Constantine XI Paleologos, the last Emperor of the East Roman Empire, who was martyred by the forces of Sultan Mehmet during the assault on The City on May 29, 1453, was a man whose personal life was marked by tragedy, but who above all maintained steadfast his Christian faith and his dedication to his duties as the Christian Emperor.
He is venerated among Orthodox for his deep faith in Christ, his faithfulness to his people and to his duties as Emperor in the face of certain death at the hands of the Sultan’s forces. A lesser Christian and man not only could have, but would have contrived his own escape, abandoning the people to their own devices. Constantine remained faithful to Our Triune God and Jesus Christ and His Mother, the Holy Theotokos, to his duties as Emperor, and to his people, trying as best as he could to uphold and defend them.
Constantine’s heroic death and the shock of the fall of The City, combined with the fact that his place of burial remains a mystery to this day, led to the spawning of several pious legends about the sleeping Emperor, secluded by God, who would one day return to drive out the invaders and restore the Empire. Regardless of how one views these legends, they are a testimony to the enduring respect as a dedicated Christian Emperor in which Constantine is held.
On Monday, 28 May, the Greeks knew that their moment of truth was upon them. There was a weird calm from the Turkish camp. The Sultan had ordered a day of rest before the final assault.
Those in the city who could be spared from manning and patching up the battered walls took to the streets in prayer. Constantine ordered that icons and relics from churches and monasteries be carried round the walls while the church bells rang. The crowd of Greeks and Italians, Orthodox and Catholic, forgot their differences as they joined in hymns and prayers. Constantine led the procession on its solemn march.
The final speech of Constantine as related by Leonardo of Chios is the most reliable account, even though the rhetoric of it may be fanciful. It may therefore be worth giving it in full, since it was Constantine’s last public speech and can serve, as Gibbon observed, as ‘the funeral oration of the Roman Empire:
“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 shields. 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.”
Constantine’s speech gave new heart to those who heard it. When the shades of evening began to fall people moved, as if by instinct, towards the church of the Holy Wisdom. Greeks and Latins alike crowded into the great church to pray together for their deliverance.
The Emperor Constantine came to pray and to ask forgiveness and remission of his sins from every bishop present before receiving communion at the altar. The priest who gave him the sacrament cannot have known that he was administering the last rites to the last Christian Emperor of the Romans.
~Adapted from the unofficial web page of The Society of Saint John Chrysostom of Ayatriada Rum Katoliki Kilise (http://rumkatkilise.org/index.html). Excerpts taken from Donald Nichols, The Immortal Emperor
