cheering]

191
00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,485
There's this wonderful speech that
Constantine gives right before the battle

192
00:13:39,569 --> 00:13:41,946
where he's addressing
both the Italians and the Byzantines

193
00:13:42,300 --> 00:13:44,365
and he reminds the Byzantines
in particular,

194
00:13:44,449 --> 00:13:45,950
of who their ancestors were:

195
00:13:46,340 --> 00:13:47,785
the great heroes of the Roman past.

196
00:13:47,869 --> 00:13:51,539
And he gives this stirring reminder:
be worthy of your ancestors.

197
00:13:52,498 --> 00:13:54,500
And I think it's this moment where he...

198
00:13:54,584 --> 00:13:57,462
he was up to the task
when it finally came to it,

199
00:13:57,545 --> 00:14:00,423
he was willing to die
for a cause that he believed in.

200
00:14:00,506 --> 00:14:02,175
[cheering]

201
00:14:08,347 --> 00:14:10,933
[Ottoman band playing]

202
00:14:19,901 --> 00:14:21,903
[cheering]

203
00:14:39,462 --> 00:14:40,755
Sound the alarm bells.

204
00:14:41,339 --> 00:14:43,800
[bells tolling]

205
00:14:59,524 --> 00:15:00,942
Send the Bashi-Bazouks.

206
00:15:01,526 --> 00:15:02,944
Send the Bashi-Bazouks.

207
00:15:03,986 --> 00:15:05,905
[shouting] Full forward!

208
00:15:06,531 --> 00:15:07,740
Attack!

209
00:15:09,534 --> 00:15:13,121
[narrator] Bashi-Bazouk
literally means "crazy heads."

210
00:15:14,747 --> 00:15:19,877
The fierce, but unpredictable volunteers
are Mehmed's first wave of attackers.

211
00:15:19,961 --> 00:15:21,462
[shouting]

212
00:15:27,930 --> 00:15:29,720
[Crowley] Before dawn,
they attack in waves

213
00:15:29,804 --> 00:15:32,473
and he sends his most
disposable troops in first.

214
00:15:33,182 --> 00:15:34,851
And these are the cannon fodder.

215
00:15:41,691 --> 00:15:43,192
Get ready, boys.

216
00:15:43,276 --> 00:15:44,277
Draw!

217
00:15:45,153 --> 00:15:46,445
Aim!

218
00:15:47,196 --> 00:15:48,156
Release!

219
00:15:53,119 --> 00:15:54,780
Release!

220
00:15:57,707 --> 00:15:58,833
Release!

221
00:16:07,175 --> 00:16:08,759
[shouting]

222
00:16:23,650 --> 00:16:25,776
[Dr. Philippedes]
You had the first wave of the expendables

223
00:16:25,860 --> 00:16:28,112
and that lasted
a couple of hours, actually.

224
00:16:28,654 --> 00:16:30,740
The defenders were tired after that,

225
00:16:31,365 --> 00:16:35,360
while the Ottomans were getting ready
for the second wave of the attack.

226
00:16:41,375 --> 00:16:42,376
Ahh!

227
00:16:49,383 --> 00:16:50,635
Send the Regulars.

228
00:16:55,514 --> 00:16:57,600
[narrator]
The disciplined Ottoman Regulars

229
00:16:58,100 --> 00:17:00,728
are a far cry from the Bashi-Bazouks.

230
00:17:01,103 --> 00:17:04,106
They're the most feared army
in the Balkans.

231
00:17:05,942 --> 00:17:08,527
The use of mercenaries
or foreign experts

232
00:17:08,611 --> 00:17:10,780
is something that's often forgotten
in the siege

233
00:17:10,863 --> 00:17:14,534
when it's seen as simply a clash
between Christian and Muslim.

234
00:17:14,617 --> 00:17:18,120
There were guys from both faiths
and from all over the world

235
00:17:18,454 --> 00:17:20,790
helping each other out
for the highest price.

236
00:17:22,416 --> 00:17:23,251
Aim!

237
00:17:28,547 --> 00:17:29,382
Release!

238
00:17:36,597 --> 00:17:37,974
Aim!

239
00:17:41,644 --> 00:17:42,979
Forward charge!

240
00:17:44,814 --> 00:17:45,648
Release!

241
00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:55,241
[shouting]

242
00:17:57,535 --> 00:17:58,995
Fire the bombards.

243
00:18:06,168 --> 00:18:08,671
[narrator] Giustiniani converts
the small cannons

244
00:18:08,754 --> 00:18:10,298
into makeshift shotguns.

245
00:18:17,638 --> 00:18:21,642
The Ottomans take heavy casualties,
but press the attack.

246
00:18:27,773 --> 00:18:29,734
Giustiniani and his men

247
00:18:29,817 --> 00:18:33,904
rush outside the ramparts
of the outer walls and into the moat.

248
00:18:41,287 --> 00:18:43,372
[men grunting]

249
00:18:57,345 --> 00:18:58,554
[distant screaming]

250
00:19:02,224 --> 00:19:04,143
[men grunting]

251
00:19:07,355 --> 00:19:08,606
[groaning]

252
00:19:09,982 --> 00:19:12,360
The Turks are no match
for Giustiniani, my lord.

253
00:19:13,694 --> 00:19:14,779
There is still hope.

254
00:19:15,196 --> 00:19:16,906
Ahh!

255
00:19:21,452 --> 00:19:22,661
Ahh!

256
00:19:24,872 --> 00:19:26,707
Ahh!

257
00:19:29,794 --> 00:19:32,213
[grunting]

258
00:19:32,963 --> 00:19:35,383
[narrator] Mehmed sends
wave after wave of troops,

259
00:19:35,466 --> 00:19:37,802
but after four hours of fighting,

260
00:19:37,885 --> 00:19:40,763
the battle shifts in the defenders favor

261
00:19:40,846 --> 00:19:43,933
and the Ottomans are unable
to breach the walls.

262
00:19:44,558 --> 00:19:46,394
Sultan, we must retreat and regroup.

263
00:19:46,894 --> 00:19:47,853
Nonsense.

264
00:19:48,354 --> 00:19:50,773
-You can see, we are losing the battle.
-We attack again.

265
00:19:50,856 --> 00:19:52,108
We only have the Janissaries.

266
00:19:52,191 --> 00:19:53,401
Then send them!

267
00:19:53,484 --> 00:19:55,361
If they fail, we won't have an army!

268
00:19:55,444 --> 00:19:57,905
-If they fail.
-Sultan, I urge you to reconsider.

269
00:19:57,988 --> 00:19:59,323
I will take this city!

270
00:19:59,407 --> 00:20:00,908
This is madness!

271
00:20:03,202 --> 00:20:04,703
Out of my way, old man.

272
00:20:10,751 --> 00:20:13,300
[narrator] The first two waves
of Mehmed's attack

273
00:20:13,870 --> 00:20:15,423
failed to break the city's defenses.

274
00:20:16,900 --> 00:20:21,178
The legendary Janissaries are his last
and only hope for taking Constantinople.

275
00:20:23,681 --> 00:20:24,974
Mighty Janissaries!

276
00:20:26,350 --> 00:20:30,620
You have fearlessly protected the empire
for a hundred years,

277
00:20:30,646 --> 00:20:33,858
standing between your sultan
and chaos.

278
00:20:35,484 --> 00:20:39,947
Now, I order you to go forth
and create chaos.

279
00:20:40,300 --> 00:20:41,574
[cheering]

280
00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:47,830
Let us take the Apple!

281
00:20:47,913 --> 00:20:49,373
[cheering]

282
00:20:54,462 --> 00:20:56,881
Attack!

283
00:21:20,779 --> 00:21:21,780
[horse whinnies]

284
00:21:36,670 --> 00:21:37,796
Take the sultan!

285
00:21:42,593 --> 00:21:45,221
[breathing heavily]

286
00:21:53,979 --> 00:21:56,982
[panting]

287
00:22:08,661 --> 00:22:09,870
[gasps]

288
00:22:09,954 --> 00:22:11,747
[grunting]

289
00:22:14,375 --> 00:22:15,417
Sultan!

290
00:22:22,490 --> 00:22:24,635
[grunting]

291
00:22:47,408 --> 00:22:49,118
[men cheering]

292
00:22:50,286 --> 00:22:52,371
[narrator] The momentum shifts once again

293
00:22:52,454 --> 00:22:57,418
as the Janissaries continue their push
towards the St. Romanus gate.

294
00:22:58,430 --> 00:23:01,500
[Brownworth] The Janissaries
were the most feared element

295
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:02,298
of the Ottoman army.

296
00:23:05,509 --> 00:23:07,520
Giustiniani is with his men

297
00:23:08,762 --> 00:23:11,807
and here come the Janissaries
who are the best trained,

298
00:23:11,890 --> 00:23:15,227
the most disciplined,
who are fanatically loyal.

299
00:23:17,187 --> 00:23:18,314
And they're yelling.

300
00:23:18,397 --> 00:23:20,316
They have these colorful uniforms.

301
00:23:20,399 --> 00:23:21,984
The drums are beating.

302
00:23:22,670 --> 00:23:24,945
It... it must have been
absolutely terrifying.

303
00:23:25,988 --> 00:23:28,449
[narrator] The relentless advance
of the Janissaries

304
00:23:28,532 --> 00:23:32,995
begins to weaken the desperate defense
put up by Giustiniani and his men.

305
00:23:33,579 --> 00:23:34,705
[Giustiniani] Retreat!

306
00:23:35,289 --> 00:23:36,540
Retreat!

307
00:23:37,333 --> 00:23:39,877
[narrator] Forcing him to order
a tactical retreat

308
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:41,712
into the safety of the walls.

309
00:23:43,339 --> 00:23:44,673
[Therma] Go! Go on!

310
00:23:44,757 --> 00:23:47,900
-Come on! Go!
-[screaming]

311
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,540
[narrator] Inside the city,
panic engulfs its citizens

312
00:23:50,137 --> 00:23:53,150
as the Janissaries close in
on the St. Romanus gate.

313
00:24:12,701 --> 00:24:14,745
Retreat! Retreat!

314
00:24:17,665 --> 00:24:20,751
-Get them in here and close gate. Now!
-Yes, sir!

315
00:24:21,377 --> 00:24:23,921
Retreat! Retreat!

316
00:24:30,260 --> 00:24:31,679
Go, go, go!

317
00:24:39,478 --> 00:24:42,640
They are coming! Close that gate!

318
00:24:42,147 --> 00:24:45,150
-Close that gate!
-[soldier] We still have men out there!

319
00:24:45,234 --> 00:24:46,485
Close it!

320
00:24:46,568 --> 00:24:48,529
[intense shouting]

321
00:24:49,488 --> 00:24:51,990
The gate is open! Come on, men!

322
00:25:01,208 --> 00:25:02,876
[grunting]

323
00:25:03,752 --> 00:25:05,754
Close that gate now!

324
00:25:23,210 --> 00:25:24,273
[gasps]

325
00:25:29,486 --> 00:25:30,654
[groans]

326
00:25:38,370 --> 00:25:39,580
[groans]

327
00:25:47,713 --> 00:25:48,922
[gasps]

328
00:25:51,425 --> 00:25:52,342
[grunts]

329
00:25:54,678 --> 00:25:56,130
[groans]

330
00:26:08,275 --> 00:26:10,319
[groaning]

331
00:26:22,206 --> 00:26:23,582
[panting]

332
00:26:28,545 --> 00:26:31,548
[breathing heavily]

333
00:26:40,140 --> 00:26:42,935
We have to get him to the surgeon
or he won't make it!

334
00:26:46,271 --> 00:26:47,356
[groans]

335
00:26:51,860 --> 00:26:53,570
Crossbow fire!

336
00:27:01,787 --> 00:27:03,831
Let's go men, let's go!

337
00:27:04,331 --> 00:27:05,833
Clear the path.

338
00:27:09,211 --> 00:27:12,297
-[Constantine] Where are you taking him?
-He's hurt. He needs to see the surgeon.

339
00:27:12,381 --> 00:27:14,883
He can't leave!
These men will abandon the fight!

340
00:27:15,300 --> 00:27:16,385
I am sorry.

341
00:27:16,885 --> 00:27:18,470
You can't go, Giustiniani.

342
00:27:19,721 --> 00:27:20,931
The city will fall.

343
00:27:25,477 --> 00:27:27,145
It's no good, Emperor.

344
00:27:28,814 --> 00:27:30,107
Save yourself.

345
00:27:50,168 --> 00:27:52,254
[Gürkan]
Giovanni Giustiniani fought very well.

346
00:27:52,337 --> 00:27:55,591
He fought valiantly until when he didn't.

347
00:27:55,674 --> 00:27:59,178
Uh, the last day of the siege he was...
I have to do justice to him.

348
00:27:59,261 --> 00:28:01,471
He fought very bravely,
but then he ran away

349
00:28:01,555 --> 00:28:04,182
because he was already shot
and he realized everything was gone.

350
00:28:05,934 --> 00:28:07,978
The city was doomed,
everyone knew it.

351
00:28:08,610 --> 00:28:11,106
There are all sorts of accounts
as to how this happened, what happened.

352
00:28:11,189 --> 00:28:16,945
Giustiniani, maybe he's just run out of,
uh, of energy.

353
00:28:17,290 --> 00:28:20,449
His morale is shot
and this is the moment really,

354
00:28:20,532 --> 00:28:23,160
when they see Giustiniani leaving,

355
00:28:23,243 --> 00:28:26,872
uh, the whole, uh, morale
of the defenders collapses.

356
00:28:26,955 --> 00:28:29,249
-[grunts]
-[men shouting]

357
00:28:33,211 --> 00:28:34,671
[grunting]

358
00:28:40,469 --> 00:28:42,120
[Baltaoglu] We got them!

359
00:28:42,679 --> 00:28:44,556
Push forward!

360
00:29:00,197 --> 00:29:03,742
[Genoese soldier] Retreat!
The commander has left the battle!

361
00:29:03,825 --> 00:29:05,202
Retreat! Retreat!

362
00:29:05,619 --> 00:29:08,622
[narrator] After two months of pounding
by Mehmed's cannons,

363
00:29:08,705 --> 00:29:11,375
much of the outer wall
has been reduced to rubble.

364
00:29:11,917 --> 00:29:13,710
The defenders are overwhelmed

365
00:29:13,794 --> 00:29:17,673
as thousands of Ottoman soldiers pour in
through the breaches.

366
00:29:25,722 --> 00:29:26,723
Dear God.

367
00:29:32,896 --> 00:29:35,983
Our beloved city is lost.

368
00:29:39,690 --> 00:29:42,300
Now make haste, go to the Marmara walls
while there's time.

369
00:29:42,114 --> 00:29:43,115
No, Majesty.

370
00:29:43,198 --> 00:29:45,575
There's a ship waiting for us
in the harbor.

371
00:29:45,659 --> 00:29:47,703
We can still escape if we leave now.

372
00:29:48,996 --> 00:29:50,539
I am going to God, my friend.

373
00:29:52,624 --> 00:29:53,750
It is my duty.

374
00:29:56,545 --> 00:29:57,546
Save yourself.

375
00:29:59,470 --> 00:30:01,675
-You think I would leave your side?
-I'm ordering you to leave!

376
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:10,892
Tell the world how valiantly
we Romans fought here tonight.

377
00:30:13,895 --> 00:30:15,220
[in Latin] Morior invictus.

378
00:30:20,569 --> 00:30:21,611
Morior invictus.

379
00:30:23,780 --> 00:30:26,950
[Brownworth] This is one of those moments,
which I think is very revealing.

380
00:30:27,340 --> 00:30:30,537
Sphrantzes says to the emperor,
"You should flee."

381
00:30:30,620 --> 00:30:33,665
He says, "We have ships,
we've proven we can run the blockade,"

382
00:30:33,749 --> 00:30:36,293
and Constantine probably could have,

383
00:30:36,585 --> 00:30:41,600
but he turns Sphrantzes down
and he says, "No, these are my people.

384
00:30:41,890 --> 00:30:42,883
I'm not gonna leave them to die alone.

385
00:30:42,966 --> 00:30:44,760
I'm gonna lead them and die with them."

386
00:30:44,843 --> 00:30:47,345
Which, you know, is a pretty...
pretty remarkable decision.

387
00:31:11,370 --> 00:31:13,914
[Brownworth]
The emperor sees the Turks streaming in.

388
00:31:13,997 --> 00:31:16,410
He knew he was going to die.

389
00:31:16,124 --> 00:31:18,960
He faced odds
that none of us will ever face

390
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:23,507
and instead,
he said to his enemies, "No!"

391
00:31:31,389 --> 00:31:32,766
And the answer he gives

392
00:31:32,849 --> 00:31:37,270
is an answer the Spartans gave
at the Pass of Thermopylae with Leonidas.

393
00:31:37,354 --> 00:31:40,774
"I would rather die on my feet
than live on my knees."

394
00:31:42,567 --> 00:31:45,153
And he plunges
into where the battle is thickest...

395
00:31:47,864 --> 00:31:48,949
and is never seen again.

396
00:32:06,216 --> 00:32:07,634
[man] Hurry up!

397
00:32:18,145 --> 00:32:19,771
[Giustiniani groaning]

398
00:32:29,114 --> 00:32:32,742
If Giustiniani had somehow
magically disappeared from the scene

399
00:32:32,826 --> 00:32:34,452
the night before the last battle,

400
00:32:34,536 --> 00:32:37,706
he would absolutely be remembered
as a real hero.

401
00:32:37,789 --> 00:32:38,832
[groans]

402
00:32:39,124 --> 00:32:41,376
[Genoese soldier]
The city belongs to the Turks.

403
00:32:43,587 --> 00:32:46,381
If you leave now,
you can get through the blockade.

404
00:32:52,387 --> 00:32:55,980
-Come on. Come on.
-[sobbing]

405
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:03,481
Let's go.

406
00:33:07,569 --> 00:33:13,491
Unfortunately, after displaying
such incredible fortitude and bravery,

407
00:33:13,575 --> 00:33:14,743
he flees.

408
00:33:14,826 --> 00:33:16,536
[Genoese soldier] Raise the sails!

409
00:33:16,870 --> 00:33:18,455
And then eventually dies.

410
00:33:18,538 --> 00:33:20,540
[Constantinople citizens scream]

411
00:33:30,550 --> 00:33:35,931
[narrator] The feared Venetian fleet
bound for Constantinople never arrives.

412
00:33:36,556 --> 00:33:40,143
The Venetians waited and waited...
[chuckles] and waited.

413
00:33:40,227 --> 00:33:44,773
They finally put an armada together
to send to Constantinople,

414
00:33:45,482 --> 00:33:47,525
but it sailed too late.

415
00:33:47,609 --> 00:33:52,822
It only reached the Aegean
after the fall of Constantinople.

416
00:33:52,906 --> 00:33:55,784
Crusades were a thing of the past.

417
00:34:13,969 --> 00:34:16,554
[narrator] On May the 29th, 1453,

418
00:34:16,638 --> 00:34:20,600
Sultan Mehmed II
enters Constantinople.

419
00:34:23,645 --> 00:34:28,900
He's 21 years old
and proclaims himself "Kayser i-Rum,"

420
00:34:28,984 --> 00:34:31,611
the new "Caesar of Rome."

421
00:34:34,656 --> 00:34:37,742
But the Ottomans will forever know him
as "Fatih,"

422
00:34:38,368 --> 00:34:39,536
the Conqueror.

423
00:34:51,214 --> 00:34:54,926
He had done something
that many people

424
00:34:55,100 --> 00:35:00,599
for the last... 1700 years tried
and failed.

425
00:35:01,433 --> 00:35:06,396
He put an end to the Roman Empire
and he did it when he was only 21.

426
00:35:25,582 --> 00:35:30,837
[narrator] With Constantine's defeat,
Constantinople becomes Istanbul,

427
00:35:31,796 --> 00:35:34,341
the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

428
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,762
Mehmed takes the city,
goes directly to the Hagia Sophia.

429
00:35:39,596 --> 00:35:42,932
It's the biggest building
in all of Europe.

430
00:36:00,408 --> 00:36:02,452
[birds chirping]

431
00:36:09,542 --> 00:36:13,713
[Papademetriou] He's even described
as walking through the building,

432
00:36:13,797 --> 00:36:18,343
walking on top of the domes
in order to survey the beauty.

433
00:36:20,530 --> 00:36:24,766
And he describes it in these ideas
that now he is in the realm of heaven.

434
00:36:26,590 --> 00:36:30,730
It's not just a symbolic thing,
for him it's a mystical and a...

435
00:36:30,814 --> 00:36:35,443
it's, uh, fulfilling
what was the tradition of the hadith

436
00:36:35,527 --> 00:36:39,906
that the one who takes Constantinople
will be truly blessed.

437
00:37:17,610 --> 00:37:20,238
Sultan, we've found the grand duke.

438
00:37:20,738 --> 00:37:21,781
And the emperor?

439
00:37:21,865 --> 00:37:22,866
Not yet.

440
00:37:46,347 --> 00:37:47,307
[Zaganos] Bring him in.

441
00:37:54,105 --> 00:37:54,981
Enough.

442
00:38:00,361 --> 00:38:01,821
Salutations, Sultan.

443
00:38:03,310 --> 00:38:05,366
I'm Loukas Notaras, the grand duke

444
00:38:05,450 --> 00:38:07,911
and supreme commander
of the military forces.

445
00:38:08,995 --> 00:38:12,832
Your highest majesty,
I am here to offer you my services.

446
00:38:14,793 --> 00:38:17,670
And in honor of your victory,
I have brought a gift.

447
00:38:36,272 --> 00:38:38,399
Why didn't you give these riches
to your emperor

448
00:38:38,483 --> 00:38:39,692
when he so clearly needed it?

449
00:38:39,776 --> 00:38:41,569
-Lord, I--
-What kind of scoundrel are you?

450
00:38:41,653 --> 00:38:44,197
Hoarding your wealth while women
and children starve around you.

451
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:45,657
Sultan, you misunderstand me.

452
00:38:45,740 --> 00:38:48,952
I... misunderstand?

453
00:38:50,286 --> 00:38:52,789
Please, my intentions are honorable.

454
00:38:54,820 --> 00:38:55,792
Ask your vizier, Halil Pasha.

455
00:38:55,875 --> 00:38:56,751
Candarli Halil?

456
00:38:56,834 --> 00:38:59,870
Yes, I worked with him
to bring the siege to a quick end,

457
00:38:59,170 --> 00:39:01,297
in the hopes of avoiding the bloodshed.

458
00:39:01,381 --> 00:39:03,758
If you could call him here,
he would testify so.

459
00:39:07,845 --> 00:39:10,932
Take this half-breed dog away.
He'll look better without his head.

460
00:39:11,150 --> 00:39:12,892
[Loukas] No, please! Sultan!

461
00:39:12,976 --> 00:39:14,686
Please no! No!

462
00:39:15,144 --> 00:39:17,897
No, mercy! Mercy!

463
00:39:46,551 --> 00:39:48,110
Congratulations, Sultan.

464
00:39:49,596 --> 00:39:51,514
You have won a great victory.

465
00:39:52,557 --> 00:39:53,474
Thank you...

466
00:39:54,809 --> 00:39:55,852
my teacher.

467
00:39:58,521 --> 00:40:00,648
What will you do with your new jewel?

468
00:40:02,317 --> 00:40:04,944
I will build the capital
of my empire here.

469
00:40:06,404 --> 00:40:07,614
The new Rome.

470
00:40:08,615 --> 00:40:09,949
It will be splendid.

471
00:40:10,491 --> 00:40:11,409
Yes.

472
00:40:16,789 --> 00:40:20,877
Teacher, when my father came back

473
00:40:21,669 --> 00:40:23,171
and took the throne from me,

474
00:40:25,381 --> 00:40:27,175
do you remember what you said?

475
00:40:29,218 --> 00:40:32,430
You said, "When it's truly your time,

476
00:40:34,265 --> 00:40:36,601
you'll take your rightful place
on the throne

477
00:40:39,437 --> 00:40:42,106
and throw aside
the trappings of the past."

478
00:40:48,738 --> 00:40:50,698
And now you are your own man.

479
00:40:52,750 --> 00:40:53,701
Why didn't you believe in me?

480
00:40:53,785 --> 00:40:55,411
I gave all I could,

481
00:40:56,829 --> 00:40:58,414
so you would succeed.

482
00:41:02,710 --> 00:41:05,400
Now I go into exile, willingly.

483
00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:06,255
Not exile.

484
00:41:08,508 --> 00:41:13,388
Grand Vizier, reunite Candarli Halil
with his dear friend, Loukas Notaras.

485
00:41:15,264 --> 00:41:16,516
Gladly.

486
00:41:18,726 --> 00:41:21,813
Everything I have done, Sultan,
has been done to serve you.

487
00:41:24,357 --> 00:41:28,361
Please remember that
when you grow old, if you grow old.

488
00:41:30,290 --> 00:41:32,156
Thank you for all your lessons, teacher.

489
00:41:33,408 --> 00:41:34,867
They will be remembered.

490
00:41:52,343 --> 00:41:54,887
Everybody calls it
the fall of Constantinople.

491
00:41:54,971 --> 00:41:57,140
It wasn't a fall. Nothing fell.

492
00:41:57,980 --> 00:41:58,766
It was a conquest.

493
00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:02,562
[Gürkan] The conquest of Constantinople

494
00:42:02,645 --> 00:42:07,525
can be regarded as the first major victory
of cannons against cities.

495
00:42:07,608 --> 00:42:10,528
It was one big event
that showed the world

496
00:42:10,611 --> 00:42:12,739
how effective cannons can be
against walls,

497
00:42:12,822 --> 00:42:15,533
so it was the declaration
that the walls are obsolete.

498
00:42:19,245 --> 00:42:21,748
There are a few people
in world history

499
00:42:21,831 --> 00:42:24,834
who get to call themselves
world conquerors.

500
00:42:24,917 --> 00:42:26,586
Mehmed the Conqueror,

501
00:42:27,545 --> 00:42:30,256
in many senses,
changed the nature of world history.

502
00:42:31,340 --> 00:42:36,530
This great empire that will go on
to dominate a third of Europe,

503
00:42:36,596 --> 00:42:40,141
most of North Africa,
the whole of the Middle East,

504
00:42:40,224 --> 00:42:42,180
going towards the Persian Gulf

505
00:42:42,101 --> 00:42:44,645
and even at certain points
towards South-East Asia.

506
00:42:47,315 --> 00:42:53,112
It's the time when this state turns around
from being just one random principality

507
00:42:53,196 --> 00:42:55,448
on the borders
between Christendom and Islam,

508
00:42:55,531 --> 00:42:59,619
to being the dominant force
in world politics for 300 years.

509
00:43:00,328 --> 00:43:03,810
[Mara] My son, the Red Apple is yours.

510
00:43:04,540 --> 00:43:06,709
It is the prize of your new empire.

511
00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:15,920
And so...

512
00:43:16,803 --> 00:43:17,929
we begin.

513
00:43:23,142 --> 00:43:25,610
[dramatic music plays]