List of sieges of Constantinople

The final siege of Constantinople in 1453 (contemporary miniature)

There were many sieges of Constantinople during the history of the Byzantine Empire. Two of them resulted in the capture of Constantinople from Byzantine rule: in 1204 by the Fourth Crusade, and in 1453 by the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II.

Ancient Byzantium

Before the fourth century, the city was only known as Byzantium

• Siege of Byzantium (478 BC) by the Greeks, successful
• Siege of Byzantium (193–195) by Septimius Severus against Pescennius Niger, successful

Turkic, Persian, Avar, Slavonic and Arab sieges

• Siege of Constantinople (626), by Avars, Slavs, and the Sassanid Persians, unsuccessful
• Siege of Constantinople (674–678), by the Umayyad Caliphate, unsuccessful
• Siege of Constantinople (717–718), by the Umayyad Caliphate, unsuccessful
• Siege of Constantinople (813), by Krum of Bulgaria, unsuccessful

Rus' sieges

• Siege of Constantinople (860), by the Rus'
• Siege of Constantinople (907), by the Rus' in 904/907
• Siege of Constantinople (941), by the Rus'

Sieges and attacks during Byzantine civil wars

• Siege of Constantinople (821–822), by rebel forces under Thomas the Slav
• Siege of Constantinople (1047), by rebel forces under Leo Tornikios
• Siege of Constantinople (1376), a 32-day siege by Andronikos IV Palaiologos with the support of the Ottoman Turks

Crusades

• Siege of Constantinople (1203), first siege by the Fourth Crusade, in which Alexius IV was able to usurp the throne after Alexius III fled to Thrace; objectives achieved and the siege lifted
• Sack of Constantinople (1204), second siege by the Fourth Crusade, in which the Byzantines were overwhelmed and the city thoroughly sacked, successful

Nicaean sieges

• Siege of Constantinople (1235), by joint Bulgarian and Nicaean forces, unsuccessful
• A Nicaean attack on Constantinople is implied by George Akropolites's account for 1248, but no details are known
• Siege of Constantinople (1260), by the Empire of Nicaea, unsuccessful
• In 1261, a small force of Nicaean troops under Alexios Strategopoulos gained entry into the poorly defended Latin capital, ending the Latin Empire and restoring Byzantine rule to the City. Most Latin troops defending the city were absent on campaign, and the Emperor fled without putting up any resistance; there was no siege.

Ottoman sieges

• An Ottoman blockade between 1390 and 1402, first interrupted by the Crusade of Nicopolis, then lifted due to the Battle of Ankara
• Siege of Constantinople (1411), a short Ottoman siege that occurred during the Ottoman Interregnum, unsuccessful
• Siege of Constantinople (1422), the first large-scale siege of the city by the Ottomans, unsuccessful
• Fall of Constantinople in 1453, after an Ottoman siege, successful

See also

• Occupation of Constantinople
• Walls of Constantinople