This is the Emperor Constantine XII's reply to the Turk Mehmet when he demanded that the citizens of The City surrender.
Posted on 05/30/2006 2:44:30 PM PDT by eleni121
As the E.U., U.N. and U.S. contrive to fund the Palestinian Authority despite declarations that they would never aid Hamas; as the Russians rush to aid Iran’s nuclear ambitions; and as America is ever more riven by furious disagreement over the prosecution of the terror war, a historical analogy is useful to put things in perspective.
On Tuesday, May 29, 1453, the armies of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II entered Constantinople, breaking through the defenses of a vastly outnumbered and indomitably courageous Byzantine force.
(Excerpt) Read more at frontpagemag.com ...
Ping your lists.
Fall of The City ping.
"The jihadists also entered the Hagia Sophia, which for nearly a thousand years had been the grandest church in Christendom. The faithful had gathered within its hallowed walls to pray during the city’s last agony. The Muslims, according to Runciman, halted the celebration of Orthros (morning prayer); the priests, according to legend, took the sacred vessels and disappeared into the cathedral’s eastern wall, through which they shall return to complete the divine service one day. Muslim men then killed the elderly and weak and led the rest off into slavery."
When I was a little boy, my grandparents told me this story as a bedtime story. Coupled with the fact that I have ancestors who died on the walls of The City right at the very side of the the Emperor Constantine XI Paleologos, the part about the priests vanishing into the wall of the apse made a great impression on me. Funny, all these years later I still hope, and believe at least to some extent, that I'll be there when those priests emerge from the wall.
Long-term objective: the restoration of Hagia Sophia for Christian worship on the 1500th anniversary of its consecration (Dec 27, 537). And not by making this a condition for admission of Turkey to the EU/Vierte Reich/Troisieme Empire.
I still hope, and believe at least to some extent, that I'll be there when those priests emerge from the wall.
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I believe it as well. The image of this is hauntingly sublime.
I remember visiting Haghia Sophia with my parents as a child and I'll never forget putting my hand inside the hoofmarks of the horses on the columns of the church. It really shook that lil kid up. I'm praying for it's return some day as well.
I am sure that they will, one day. Why doesn't the West demand that St. Sophia be returned to the Greeks? Or are we the only ones that need to surrender?
The West! We'll get absolutely nothing from "The West" except perhaps what it gave Serbia a few years back! Times have changed since Harry Truman saved Greece.
" Funnny that you mention that. My mom's from Sparta and all I ever hear is how Winston Churchill saved Greece over the idiocy of FDR."
LOL! I've heard the same thing from my people. We're from about 30 miles as the crow flies from Sparta, NW of Taegetos in Arcadia. I was in Sparta a year ago this month. Tell your mother the old place is looking pretty good these days. The road from Tripolis has been upgraded and it looks like there will be a brand new road from Megalopolis over to Sparta within 2-3 years.
And that attitude is exactly why Constantinople fell in the first place.
ping
It's an incredible experience to see Aghia Sophia.
It was for me as well.
How wonderful it would be to be able to experience a Christian liturgy again there. But you know how Muslims are---they cannot abide Christian worship among them...and even though it actually is still standing much damage has been done to the interior and restorations are going very slowly if at all these last years. Turks do not want to allow any removal of islamic phrases to be erased which might lead to the uncovering of the Christ figure on the dome. No one really knows if it's still there but only could be seen if the islamic words were erased. Needless to say this is not happening.
Hypocrites aren't they..on one hand they proclaim it a museum (Ataturk in the 1930s). OTOH nothing restorative can be done in case it would offend muslims.
I cannot believe that happened. It worked when I first posted it.
Yes, very sad indeed
The West? If you mean the Europeans, it is a wonder they haven't offered to give the Muslims St Peter's, accompanied by the plea, "Please don't hit us."
Nope, the last few Emperors weren't anti-Western, and signed on to the False Union of Florence/Ferrar in hope of getting Western aid. They got nothing by way of help. That and the Fourth Crusade are enough to make the West's taking of the Muslims' part against the Serbs seem like a renewal of old treachery.
Is it traditional for Orthodox Christians to fast on Tuesday because of fall of Holy Constantinople? I am a bit confused on this thinking it was on Monday... (Thank you in advance.)
"Is it traditional for Orthodox Christians to fast on Tuesday because of fall of Holy Constantinople? I am a bit confused on this thinking it was on Monday... (Thank you in advance.)"
We fast on Wednesdays and Fridays; actually we have about 180 fast days in a year if one wants to be strict about it. I have never heard that there is fasting to commemorate the fall of The City. Could be though somewhere.
And you are as always very welcome!
There is only one legend and that is the eternal legend found in the bravery and spiritual awesomeness of Constantine the Emperor.
Constantine's Speech before the Battle
Gentlemen, illustrious captains of the army, and our most Christian comrades in arms: we now see the hour of battle approaching. I have therefore elected to assemble you here to make it clear that you must stand together with firmer resolution than ever. You have always fought with glory against the enemies of Christ. Now the defence of your fatherland and of the city known the world over, which the infidel and evil Turks have been besieging for two and fifty days, is committed to your lofty spirits.
Be not afraid because its walls have been worn down by the enemy's battering. For your strength lies in the protection of God and you must show it with your arms quivering and your swords brandished against the enemy. I know that this undisciplined mob will, as is their custom, rush upon you with loud cries and ceaseless volleys of arrows. These will do you no bodily harm, for I see that you are well covered in armour. They will strike the walls, our breastplates and our shiellds. So do not imitate the Romans who, when the Carthaginians went into battle against them, allowed their cavalry to be terrified by the fearsome sight and sound of elephants.
In this battle you must stand firm and have no fear, no thought of flight, but be inspired to resist with ever more herculean strength. Animals may run away from animals. But you are men, men of stout heart, and you will hold at bay these dumb brutes, thrusting your spears and swords into them, so that they will know that they are fighting not against their own kind but against the masters of animals.
You are aware that the impious and infidel enemy has disturbed the peace unjustly. He has violated the oath and treaty that he made with us; he has slaughtered our farmers at harvest time; he has erected a fortress on the Propontis as it were to devour the Christians; he has encircled Galata under a pretence of peace.
Now he threatens to capture the city of Constantine the Great, your fatherland, the place of ready refuge for all Christians, the guardian of all Greeks, and to profane its holy shrines of God by turning them into stables for fits horses. Oh my lords, my brothers, my sons, the everlasting honour of Christians is in your hands.
You men of Genoa, men of courage and famous for your infinite victories, you who have always protected this city, your mother, in many a conflict with the Turks, show now your prowess and your aggressive spirit toward them with manly vigour.
You men of Venice, most valiant heroes, whose swords have many a time made Turkish blood to flow and who in our time have sent so many ships, so many infidel souls to the depths under the command of Loredano, the most excellent captain of our fleet, you who have adorned this city as if it were your own with fine, outstanding men, lift high your spirits now for battle.
You, my comrades in arms, obey the commands of your leaders in the knowledge that this is the day of your glory -- a day on which, if you shed but a drop of blood, you will win for yourselves crowns of martyrdom and eternal fame
Excellent Historical article on the causes of the defeat of Byzantinian Empire by Jihadists in 1453.
Eleni121--Sorry to Ping you on your Own Article, but since your are on my ping list, I guess it's OK -:))))
Excellent Article on what happened to Byzantium when Orthodox and Catholics failed to unite to confront Jihadists.
"When his brother, the Emperor John VIII Palaeologus (Gr. ÉùÜííçò VIII Ðáëáéïëüãïò), died, a dispute erupted between Constantine and his brother Demetrius (Gr. ÄçìÞôñéïò) over the throne. They appealed to the Ottoman sultan Murad II to arbitrate the disagreement. He chose Constantine, who was crowned in Mystra on January 6, 1449. He attempted to marry a distant cousin, the widow of Murad II, but the courtship failed. Soon afterwards, Sultan Mehmed II began agitating for ownership of Constantinople. Desperate for any type of military assistance, Constantine appealed to the West, but he was refused help unless he united the Orthodox Church with the Roman Catholic Church, which was a policy pursued by his predecessors. He declared the churches united after the Council of Florence in 1452, but the union was overwhelmingly rejected by his subjects and it dangerously estranged him from his chief minister and military commander, the Grand Duke (Gr. ÌÝãáò Äïýêáò) Lucas Notaras (Gr. ËïõêÜò ÍïôáñÜò)."
"Mehmed II offered Constantine the chance to rule in Mystra before the siege of Constantinople, but he refused, preferring to fight and die defending his Empire. His wish would come true, as he was killed while defending the walls of Constantinople on May 29, 1453 (see Fall of Constantinople). The Emperor, when realising that the end had come, discarded his purple cloak and charged into the breach. Some sources record that he was only recognized afterwards by his purple boots; others that the Turks were never able to identify his body, and so the last emperor of Rome was buried in a mass grave along with his soldiers. Some Orthodox Christians consider him a saint, but he has not been officially recognized as such. However, his bravery and last stand are seen by many Greeks as a great heroic act."
Agree about the modern neo-pagan West; disagree about the Catholic West, that went on at least three crusades to re-conquer the Levant and North Africa on the Byzantine request, prior to the ill-fated fourth one, which, of course, did nothing good.
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