Tribute to Constantinos XI Palaiologos

"They remembered that dreadful Tuesday, a day that all true Greeks still know to be of ill omen; but their spirits tingled and their courage rose as they told of the last Christian Emperor standing in the breach, abandoned by his western allies, holding the infidel at bay till their numbers overpowered him and he died, with the Empire as his winding sheet."

The Fall of Constantinople 1453 by  Sir Steven Runciman

"The Emperor Constantine, simple, kind, brave, and straightforward, had gained the sympathy and admiration of all who had witnessed his wonderful patience, forbearance, and untiring devotion to the public interests. All present at that last Council were all animated by the deepest personal regard for the unhappy sovereign.

Some of the statesmen again brought before the Council the proposal that the interests of the Empire required the Emperor and his Court to leave the City immediately, in as much as so long the Emperor lived there was hope that the Capital if lost now, might one day be regained."

The Prelate, who was at the head of the Clergy, the Patriarch Gregory having apparently in the meantime resigned his office, supported with great decision that proposition. He said, "The servants of the altar saw unmistakable signs that it was God's will the City should now fall; but God's providence was unsearchable, and it might please Him to remember his people in mercy. If the Imperial City could not be saved, let the Emperor be saved! The Emperor should live, because in his person are centered the hopes of his people. We must all bow to the decree of the Almighty, whose mercy might return to our people as it had returned to Israel in olden times."

"Then the Prelates pressed him to leave the City without delay, and the whole Council implored him to comply with this advice. After all who wished to speak had spoken, the Emperor addressed them in a quiet but resolute tone:

My friends, if it is God's will that our City shall fall, can we escape his wrath? How many Emperors great and glorious, before me have had to suffer and die for their country! Shall I be the one to flee from it? No, I will stay and die here with you."

Constantine Last Emperor of the Greeks by Chedomil Mijatovich


"His companions fell, and sword in hand, amid the oncoming crowd of Janissaries and Sipahis, Constantine met the end that befitted a Roman Emperor and a faithful soldier of Christ."

The Byzantine Empire by Edward A. Foord

"God forbid that I should live an Emperor without an Empire. As my city falls, I will fall with it."

"Whoever wished to escape, let him save himself if he can; and whoever is ready to face death, let him follow me!"

The Crescent and the Cross by David Dereksen

[caption id="attachment_1953" align="aligncenter" width="700"] The fall of Constantinople - Giannis Nikou[/caption]

"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 defense 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 armor. They will strike the walls, our breastplates, 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 pretense 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 his horses. Oh my lords, my brothers, my sons, the everlasting honor 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 vigor. 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 ourselves crowns of martyrdom and eternal fame."

The Immortal Emperor by Donald Nicol

"The spot ought to be hallowed to everyone who respects faithfulness to duty and patriotism, and who has sympathy with the single hearted hero of a great historic tragedy. The slab covers the remains of the last Greek Emperor, the patriotic and brave Constantine Dragesses."

Serb Ambassador to Britain Chedomil Mijatovich on alleged burial site of Constantinos in his book "Constantine Last Emperor of the Greeks

"Constantine told his hearers that the great assault was about to begin. To his Greek subjects he said that a man should always be ready to die for his faith or for his country or for his family or for his sovereign. Now his people must be prepared to die for all four causes. He spoke of the glories and the high traditions of the great imperial city. He spoke of the perfidy of the infidel Sultan who had provoked the war in order to destroy the true faith and to put his false prophet in the seat of Christ. He urged them to remember that they were the descendants of the heroes of ancient Greece and Rome and to be worthy of their ancestors. For his part, he said, he was ready to die for his faith, his city, and his people. He then turned to the Italians, thanking them for the great services that they had rendered and telling of his trust in them for the fighting that was to come. He begged them all, Greeks and Italians alike, not to fear the vast numbers of the enemy and the barbarous devices of fires and of noise designed to alarm them. Let their spirits be high; let them be brave and steadfast. With the help of God they would be victorious."

From Steven Runciman's the Fall of
Constantinople 1453

"His father Manuel II, when the Turks were at the gates of Constantinople in 1397, had uttered this prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ let it not come to pass that the great multitude of Christian people should hear it said that it was in the days of the Emperor Manuel that the city, with all its sacred and venerable monuments of the faith, was delivered to the infidel. This was the ultimate misfortune of his son Constantine Palaiologos, the Last Emperor of the Romans. He had prayed that he might be killed rather than live to see the consequences. He was fortunate only in that his last prayer was answered."

The Immortal Emperor by Donald Nicol

"I sent two birds to the red apple tree, of which the legends speak. One was killed, the other was hurt, and they never came back to me. Of the marble emperor there is no word, no talk. But grandmothers sing about him to the children like a fairy tale. I sent two birds, two house martins, to the red apple tree. But there they stayed and became a dream..

From the Greek Song, O Marmaromenos Vasilias