Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Friday, 29 May 2026

The Fall of Constantinople in 1453


Today is the 573rd anniversary of the fall of Constantinople in 1453. I am told that as it was a Tuesday. to this day Greek people refuse to start a new project on that day of the week.

The always instructive website on Ancient Greek history and culture Greek Reporter has an interesting piece today which offers some new insights into the background, the events of the siege and the final assault from a new book by a US academic.

In particular he rejects the inevitablist interpretation of what happened and indicates that various other possible outcomes might have happened.

I am not a Byzantinust, and beyond reading something about the events of 1453 and being interested in their true place in wider European history, I can claim no expertise. However the arguments set out in the article seem well made and well worth considering.

The article can be read at Why Constantinople’s Fall Was Not Inevitable. 

The detailed Wikipedia biography of the last Byzantine Emperor whose body was never discovered can be seen at Constantine_XI_Palaiologos 
   
 
 
Emperor Constantine XI

A modern statue in Athens

Image: Orthodoxwiki


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