1
00:00:17,559 --> 00:00:20,937
[narrator] Hours before Mehmed
launches his final assault,

2
00:00:21,021 --> 00:00:23,815
an ominous sight shakes both sides.

3
00:00:34,617 --> 00:00:36,369
[Notaras] Why has God forsaken us?

4
00:00:37,495 --> 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
00:00:45,253 --> 00:00:47,672
Unless they arrive tomorrow,
they do us no good.

8
00:00:50,633 --> 00:00:55,388
[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 --> 00:01:02,979
I think everyone involved
was hoping against hope.

11
00:01:03,063 --> 00:01:07,317
I think you just naturally want the hope
that, uh, deliverance will come.

12
00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,527
The West can't forget about us.

13
00:01:09,611 --> 00:01:14,824
They know that Venice has voted
to send help in the form of their navy,

14
00:01:14,908 --> 00:01:16,034
as well as soldiers.

15
00:01:16,117 --> 00:01:18,119
And so the relief fleet is on their way.

16
00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,290
Every day, they get up there
and they look for it,

17
00:01:22,373 --> 00:01:25,085
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
00:01:27,962 --> 00:01:31,257
We can hold off the Turks, Emperor,
I swear to you.

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

21
00:01:35,011 --> 00:01:36,429
The walls will hold, Lord.

22
00:01:36,971 --> 00:01:40,266
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
00:01:45,563 --> 00:01:47,690
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
00:01:51,152 --> 00:01:52,946
I have some good friends in Galata.

27
00:01:53,404 --> 00:01:58,535
They offered me to get us...
you and your court out of the city.

28
00:01:59,285 --> 00:02:01,287
Leave the city? Now?

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

30
00:02:02,747 --> 00:02:04,415
You will abandon the fight?

31
00:02:05,083 --> 00:02:07,836
There's no honor in suicide.
The Turks will have our heads.

32
00:02:07,919 --> 00:02:10,004
I will have yours now, coward!

33
00:02:10,088 --> 00:02:11,131
[Sphrantzes] Hey,.

34
00:02:13,007 --> 00:02:17,762
Lord Loukas, you would leave your emperor
and countrymen at such a moment as this?

35
00:02:17,846 --> 00:02:20,640
I'm, of course, only concerned
for the emperor's safety.

36
00:02:22,100 --> 00:02:24,352
If this has to be the end
of the Roman Empire,

37
00:02:25,478 --> 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
00:02:35,321 --> 00:02:36,698
[cheering]

41
00:02:39,742 --> 00:02:42,829
Then let us write our own history
in these fateful hours!

42
00:02:42,912 --> 00:02:45,415
[cheering]

43
00:02:49,544 --> 00:02:51,921
[narrator] Every empire has a beginning.

44
00:02:52,005 --> 00:02:56,134
Forged of blood, steel,
fortune and conquest.

45
00:02:56,217 --> 00:03:00,555
In 1453, Roman Emperor Constantine XI

46
00:03:00,638 --> 00:03:03,099
and Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II,

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

48
00:03:06,769 --> 00:03:10,023
Twenty-three armies have tried
to take the legendary city,

49
00:03:10,106 --> 00:03:11,441
all have failed.

50
00:03:11,816 --> 00:03:15,028
Out of the carnage,
one ruler will emerge victorious

51
00:03:15,111 --> 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
00:03:22,660 --> 00:03:24,329
another must fall.

54
00:03:32,045 --> 00:03:35,006
[Giustiniani] The Turks will concentrate
their attacks on the land walls.

55
00:03:35,089 --> 00:03:38,968
The gate of St. Romanus
will be their primary target.

56
00:03:39,052 --> 00:03:41,512
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 --> 00:03:49,020
We must defend with all we have, there.

59
00:03:50,063 --> 00:03:52,690
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
00:03:56,527 --> 00:04:00,073
We can leave the old and the clergy
to defend the seaside walls.

62
00:04:00,990 --> 00:04:04,369
Lord Loukas,
knowing the Turks will come here,

63
00:04:05,036 --> 00:04:08,414
I will immediately need your cannons
moved to the gate of St. Romanus.

64
00:04:08,498 --> 00:04:10,083
That's out of the question.

65
00:04:10,500 --> 00:04:13,169
I need them to defend the walls
along the Golden Horn.

66
00:04:13,253 --> 00:04:15,129
You've seen their ships waiting to attack.

67
00:04:15,213 --> 00:04:17,173
They will not come from the Horn.

68
00:04:17,590 --> 00:04:18,758
It's too great a risk.

69
00:04:18,841 --> 00:04:20,551
They will storm this gate.

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

71
00:04:22,845 --> 00:04:23,846
Lord Giustiniani,

72
00:04:23,930 --> 00:04:27,058
I'm sure you will find a way
to defeat them without my cannons.

73
00:04:28,309 --> 00:04:30,186
You are the military genius,

74
00:04:31,562 --> 00:04:32,563
aren't you?

75
00:04:35,858 --> 00:04:37,860
It's not a request.

76
00:04:38,444 --> 00:04:42,907
[scoffs] I don't take orders
from the Catholic pirates.

77
00:04:43,866 --> 00:04:44,742
[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
00:04:49,580 --> 00:04:53,876
-One more won't make a difference to me.
-Enough!

81
00:04:54,919 --> 00:04:57,380
There is no time
for this petty bickering.

82
00:04:57,463 --> 00:04:58,881
[cannon fire in distance]

83
00:05:00,925 --> 00:05:04,929
You will get your cannons,
Lord Giustiniani, but end this now.

84
00:05:09,225 --> 00:05:12,186
We will settle this
after the Turks are gone.

85
00:05:15,023 --> 00:05:17,400
[Lars Brownworth] Humans have
this endless capacity to bicker.

86
00:05:17,483 --> 00:05:19,235
Even when extinction is threatening.

87
00:05:20,069 --> 00:05:23,865
Constantine has to kind of
console Giustiniani and Notaras

88
00:05:23,948 --> 00:05:27,785
and kind of wake them up to, you know,
we have a bigger problem here.

89
00:05:29,370 --> 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
00:05:33,499 --> 00:05:35,209
[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
00:05:38,796 --> 00:05:41,674
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 --> 00:05:48,097
We scanned the seas from dusk till dawn,

96
00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:51,059
but saw no ships.

97
00:05:57,398 --> 00:06:00,401
[narrator] The grim news means
the Venetian fleet's arrival

98
00:06:00,485 --> 00:06:02,278
is at least a week away.

99
00:06:02,987 --> 00:06:05,114
The Romans are on their own.

100
00:06:06,699 --> 00:06:08,034
Thank you, Captain.

101
00:06:34,060 --> 00:06:36,354
[John Goodwin]
Constantine couldn't surrender.

102
00:06:36,437 --> 00:06:41,109
He couldn't give up
because he bore on his shoulders

103
00:06:41,192 --> 00:06:44,445
more than his own personal dignity

104
00:06:44,529 --> 00:06:47,698
and his hopes, uh, for himself
and for his family.

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

106
00:06:49,742 --> 00:06:53,579
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
00:07:00,628 --> 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
00:07:07,635 --> 00:07:13,766
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 --> 00:07:27,071
[Brownworth] Constantine, he says,
"These are my people

113
00:07:27,155 --> 00:07:30,491
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
00:07:51,929 --> 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
00:07:59,020 --> 00:08:02,899
Mehmed realized
that it was now or never.

119
00:08:05,735 --> 00:08:07,778
[cheering]

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

121
00:08:46,484 --> 00:08:48,069
[narrator] Mehmed orders his cannons

122
00:08:48,152 --> 00:08:51,697
to intensify their barrage
on the weakened walls.

123
00:08:55,576 --> 00:08:57,203
[screaming]

124
00:08:58,871 --> 00:09:02,500
There is a Genoese ship
readying to depart from the Golden Horn.

125
00:09:02,583 --> 00:09:04,961
Take who you can, go to Chios.

126
00:09:05,044 --> 00:09:06,671
No. No, I won't leave you!

127
00:09:06,754 --> 00:09:08,839
If you care for me, you will.

128
00:09:09,382 --> 00:09:11,717
It will give me strength
to know you are safe.

129
00:09:14,011 --> 00:09:17,473
Promise me... promise me
you'll join me in Chios.

130
00:09:31,612 --> 00:09:32,613
Now go.

131
00:09:45,334 --> 00:09:47,795
[cannon fire]

132
00:09:57,680 --> 00:09:59,348
I think we're due a pay rise, lads.

133
00:09:59,432 --> 00:10:01,100
[laughs]

134
00:10:02,768 --> 00:10:04,353
Let's send the bastards to hell.

135
00:10:04,437 --> 00:10:05,521
[soldiers] To hell!

136
00:10:05,605 --> 00:10:06,939
To hell!

137
00:10:07,023 --> 00:10:08,316
To hell!

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

139
00:10:15,072 --> 00:10:18,242
take up a position
between the inner and outer walls

140
00:10:18,326 --> 00:10:19,952
at the St. Romanus gate,

141
00:10:20,494 --> 00:10:23,831
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
00:10:27,376 --> 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 --> 00:10:43,559
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
00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,654
as did many of your fathers
who fought alongside him.

148
00:10:57,239 --> 00:11:00,201
Tonight, we will avenge them.

149
00:11:01,535 --> 00:11:02,912
Allah has willed it.

150
00:11:04,872 --> 00:11:10,086
The Prophet said,
"You shall conquer Constantinople.

151
00:11:10,586 --> 00:11:12,963
What a wonderful leader
will her leader be.

152
00:11:14,090 --> 00:11:16,509
And what a wonderful army
will that army be."

153
00:11:17,802 --> 00:11:20,012
Let us now fulfill our destiny.

154
00:11:20,096 --> 00:11:22,348
[cheering]

155
00:11:31,732 --> 00:11:35,653
Then, we will use our hands and minds

156
00:11:35,736 --> 00:11:38,030
to forge a new age from the ashes.

157
00:11:39,615 --> 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 --> 00:11:45,079
Allahu Akbar!

160
00:11:45,162 --> 00:11:46,455
Allahu Akbar!

161
00:11:46,997 --> 00:11:48,416
Allahu Akbar!

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

163
00:11:50,042 --> 00:11:51,210
Allahu Akbar!

164
00:11:51,627 --> 00:11:54,922
[Dr. Talbot] Mehmed, he really knows
what to do and when to do it.

165
00:11:55,005 --> 00:11:57,133
So, you'll conquer
and you'll get these riches.

166
00:11:57,216 --> 00:12:00,636
But also appealing to the religious side
of these soldiers too.

167
00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,013
God is with us
and he'll help us to conquer.

168
00:12:03,097 --> 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
00:12:08,894 --> 00:12:11,105
[cheering]

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

172
00:12:20,239 --> 00:12:22,074
the emperor readies his men.

173
00:12:22,950 --> 00:12:25,786
The battle will decide
the fate of the city.

174
00:12:26,996 --> 00:12:27,913
Men!

175
00:12:30,624 --> 00:12:32,877
You know what awaits you
outside those walls.

176
00:12:35,921 --> 00:12:37,047
Be not afraid.

177
00:12:38,966 --> 00:12:42,303
We are privileged to defend this city

178
00:12:42,386 --> 00:12:45,222
that Constantine the Great
built from dust.

179
00:12:46,599 --> 00:12:50,227
We are the protectors
that have kept the scourge of Islam

180
00:12:50,311 --> 00:12:52,813
from Europe for a thousand years.

181
00:12:54,815 --> 00:12:56,692
If the great empire of Rome...

182
00:12:58,277 --> 00:12:59,403
must end tonight,

183
00:13:00,738 --> 00:13:02,114
let it not go easily.

184
00:13:03,449 --> 00:13:09,955
Sharpen your swords and steel your souls,
for we fight as brothers, as Romans!

185
00:13:10,039 --> 00:13:11,999
[cheering]

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

187
00:13:18,547 --> 00:13:19,673
Justinian,

188
00:13:20,132 --> 00:13:21,383
Constantine...

189
00:13:22,259 --> 00:13:24,053
they will be watching!

190
00:13:24,136 --> 00:13:25,763
[cheering]

191
00:13:35,439 --> 00:13:39,485
There's this wonderful speech that
Constantine gives right before the battle

192
00:13:39,568 --> 00:13:41,946
where he's addressing
both the Italians and the Byzantines

193
00:13:42,029 --> 00:13:44,365
and he reminds the Byzantines
in particular,

194
00:13:44,448 --> 00:13:45,950
of who their ancestors were:

195
00:13:46,033 --> 00:13:47,785
the great heroes of the Roman past.

196
00:13:47,868 --> 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
00:13:54,583 --> 00:13:57,461
he was up to the task
when it finally came to it,

199
00:13:57,545 --> 00:14:00,422
he was willing to die
for a cause that he believed in.

200
00:14:00,506 --> 00:14:02,174
[cheering]

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

202
00:14:19,900 --> 00:14:21,902
[cheering]

203
00:14:39,461 --> 00:14:40,754
Sound the alarm bells.

204
00:14:41,338 --> 00:14:43,799
[bells tolling]

205
00:14:59,523 --> 00:15:00,941
Send the Bashi-Bazouks.

206
00:15:01,525 --> 00:15:02,943
Send the Bashi-Bazouks.

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

208
00:15:06,530 --> 00:15:07,740
Attack!

209
00:15:09,533 --> 00:15:13,120
[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
00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:21,462
[shouting]

212
00:15:27,092 --> 00:15:29,720
[Crowley] Before dawn,
they attack in waves

213
00:15:29,803 --> 00:15:32,473
and he sends his most
disposable troops in first.

214
00:15:33,182 --> 00:15:34,850
And these are the cannon fodder.

215
00:15:41,690 --> 00:15:43,192
Get ready, boys.

216
00:15:43,275 --> 00:15:44,276
Draw!

217
00:15:45,152 --> 00:15:46,445
Aim!

218
00:15:47,196 --> 00:15:48,155
Release!

219
00:15:53,118 --> 00:15:54,078
Release!

220
00:15:57,706 --> 00:15:58,832
Release!

221
00:16:07,174 --> 00:16:08,759
[shouting]

222
00:16:23,065 --> 00:16:25,776
[Dr. Philippedes]
You had the first wave of the expendables

223
00:16:25,859 --> 00:16:28,112
and that lasted
a couple of hours, actually.

224
00:16:28,654 --> 00:16:30,739
The defenders were tired after that,

225
00:16:31,365 --> 00:16:35,035
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 --> 00:16:50,634
Send the Regulars.

228
00:16:55,514 --> 00:16:57,599
[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
00:17:05,941 --> 00:17:08,527
The use of mercenaries
or foreign experts

232
00:17:08,610 --> 00:17:10,779
is something that's often forgotten
in the siege

233
00:17:10,863 --> 00:17:14,533
when it's seen as simply a clash
between Christian and Muslim.

234
00:17:14,616 --> 00:17:18,120
There were guys from both faiths
and from all over the world

235
00:17:18,454 --> 00:17:20,789
helping each other out
for the highest price.

236
00:17:22,416 --> 00:17:23,250
Aim!

237
00:17:28,547 --> 00:17:29,381
Release!

238
00:17:36,597 --> 00:17:37,973
Aim!

239
00:17:41,643 --> 00:17:42,978
Forward charge!

240
00:17:44,813 --> 00:17:45,647
Release!

241
00:17:54,239 --> 00:17:55,240
[shouting]

242
00:17:57,534 --> 00:17:58,994
Fire the bombards.

243
00:18:06,168 --> 00:18:08,670
[narrator] Giustiniani converts
the small cannons

244
00:18:08,754 --> 00:18:10,297
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 --> 00:18:29,733
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
00:18:41,286 --> 00:18:43,372
[men grunting]

249
00:18:57,344 --> 00:18:58,554
[distant screaming]

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

251
00:19:07,354 --> 00:19:08,605
[groaning]

252
00:19:09,982 --> 00:19:12,359
The Turks are no match
for Giustiniani, my lord.

253
00:19:13,694 --> 00:19:14,778
There is still hope.

254
00:19:15,195 --> 00:19:16,905
Ahh!

255
00:19:21,451 --> 00:19:22,661
Ahh!

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

257
00:19:29,793 --> 00:19:32,212
[grunting]

258
00:19:32,963 --> 00:19:35,382
[narrator] Mehmed sends
wave after wave of troops,

259
00:19:35,465 --> 00:19:37,801
but after four hours of fighting,

260
00:19:37,885 --> 00:19:40,762
the battle shifts in the defenders favor

261
00:19:40,846 --> 00:19:43,932
and the Ottomans are unable
to breach the walls.

262
00:19:44,558 --> 00:19:46,393
Sultan, we must retreat and regroup.

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

264
00:19:48,353 --> 00:19:50,772
-You can see, we are losing the battle.
-We attack again.

265
00:19:50,856 --> 00:19:52,107
We only have the Janissaries.

266
00:19:52,191 --> 00:19:53,400
Then send them!

267
00:19:53,483 --> 00:19:55,360
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
00:19:59,406 --> 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 --> 00:20:13,003
[narrator] The first two waves
of Mehmed's attack

273
00:20:13,086 --> 00:20:15,422
failed to break the city's defenses.

274
00:20:16,089 --> 00:20:21,178
The legendary Janissaries are his last
and only hope for taking Constantinople.

275
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:24,973
Mighty Janissaries!

276
00:20:26,350 --> 00:20:30,062
You have fearlessly protected the empire
for a hundred years,

277
00:20:30,646 --> 00:20:33,857
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
00:20:40,030 --> 00:20:41,573
[cheering]

280
00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:47,829
Let us take the Apple!

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

282
00:20:54,461 --> 00:20:56,880
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
00:21:42,592 --> 00:21:45,220
[breathing heavily]

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

287
00:22:08,660 --> 00:22:09,870
[gasps]

288
00:22:09,953 --> 00:22:11,747
[grunting]

289
00:22:14,374 --> 00:22:15,417
Sultan!

290
00:22:22,049 --> 00:22:24,634
[grunting]

291
00:22:47,407 --> 00:22:49,117
[men cheering]

292
00:22:50,285 --> 00:22:52,371
[narrator] The momentum shifts once again

293
00:22:52,454 --> 00:22:57,417
as the Janissaries continue their push
towards the St. Romanus gate.

294
00:22:58,043 --> 00:23:01,004
[Brownworth] The Janissaries
were the most feared element

295
00:23:01,088 --> 00:23:02,297
of the Ottoman army.

296
00:23:05,509 --> 00:23:07,052
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 --> 00:23:18,313
And they're yelling.

300
00:23:18,397 --> 00:23:20,315
They have these colorful uniforms.

301
00:23:20,399 --> 00:23:21,983
The drums are beating.

302
00:23:22,067 --> 00:23:24,945
It... it must have been
absolutely terrifying.

303
00:23:25,987 --> 00:23:28,448
[narrator] The relentless advance
of the Janissaries

304
00:23:28,532 --> 00:23:32,994
begins to weaken the desperate defense
put up by Giustiniani and his men.

305
00:23:33,578 --> 00:23:34,704
[Giustiniani] Retreat!

306
00:23:35,288 --> 00:23:36,540
Retreat!

307
00:23:37,332 --> 00:23:39,876
[narrator] Forcing him to order
a tactical retreat

308
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:41,711
into the safety of the walls.

309
00:23:43,338 --> 00:23:44,673
[Therma] Go! Go on!

310
00:23:44,756 --> 00:23:47,008
-Come on! Go!
-[screaming]

311
00:23:47,092 --> 00:23:50,053
[narrator] Inside the city,
panic engulfs its citizens

312
00:23:50,137 --> 00:23:53,014
as the Janissaries close in
on the St. Romanus gate.

313
00:24:12,701 --> 00:24:14,744
Retreat! Retreat!

314
00:24:17,664 --> 00:24:20,750
-Get them in here and close gate. Now!
-Yes, sir!

315
00:24:21,376 --> 00:24:23,920
Retreat! Retreat!

316
00:24:30,260 --> 00:24:31,678
Go, go, go!

317
00:24:39,478 --> 00:24:42,063
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
00:24:45,233 --> 00:24:46,485
Close it!

320
00:24:46,568 --> 00:24:48,528
[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
00:25:23,021 --> 00:25:24,272
[gasps]

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

326
00:25:38,370 --> 00:25:39,579
[groans]

327
00:25:47,712 --> 00:25:48,922
[gasps]

328
00:25:51,424 --> 00:25:52,342
[grunts]

329
00:25:54,678 --> 00:25:56,012
[groans]

330
00:26:08,275 --> 00:26:10,318
[groaning]

331
00:26:22,205 --> 00:26:23,582
[panting]

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

333
00:26:40,140 --> 00:26:42,934
We have to get him to the surgeon
or he won't make it!

334
00:26:46,271 --> 00:26:47,355
[groans]

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

336
00:27:01,786 --> 00:27:03,830
Let's go men, let's go!

337
00:27:04,331 --> 00:27:05,832
Clear the path.

338
00:27:09,210 --> 00:27:12,297
-[Constantine] Where are you taking him?
-He's hurt. He needs to see the surgeon.

339
00:27:12,380 --> 00:27:14,883
He can't leave!
These men will abandon the fight!

340
00:27:15,300 --> 00:27:16,384
I am sorry.

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

342
00:27:19,721 --> 00:27:20,930
The city will fall.

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

344
00:27:28,813 --> 00:27:30,106
Save yourself.

345
00:27:50,168 --> 00:27:52,253
[Gürkan]
Giovanni Giustiniani fought very well.

346
00:27:52,337 --> 00:27:55,590
He fought valiantly until when he didn't.

347
00:27:55,674 --> 00:27:59,177
Uh, the last day of the siege he was...
I have to do justice to him.

348
00:27:59,260 --> 00:28:01,471
He fought very bravely,
but then he ran away

349
00:28:01,554 --> 00:28:04,182
because he was already shot
and he realized everything was gone.

350
00:28:05,934 --> 00:28:07,977
The city was doomed,
everyone knew it.

351
00:28:08,061 --> 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
00:28:17,028 --> 00:28:20,448
His morale is shot
and this is the moment really,

354
00:28:20,532 --> 00:28:23,159
when they see Giustiniani leaving,

355
00:28:23,243 --> 00:28:26,871
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
00:28:40,468 --> 00:28:42,011
[Baltaoglu] We got them!

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

360
00:29:00,196 --> 00:29:03,742
[Genoese soldier] Retreat!
The commander has left the battle!

361
00:29:03,825 --> 00:29:05,201
Retreat! Retreat!

362
00:29:05,618 --> 00:29:08,621
[narrator] After two months of pounding
by Mehmed's cannons,

363
00:29:08,705 --> 00:29:11,374
much of the outer wall
has been reduced to rubble.

364
00:29:11,916 --> 00:29:13,710
The defenders are overwhelmed

365
00:29:13,793 --> 00:29:17,672
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 --> 00:29:35,982
Our beloved city is lost.

368
00:29:39,068 --> 00:29:42,030
Now make haste, go to the Marmara walls
while there's time.

369
00:29:42,113 --> 00:29:43,114
No, Majesty.

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

371
00:29:45,658 --> 00:29:47,702
We can still escape if we leave now.

372
00:29:48,995 --> 00:29:50,538
I am going to God, my friend.

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

374
00:29:56,544 --> 00:29:57,545
Save yourself.

375
00:29:59,047 --> 00:30:01,674
-You think I would leave your side?
-I'm ordering you to leave!

376
00:30:04,719 --> 00:30:10,892
Tell the world how valiantly
we Romans fought here tonight.

377
00:30:13,895 --> 00:30:15,021
[in Latin] Morior invictus.

378
00:30:20,568 --> 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
00:30:27,033 --> 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
00:30:33,748 --> 00:30:36,292
and Constantine probably could have,

383
00:30:36,584 --> 00:30:41,005
but he turns Sphrantzes down
and he says, "No, these are my people.

384
00:30:41,089 --> 00:30:42,882
I'm not gonna leave them to die alone.

385
00:30:42,966 --> 00:30:44,759
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
00:31:11,369 --> 00:31:13,913
[Brownworth]
The emperor sees the Turks streaming in.

388
00:31:13,997 --> 00:31:16,040
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
00:31:19,043 --> 00:31:23,506
and instead,
he said to his enemies, "No!"

391
00:31:31,389 --> 00:31:32,765
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
00:31:37,353 --> 00:31:40,773
"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 --> 00:31:48,948
and is never seen again.

396
00:32:06,215 --> 00:32:07,634
[man] Hurry up!

397
00:32:18,144 --> 00:32:19,771
[Giustiniani groaning]

398
00:32:29,113 --> 00:32:32,742
If Giustiniani had somehow
magically disappeared from the scene

399
00:32:32,825 --> 00:32:34,452
the night before the last battle,

400
00:32:34,535 --> 00:32:37,705
he would absolutely be remembered
as a real hero.

401
00:32:37,789 --> 00:32:38,831
[groans]

402
00:32:39,123 --> 00:32:41,376
[Genoese soldier]
The city belongs to the Turks.

403
00:32:43,586 --> 00:32:46,381
If you leave now,
you can get through the blockade.

404
00:32:52,387 --> 00:32:55,098
-Come on. Come on.
-[sobbing]

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

406
00:33:07,568 --> 00:33:13,491
Unfortunately, after displaying
such incredible fortitude and bravery,

407
00:33:13,574 --> 00:33:14,742
he flees.

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

409
00:33:16,869 --> 00:33:18,454
And then eventually dies.

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

411
00:33:30,550 --> 00:33:35,930
[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
00:33:40,226 --> 00:33:44,772
They finally put an armada together
to send to Constantinople,

414
00:33:45,481 --> 00:33:47,525
but it sailed too late.

415
00:33:47,608 --> 00:33:52,822
It only reached the Aegean
after the fall of Constantinople.

416
00:33:52,905 --> 00:33:55,783
Crusades were a thing of the past.

417
00:34:13,968 --> 00:34:16,554
[narrator] On May the 29th, 1453,

418
00:34:16,637 --> 00:34:20,600
Sultan Mehmed II
enters Constantinople.

419
00:34:23,644 --> 00:34:28,900
He's 21 years old
and proclaims himself "Kayser i-Rum,"

420
00:34:28,983 --> 00:34:31,611
the new "Caesar of Rome."

421
00:34:34,655 --> 00:34:37,742
But the Ottomans will forever know him
as "Fatih,"

422
00:34:38,367 --> 00:34:39,535
the Conqueror.

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

424
00:34:55,009 --> 00:35:00,598
for the last... 1700 years tried
and failed.

425
00:35:01,432 --> 00:35:06,395
He put an end to the Roman Empire
and he did it when he was only 21.

426
00:35:25,581 --> 00:35:30,837
[narrator] With Constantine's defeat,
Constantinople becomes Istanbul,

427
00:35:31,796 --> 00:35:34,340
the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

428
00:35:35,007 --> 00:35:38,761
Mehmed takes the city,
goes directly to the Hagia Sophia.

429
00:35:39,595 --> 00:35:42,932
It's the biggest building
in all of Europe.

430
00:36:00,408 --> 00:36:02,451
[birds chirping]

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

432
00:36:13,796 --> 00:36:18,342
walking on top of the domes
in order to survey the beauty.

433
00:36:20,052 --> 00:36:24,765
And he describes it in these ideas
that now he is in the realm of heaven.

434
00:36:26,058 --> 00:36:30,730
It's not just a symbolic thing,
for him it's a mystical and a...

435
00:36:30,813 --> 00:36:35,443
it's, uh, fulfilling
what was the tradition of the hadith

436
00:36:35,526 --> 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
00:37:21,864 --> 00:37:22,865
Not yet.

440
00:37:46,347 --> 00:37:47,306
[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
00:38:03,030 --> 00:38:05,366
I'm Loukas Notaras, the grand duke

444
00:38:05,449 --> 00:38:07,910
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
00:38:14,792 --> 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
00:38:38,482 --> 00:38:39,692
when he so clearly needed it?

449
00:38:39,775 --> 00:38:41,569
-Lord, I--
-What kind of scoundrel are you?

450
00:38:41,652 --> 00:38:44,196
Hoarding your wealth while women
and children starve around you.

451
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:45,656
Sultan, you misunderstand me.

452
00:38:45,740 --> 00:38:48,951
I... misunderstand?

453
00:38:50,286 --> 00:38:52,788
Please, my intentions are honorable.

454
00:38:54,081 --> 00:38:55,791
Ask your vizier, Halil Pasha.

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

456
00:38:56,834 --> 00:38:59,086
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
00:39:01,380 --> 00:39:03,758
If you could call him here,
he would testify so.

459
00:39:07,845 --> 00:39:10,931
Take this half-breed dog away.
He'll look better without his head.

460
00:39:11,015 --> 00:39:12,892
[Loukas] No, please! Sultan!

461
00:39:12,975 --> 00:39:14,685
Please no! No!

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

463
00:39:46,550 --> 00:39:48,010
Congratulations, Sultan.

464
00:39:49,595 --> 00:39:51,514
You have won a great victory.

465
00:39:52,556 --> 00:39:53,474
Thank you...

466
00:39:54,809 --> 00:39:55,851
my teacher.

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

468
00:40:02,316 --> 00:40:04,944
I will build the capital
of my empire here.

469
00:40:06,404 --> 00:40:07,613
The new Rome.

470
00:40:08,614 --> 00:40:09,949
It will be splendid.

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

472
00:40:16,789 --> 00:40:20,876
Teacher, when my father came back

473
00:40:21,669 --> 00:40:23,170
and took the throne from me,

474
00:40:25,381 --> 00:40:27,174
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 --> 00:40:36,600
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
00:40:48,737 --> 00:40:50,698
And now you are your own man.

479
00:40:52,074 --> 00:40:53,701
Why didn't you believe in me?

480
00:40:53,784 --> 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 --> 00:41:05,004
Now I go into exile, willingly.

483
00:41:05,087 --> 00:41:06,255
Not exile.

484
00:41:08,507 --> 00:41:13,387
Grand Vizier, reunite Candarli Halil
with his dear friend, Loukas Notaras.

485
00:41:15,264 --> 00:41:16,515
Gladly.

486
00:41:18,726 --> 00:41:21,812
Everything I have done, Sultan,
has been done to serve you.

487
00:41:24,356 --> 00:41:28,360
Please remember that
when you grow old, if you grow old.

488
00:41:30,029 --> 00:41:32,156
Thank you for all your lessons, teacher.

489
00:41:33,407 --> 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
00:41:54,970 --> 00:41:57,014
It wasn't a fall. Nothing fell.

492
00:41:57,097 --> 00:41:58,766
It was a conquest.

493
00:42:00,559 --> 00:42:02,561
[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 --> 00:42:12,738
how effective cannons can be
against walls,

497
00:42:12,821 --> 00:42:15,533
so it was the declaration
that the walls are obsolete.

498
00:42:19,245 --> 00:42:21,747
There are a few people
in world history

499
00:42:21,830 --> 00:42:24,833
who get to call themselves
world conquerors.

500
00:42:24,917 --> 00:42:26,585
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 --> 00:42:36,053
This great empire that will go on
to dominate a third of Europe,

503
00:42:36,595 --> 00:42:40,140
most of North Africa,
the whole of the Middle East,

504
00:42:40,224 --> 00:42:42,017
going towards the Persian Gulf

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

506
00:42:47,314 --> 00:42:53,112
It's the time when this state turns around
from being just one random principality

507
00:42:53,195 --> 00:42:55,447
on the borders
between Christendom and Islam,

508
00:42:55,531 --> 00:42:59,618
to being the dominant force
in world politics for 300 years.

509
00:43:00,327 --> 00:43:03,080
[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
00:43:14,008 --> 00:43:15,092
And so...

512
00:43:16,802 --> 00:43:17,928
we begin.

513
00:43:23,142 --> 00:43:25,060
[dramatic music plays]