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EMF Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd Edition Dave
Steinberg Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Dave Steinberg, Frank Budinsky, Marcelo Paternostro, Ed Merks
ISBN(s): 9780321331885, 0321331885
Edition: 2
File Details: PDF, 6.47 MB
Year: 2008
Language: english
EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework,

Second Edition

by Dave Steinberg; Frank Budinsky; Marcelo Paternostro; Ed Merks

Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

Pub Date: December 16, 2008

Print ISBN-10: 0-321-33188-5

Print ISBN-13: 978-0-321-33188-5

Pages: 744

Slots: 1.0

2 Peking University Software Engineering Insistute 2009

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

Overview
EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework
Dave Steinberg
Frank Budinsky
Marcelo Paternostro
Ed Merks

Series Editors: Erich Gamma • Lee Nackman • John Wiegand

The Authoritative Guide to EMF Modeling and Code Generation

The Eclipse Modeling Framework enables developers to rapidly construct

robust applications based on surprisingly simple models. Now, in this
thoroughly revised Second Edition, the project's developers offer expert
guidance, insight, and examples for solving real-world problems with EMF,
accelerating development processes, and improving software quality.
This edition contains more than 40% new material, plus updates throughout
to make it even more useful and practical. The authors illuminate the key
concepts and techniques of EMF modeling, analyze EMF's most important
framework classes and generator patterns, guide you through choosing
optimal designs, and introduce powerful framework customizations and
programming techniques. Coverage includes
• Defining models with Java, UML, XML Schema, and Ecore
• NEW: Using extended Ecore modeling to fully unify XML
with UML and Java
• Generating high-quality code to implement models and
editors
• Understanding and customizing generated code
• Complete documentation of @model Javadoc tags, generator
model properties, and resource save and load options
• NEW: Leveraging the latest EMF features, including extended
metadata, feature maps, EStore, cross-reference adapters, copiers, and content
types
• NEW: Chapters on change recording, validation, and utilizing
EMF in stand-alone and Eclipse RCP applications
• NEW: Modeling generics with Ecore and generating Java 5
code

3 Peking University Software Engineering Insistute 2009

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

About the Authors

Dave Steinberg is a software developer in IBM Software Group. He has
worked with Eclipse and modeling technologies since joining the company,
and has been a committer on the EMF project since its debut in 2002.
Frank Budinsky, a senior architect in IBM Software Group, is an original
coinventor of EMF and a founding member of the EMF project at Eclipse. He
is currently cochair of the Service Data Objects (SDO) specification technical
committee at OASIS and lead SDO architect for IBM.
Marcelo Paternostro is a software architect and engineer in IBM Software
Group. He is an EMF committer and has been an active contributor to several
other Eclipse projects. Before joining IBM, Marcelo managed, designed, and
implemented numerous projects using Rational's tools and processes.
Ed Merks is the project lead of EMF and a colead of the top-level Modeling
project at Eclipse. He holds a Ph.D. in Computing Science and has many years
of in-depth experience in the design and implementation of languages,
frameworks, and application development environments. Ed works as a
software consultant in partnership with itemis AG.

4 Peking University Software Engineering Insistute 2009

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

Table of Contents
Copyright
The Eclipse Series
Foreword by Richard C. Gronback
Foreword by Mike Milinkovich
Preface
Acknowledgments
References
Part I: EMF Overview
Chapter 1. Eclipse
Section 1.1. The Projects
Section 1.2. The Eclipse Platform
Section 1.3. More Information
Chapter 2. Introducing EMF
Section 2.1. Unifying Java, XML, and UML
Section 2.2. Modeling vs. Programming
Section 2.3. Defining the Model
Section 2.4. Generating Code
Section 2.5. The Runtime Framework
Section 2.6. EMF and Modeling Standards
Chapter 3. Model Editing with EMF.Edit
Section 3.1. Displaying and Editing EMF Models
Section 3.2. Item Providers
Section 3.3. Command Framework
Section 3.4. Generating EMF.Edit Code
Chapter 4. Using EMF—A Simple Overview
Section 4.1. Example Model: The Primer Purchase Order
Section 4.2. Creating EMF Models and Projects
Section 4.3. Generating Code
Section 4.4. Running the Application
Section 4.5. Continuing Development

Part II: Defining EMF Models

Chapter 5. Ecore Modeling Concepts
Section 5.1. Ecore Model Uses
Section 5.2. The Ecore Kernel
Section 5.3. Structural Features
Section 5.4. Behavioral Features
Section 5.5. Classifiers
Section 5.6. Packages and Factories
Section 5.7. Annotations
Section 5.8. Modeled Data Types
Section 5.9. Ecore and User Models

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EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

Chapter 6. UML
Section 6.1. UML Packages
Section 6.2. UML Specification for Classifiers
Section 6.3. UML Specification for Attributes
Section 6.4. UML Specification for References
Section 6.5. UML Specification for Operations
Section 6.6. Documentation
Section 6.7. Ecore Properties in Rational Rose
Chapter 7. Java Source Code
Section 7.1. Java Specification for Classes
Section 7.2. Java Specification for Enumerated Types
Section 7.3. Java Specification for Packages
Section 7.4. Java Specification for Maps
Section 7.5. Java Specification for Annotations
Chapter 8. Extended Ecore Modeling
Section 8.1. Feature Maps
Section 8.2. Modeling with Feature Maps
Chapter 9. XML Schema
Section 9.1. Schema
Section 9.2. Simple Type Definitions
Section 9.3. Complex Type Definitions
Section 9.4. Attribute Declarations
Section 9.5. Element Declarations
Section 9.6. Model Groups
Section 9.7. Wildcards
Section 9.8. Annotations
Section 9.9. Predefined Schema Simple Types
Section 9.10. EMF Extensions

Part III: Using the EMF Generator

Chapter 10. EMF Generator Patterns
Section 10.1. Modeled Classes
Section 10.2. Attributes
Section 10.3. References
Section 10.4. Feature Maps
Section 10.5. Operations
Section 10.6. Class Inheritance
Section 10.7. Reflective Methods
Section 10.8. Factories and Packages
Section 10.9. Switch Classes and Adapter Factories
Section 10.10. Alternative Generator Patterns
Section 10.11. Customizing Generated Code
Chapter 11. EMF.Edit Generator Patterns
Section 11.1. Item Providers

6 Peking University Software Engineering Insistute 2009

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

Section 11.2. Item Provider Adapter Factories

Section 11.3. Editor
Section 11.4. Action Bar Contributor
Section 11.5. Wizard
Section 11.6. Plug-Ins
Chapter 12. Running the Generators
Section 12.1. EMF Code Generation
Section 12.2. The Generator UI
Section 12.3. Generator Model Properties
Section 12.4. The Command-Line Generator Tools
Section 12.5. The Generator Ant Tasks
Section 12.6. The Template Format
Chapter 13. Example—Implementing a Model and Editor
Section 13.1. Getting Started
Section 13.2. Generating the Model
Section 13.3. Implementing Volatile Features
Section 13.4. Implementing Data Types
Section 13.5. Running the ExtendedPO2 Editor
Section 13.6. Restricting Reference Targets
Section 13.7. Splitting the Model into Multiple Packages
Section 13.8. Editing Multiple Resources Concurrently

Part IV: Programming with EMF

Chapter 14. Exploiting Metadata
Section 14.1. Packages
Section 14.2. Reflection
Section 14.3. Dynamic EMF
Section 14.4. Extended Metadata
Chapter 15. Persistence
Section 15.1. Overview of the Persistence Framework
Section 15.2. The EMF Persistence API
Section 15.3. XML Resources
Section 15.4. EMF Resource and Resource Factory Implementations
Section 15.5. Performance Considerations
Section 15.6. Custom Storage for Active Objects
Chapter 16. Client Programming Toolbox
Section 16.1. Tree Iterators and Switches
Section 16.2. Adapters
Section 16.3. Cross-Referencers
Section 16.4. Copying Objects
Section 16.5. Comparing Objects
Chapter 17. The Change Model
Section 17.1. Describing a Change
Section 17.2. Change Recording

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EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

Chapter 18. The Validation Framework

Section 18.1. Constraints and Invariants
Section 18.2. Effects on Generated Code
Section 18.3. Invoking Validation
Section 18.4. Basic EObject Constraints
Section 18.5. XML Schema Constraints
Chapter 19. EMF.Edit Programming
Section 19.1. Overriding Commands
Section 19.2. Customizing Views
Chapter 20. Outside of the Eclipse IDE
Section 20.1. Rich Client Platform
Section 20.2. Stand-Alone Applications
Chapter 21. EMF 2.3 and 2.4
Section 21.1. Java 5.0 Support
Section 21.2. EMF Persistence Enhancements
Section 21.3. Other New Features
Section 21.4. Resource Options
Section 21.5. Generator Model Properties

Appendix A. UML Notation

Classes and Interfaces
Enumerations and Data Types
Class Relationships

Appendix B. Summary of Example Models

SimplePO
PrimerPO
ExtendedPO
ExtendedPO1
ExtendedPO2
ExtendedPO3
Index

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EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework

Dave Steinberg
Frank Budinsky
Marcelo Paternostro
Ed Merks

Series Editors: Erich Gamma • Lee Nackman • John Wiegand

The Authoritative Guide to EMF Modeling and Code Generation

The Eclipse Modeling Framework enables developers to rapidly construct
robust applications based on surprisingly simple models. Now, in this
thoroughly revised Second Edition, the project’s developers offer expert
guidance, insight, and examples for solving real-world problems with EMF,
accelerating development processes, and improving software quality.

This edition contains more than 40% new material, plus updates throughout
to make it even more useful and practical. The authors illuminate the key
concepts and techniques of EMF modeling, analyze EMF’s most important
framework classes and generator patterns, guide you through choosing
optimal designs, and introduce powerful framework customizations and
programming techniques. Coverage includes

• Defining models with Java, UML, XML Schema, and Ecore

• NEW: Using extended Ecore modeling to fully unify XML
with UML and Java
• Generating high-quality code to implement models and
editors
• Understanding and customizing generated code
• Complete documentation of @model Javadoc tags, generator
model properties, and resource save and load options
• NEW: Leveraging the latest EMF features, including extended
metadata, feature maps, EStore, cross-reference adapters, copiers, and content
types
• NEW: Chapters on change recording, validation, and utilizing
EMF in stand-alone and Eclipse RCP applications
• NEW: Modeling generics with Ecore and generating Java 5
code

About the Authors

9 Peking University Software Engineering Insistute 2009

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

Dave Steinberg is a software developer in IBM Software Group. He has

worked with Eclipse and modeling technologies since joining the company,
and has been a committer on the EMF project since its debut in 2002.

Frank Budinsky, a senior architect in IBM Software Group, is an original

coinventor of EMF and a founding member of the EMF project at Eclipse. He
is currently cochair of the Service Data Objects (SDO) specification technical
committee at OASIS and lead SDO architect for IBM.

Marcelo Paternostro is a software architect and engineer in IBM Software

Group. He is an EMF committer and has been an active contributor to several
other Eclipse projects. Before joining IBM, Marcelo managed, designed, and
implemented numerous projects using Rational's tools and processes.

Ed Merks is the project lead of EMF and a colead of the top-level Modeling
project at Eclipse. He holds a Ph.D. in Computing Science and has many years
of in-depth experience in the design and implementation of languages,
frameworks, and application development environments. Ed works as a
software consultant in partnership with itemis AG.

Reader Reviews From Amazon

(Ranked by 'Helpfulness')
Average Customer Rating: based on 2 reviews.
A fine survey of how to define models and solve real-world problems using
EMF and software quality improvement, 2009-04-14
Reviewer rating:
Libraries catering to Java and Eclipse programmers will find this second
updated edition of "EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework" a fine survey of how
to define models and solve real-world problems using EMF and software
quality improvement. From understanding and customizing code to using the
latest EMF features and understanding the validation process, EMF is a key
guide users will find accessible and enlightening, with project developers
offering expertise and insights.

Good book for advanced Java professional, 2009-01-16

Reviewer rating:
If you use Eclipse for Java programming, this is the book for you. It is written
by the experts for the experts. Borland, IBM, Oracle, SunMicro Systems, and
many other firms continue to embrace Java. Financial houses on Wall Street
continue to develop Java applications. The book will be better if a complete
example can be given in more details.

10 Peking University Software Engineering Insistute 2009

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

Copyright
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish
their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in
this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations
have been printed with initial capital letters or in all capitals.
The authors and publisher have taken care in the preparation of this book, but
make no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assume no
responsibility for errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or
consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the use of the
information or programs contained herein.
The publisher offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in
quantity for bulk purchases or special sales, which may include electronic
versions and/or custom covers and content particular to your business,
training goals, marketing focus, and branding interests. For more information,
please contact:
U.S. Corporate and Government Sales
(800) 382-3419
[email protected]
For sales outside the United States please contact:
International Sales
[email protected]
Visit us on the Web: informit.com/aw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
EMF : Eclipse Modeling Framework / Dave Steinberg ... [et al.].
p. cm.
ISBN 0-321-33188-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Computer software--Development. 2
. Java (Computer
program language) I. Steinberg, Dave.

QA76.76.D47E55 2008
005.13'3--dc22
2007049160
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication
is protected by copyright, and permission must be obtained from the
publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system,
or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permissions,
write to:
Pearson Education, Inc
Rights and Contracts Department
501 Boylston Street, Suite 900

11 Peking University Software Engineering Insistute 2009

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

Boston, MA 02116
Fax (617) 671 3447
This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set
forth in the Open Publication License, v1.0 or later (the latest version is
presently available at http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/).
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-33188-5
Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at Edwards Brothers in
Ann Arbor, Michigan
First printing December 2008

12 Peking University Software Engineering Insistute 2009

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

The Eclipse Series

Series Editors

Erich Gamma • Lee Nackman • John Wiegand

Eclipse is a universal tool platform, an open extensible integrated development

environment (IDE) for anything and nothing in particular. Eclipse represents one of
the most exciting initiatives hatched from the world of application development in a
long time, and it has the considerable support of the leading companies and
organizations in the technology sector. Eclipse is gaining widespread acceptance in
both the commercial and academic arenas.

The Eclipse Series from Addison-Wesley is the definitive series of books dedicated to
the Eclipse platform. Books in the series promise to bring you the key technical
information you need to analyze Eclipse, high-quality insight into this powerful
technology, and the practical advice you need to build tools to support this
evolutionary Open Source platform. Leading experts Erich Gamma, Lee Nackman,
and John Wiegand are the series editors.

Titles in the Eclipse Series

John Arthorne and Chris Laffra

Official Eclipse 3.0 FAQs
0-321-26838-5

David Carlson
Eclipse Distilled
0-321-28815-7

Eric Clayberg and Dan Rubel

Eclipse Plug-ins, Third Edition
0-321-55346-2

Adrian Colyer, Andy Clement, George Harley, and Matthew Webster

Eclipse AspectJ: Aspect-Oriented Programming with AspectJ and the Eclipse AspectJ
Development Tools
0-321-24587-3

Naci Dai, Lawrence Mandel, and Arthur Ryman

Eclipse Web Tools Platform: Developing Java™ Web Applications
0-321-39685-5

13 Peking University Software Engineering Insistute 2009

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

Erich Gamma and Kent Beck

Contributing to Eclipse: Principles, Patterns, and Plug-Ins
0-321-20575-8

Jeff McAffer and Jean-Michel Lemieux

Eclipse Rich Client Platform: Designing, Coding, and Packaging Java™ Applications
0-321-33461-2

Diana Peh, Nola Hague, and Jane Tatchell

BIRT: A Field Guide to Reporting, Second Edition
0-321-58027-3

Dave Steinberg, Frank Budinsky, Marcelo Paternostro, and Ed Merks

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework
0-321-33188-5

Jason Weathersby, Tom Bondur, Iana Chatalbasheva, and Don French

Integrating and Extending BIRT, Second Edition
0-321-58030-3

For more information on books in this series visit

www.awprofessional.com/series/eclipse

Foreword by Richard C. Gronback

Modeling can mean very different things to different people, even within the
discipline of software engineering. Some will immediately think of the Unified
Modeling Language (UML), others will think of Model-Driven Architecture (MDA),
while others may remember the days of CASE tools. With increasing frequency,
those familiar with the Eclipse community think of the Eclipse Modeling Framework
(EMF), which provides a solid basis for application development through the use of
pragmatic modeling and code generation facilities.

From its beginnings within the Tools Project at Eclipse, EMF's reputation for high
quality and unparalleled community support quickly led to several complementary
modeling projects forming at Eclipse. Code generators, graphical diagramming
frameworks, model transformation, validation, and search are just a few that have
built upon EMF and now are contained within the Eclipse Modeling Project. The
growth and success of this top-level project is due in large part to the strength of its
core component, EMF.

In many ways, the EMF project is a model for other Eclipse projects (pun intended).
From the tireless efforts of its committers in answering questions on the project's

14 Peking University Software Engineering Insistute 2009

EMF: Eclipse Modeling Framework 2nd PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE LIMITATION

newsgroup, to the professionalism and openness of its development in terms of API,

features, performance, and documentation, EMF is a tough act to follow. The
diversity of the Modeling community that has grown up around EMF makes it a
poster child for collaboration, including individual contributors, commercial vendors,
and academic institutions. Further evidence of EMF's value to Eclipse is its
anticipated use in e4, the next Eclipse platform. At present, e4 developers have plans
to leverage the capabilities of EMF to provide a consistent model-based foundation
and runtime; clearly, a step forward for model-driven software development.

With so much technology built upon EMF, understanding its architecture and
capabilities are essential to using it successfully. For years, the first edition of this
book has been an important resource for many developers building their
applications with EMF and extending EMF's own capabilities. With the introduction
of this second edition, the many enhancements made to EMF in the interim are now
documented and able to be leveraged effectively. The API section has been replaced
by new chapters covering EMF persistence, client programming, change recording,
validation, and Rich Client Platform (RCP) development. In addition to updating the
original material, this new edition covers the latest features of EMF versions 2.3 and
2.4, including generics, content types, and REST APIs. It is a most welcome second
edition.

I hope you find this second edition as valuable as I do.

Richard C. Gronback
Chief Scientist, Borland Software Corporation
November 2008

15 Peking University Software Engineering Insistute 2009

Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
towers between the Adrianople Gate and Caligaria had been
destroyed. The Anatolian division had greatly weakened those in the
neighbourhood of the Third Military Gate. But the most extensive
destruction had been wrought by the Janissaries with the aid of the
great cannon of Urban. While in each of the three places mentioned
the Outer Wall is even now in an exceptionally dilapidated condition,
the ruins in the valley of the Lycus show that this was the place
where the cannon had been steadily pounding day
and night. Along almost the whole length of the Lycus valley chief
point of attack.
foss, extending for upwards of three miles, its side
walls and a great portion of the breastwork still remain, mostly, to all
appearances, as solid as when they were new. But in the lower part
of the Lycus valley hardly more than a trace of either is to be
distinguished. The breastwork had been entirely destroyed and had
helped to raise the foss to the level of the adjoining ground. A large
portion of the Outer Wall and some of its towers had been broken
down. The ruins of the Bactatinean tower had helped to fill the
ditch; two towers of the great Inner Wall had fallen. A breach of
twelve hundred feet long according to Tetaldi had been made
opposite the place where Mahomet had his tent.359 Here, where the
largest cannon was placed, the struggles had been keenest. Here
was the station of John Justiniani with his two thousand men,
among whom were his own four hundred Genoese cuirassiers with
their arms glittering in the sun to the delight, says Leonard, of their
Greek fellow fighters. While the cannon had greatly damaged the
walls in the other two places mentioned, here, says Critobulus, they
had entirely destroyed them. There was a wall no longer, nor did
there in this part exist any longer a ditch, for it had been filled up by
the Turkish troops.360
Hence it was that in this part Justiniani and those under him had
been constantly occupied in repairs. Day after day the diarists
recount that the principal occupation of the besieged was to repair
during the night the part of the walls destroyed during the day by
the cannon. Without experience of the power of great guns even in
their then early stage of development, the besieged tried to lessen
the force of the balls by suspending from the summit of the walls a
sheathing of bales of wool. This and other expedients had failed.
As the best substitute for the broken-down Outer
Wall Justiniani had gradually, as it was destroyed, Construction of
stockade.
constructed a Stockade, called by the Latin writers
a Vallum and by the Greeks a Stauroma. On the ruined wall a new
one was thus built almost as rapidly as the old one was destroyed. It
was made with such materials as were at hand, of stones from the
broken wall, of baulks of timber, of trees and branches, and even of
crates filled with straw and vine cuttings, of ladders and fascines, all
cemented hastily together with earth and clay. The whole was faced
with hides and skins so as to prevent the materials being burnt by
‘fire-bearing arrows.’ In employing earth and clay the defenders
intended that the stone cannon-balls should bury themselves in the
yielding mass and thus do less damage than when striking against
stone. Within the stockade was a second ditch from which probably
the clay had been removed to cement the materials of the stockade,
while above it were placed barrels or vats filled with earth so as to
form a crenellation and a defence to the fighters against the missiles
of the Turks.
The stockade was probably about four hundred yards long and
occupied only the lower part of the valley, shutting in the portion of
the Inner Enclosure and being thus a substitute for the Outer Wall.
The usual entrance to this enclosure or Peribolos was by the Military
Gate of St. Romanus—formerly known as the Pempton—which,
indeed, had been constructed solely for this purpose, and by two
small gates or posterns at its respective ends, one at the Adrianople
Gate, the other at Top Capou. Another postern had, however, says
Critobulus, been opened by Justiniani to give easier access to the
stockade from the city.
The construction of the stockade had been commenced immediately
after the destruction of the tower near the Romanus Gate, on April
21.361 As the attention of the enemy had been principally directed to
the attack on the walls in this part of the city, so the stockade which
replaced the Outer Wall continued to the end to be the focus on
which was concentrated nearly the entire strength of his attack. No
one could say what would be Mahomet’s plan of battle, but no one
doubted that the stockade covering the St. Romanus Gate—or, as it
is called in old Turkish maps, the ‘Gate of the Assault’—would at
least be one of the chief places against which he would direct an
assault. Behind it and between it and the great Inner Wall was the
flower of the defending army. The emperor himself had his camp
quite near, though within the city, while Justiniani, standing for all
time as the most conspicuous figure on the Christian side, was in
command within the stockade. His energy and his courage had
called forth the unqualified admiration of friend and foe. The
jealousy of the Venetians at his appointment had long since been
overcome. While Barbaro launches his recriminations against the
Genoese generally, and even sometimes against Justiniani himself,
even he is constrained to repeat that the presence of the great
Genoese captain was per benefitio de la Christianitade et per honor
de lo mundo. His example communicated itself to his troops, and he
thus became the hero of all who were fighting. All the city, says the
Florentine soldier Tetaldi, had great hopes in him and in his valour.
Mahomet himself was reported to have expressed admiration of the
courage and ability, the fertility of resource and the activity of
Justiniani, and to have regretted that he was not in the Turkish
army. In front of the stockade was the sultan, surrounded by his
white-capped Janissaries and the red-fezzed other members of his
chosen bodyguard. Everything indeed pointed to a great fight at the
stockade, where the great leaders and the flower of each army
stood opposite each other.

About the beginning of the last week in May the Turks were alarmed
by the rumour of an approaching fleet and of an army of Hungarians
under John Hunyadi, both of which were reported to be on their way
to the relief of the city.362 The alarm, however, proved to be false. As
Phrantzes laments, no Christian prince sent a man or a penny to the
aid of the city.363 At first sight it is somewhat surprising that no aid
came either from the Serbians or Hungarians. During the early days
of the siege assistance had been hoped for from both of these
peoples. Phrantzes states that the despot of Serbia, George
Brancovich, treated the sultan in such a manner as to make
Mahomet taunt the Christians with his hostility to Constantine.364
With the recollection of the Turkish victories at Varna and at
Cossovo-pol, and especially of the fact that he had himself been
attacked because he would not join in violating the peace between
Ladislaus and Murad, it is probable enough that Brancovich was not
unfriendly towards Mahomet. Indeed, at the request of the young
sultan, he had used his influence to bring about a three years’
armistice between the Turks and the Hungarians. It is not, therefore,
surprising that no aid came from him.

More success might have been anticipated from negotiations with

Hungary. Here, however, the three years’ agreement (made eighteen
months before the siege) for an armistice stood in the way. The
Hungarians had received a terrible lesson—at Varna—on the
breaking of treaties, and they hesitated before violating the new
arrangement. Ducas and Phrantzes agree in stating that the agents
of Hunyadi had come to the city in the early days of the siege and
had requested the sultan, on behalf of their principal, to give back
the copy of the armistice signed by him in return for that signed by
Mahomet. They gave as a pretext that Hunyadi was no longer
viceroy of the king of Hungary. The design was too transparent to be
accepted by the Turks.365 The idea was to suggest to the sultan that
the Hungarians were coming to the aid of the city; that they had
compunctions about breaking the treaty, but that, as it was not
signed by the prince, they had a valid excuse for so doing. To this
extent what was done indicated a spirit friendly to the besieged. The
sultan and his council promised to consider the proposition, and put
the agents of Hunyadi off with a civil and banal reply.366
Ducas tells a story regarding the visits of the agents of Hunyadi
which may be noticed, though he is careful to give it as hearsay. He
says that the officers in their suite showed the gunners how they
might use their great bombard more effectually to destroy the walls
by directing their fire in succession against two points instead of
one, so as to form a triangle, and that the device succeeded to such
an extent that the tower near the Romanus Gate and a part of the
wall on each side of it was so broken down that the besiegers and
besieged could see each other.367
 CHAPTER XV
LAST DAYS OF EMPIRE: SULTAN AGAIN HESITATES; MESSAGE INVITING
SURRENDER; TURKISH COUNCIL CALLED; DECIDES AGAINST RAISING
SIEGE; PROCLAMATION GRANTING THREE DAYS’ PLUNDER; SULTAN’S FINAL
PREPARATIONS; HIS ADDRESS TO THE PASHAS AND LAST ORDERS TO
GENERALS. PREPARATIONS IN CITY: RELIGIOUS PROCESSIONS:
CONSTANTINE’S ADDRESS TO LEADERS AND TO VENETIANS AND GENOESE;
LAST CHRISTIAN SERVICE IN ST. SOPHIA: DEFENDERS TAKE UP THEIR
FINAL STATIONS AT WALLS, AND CLOSE GATES BEHIND THEM: EMPEROR’S
LAST INSPECTION OF HIS FORCES.
By May 25 it was well understood both by
besiegers and besieged that the crisis of the Last days.
struggle had come and that a general attack by land and sea and by
all the forces which the sultan possessed was at hand and would
result in a contest which would probably decide the fate of the city.
Mahomet was able to choose his own time and make characteristic
preparations. The differences in the final preparations of besiegers
and besieged arose from two causes: first, from the disparity in
numbers between the huge host of the besiegers and the small army
defending the city; second, from the fact that the Turkish army
consisted exclusively of men, while the population of the city was
largely composed of women and children, of priests, monks, and
nuns. On one side was a large host without non-combatants; on the
other a small but valiant army worn out by wearisome work,
unrelieved, and encumbered with a great number of useless non-
combatants. While the descriptions of what was done during the last
days by the besiegers give us mainly military preparations with a day
devoted to fasting and rest, those of the besieged are crowded with
accounts of religious processions, of sensuous ceremonies, of
penitents, of churches filled with people endeavouring to appease
the wrath of an offended God and beseeching the aid of the Virgin
and saints. But notwithstanding this colouring of the conduct of the
defenders—and it must always be remembered that the descriptions
are written by Churchmen—the soldiers were not unmindful of their
duty. Constantine and the leaders neglected no precautions for
defence, carefully noted that their orders were obeyed, and were
now engaged in making a final disposition of their small force. All
had their allotted task: even the women and children were called
upon day and night to aid in repairing the damage done by the
guns; natives and foreigners vied with each other in zeal for the
defence.
Whether the leaders realised that their struggles were hopeless may
be doubted, though it is difficult to believe that they could feel
confidence in the result. It is certain that they all recognised that the
final struggle would be for life or death. The population generally
were buoyed up with the knowledge of the failure of the Turks to
capture the city in 1422, within the recollection of many of the
citizens, and possibly—though not, I think, to any great extent—by
the hope of miraculous intervention on their behalf. The faith which
accepted the legend of an advance being permitted as far as St.
Sophia and of an angel who would then descend and hand over the
government of the city to the emperor may have existed among the
women and monks, but it is not of the kind which soldiers, and still
less even religious military commanders, possess. The leaders, from
the emperor downwards, knew the weakness of the city, the
insufficiency of men to defend fourteen miles of walls, and the
overwhelming superiority in numbers of the Turkish army. The bad
news brought on the 23rd by the brigantine sent to search for the
Venetian fleet had almost dispelled hope of timely aid from the West,
though many still clung to the belief that they might welcome a few
more Italians who were reported to have been seen at Chios on their
way to the capital.368
On Thursday, May 24, Barbaro notes that there were music and
feasting and other signs of rejoicing among the Turks because they
had learned that they were about to make a general attack.369
On the 25th and the 26th the great guns were constantly at work in
the Lycus valley and at the two other places already described. On
the evening, however, of the 26th, at one hour after sunset, the
Turks made a great illumination along the whole length of their line.
Every tent in the enemy’s camp could be seen. The fires were so
great as to show everything as clearly as if it were day. They lasted
till midnight. The shouts from the Turks rent the heavens. The
archbishop states that a Turkish edict or Iradè had given notice that
for three days praise should be offered to God, but that on one day
there should be fasting. The illuminations in which the Turks
indulged and the nightly feasting are what take place usually during
the month of Ramazan. But as this was not Ramazan, every one
rightly conjectured that they indicated that the Turks had received
the welcome news of a general and immediate attack.
Even, however, in these last days of the siege the
sultan appears to have seriously hesitated whether Sultan hesitates
to attack.
to make the attack or abandon the attempt to
capture the city. Many of the Turks really appear to have lost heart.
They had been seven weeks before the city and had accomplished
nothing. The pashas themselves were divided in opinion. Various
rumours were current in the camp which increased their hesitation.
Western Europe would not allow Constantinople to be captured. The
princes of the West were leagued together to drive the Turks out of
Europe. John Hunyadi, with a large force of infantry and cavalry, was
on his way to relieve the city.370 A great fleet prepared at the
request and with the aid of the pope, the head of Christendom, was
on its way out, and its van had already been heard of at Chios.371
There were not wanting many in Mahomet’s camp who were
opposed to a continuation of the siege and who urged him to
abandon it. The sultan, according to Phrantzes, was influenced and
depressed by the rumours of the interference of Western Europe,
especially by the news of the arrival of a fleet at Chios,372 by the
want of success which had so far attended his efforts to enter the
city, by the stubbornness of the defence and the strength of the
walls, and, lastly, by omens deduced from flashes of lightning which
had played over the city, or from some atmospheric effect which had
lighted up the dome of St. Sophia—omens which, at first interpreted
as a sign of God’s vengeance on the Constantinopolitans, were a
little later construed by some of the Turks to be a token that it was
taken under Divine protection.373
It was probably in consequence of this depression
that even at this late stage Mahomet made one Sends Ismail to
inquire as to
more effort to induce the Greeks to surrender the possibility of
city. A certain Ismail, the son of Alexander who had surrender.
obtained the rule over Sinope by accepting the
suzerainty of the Turks, came into the city at the request of the
sultan and endeavoured to persuade the Greeks to make terms. He
spoke of his own influence with Mahomet and promised, if they
would appoint a messenger, to use it to procure for him a favourable
hearing. He declared that unless terms were made the city would
certainly be captured, the men killed, and their wives and daughters
sold as slaves.
Upon Ismail’s suggestion a messenger, but a man of no particular
name or family, went with Ismail to Mahomet. According to
Chalcondylas, the answer sent to the Greeks was that they should
pay an annual tribute of ten myriads or one hundred thousand gold
bezants, and if this condition were not accepted Mahomet would
permit as an alternative that all the inhabitants should leave the city,
taking with them their own property, with leave to go whither they
wished. He would be content to receive the deserted city. The
Greeks, though with some difference of opinion, decided that they
could not and would not accept either of the conditions offered.
Possibly not a few of them were of the opinion of Chalcondylas, that
the offer was not serious on the sultan’s part—that is, that he did
not believe that there was any chance of its being accepted—but
that it was rather an attempt to learn what the feeling was among
the Greeks in regard to their chance of success. Mahomet had
nothing to lose by his offer. He knew that the inhabitants could not
pay the amount of tribute demanded. If, on the other hand, they
had been willing to desert the city in order to save their lives, he
would have gained an easy victory without bloodshed—a victory
which he was by no means certain he could gain after a general
assault. If the story of Chalcondylas is to be believed, then additional
doubt is thrown on the statement of Ducas that the emperor on a
previous occasion had voluntarily offered to pay any tribute which
might be demanded. I am disposed to give credence to
Chalcondylas.374 Ismail was a very likely man to be employed by
Mahomet. The sultan rightly judged that the besieged would be
willing to accept conditions, and would desire to learn what his
conditions were. The answer convinced him, however, that his only
chance of gaining the city was by fighting for it.375
On Friday, May 25, and Saturday the Turks continued their
cannonading against ‘our poor walls’ even harder than ever. Greeks
and Italians busied themselves in repairing the damages as fast as
they were made, and this in such good fashion, says Barbaro, that
even after all that the great guns could do ‘we made them as strong
as they were at first.’
Meantime it was necessary for the sultan to put an
end to all hesitation as to the commencement of Sultan calls
council to
the general attack. A council was held for this consider
purpose on Saturday the 26th or Sunday the 27th, desirability of
in which the arguments in favour of and against raising siege.
the siege were fully discussed. Halil Pasha, the
grand vizier and the man of greatest reputation, declared himself in
favour of abandoning it. He reminded his master that he had always
been opposed to it and had foretold failure from the outset. The
strong position of the city made it invincible, now that the Latins
were aiding the citizens. He urged that sooner or later Christian
kings and people would be provoked by its capture and would
intervene. The Genoese and Venetians, against their wish, would
become enemies of the Turks if the war went on. He therefore
advised retreat while this could be done in safety.376 Halil Pasha’s
rival and enemy was the Albanian Zagan Pasha, who was next him in
rank. While Halil was always favourable to the Christians,377 Zagan
was their enemy. Zagan, seeing the Sultan downcast at having to
raise the siege, boldily advocated an attack. He urged that the
appearance of the light over Hagia Sophia, which had been taken by
some of the Turks to indicate that the city was under divine
protection, really meant that it would be delivered into the sultan’s
hands. He reminded his young master that Alexander the Great had
conquered the world with a much smaller army than was now before
the city. As to the coming of fleets from the West, he neither
believed nor feared it. The division among its princes would bring
anarchy into any fleet they might get together. There was and could
be no concert among them. Besides, even if such a fleet arrived,
there were three or four times as many Turks as any fleet could
bring. He recommended, therefore, that the attack should be pushed
on vigorously: that the cannons should be kept constantly going, so
as to make new breaches or widen those already made in the walls,
and that all thought of retreat should be abandoned. The younger
members of the council agreed with him, as did also the leader of
the Thracian troops—that is, the Bashi-bazouks—and strongly urged
an attack. This advice stiffened the sultan’s own determination.
Mahomet ordered Zagan Pasha to go himself that very night among
the troops and learn what was their mind on the subject.378 Zagan
obeyed the order, returned, and reported that he had visited the
army, which desired orders for an immediate attack. He assured the
sultan that he could fight with confidence and be certain of
victory.379
Upon this report the sultan announced his intention
to make a general assault forthwith, and from this Decides upon
attack.
time devoted himself solely to completing his final
preparations.380 He ordered that during the following nights fires
should be lighted and torches burned, that the soldiers should fast
during the following day, should go through their ceremonial
ablutions seven times and ask God’s aid in capturing the city.
The sultan rose early on the morning of Sunday the
27th. He called those in charge of the guns and Makes final
arrangements for
ordered them to concentrate the fire of their general attack.
cannon against the walls of the stockade. He
disposed his bodyguard, according to the arms they carried, into
regiments—some of which contained upwards of a thousand men—
and directed that when the order was given they should be sent
forward in succession; that after one division had fought it should
retire and rest while another took its place. In so doing he intended
that the general attack should continue until it ended in victory
without giving the besieged any time for rest. It was perhaps the
best way to take advantage of his enormous superiority in numbers.
Then he visited the other troops from sea to sea, repeating his
orders to the leaders, encouraging all by his presence, and seeing
that all arrangements had been made as he had directed.
Mahomet sent a message to Galata insisting that the Genoese
should prevent help being sent clandestinely to the city.
He caused his heralds to proclaim through the
camp that his soldiers would be allowed to sack the Proclaims three
days of plunder.
city during three days: to announce that the sultan
swore by the everlasting God, by the four thousand prophets, by
Mahomet, by the soul of his father, and by his children, that the
whole population, men, women, and children, all the treasure and
whatever was found in the city should be given up freely by him to
his warriors. The proclamation was received with tumultuous
expressions of triumph.381 ‘If you had heard the shouts raised to
heaven with the cry, ‘There is one God, and Mahomet is his prophet,’
you would indeed have marvelled,’ adds Leonard.
No attempt was made on the Saturday, Sunday, or Monday to
capture the city, but the guns were steadily pounding away during all
these three days.
On Sunday the great cannon fired three times at the stockade, and
at the third shot a portion of it came down. According to the
Muscovite, Justiniani was wounded by a splinter from the ball and
had to be led or carried into the city. He, however, recovered during
the night and superintended once more the repairs of the walls.382
On the Sunday also every Turk was busy in completing preparations
for the final attack.383 Every man had been ordered under pain of
death to be at his post.
The Turks were observed to be fetching earth, crates of vine-cuttings
and other materials to level a passage across the foss, making
scaling-ladders, and generally to be bringing forward all the engines
for assault. When the sun set, fires and torches were lighted as on
the previous night. The illuminations were accompanied by such
terrible shouts that Barbaro, with not unnatural exaggeration,
asserts that they were heard across the Bosporus. The soldiers, in
high spirits at the thought of the coming attack, were once more
feasting, after their day’s fast. The besieged, hearing the shouts, the
sound of the trumpets and guitars, of pipes, fifes, and drums, and
the usual din, ran to the walls, for the illumination was so great that
they were in hopes that the fires were devouring tents and
provisions; but, says Ducas, when they recognised that there was no
alarm among their enemies, they could only pray to be delivered
from the imminent danger. The illuminations continued until
midnight, and then, more suddenly than they had appeared, the
fires were extinguished and the camp was left in complete obscurity.
The leaders on both sides had now but few final arrangements to
make for attack or for defence. The sultan, as usual, personally
superintended the making of those on the Turkish side.
On Monday morning Mahomet accompanied by a large following of
horsemen, which Barbaro estimates at about ten thousand, rode
over to the Double Columns and arranged for the co-operation of the
fleet while the general bombardment and attack were being made
by the rest of his forces.384 Admiral Hamoud, the successor of
Baltoglu, was to spread out his ships on the Marmora side from St.
Eugenius Gate to that of Psamatia, to prepare to enter the city by
scaling-ladders from the ships, if entrance were possible, and at all
events by his preparations and feigned attacks to draw off as many
men as possible from the defence of the landward walls.385
Mahomet returned in the afternoon from the Double Columns. On
the same day, and possibly on his return, the sultan summoned to
him the heads of the Genoese community in Galata and confirmed
the strict injunction he had already given them that on no account
were they to render aid to the Greeks.386
After crossing the Golden Horn he once more rode along the whole
line of the walls from the Horn to the Marmora, to inspect his troops
and see that all was ready. He passed before his three great
divisions: Europeans, under Caraja; the select troops, including the
Janissaries, before the Myriandrion and the Mesoteichion, and the
Asiatic division, between Top Capou and the sea, each of about fifty
thousand men, and saw that all was ready. After
having thus inspected his fleet and his army, he Mahomet
addresses the
summoned the pashas and chief military and naval pashas,
officers once more to his tent. Critobulus gives us
an account of what was said which probably represents fairly what
passed. The decision was taken. The city was to be attacked. Before
the assault began it was necessary for Mahomet to explain his plan
of assault, give his final orders, and hold out to his followers every
possible inducement to fight bravely.
The sultan began by recalling to his hearers that in the city there
was an infinite amount and variety of wealth of all kinds—treasure in
the palaces and private houses, churches abounding in furniture of
silver, gold, and precious stones. All were to be theirs. There were
men of high rank and in great numbers who could be captured and
sold as slaves; there were great numbers of ladies of noble families,
young and beautiful, and a host of other women, who could either
be sold or taken into their harems. There were boys of good family.
There were houses and beautiful gardens. ‘I give you to-day,’ said
Mahomet, ‘a grand and populous city, the capital of the ancient
Romans, the very summit of splendour and of glory, which has
become, so to say, the centre of the world. I give it over for you to
pillage, to seize its incalculable treasures of men, women, and boys,
and everything that adorns it. You will henceforward live in great
happiness and leave great wealth to your children.’ The chief gain for
all the sons of Othman would be the conquest of a city whose fame
was great throughout the whole world. The greater its renown, the
greater would be the glory of taking it by assault. A great city which
had always been their enemy, which had always looked upon them
with a hostile eye, which in every way had sought to destroy the
Turkish power, would come into their possession. The door would be
open to them by its capture to conquer the whole of the Greek
empire.
To this promise recorded by Critobulus may be added what is said by
the Turkish historian, that Mahomet urged that the capture would be
an augmentation of the glory of their faith, and that it was clearly
predicted in the ‘Sacred Traditions.’387
The sultan further urged them not to believe that capture was
impossible. You see, he remarked, that the foss is filled and that the
walls have been so destroyed by the guns in three places that they
may be crossed not only by infantry, but even by cavalry. They form
no longer an impregnable barrier, for the way has been made almost
as level as a race course.
He declared that he knew the defenders to be so weak that he
believed the reports of deserters who stated that there were only
two or three men to garrison each tower, so that a single man would
have to defend three or four crenellations; and the men themselves
were ill-armed and unskilled in warfare. They had been harassed day
and night and were worn out, were short of provisions, and could
not maintain resistance against a continuous attack. He had decided
to employ the great number of his followers in making a continuous
assault, day and night, sending up fresh detachments one after the
other, until the enemy from sheer weariness would be forced to yield
or be incapable of further resistance.
Mahomet pretended once more to be uncertain what the conduct of
the Italians would be during the coming assault. The cause was not
theirs. They would not sacrifice their lives where there was nothing
to gain. The mixed crowd, gathered from many places, had no
intention of dying for the city, and when they saw the waves of his
men succeeding each other at the attack they would throw down
their arms and turn their backs. Even if, from any cause, they did not
run away, they were too few to resist his army. The city, both by
land and sea, was surrounded as in a net and could not escape.
Mahomet concluded by urging all to fight valiantly, assuring his
hearers that he would be at their head and would see all that
passed. He finished his address by charging his hearers to return to
their posts, to order all under their commands to take food, and then
to lie down for a few hours’ rest. Silence was everywhere to be
observed. They were enjoined to draw up their men in battle array
at an early hour in the morning, and when they heard the sound of
the trumpet summoning them to battle and saw the standard
unfurled, then ‘to the work in hand.’
The leaders of divisions remained, after the
departure of the larger assembly, in order to and the leaders of
divisions.
receive their final orders. Hamoud, with his fleet,
was to keep near the seaward walls and the archers and fusiliers388
should be so ready to shoot, that no man dare show his head at the
battlements. Zagan was to cross the bridge, and with the ships in
the harbour to attack the walls on the Golden Horn. Caraja was to
cross the foss—probably between Tekfour Serai and the Adrianople
Gate, where was one of the three roads that Mahomet had opened
into the city—and to try to capture the wall. Isaac and Mahmoud, at
the head of the Asiatic division, were charged to attempt the walls
near the Third Military Gate. Halil and Saraja, who were in command
of the troops encamped around the sultan, opposite the third and
most important breach—that, namely, at the Romanus Gate,
defended by Justiniani—were to follow the lead which the sultan
would himself give them.
Having thus made his final dispositions, Mahomet dismissed his inner
council, and each leader went away to his own tent to sleep and
await the signal for attack.
The speech to his leaders, which I have summarised in the
preceding paragraphs from the report given by Critobulus,389 is also
recorded by Phrantzes, though at much less length. He describes it
as having been made at sunset of the 28th,390 and makes the sultan
remind his leaders, with the usual voluptuous details, of the glories
of paradise promised to the true believer who dies in battle.391

Meanwhile, within the city preparation of a Preparations

different kind had been made. After the meeting of within the city.
the council of Turkish nobles, the besieged, who seem always to
have been well informed of what went on in the enemy’s camp,
learned at once that it had been decided to make a general assault
forthwith. All day long during the last day of agony the alarm bell
was ringing to call men, women, and children to their posts. Each
man had his duty allotted to him for the morrow, while even women
and children were employed to carry up stones to the walls to be
hurled down upon the Turks.392 The bailey of the Venetian colony
issued a final appeal, calling upon all his people to aid in the
defence, and urging them to fight and be ready to die for the love of
God, the defence of the country, and ‘per honor de tuta la
Christianitade.’ All honest men, says the Venetian diarist, obeyed the
bailey’s command, and the Venetians, besides aiding in the defence
of the walls, took charge of the ships in the harbour and were
guardians of the boom. Barbaro and his fellow citizens occupied the
day in making mantles for the protection of the soldiers upon the
walls.
The silence during the Monday before the landward walls was more
impressive than the noise of previous warlike preparations. The
Turks were keeping their fast. Probably during the afternoon they
were allowed to sleep in order that they might be fresh for the
attack on the following morning, for, says Critobulus, the Romans
were surprised at the quietness in the camp. Various conclusions
were drawn from the silence. Some thought that the enemy was
getting ready to go away; others that preparations were being
completed which were less noisy than usual.393
The reader of the original narratives gets weary of the constant
lament of their authors over the sins of the people, the principal one,
if the writer is a Catholic, being the refusal to be sincerely reconciled
with Rome; if Orthodox, it is the neglect to give due honour to the
saints. The deprecation of ‘the just anger’ of God was on every one’s
lips, and priests of both Churches speak confidently as to the cause
of this anger. But assuredly, if the invocation of the celestial
hierarchy were ever desirable, it was so on this last evening of the
existence of the city as the Christian capital of the East.
A special solemn procession took place in the
afternoon through the streets of the city. Orthodox Last religious
procession in city.
and Catholics, bishops and priests, ordinary
laymen, monks, women, children, and indeed every person whose
presence was not required at the walls, took part in it, joined in
every Kyrie Eleeson, and responded with the sincerity of despair to
prayers imploring God not to allow them to fall into the hands of the
enemy. The sacred eikons and relics were brought from the
churches, were taken to the neighbourhoods where the walls were
most injured, and paraded with the procession in the hope—to
people of Northern climes and the present century inexplicable and
almost unthinkable—that their display would avert the threatening
danger.
It would be a mistake, however, to think that, because these
processions and the veneration of the sacred relics are alien to
modern modes of thought, they were not marked with true religious
sentiment, or even that they were useless. They encouraged the
fighters to go more bravely forth to battle against tremendous odds,
and they comforted both them and non-combatants with the
assurance that God was on their side. The archbishop concludes his
account of this last religious procession in the Christian city, on the
eve of the great struggle, by declaring that ‘we prayed that the Lord
would not allow His inheritance to be destroyed, that He would
deign in this contest to stretch forth His right hand to deliver His
faithful people, that He would show that He alone is God and that
there is none else beside Him [no Allah of the Moslems] and that He
would fight for the Christians. And thus, placing our sole hope in
Him, comforted regarding what should happen on the day appointed
for battle, we waited for it with good courage.’
When the procession had completed its journey, the emperor
addressed a gathering of the nobles and military leaders, Greeks and
foreigners. Phrantzes gives at considerable length the speech
delivered by Constantine. Gibbon, while describing
it as ‘the funeral oration of the Roman empire,’ Funeral oration of
empire.
suggests that the fullest version which exists of it,
that namely of Phrantzes, ‘smells so grossly of the sermon and the
convent’ as to make him doubt whether it was pronounced by the
emperor. We have, however, the other summary given by Archbishop
Leonard, who also was probably present. Each account is given in
the pedantic form which is characteristic of mediaeval churchmen,
Greeks or Latins. The reporter always seems to think it necessary to
introduce classical allusions, to enlarge on the religious aspect of the
coming struggle, and to report in the first person. But, bearing in
mind this fashion of the time, and recalling the fact that the
accounts of Phrantzes and the archbishop are independent, their
records of the funeral oration are substantially identical and do not
vary more than would do two independent reports written some
months after the delivery of a speech in our own time.
The emperor called attention to the impending assault, reminded his
hearers that it had always been held the duty of a citizen to be ready
to die either for his faith, his country, his sovereign, or his wife and
children, and pleaded that all these incentives to heroic sacrifice
were now combined. He dwelt upon the importance of the city and
their attachment to it. It was the city of refuge for all Christians, the
pride and joy of every Greek and of all who lived in Eastern lands. It
was the Queen of Cities, the city which in happier times had
subdued nearly all the lands under the sun. The enemy coveted it as
his chief prize. He had provoked the war. He had violated all his
engagements in order to obtain it. He wished to put the citizens
under his yoke, to take them as slaves, to convert the holy churches,
where the divine Trinity was adored and the most holy Godhead
worshipped, into shrines for his blasphemy, and to put the false
prophet in the place of Christ. He urged them as brothers and fellow
soldiers to fight bravely in the defence of all that was dear to them,
to remember that they were the descendants of the heroes of
ancient Greece and Rome, and so to conduct themselves that their
memory should be as fragrant in the future as that of their
ancestors. He entrusted the city with confidence to their care. For
himself he was determined to die in its defence. He recalled to them
that he and they put their trust in God and not, as did their enemy,
in the multitude of his horsemen and his hordes.
Both the reporters of this speech state that Constantine concluded
by addressing the Venetians and Genoese separately, and, indeed,
give the substance of what he said. He recalled to each group their
valiant services and the aid they had rendered in times past and
expressed his confidence in their assistance on the morrow.
The emperor endeavoured to infuse hope and confidence into all the
leaders by pointing out that hitherto the defenders had been able to
hold the walls, that the invaders were like wild animals and fought
without intelligence, that the shouts, the fires, and the great noise
were a barbarous attempt to frighten them, but that, protected by
the walls, he and his people with their brave Italian allies would be
more than a match for the invaders. ‘Do not lose heart,’ said he, ‘but
comfort yourselves with bright hopes, because, though few in
number, you are skilled in warfare; strong, brave and noble, and
proved in valour.’ He concluded by urging them once more to be
daring and steadfast, and promised that in such a cause, by the
grace of God, they would win.394
We have nothing to enable us to judge whether the emperor
possessed the power of utterance which at various periods in the
world’s history has enabled great soldiers to kindle the enthusiasm
of their followers. If ever occasion demanded such power, beyond
doubt it was the present. One advantage at least the orator
possessed: he had an audience entirely in sympathy with him.
Whether he succeeded or not in inspiring them with a confidence
which he can hardly have himself felt may be doubted. But that all
were determined to follow the emperor and to sacrifice ‘wives and
children and their own lives’ in defence of him and their ancient city
is attested by both reporters. The leaders, after the fashion still
prevalent in Eastern Europe, embraced and asked forgiveness of
each other, as men who were ready to die, and, solemnly devoting
themselves to the cause of the emperor, repaired to the great church
of Hagia Sophia, ‘to strengthen themselves by prayer and the
reception of the Holy Mysteries, to confirm their vows to fight, and,
if need be, unmindful of all worldly interests, to die for the honour of
God and of Christianity.’
The great ceremony of the evening and one that
must always stand out among the world’s historic Last Christian
service in Hagia
spectacles was the last Christian service held in the Sophia.
church of Holy Wisdom. The great church had not
been regularly used since the meeting of December 12, which had
led to so much heart-burning and ill-will. Now, at the moment of
supreme danger for Constantinople, the fairest monument of Eastern
Christendom was again opened. The emperor and such of the
leaders as could be spared were present and the building was once
more and for the last time crowded with Christian worshippers. It
requires no great effort of imagination to picture the scene. The
interior of the church was the most beautiful which Christian art had
produced, and its beauty was enhanced by its still gorgeous fittings.
Patriarch and cardinal, the crowd of ecclesiastics representing both
the Eastern and Western Churches; emperor and nobles, the last
remnant of the once gorgeous and brave Byzantine aristocracy;
priests and soldiers intermingled, Constantinopolitans, Venetians and
Genoese, all were present, all realising the peril before them, and
feeling that in view of the impending danger the rivalries which had
occupied them for years were too small to be worthy of thought.
The emperor and his followers partook together of ‘the undefiled
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