Activity of the Venetian government of Thessaloniki for the organization of the defense of the city during the Ottoman siege in 1422–1430

Author(s):  N.E. Zhigalova, candidate of Sciences, no, The Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, Ekaterinburg, Russia, nezhigalova@gmail.com

Issue:  Volume 46, № 4

Rubric:  Topical issues of world history

Annotation:  This article, based on Venetian and Byzantine sources, makes an attempt to consider the measures of the Venetian government of Thessaloniki to organize the defense of the city during its siege by the troops of the Ottoman Sultan Murad II in 1422–1430, and also to evaluate their effectiveness. Thessalonica for many centuries was the most important economic and political center of the region, being the main trading port on the northern coast of the Aegean Sea and in fact the second capital of the Byzantine Empire. In the late Byzantine time, having experienced many political upheavals, the outbreak of the plague epidemic, the capture of the city by the Ottomans in 1387, the city still did not lose its significance by the 15th century. and was perhaps the last bastion of resistance to the Ottomans in Macedonia.It is noted that Thessaloniki was not adequately provided with either weapons or military units capable of effectively resisting the Ottoman army of many thousands attacking the walls of the city. The author concludes that the reason for this was probably the reluctance of the Venetians to enter into open confrontation with the Ottoman Sultan, as well as the sabotage of the activities of the Venetian government by the Greek population of Thessaloniki.

Keywords:  Byzantium, Venice, Murad II, the Ottomans, siege of Thessaloniki 1422–1430, the Byzantine writers, John Anagnostes, Doukas.

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DOI:  10.18413/2075-4458-2019-46-4-641-646

Reference to article:  Zhigalova N.E. 2019. Working of the venetian government of Thessaloniki for the organization of the defense of the city during the ottoman siege in 1422–1430. Belgorod State University Scientific Bulletin. History. Political Science, 46(4): 641–646 (in Russian). DOI 10.18413/2075-4458-2019-46-4- 641-646