Last Emperor of the Romans

 

Lest I forget, today is also the birthday of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Roman Emperor, killed defending Constantinople in 1453.

Constantine was proclaimed Emperor of the Romans in a small ceremony at Mystras on 6 January 1449. I am no expert on the man, but he seems to have been loyal and capable, and might have made a successful emperor in a less hopeless time. As it was, he inherited a bankrupt 'empire' that consisted of Constantinople and a few outlier territories. Even the Great City was a shadow of its former glory, much of it depopulated and lying in ruins.

Criticising a figure like Constantine, still regarded as a hero in Greece, is to risk making oneself seriously unpopular. However, it is not the business of historians to deal in hero-worship. For all his positive qualities, Constantine has been accused of a major blunder in trying to play off the Ottoman rulers against each other. This policy triggered a furious rant from Çandarlı Halil Pasha, the Ottoman grand vizier. Quote:

"You stupid Greeks, I have had enough of your devious ways. The late sultan was a lenient and conscientious friend to you. The present sultan is not of the same mind. If Constantine eludes his bold and impetuous grasp, it will only be because God continues to overlook your cunning and wicked schemes. You are fools to think you can frighten us with your fantasies, and that when the ink on our recent treaty is barely dry. We are not children without strength or reason. If you think you can start something, then do so. If you want to proclaim Orhan as Sultan in Thrace, go ahead. If you want to bring the Hungarians across the Danube, let them come. If you want to recover the places which you lost long since, try it. But know this: you will make no headway in any of these things. All that you will achieve is to lose what little you still have."

Ouch. Constantine and his advisers seem to have had little idea of how to deal with the Ottomans, wavering between appeasement and defiance. In fairness, they were in a dire situation, and it was only a matter of time before the city was attacked. Without substantial aid from the West, Constantinople stood no chance.

There are many accounts of Constantine's death, but he almost certainly went down fighting. One of his last recorded quotes was:

"God forbid that I should live as an Emperor without an Empire. As my city falls, I will fall with it. Whosoever wishes to escape, let him save himself if he can, and whoever is ready to face death, let him follow me."