| "And so he stood, above the hilltop, looking down on what was the last bastion of Romania [the Roman-Byzantine Empire], and saw that in a few days, the hordes of soldiers under Mohammed II would arrive to attempt to destroy it. Surely now the last days were at hand...surely, Jesus would return and the Virgin Mary would protect her city...
He wept, as he recalled the solemn singing of the priests at the liturgy of the Great Church of hagia Sophia, and the imperial processional music, and everything else he loved so dearly. And then he remembered...her. He would return to the city and wed the one he loved so much. Even if they were to live only a few weeks together...even if he were to die fighting the Turks and she become a slave...
His mind was made up. he turned and ran down the hillside, his heart stirring with renewed vigour..."
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Of course, there was Imperial business for him to attend to. But, even though he was intensely devoted to the Emperor and Romania, he felt that this was the right time. He found his way down to the house where Irene lived. She was out in the back garden, swinging her small sword. practicing increasingly intricate motions. On a small bench nearby lay a small bow and quiver. He paused for a moment and watched. It was he who had taught her how to handle weapons, because both of them felt it may be necessary in the coming times.
Irene was a beautiful young lady of 22, born in 1431. Her parents' ancestry could be traced back to the English and Scandinavians who formed part of the elite Varangian Guard of the Empire, and he could see that Irene had talent with weaponry. But it nearly brought tears to his eyes to watch her practice so intensely. What times were these, when a young woman with such a background was preparing to defend herself and her family against looting Turks in the Queen of Cities herself? He nearly wept right there, and then decided to go forth and tell her of his plans.
So it was agreed, right there, in a romantic scene, that the two would be wed under the approaching stormclouds of the invading doom. He went to do his duties, and to inform the Emperor when he had a chance. Perhaps their wedding wouldn't be such a gloomy affair...there was still money to be found in Constantinople, even on the verge of the seige. It might be the last happiness he and Irene would ever know, this wedding, and yet his heart almost was melting with love for her. He would marry her, and then they would spend their time together working on preparing the walls for the enemy assault. And in constant prayer. God had saved their city so many times in the past that many people, even those in faraway France and England, hardly believed the Emperor's urgent appeals for help were necessary. Even though he himself had less faith than they that their city could be saved this time, he hoped against hope that they might be right.
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Constantinople was a mighty city, situated on a peninsula on the eastern-most tip of southern Europe. It was a cosmopolitan city, and while most of the inhabitants spoke Greek, one could find Armenians, italians, Slavs, Russians, English, and Scandinavians there, some as traders, some under the payroll of the Empire. The city itself was bordered by water on two sides and by land on the third, and was surrounded by walls on all sides, with a huge floating chain protecting one side from naval attacks. The land-walls were mostly triple walls, with a moat 60 feet wide. Many towers were to be found on the two larger layers of walls, on top of which powerful mechanical artillery and sometimes cannons were placed. This was a city in which a handful of defenders might yet stop a massive army of invaders...
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yet small indeed were the forces avaliable to the Emperor Constantine XI and his strategoi. (plural of strategos..."general") Solemnly, the Rhomaioi watched as they received small but enthusiastic detachments of mercenaries from Crete, Venice, Genoa, and the Pope.
As he and Irene prepared for their wedding, he thought about these forces, and he felt a lump in his throat thinking about the men from all over the earth who were coming to help defend the Christian city. his emotion drained somewhat, however, when he remembered how small the help really was, and that at the last count, there were fewer than 8,000 soldiers in the city, against who knew how many Ottomans....And so the wedding preparations were made under a spectre of doom, despite the singing of the birds and the budding of the flowers...
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It was a lovely day in late March when he and Irene were married, in a beautiful Orthodox church. The Emperor himself gave him funds to help with the wedding, as a reward for his faithfulness to his ruler. He then took Irene to live with him in the small house his parents had given them. it was small, yes, but in late Palailogan (sp?) Constantinople land was more plenttiful than in ages past in the city, and there was room for a small garden, despite the fact that the house lay in an important part of the city. And he and Irene had a few days to enjoy themselves together as man and wife... Easter passed uneventfully, but the Monday after the first detachment of enemy soldiers passed into view of the city...
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The Emperor and his advisers watched the troops. While not among the chief advisers, he was often privy to their councils. Should the Empire survive, there was little doubt but that he would rise in the ranks of the Imperial government, maybe even with a shot at becoming an important official or strategos (general). But he wasn't so keen on war itself, and would rather devote his time and energies to God, music, and beautifying his beloved city. nevertheless, when the Emperor decided to strike offensively against the invaders, he volunteered to lead his group of Kataphractoi against them, after Irene's tearful assent was given.
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After kissing his wife, he put on his heavy armor and took his bow, lance, sword, mace, and shield. perhaps he was taking more weapons than necessary for a sortie, but nevertheless he instructed his small but elite contingent of "buscuit men" to arm themselves heavily in the tradition of the cataphract cavalry, in the hope of smashing into the enemy and shocking the lightly armed Bashi Bazouks they saw marching in isolated groups toward the city.
He took the 100 men under his command, and was joined by another 300 under other men, and they charged out of the city gates to meet the foe. Long before they reached the lines of infantry, they began using their bows, shooting down the enemy before they could respond. Soon, a few of the enemy who had bows and javelins began to return fire, but many of their arrows were ineffectual against rapidly moving, armored Kataphractoi. Soon, the Byzantine soldiers smashed into the enemy lines, which melted before the devastating efffect of the lances, armored horses, swords, and crushing maces of the charging forces.
He found himself abhorring the deaths of all these men, but at the same time knew he had to do it to save his Empire and the Queen of Cities herself. And every soldier he cut down was one more man who wouldn't be able to kill his fellow comrades, his friends, his family, his priests, his rulers, his....wife. Crying out her name, he pulled out his mace and did deadly work, almost blindly crushing anything that came near his trusted horse. Suddenly, however, he heard the sound of a few of his men crying out, and he realized that they had charged right through the hapless infantry brigade and ran into more heavily armed Anatolian Turkish troops.
Wanting to preserve his men, he called for a swift retreat. The enemy didn't even realize that his troops were leaving until they were already out of their grasp, however, because of all the damage they were doing even while backing off. Once disengaged, the swift horses carried the Emperor's best men back to the city gates, leaving the enemy to slow down and try to recover those of their fallen who were still alive...
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